Security Council mission leaves after "very useful" visit

All 15 members of the UN Security Council headed back to New York on Monday after a visit to Ethiopia and Eritrea, described as "very useful" by the mission leader, Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby of Norway. According to a statement by the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), both Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia and Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki agreed to work with the UN to move the peace process forward. Discussions in both countries focused on next month's border delimitation ruling by the international Boundary Commission in The Hague. "The Security Council, having had very useful meetings with the leaders of the two countries, is very pleased that a final legal settlement of the border issue is about to be reached in accordance with the Algiers Agreements that opened the way to peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea," Kolby said before leaving the Eritrean capital Asmara. He added that the implementation phase should move forward "expeditiously" and in "an orderly manner". Ambassador Kolby also called for the immediate release of prisoners of war (POWs) held by both countries. Hundreds of POWs are still being detained 18 months after the end of the two-year border war, despite both countries signing international treaties on the release of POWs. "We have raised with the leaders on both sides the question of the prisoners of war and encouraged them to release them without any further delay," Kolby told a press conference. This is the first time that all 15 members of the Security Council have visited the two countries. During the whirlwind tour, the mission visited the 25 km-wide buffer area known as the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) and crossed the border between the two countries at the Mereb River Bridge. The delegation also toured a camp of internally displaced people at Senafe in Eritrea, an area still littered with mines. Ethiopia and Eritrea have both levelled strong criticisms at the Security Council and the role of UN peacekeepers. But Kolby played down their comments, saying they needed to focus on the future to build a lasting peace. He said he was aware of the "apprehensions" of both countries ahead of the border ruling, but noted that the leaders of both countries had agreed to abide by the decision. "The United Nations Security Council mission came to Ethiopia and Eritrea to express our unwavering support for the peace process," Kolby added. "Our hope is that this decision of the Boundary Commission will initiate a new phase in the peace process and we in the United Nations would like to assist the parties in moving forward on the path to peace." He said that demining the border region – where tens of thousands of mines were planted by both sides – was "high on the agenda". "I think now, when the decision of the Boundary Commission has been handed down, then we will be able to make even more progress in that area," he stated. "We have reminded the two countries that it is their responsibility to undertake the demining but we have also expressed the support of the international community to assist them in this matter."