Need for comprehensive agreement

The US has backed a 4,200-strong UN peacekeeping mission to monitor the Ethiopian-Eritrea ceasefire, but warned that the two countries should improve relations to establish a comprehensive peace agreement. At an open Security Council meeting on Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s proposed peacekeeping mission, US ambassador Nancy Soderberg said the two countries should mark the end of the two-year border war by starting a new relationship. “The search for better bilateral relations goes on forever; the presence of UN peacekeepers should not,” Reuters quoted her as saying on Monday. But during the open debate, representatives of Eritrea and Ethiopia exchanged recriminations and illustrated the intensity of the war of words that has continued between the two countries despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement on 18 June in Algiers.

During the debate, both countries were urged to maintain the ceasefire and continue to work for a negotiated, lasting peace agreement, news agencies reported. No agreement has yet been reached between the two countries on the demarcation and delimitation of the disputed border area - a task expected to be carried out by the UN mission.