"Ambitious agenda" for security zone

In a press conference held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Force Commander Major General Patrick Cammaert from the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said establishing the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) had been "a challenging process". He said he believed UNMEE could "move forward rapidly to establish the Temporary Security Zone", but that the "reservations" expressed by both parties had been noted on record. "On 10 February... I intend to declare that there is a credible force of the United Nations in the mission area for me to carry out my mission", he told journalists in a press conference held on 7 February.

He said on 12 February Ethiopia would "begin to redeploy its forces to the southern boundary", and that on 17 February, Eritrea would "begin to redeploy its forces to the northern boundary." Ethiopia was expected to complete its redeployment on 26 February, and Eritrea to complete the rearrangement of its forces on 3 March, said Cammaert. These arrangements were in line with the peace agreements signed last year, Cammaert explained. He told journalists "we have a very ambitious agenda ahead of us."