Special Representative “confident of resolution”

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Chief of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, said he was confident that problems between Ethiopia and Eritrea would be resolved soon. He told journalists in New York on Tuesday that the conflict, which erupted in 1998, had resulted in bitterness and distrust, but that the two countries “were ready to make peace.” Legwaila described Ethiopia and Eritrea as “disciplined nations” with “two disciplined leaders... and two disciplined armies.”

Overall cooperation between UNMEE and the host countries was very good, and there had been quick deployment of 4,000 peacekeepers and some 200 military observers. However, Legwaila said recent difficulties had prevented the Mission from formally declaring the establishment of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ). He described the buffer zone as an “operational requirement for the peacekeeping force”. He emphasised that it was temporary and had “nothing to do with future decisions on the border” between the two countries - as demarcation of the contested border remains the greatest obstacle to resolving the conflict. Legwaila said the TSZ had not been imposed on the two parties, but had been suggested by Ethiopia and Eritrea when they signed an Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities. An important concern was the “forthcoming influx of internally displaced people and refugees into the TSZ” added the Special Representative.