Concern over militia numbers in buffer zone

The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) is seeking to establish the exact number of Eritrean militia to be stationed in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) on the disputed border. The deputy spokeswoman for UNMEE, Angela Walker, told IRIN that “diplomatic efforts were being made to try and obtain the numbers from the Eritrean authorities”. UNMEE has repeatedly requested from the Eritrean authorities details on the size and composition of their militia and police in the TSZ. A signed protocol agreement allows for Eritrean civil administration to be restored in the TSZ, but does not specify numbers of armed police and militia.

Alongside concerns over restrictions on freedom of movement for UNMEE in and around the TSZ, the issue of Eritrean militia in the TSZ remains at present one of the major concerns for the peacekeeping mission, she said. Other issues of concern included the definition of the boundaries of the TSZ, with several villages on the southern boundary initially placed in the TSZ remaining under Ethiopian control, diplomatic sources said. There was also disagreement with Ethiopia concerning the Eastern Sector, with the unilateral return by Ethiopia to earlier positions two kilometres inside the established TSZ on the Bure-Assab road, the source said.