Eritrea “redeploying” in buffer zone

Ethiopia has complained to the UN Security Council that Eritrea is in violation of the peace agreement signed in June last year. In a letter to the President of the Security Council on 7 May, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said that Eritrea was reintroducing its troops into the 25 km-wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) in “the guise of militia”. This was making it impossible for the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) to ensure separation of the two countries’ forces in the TSZ, he said. “This lack of compliance by Eritrea has the consequence of making the Temporary Security Zone tenuous and the whole situation on the ground potentially dangerous,” the letter said.

Seyoum said Eritrea was bringing its troops back into the TSZ “lock, stock and barrel, including senior officers”. The letter called on the Security Council to make it clear to Eritrea that “its lack of compliance with the Algiers Agreement cannot be tolerated by the Council and by the United Nations”. Eritrea had rejected previous complaints made by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to the head of UNMEE, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, that it had redeployed troops in the demilitarised zone. Eritrea said that it was adhering to the protocol agreement it had signed with UNMEE, and has in turn complained of Ethiopian troops present in the buffer zone.