Annan recommends extension of UNMEE mandate

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended that the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) be extended by six months. In his latest progress report to the Security Council on the two countries, he said the peacekeeping force was committed to playing its role throughout the border demarcation process and contributing to stability on the ground. For this reason, he recommended an extension of the mandate until 15 March 2003. UNMEE's current mandate expires on 15 September 2002. Annan urged the two governments "to continue to display statesmanship" during the demarcation phase, noting that the armies of both countries had maintained a "relatively good level of cooperation" with UNMEE. "However during recent months there has been an increase in the number of incidents and subsequent accusations and counter-accusations by the parties of physical assault and abduction of local populations on both sides of the southern boundary of the [Temporary Security] Zone," he stated. He noted that the incidents, which had become more serious of late, were mostly related to local disputes over grazing lands. He said UNMEE had intensified its monitoring activities in these areas. On 13 April, an independent Boundary Commission issued its ruling on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea, following a bitter two-year war sparked by a border conflict in 1998. The physical demarcation of the border is due to take place once the areas have been demined.