UN force commander to visit Badme

The force commander for the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) is to visit the controversial village of Badme – the first senior ranking peacekeeping visit since the crucial border ruling in April this year. Major General Robert Gordon is expected to arrive at the border village – scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the war which broke out in 1998 – on Wednesday, UNMEE sources told IRIN. Ethiopia reacted furiously after UNMEE took journalists to the Ethiopian-administered village using Eritrean visas just days after the new border was announced by an independent Boundary Commission. Ethiopia closed the border to UNMEE peacekeepers for 10 days and demanded the removal of the UN’s former military commander Major-General Patrick Cammaert. He left his post in October after finishing his two-year tour of duty. Diplomats see the move as a warming of tense relations between Ethiopia and the UN’s 4,200 peacekeepers. A source told IRIN that the visit was part of a current fact-finding mission the new force commander is carrying out in the 25-km buffer zone between both countries. Maj-Gen Gordon, who joined the peacekeepers earlier this month, heads the 4,200 Blue Helmets at one of the most crucial stages of the peace process. Demarcation of the border is expected to start early next year with UNMEE playing a vital role. It will clear mined areas so the border posts can be constructed.