UN reduces UNMEE troop numbers

The United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) for four months but reduced the force from 3,373 to 2,300 troops. The 15-member council met on Wednesday to discuss the operations of the force keeping the peace on the disputed border between the two Horn of Africa neighbours. It demanded that both countries fully comply with a resolution calling on Ethiopia to accept the border recommended by an independent commission and on Eritrea to lift restrictions on UNMEE’s movements. Frustrated by the lack of progress in resolving the border dispute, Eritrea banned UNMEE flights over its territory in October 2005 and expelled some of the peacekeeping mission's North American and European personnel, hampering UNMEE’s ability to monitor the volatile border zone. The two neighbours have been in a tense standoff over the demarcation of their shared 1,000km border since the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission announced its ruling in April 2002. As part of the peace settlement that ended their 1998-2000 border war, both countries had agreed to abide by the commission's decision. Ethiopia, however, refused to implement the ruling, which awarded the border town of Badme, the conflict's flashpoint, to Eritrea. It has called for renewed "dialogue" over the issue, arguing that the commission's ruling would divide communities living in the frontier zone. Eritrea insists that Ethiopia accept the ruling and opposed reopening negotiations on the subject.