UN mission has “great promise” - Annan

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday briefed the Security Council on the significance for the two countries and for peacekeeping operations of the UN Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). “This new operation holds great promise for the countries and people involved, for Africa and for peacekeeping in general... We must get it right”, Annan said. Ethiopia and Eritrea had agreed to open the first land access route for UNMEE’s use on Tuesday 28 November, though negotiations regarding air access routes continued, he said. Such routes would be critical to UNMEE’s freedom of movement and early access to the planned Temporary Security Zone: a 25 km area to be set up between the two parties’ forces, Annan said. Both parties had also agreed to hold the first session of the Military Coordination Commission (MCC) later in November, according to the UN. The mission’s military deployment has proceeded on schedule, with the full strength of 4,200 troops, including up to 220 military observers, expected to be in place early next year, the Security Council was told.

However, Annan expressed “serious concern” about the humanitarian situation in both countries, reporting that more than 300,000 people were internally displaced in Eritrea, and 350,000 more in Ethiopia. “The most critical obstacle to their safe return and the resumption of normal life is the presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance in areas along the border,” he said. He called on the Security Council to support demining and mine awareness programmes by UNMEE and national commissions set up in each of the countries.