Eritrea rejects troop redeployment plan, says Ethiopia

Eritrea has refused to accept the redeployment plan proposed at the recent meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, of the Military Coordination Commission (MCC)of the United Nations Mission Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
The pro-Ethiopian government Walta Information Centre, monitored by the BBC, reported that Maj-Gen Alemshet Degife, who represented Ethiopia at the meeting, had accused Eritrea of refusing to sign the redeployment plan, “which was based on the provisions of the cessation of hostilities agreement” signed in Algiers on 18 June 2000. According to the report, Eritrea’s refusal was “a manifestation of its government’s usual tactic to frustrate initiatives for peace”.

Eritrea justified its objection by claiming that Badme (western front), Zela Ambesa (central front), and Badda (eastern front) had never been administered by Ethiopia prior to May 1998, said the report.

In the second meeting of the MCC of UNMEE, which was held in Nairobi on 28 December, the two parties failed to reach agreement on the repositioning of troops. The matter was referred to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of UNMEE, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, a UNMEE statement said.

Meanwhile, Eritrea has accused Ethiopia of killing civilians and rustling cattle from areas of Eritrea under Ethiopian occupation. The Eritrean news agency, monitored by the BBC, reported on 29 December that since the signing of the 12 December peace agreement, Ethiopia had continued abuses against civilians in occupied zones. This month alone, the Ethiopian army had made off with 900 head of cattle and 300 goats, according to the report. Ethiopian forces occupying Senafe (southern Eritrea) shot and killed an Eritrean shepherd, by the name of Sulayman Muhammad, said the report.