Fourth meeting of UNMEE's military commission

The fourth meeting of the Military Coordination Commission (MCC) of the United Nations Mission In Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) was successfully conducted on Wednesday, according to a press release of the same day. For the first time the meeting was held on the border between the two countries in the proposed Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) - a 25km-wide buffer zone to be established between the two country's forces.

At the meeting the Eritrean delegation registered its objections to adjustments made by UNMEE to the border map agreed at the last MCC meeting in Nairobi. The Eritrean delegation said it would rearrange its forces in accordance with the original map. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian delegation demanded that Eritrean forces "remain 25km from the re-deployed Ethiopian positions", as called for in the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of 18 June 2000, according to the statement.

Despite these issues, MCC Chairman and UNMEE forces Commander Maj-Gen Patrick Cammaert noted the Ethiopian announcement that their troop re-deployment to the southern boundary was ahead of schedule, and verification had started on 26 February. He also noted that the Eritrean rearrangement of forces on the northern border was progressing on schedule.

The MCC also discussed how UNMEE would go about verification in the TSZ, the restoration of Eritrean civil authority in the TSZ, and the composition and presence of Eritrean police and militia in the TSZ. The meeting also discussed the need for more information on land mines within the TSZ and surrounding areas, and the need for a temporary pass system in the Zone, said the statement.