Military meetings come to a halt

Deputy spokeswoman for the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) Angela Walker told journalists in Addis Ababa that the regional Military Coordination Committee (MCC) meetings had come to a halt. “The regional MCCs are not taking place... The Eritreans have said they do not believe the time is yet right.” She said it would be more efficient to continue with the MCCs - rather than refer incidents to the capitals - and said the UNMEE Force Commander and the UN “believe strongly that regional MCCs will help move the process move forward”. According to Walker, there were “a lot of incidents happening on the ground within the TSZ” requiring the attention of the two parties, which would best be discussed at the MCC meetings. The regional MCC meetings have been held in Nairobi and Djibouti, and bring together military representatives from Ethiopia, Eritrea and UNMEE.