Leaders complain to UN Secretary-General

During the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan met the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea. During talks with Annan, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi complained that Eritrea had been deploying its regular army in violation of the Algiers peace accord, the official Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said on Tuesday. Meles warned that Eritrea would "bear full responsibility for the instability and tension that would take place in the region", ENA said.

It said Meles also discussed with Annan the issue of opening direct flight routes between Addis Ababa and Asmara to facilitate the needs of the peacekeeping forces. Meles "reassured the Secretary-General that the peacekeeping forces can use any route of their choice except one route that the Ethiopia government considers sensitive to its national security", ENA said. Ethiopia has asked for a small deviation from the most direct route between the two capitals, while Eritrea has asked the UN to stick with the direct route.

Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki also held talks with the Secretary-General, and complained that Ethiopia was hindering the peace process. Isayas said that while Eritrea had accepted the establishment of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) on the disputed border, Ethiopia was obstructing implementation of the security agreement by refusing to issue "the required information on the mines it had left inside Eritrean territory", official Eritrean radio said on Tuesday. "Regarding the deployment of militia and police, he said that since they are being deployed inside Eritrean sovereign territory, it is not of any concern to any other group," Eritrean radio said.