Meles hails UN visit

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has welcomed a visit to his country by the UN Security Council last week, during which they discussed the upcoming decision on delimitation of the border with Eritrea. Speaking to journalists on Friday, after meeting the 15 members of the Security Council, Meles said no preparations were under way to deal with the ruling by the international Boundary Commission in The Hague, due to be announced next month. "We don’t have to make any preparations, we present the conclusions as they are," he said. Both Ethiopia and Eritrea have agreed to abide by the ruling. Meles also said he had "continued to explain" Ethiopia’s reservations over Eritrea's "behaviour" in the buffer area between the two countries, known as the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ). According to the pro-government Walta Information Centre, "Ethiopia has been persistently lodging its concern over Eritrea's troop build-up in the TSZ, and its refusal to grant full access to the TSZ and areas adjacent to it to the peacekeepers." However, Meles welcomed the Security Council visit. "My message is to thank them for their interest and to continue to be engaged in a positive direction," he told reporters. Diplomats told IRIN the meeting between the Security Council and the Ethiopians had been "constructive", saying both Meles and the UN delegation had put forward their views. The leader of the delegation, Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby of Norway, told the press conference that the two sides had agreed that the peace process could not be rushed and must be taken in stages. "Our message to him was that we come here to cooperate with the two parties in advancing the peace process on the basis of the Algiers [peace] agreement [signed in December 2000]," he said. "We appreciate that the two parties have stated clearly that they will accept as final and binding the findings of the Boundary Commission." Kolby said he had expressed the "willingness and readiness" of the Security Council to cooperate with the two governments in implementing the decisions of the Boundary Commission and other issues pertaining to the peace process. Ambassador Kolby, whose country takes over the presidency of the Security Council in March when the Boundary Commission will announce its verdict, said he had also discussed the role of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). "It is the intention of the Security Council to adopt a resolution which extends the mandate of UNMEE for another six months, and also then to prepare the ground for further support from the United Nations for the peace process, including the question of the demarcation of the boundaries," he stated. He added that certain "technical hurdles" needed to be overcome in setting out the new boundary. "Since both parties have expressed their interest in having this issue resolved, I expect them both to be ready to cooperate in this demarcation of the boundary," he said. The UN delegation arrived in Addis Ababa last Thursday (21 February) and moved on to Eritrea over the weekend, before returning to New York on Monday.