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UN to send observer mission

    NAIROBI

    The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously voted to send up to 100 UN military observers and the necessary civilian support staff to Ethiopia and Eritrea. The UN mission’s mandate would be to verify the cessation of hostilities; prepare for the establishment of the Military Coordination Commission prepared for in the 18 June Cessation of Hostilities Agreement; and assist in planning for a future peacekeeping operation, if necessary, according to the terms of Security Council Resolution 1312, passed unanimously by Council members. The mission would be in the area until 31 January 2001. The Council called on Ethiopia and Eritrea “to provide the Mission with the access, assistance, support and protection required for the performance of its duties.” During the Security Council consultations, members said the risk of violence was “minimal”, but that the medical risk in the area was “significant”, humanitarian sources told IRIN. An additional 25 military medical staff will be requested in an additional resolution.

    The resolution stressed the importance of “the rapid delimitation and of the common border between Ethiopia and Eritrea”, in accordance with the OAU Framework Agreement and the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. It called for the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in a buffer zone to extend along the border 25 km inside Eritrea, and the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from areas inside Eritrea beyond the border regions disputed by the two neighbours. The Security Council on Monday asked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to continue planning for a peacekeeping operation and to begin the administrative measures for assembling it. There will be three sectors of operation: Central, West and East.
    Military observers will be stationed in equal numbers on either side of the border, diplomatic sources told IRIN.
    Ethiopia and Eritrea were asked to help experts from the UN Mine Action Service assess the problem of mines and unexploded ordnance, and to provide technical assistance for emergency mine clearance.

    For full text of UN Security Council Resolution 1312, go to: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/vLCE/Eritrea-Ethiopia?OpenDocument&StartKey=Eritrea-Ethiopia&Expandview

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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