Ethiopia accepts Eritrea's mine information

Ethiopia has accepted minefield records from Eritrea, after previously rejecting them as "fake", the United Nations said on Monday.

They were handed over to the Ethiopian authorities by Phil Lewis, programme manager for the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC), part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).

The records mark the final exchange between the two countries over where exactly they planted thousands of mines during their two-year border war.

Ethiopia handed over its records to UNMEE shortly before the 13 April 2002 border announcement in The Hague. Eritrea had handed its records over some 15 months ago, and UNMEE was holding onto them until Ethiopia made the same move.

Ethiopia's acceptance now means that more precise humanitarian demining can take place along the 1,000-kilometre border between the two countries.

Lewis said he had travelled personally to Addis Ababa to convince the authorities to accept Eritrea's records. UNMEE has said there is no reason to believe the records were fabricated.

"I’m delighted to announce that the Ethiopian authorities have accepted 182 minefield records which will be utilised to assist with expeditious, efficient and safer mine clearance in northern Ethiopia," he said.

"This is the final step in the exchange of detailed mine information between the two parties, and represents another major step forward in the peace process."

"Both sides are now satisfied with the exchange of this information and we can continue with humanitarian demining based on this information," he added.