New UN force commander urges impartiality

The UN’s new military commander in Ethiopia and Eritrea has called on his troops to remain “impartial” during their peacekeeping mission. British Major General Robert Gordon, the new force commander of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), told the 4,200 strong Blue Helmets not to shy away from their role as independent peacekeepers. “I know impartiality is not easy, it requires good training, tough choices and moral courage,” he said during a handover ceremony in the Eritrean capital, Asmara. “Nevertheless do not shrink from your responsibilities as peacekeepers.” “To the soldiers of the Mission for whom I have now become responsible I say understand your business, work hard, do your duty and above all else remain impartial,” he added. Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a bitter two-year border war that ended in a peace deal in December 2000. UN peacekeepers were sent in to ensure the ceasefire held. Gordon's comments came as he took over the peacekeeping mission from outgoing force commander Major General Patrick Cammaert of the Netherlands. Maj-Gen Cammaert had been accused of “political bias” by the Ethiopian government after a row was sparked over a visit by journalists to the controversial border town of Badme which both countries claim as theirs. But Maj-Gen Cammaert said he had always remained “faithful” to his impartiality – which he said was illustrated by the fact he was accused of bias by both sides. “As you are all aware, in May of this year, the Ethiopian authorities declared they had lost confidence in me because of pro-Eritrean bias,” he said. “Frankly, this was a surprise, at least partially, because it was the Eritrean Commissioner who had privately accused me of siding with Ethiopia several weeks earlier," he said. “I expected the blow, but from a different direction.”