UN peacekeepers to stay during demarcation

UN peacekeeping forces are to remain as a buffer between Ethiopian and Eritrean security personnel during the crucial demarcation of the border, according to the UN Force Commander. In a statement issued last week, Major General Robert Gordon reiterated that the 4,200 Blue Helmets would continue to monitor the security buffer zone that separates both countries. His remarks follow a top-level meeting of Ethiopian and Eritrean military leaders in Nairobi where both sides vouched for the safety of staff from the independent Boundary Commission. The Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) drew up the new, internationally-recognised border between both sides on 13 April last year. Its personnel will physically mark out the border. The Algiers peace agreement of December 2000, which established the EEBC, followed a bloody two year war which flared up in the small and now-symbolic border town of Badme. Tens of thousands of lives were claimed. Although demarcation of the contested 1,000 km border was scheduled by the commission to start in early July, observers say it now looks as if it will be further delayed. Under the peace deal, only Eritrean militia and police are allowed in the 25 km wide Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) which is entirely in Eritrean territory. “When the EEBC begins to demarcate the final border, the security of the EEBC contractors will be the responsibility of the parties,” Gordon said. “Where the border runs through territory currently controlled by Eritrea, security will be the responsibility of the Eritrean authorities (using their police and militia, who alone are allowed to operate within the TSZ)," he explained. “Where the new border runs through territory currently controlled by Ethiopia (all of which lies south of the TSZ) security will be the responsibility of the Ethiopian authorities (using whatever combination of army, militia and police they choose),” he said.