UN concerned over peace process

The United Nations on Thursday said the Eritrea-Ethiopia peace process had entered its "most critical" stage following calls by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi for a new body to rule on the border. “This new development concerns us that we have entered a very critical stage in the peace process,” Gail Bindley Taylor Sainte, spokeswoman for the UN’s Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), told journalists. "It probably is the most critical phase that we have faced since we’ve been here,” she said. Earlier this week, Meles urged the UN Security Council to “salvage” the faltering peace process. He called for a new body to rule on contested parts of the border with Eritrea. Ethiopia has resisted a ruling last year by the independent Boundary Commission which has placed key territories, such as Badme where a two-year border war flared up, in Eritrea. Meles said the Commission was in “terminal crisis” and warned of "recurring wars" if the ruling was implemented as it stood. “UNMEE is concerned because there has been no progress towards demarcation,” Sainte told a weekly video-linked press briefing between Asmara and Addis Ababa. Demarcation of the contested border is due to begin next month. But she added that the military situation was stable. “We don’t see tensions on the border," she said. "The political situation may be tense but militarily it remains stable.” Sainte said Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, who heads the UN mission, was continuing his shuttle diplomacy to try and help resolve the crisis. She also added that Meles' letter was a “challenge” to the international community’s “commitment to the peace” between Ethiopia and Eritrea and in the Horn of Africa. “Anyone who is concerned about the peace in the Horn of Africa would be concerned about recurring war,” Sainte noted. UNMEE also confirmed it was investigating new allegations of four Eritrean men crossing into Ethiopia in a peacekeeping vehicle. The investigation follows a similar enquiry after earlier claims that nine Eritreans slipped across hidden among the peacekeeping force. Sainte also told journalists that “checks” had been made into unproven allegations of smuggling by the UN force.