Post by Said1 on Nov 8, 2005 9:28:44 GMT -5
U.N. fears war as Ethiopia, Eritrea move troops to border ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
U.N. fears war as Ethiopia, Eritrea move troops to border
A senior U.N. official monitoring the tense Ethiopian-Eritrean border said Thursday he fears a new war is possible after both sides moved troops and military hardware significantly closer to the region during the past 10 days.
The Ethiopian city of Zalambessa, near the border with Eritrea, was almost entirely destroyed during the last war between the two countries. The Ethiopian city of Zalambessa, near the border with Eritrea, was almost entirely destroyed during the last war between the two countries.
By Boris Heger, AP
Maj. Gen. Rajender Singh, commander of U.N. peacekeepers in Ethiopia and Eritrea, said Ethiopian troops and tanks that were 25 miles from the demilitarized zone are now 12 miles away.
Also, about 120 Eritrean troops have tried to get into the zone, and the number of militias present there has increased. Under a peace deal, only U.N. troops are allowed in a 16-mile-wide Temporary Security Zone, an area in Eritrean territory separating the two countries.
"This potentially volatile situation could lead to a renewed outbreak of war," Singh said. "If not addressed, if we do not take measures, if the international community does not act, maybe the situation may deteriorate to a level where the worst can happen — and that is war."
Singh's troops patrol a buffer zone set up after a 2-year border war that ended in 2000. Eritrea recently imposed restrictions on the U.N. troops.
On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Security Council and member states "to take decisive steps to defuse the escalating tension," according to a statement from his spokesman.
Western diplomats say Ethiopia and Eritrea have about 300,000 troops — including 200,000 on the Eritrean side — near the buffer zone. They said Ethiopians were strengthening their defenses and moving troops and tanks because they believe Eritrea has a new air defense system.
The potential for war is heightened by the fact that both governments face rising internal opposition, and conflict with a foreign country may help them rally popular support, diplomats said on condition of anonymity because they feared straining relations with the government.
Four days of protests against Ethiopia's disputed May parliamentary elections have left at least 34 people dead in the capital, authorities said.
Ethiopia refuses to implement a 2002 international ruling on the border, objecting to the awarding to Eritrea of Badme, the town at the center of the skirmishes that started the last war.
Ethiopia has called for negotiations to break the stalemate, but Eritrea refuses to talk unless Ethiopia accepts the border ruling by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, which is part of the Hague, Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Eritrea banned helicopter flights by peacekeepers in its airspace in the buffer zone starting Oct. 5. It also barred U.N. patrol vehicles from operating at night on its side of the 621-mile-long buffer zone and ordered the vehicles to stay on main roads.
The restrictions have cut the United Nations' monitoring ability by 60%, escalating suspicion on both sides, Singh told journalists.
A 1952 U.N. resolution paired Eritrea and Ethiopia in a federation, despite Eritrean pleas for independence. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie unilaterally annexed Eritrea in 1962, sparking a protracted uprising. Eritrea declared its independence in 1991.
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U.N. fears war as Ethiopia, Eritrea move troops to border
A senior U.N. official monitoring the tense Ethiopian-Eritrean border said Thursday he fears a new war is possible after both sides moved troops and military hardware significantly closer to the region during the past 10 days.
The Ethiopian city of Zalambessa, near the border with Eritrea, was almost entirely destroyed during the last war between the two countries. The Ethiopian city of Zalambessa, near the border with Eritrea, was almost entirely destroyed during the last war between the two countries.
By Boris Heger, AP
Maj. Gen. Rajender Singh, commander of U.N. peacekeepers in Ethiopia and Eritrea, said Ethiopian troops and tanks that were 25 miles from the demilitarized zone are now 12 miles away.
Also, about 120 Eritrean troops have tried to get into the zone, and the number of militias present there has increased. Under a peace deal, only U.N. troops are allowed in a 16-mile-wide Temporary Security Zone, an area in Eritrean territory separating the two countries.
"This potentially volatile situation could lead to a renewed outbreak of war," Singh said. "If not addressed, if we do not take measures, if the international community does not act, maybe the situation may deteriorate to a level where the worst can happen — and that is war."
Singh's troops patrol a buffer zone set up after a 2-year border war that ended in 2000. Eritrea recently imposed restrictions on the U.N. troops.
On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Security Council and member states "to take decisive steps to defuse the escalating tension," according to a statement from his spokesman.
Western diplomats say Ethiopia and Eritrea have about 300,000 troops — including 200,000 on the Eritrean side — near the buffer zone. They said Ethiopians were strengthening their defenses and moving troops and tanks because they believe Eritrea has a new air defense system.
The potential for war is heightened by the fact that both governments face rising internal opposition, and conflict with a foreign country may help them rally popular support, diplomats said on condition of anonymity because they feared straining relations with the government.
Four days of protests against Ethiopia's disputed May parliamentary elections have left at least 34 people dead in the capital, authorities said.
Ethiopia refuses to implement a 2002 international ruling on the border, objecting to the awarding to Eritrea of Badme, the town at the center of the skirmishes that started the last war.
Ethiopia has called for negotiations to break the stalemate, but Eritrea refuses to talk unless Ethiopia accepts the border ruling by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, which is part of the Hague, Netherlands-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Eritrea banned helicopter flights by peacekeepers in its airspace in the buffer zone starting Oct. 5. It also barred U.N. patrol vehicles from operating at night on its side of the 621-mile-long buffer zone and ordered the vehicles to stay on main roads.
The restrictions have cut the United Nations' monitoring ability by 60%, escalating suspicion on both sides, Singh told journalists.
A 1952 U.N. resolution paired Eritrea and Ethiopia in a federation, despite Eritrean pleas for independence. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie unilaterally annexed Eritrea in 1962, sparking a protracted uprising. Eritrea declared its independence in 1991.
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