Posted on 11/03/2005 6:44:31 AM PST by ncountylee
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - 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.
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 1/2-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 percent, 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.
Both countries have large Muslim populations.
Hey UN .. You're suppose to have all the answers to solve all the problems of the world
You deal with it
Let em duke it out...
I disagree - Ethiopia was a communist country but is really turning in a Christian nation. Eritrea is largely a muslim country that is really suppressing Christians (no surprise).
OH, for heaven's sake! Why can't all these people go home and grow some food, already? Are they all on crack? "Let's see ... crime, starvation, disease ... nope, we're not miserable enough yet ... Let's go start another war!"
C'mon cup-of-Kofi, wave your idealistic magic wand and give both sides all of our taxpayer dollars. You love to do that...
Or better yet, stand behind your podium, wave some papers in the air for dramatic effect, and declare that if both sides don't behave, well then by golly you'll show how serious you are and pass a resolution or two. Or three...or seventeen...or fifty-eight...
I thought the moral authority of the UN was enough to prevent war.
I read in todays paper the government killed about 30 people while they were voting yesterday in their elections.
Warning given. Now, let's break for lunch.
Let us hear now what the Democratic party would do about this conflict, at a time when we have an opportunity to do something...Let them tell us now, at a relevant time, what to do. We will hear of this later, including why we did nothing about this conflict.
A very good assesment..
Right on, T-chick!
Ethiopia and Eritrea are two of the poorest nations in the world, yet they still prefer to put their scarce resources into a silly border dispute.
And people wonder why Africa can't move forward. Duh!!
On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Security Council and member states "to take decisive steps to defuse the escalating tension,"
Yea, that will take care of the situation! While you are at it, pass some more resolutions -- it sure kept Saddam in check! (sarc)
"U.N. peacekeepers" = Oxymoron
It's absolutely infuriating. Their "leaders" should just go shoot themselves and let the rest of the population get on with trying to find something to eat.
Eritrea has a mostly Christian population. Thats why they split.
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