United Nations Extends UNMEE Mandate for One Month

GIC

March23, 2006(KHARTOUM)–The United Nations Security Council has extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) until April 15, to allow recently revived border talks between the two African countries a chance to break a volatile deadlock.

The short expansion was meant to warn the two sides that their failure to resolve the border dispute could result in the withdrawal of mission with serious consequences to both countries and the possibility of fresh flare up in the region.

The 15-member body, through the resolution adopted unanimously, also reiterated its demands that Eritrea end its restrictions on UNMEE operations and that Ethiopia abide by decisions of the commission designated to demark a permanent border between the two countries.

In his recent reports on the issue, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called the situation of UNMEE “untenable” because of the intransigence of both the parties creating a situation dangerous to UN personnel and the region.

For that reason, he had proposed a range of options to reconfigure the mission, ranging from redeployment to total withdrawal.

However, in a report last week, Annan recommended extending UNMEE in its present configuration for two or three months “in order for the forthcoming meeting of the Boundary Commission to bear fruit”.

After a meeting convened on March 10 in London, Annan said he was pleased by the constructive participation of both sides and expressed hope that it would allow the Commission’s decision to be implemented without further delay

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Posted by farajat on Mar 23 2006 Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry