UN observers ready to move into Ethiopia/Eritrea, Security Council told
14 August -- The top United Nations peacekeeping official told the Security Council this morning that 100 UN military observers will be ready to move into Ethiopia and Eritrea later this month.
The Security Council, which authorized that deployment in a resolution adopted late last month, met today to discuss a proposal by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to increase the troop strength in the region to 4,200 in order to monitor the ceasefire between the two countries.
Briefing the Council this morning, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping, Bernard Miyet, said five UN liaison officers were in each capital -- Asmara and Addis Ababa -- preparing for the initial deployment, which would comprise the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Ertirea. He stressed that in the meantime, it would be essential to deploy a mine clearance team to the Mission area as soon as possible. "I myself at the end of last week sent a letter to the two ministers of foreign affairs in an effort to speed up deployment of that team," Mr. Miyet said.
"In the coming days, it will be vital for the two parties to cooperate actively to ensure that the temporary security zone is established very quickly and to ensure that the necessary information is made available to the Mission to enable the start-up of mine clearance activities, which is a vital pre-condition for work in the zone to begin," he stressed.
The Under-Secretary-General also described the dire humanitarian situation affecting millions of people in the region. He noted that while many refugees wished to return to their homes, a large number of them would not be able to, "given the lamentable state of housing and basic infrastructure, lack of personal property, lack of social services and the risk posed by mines." Those conditions were compounded by the disastrous drought in Ethiopia, which left 10 million people in need of food aid. Noting that massive humanitarian relief aid would be needed to assist the affected population, he called on the international community to provide funds for this effort.
Following Mr. Miyet's briefing, representatives of close to 20 countries took part in the Council's debate. Ethiopia's delegate, Tesfa Alem Seyoum, stressed the importance of broadening the Mission's mandate and appealed to Council members to adopt the Secretary-General's recommendations for an expanded force. The peoples of his country and Ethiopia were both looking to the Council for a swift decision and speedy and effective deployment of the Mission, he said.
The representative of Ethiopia, Fesseha A. Tessema, expressed hope that the Council would act sooner rather than later in deploying a peacekeeping force and said his Government would cooperate fully with the Mission. He also appealed to the international community to help address the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia.
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