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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
ERITREA: UN protests at staff expulsions
NAIROBI, 7 Sep 2006 (IRIN) - The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has protested to the Eritrean authorities over the expulsion of five UN staff on allegations of spying, a spokesperson said on Thursday.
"We are not particularly happy and have instituted our own investigation into this unsubstantiated but serious allegations," Musi Khumalo, UNMEE deputy chief public information officer, said.
"The mission has complied with the order and the officers left yesterday, but we continue to engage the authorities to find an amicable way out of this impasse," she added. "The affected staff have been sent to Addis Ababa for the time being."
On Wednesday, the Eritrean authorities gave the five staff members - from Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, Liberia and Trinidad and Tobago - one day to leave the country.
"These individuals were ordered to leave Eritrea within 24 hours after they were apprehended while engaged, out of their mission, in deploying spy networks, recruiting mercenary agents and providing radio communication facilities," a government statement said.
In New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed dismay at the decision, adding that he was also concerned about the recent arrest of another UNMEE staff member by Eritrean authorities, and their refusal to explain the arrest or to provide access to the employee.
Frustrated by the lack of progress in resolving its border dispute with Ethiopia, Eritrea banned UNMEE flights over its territory in October 2005 and expelled some of the peacekeeping mission's North American and European personnel. The move hampered ability of the peacekeepers to monitor the volatile border zone.
The two neighbours have been in a tense stand-off over the demarcation of their 1,000 km border since the Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission ruling in April 2002. As part of the peace settlement that ended their 1998-2000 border war, both countries agreed to abide by the commission's decision.
However, Ethiopia refused to implement the ruling, which awarded the border town of Badme, the conflict's flashpoint, to Eritrea. It called for dialogue, but Eritrea insisted that Ethiopia accept the ruling and opposed reopening negotiations.
In May, the UN Security Council extended UNMEE's mandate for four months but reduced the force, which is mandated to keep the peace on the border, from some 3,370 to 2,300 troops.
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This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006
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