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UN Welcomes Agreement on Ethiopia-Eritrea Buffer Zone
The UN Security Council on Friday welcomed the recent agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea to move forward with the establishment of a temporary buffer zone between them, calling for their full cooperation with the UN peace-keepers.
In a statement read out at a formal meeting, council president Said Ben Mustapha of Tunisia encouraged the parties to continue working toward the "full and prompt" implementation of the Algiers Agreement they signed last December.
The two Horn of Africa countries are urged to cooperate with the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) through the complete redeployment of troops consistent with the Algiers Agreement and the establishment of a direct air corridor between the capital cities of Asmara and Addis Ababa.
The council also called on both sides to continue exercising restraint, implementing confidence-building measures and releasing civilians and prisoners of war.
The two governments are urged to continue working for reconstruction, development, reconciliation and cooperation with neighboring countries.
Eritrea had been an Ethiopian province until 1993 when it became independent with Ethiopian support.
Fighting first broke out along the 1,000-kilometer border in 1998 and flared up again in May 2000. The two countries signed a cessation of hostilities agreement in Algiers in June to halt a conflict which claimed tens of thousands of lives and uprooted more than a million people.
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