United Nations Pulls Out Eritrea Peacekeepers

[XXPANTHAXX]

The UN Security Council has decided to pull US, Canadian and
European staff serving in the peacekeeping mission in Eritrea
out of the country.

Some 180 personnel, who are military observers and civilians,
will be temporarily relocated to Ethiopia.

The move follows Eritrea's demand that the UN staff should
leave by Friday.

Tensions along the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea have
risen with reports of troop movements on both sides in recent
months.

The UN peacekeepers who mostly come from the developing world
are monitoring the border following a war between the two
countries that ended in 2000.

'Sign of frustration'

The UN Security Council members said in a unanimously agreed
statement, they had decided to move the staff out of Eritrea
temporarily in the interest of their safety and security.

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TENSE BORDER
Dec 2000: Peace agreement
Apr 2002: Border ruling
Mar 2003: Ethiopian complaint over Badme rejected
Sep 2003: Ethiopia asks for new ruling
Feb 2005: UN concern at military build-up
Oct 2005: Eritrea restricts peacekeepers' activities
Nov 2005: UN sanctions threat if no compliance with 2000 deal
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The members strongly condemned what they called Eritrea's
unacceptable actions and restrictions on the peacekeeping
mission and warned it could have implications for the
operation's future.

Diplomats said the move did not mean they were caving in to
Eritrea, which last week ordered the Canadian, American and
European staff members to leave the country.

Eritrea's demand is widely seen as a sign of frustration that
little has been done by the international community to force
Ethiopia to leave the border town of Badme.

This was given to Eritrea by the Boundary Commission, set up
under a peace agreement between the two countries.

The Security Council also emphasised the need for progress in
implementing this Boundary Commission's decision.

US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said Eritrea was acting
unacceptably but that they also needed to focus on Ethiopia's
lack of compliance.