Eritrea: UN slams tyrant Afewerki with yet another condemnation

01 May 2008 (UN News)--Recalling its prior condemnation for lack of cooperation with UN peacekeepers, the UN Security Council in a rare night session slammed Afewerki’s tyrannical regime in Eritrea with yet another condemnation.

The Security Council said the Regime's ongoing obstruction of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has dealt a blow to the blue helmets' mandate.

According to a statement read out last night by Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa, which held the rotating presidency of the Council for April, The restrictions posed by Eritrea have compelled UNMEE to relocate temporarily.

“The Security Council will, in the light of consultations with the parties, decide on the terms of a future UN engagement and on the future of UNMEE,” he noted.

The 15-member Council said that it is prepared to help the sides break the stalemate, but warned that – as it has in previous statements – the two countries are responsible for reaching a “comprehensive and lasting settlement” of their border dispute and for normalizing their relations.

Calling on the Horn of Africa neighbours “to show maximum restraint and to refrain from any threat or use of force against each other,” the statement urged Ethiopia and Eritrea to follow up on commitments made in the 2000 Algiers Agreements, which ended the war between the countries.

Last week, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno told reporters following a closed Security Council meeting on the situation between the parties that “now we are reaching the end of what peacekeeping can achieve,” given Eritrea's announcement that it no longer supports the UN peacekeeping presence.

The meeting was called to order at 9:20 p.m. and adjourned at 9:22 p.m.

The full text of the statement, to be issued as document S/PRST/2008/12, reads as follows:

'The Security Council notes that the continuation of Eritrea's obstructions towards United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has reached a level so as to undermine the basis of the Mission's mandate and has compelled UNMEE to temporarily relocate. The Security Council recalls its previous condemnation of Eritrea's lack of cooperation.

'The Security Council notes the underlying fundamental issues and stands ready to assist the parties to overcome the current stalemate, taking into account the interests and concerns of both parties.

'The Security Council will, in the light of consultations with the parties, decide on the terms of a future United Nations engagement and on the future of UNMEE.

'The Security Council stresses, in accordance with its repeated statements, that the primary responsibility for achieving a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the border dispute and normalizing their relations rests with the parties themselves.

'The Security Council urges both sides to show maximum restraint and to refrain from any threat or use of force against each other and calls upon the parties to address forthwith the unresolved issues in accordance with the commitments made in the Algiers Agreements.'