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Misanet.com / IPS, 16 March - The United Nations is confident that the disputed peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea will "not fall apart" despite existing disagreements over the implementation of an agreement reached in June last year. The mission is proceeding in a satisfactory manner, says Kofi Annan. - The UN Mission was dealing with two disciplined leaders, two disciplined nations and two disciplined armies, the Chief of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) Legwaila Joseph Legwaila told reporters. Expressing strong support for UNMEE, the 15-member UN Security Council Thursday unanimously decided to extend the mandate of the peacekeeping mission for another six months ending 15 September. In a report to the Council, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that the deployment of UN troops to the Mission area is proceeding in a satisfactory manner, and that the Force Commander has reported he had a credible force to carry out his mandate. The last round of fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea began in May 1998, primarily as a result of a border dispute. But the two countries agreed to a cease-fire last July and signed "a comprehensive peace agreement" in Algiers in December last year. The United Nations was mandated to monitor the cease-fire and ensure the implementation of the peace agreement. Legwaila admitted that there were "recent difficulties" that prevented UNMEE from formally declaring the establishment of the Temporary Security Zone - the zone meant to separate the two warring parties. In some places, the two armies had been deployed about 100 metres from each other, and they were "armed to the teeth", he added. He was confident, however, that the Zone would be established soon. The differences, he said, were between a political map and an operational map of the proposed Zone, which was entirely within the territory of Eritrea. But Ethiopia had stated categorically that a part of the Zone was an area that had been under its administration for a very long time. Legwaila said the United Nations was not, in any sense, imposing the concept of a Temporary Security Zone. The two warring parties had themselves come up with the idea and agreed to it last June. Asked about the other problems, he said that UNMEE was still not permitted to fly directly from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Asmara, Eritrea. Other limits had been placed on UNMEE's freedom of movement, despite the commitment of both parties to ensuring freedom of movement as part of the peace agreement. In a letter to the Security Council Thursday, Ambassador Ahmed Tahir Baduri of Eritrea said his country recognised the "enormous progress" made under the leadership of Legwaila. "At the same time, it is evident that problems of varying magnitude are bound to crop up from time to time. It is very clear that we are confronted with a number of serious problems at the moment," the letter warned. Baduri says that Ethiopia has also challenged one of the Commissioners, Jan Paulsson, appointed by Eritrea to the Boundary Commission which will sit in judgement over the claims made by the two countries over the disputed territory. According to the letter, Ethiopia has based its challenge on "unsupported - and flatly false - allegation that Paulsson was secretly a legal adviser to the Eritrean government with regard to the boundary dispute with Ethiopia. We have found Ethiopia's claim to be unreasonable and will receive due response from our legal team. Eritrea has, in fact, more reasons to challenge the two Commissioners that Ethiopia appointed to the Compensation Commission because of their longstanding ties with the government of Ethiopia," the letter notes. Meanwhile, Legwaila also told reporters that "unfortunately, there was still a great deal of bitterness and distrust between the two parties." Despite their genuine desire for peace, he said, the respective troop positions were - understandably - an extremely sensitive matter. However, said Legwaila, he hopes that those operational issues would soon be resolved, which would allow UNMEE to be in the best possible position to assist the two parties in addressing the challenges of the peace process. Currently, there are 4,000 UN peacekeepers and some 220 military observers serving with UNMEE. By Thalif Deen, IPS
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