UN / ERITREA

The United Nations (UN) today (20 July) welcomed steps by Eritrea and Djibouti to resolve their border dispute through mediation by Qatar, saying that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was ready to provide technical support if needed to facilitate a settlement.

Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe commended “the recent concrete steps taken by Eritrea and Djibouti on the border issue” and told the Security Council that the Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, had written to Ban informing him that Eritrean troops had withdrawn from the disputed areas of Ras Doumiera and Doumiera Island and that Qatari military observers had been deployed to those localities pending a final settlement.

This follows the signing of an agreement by Eritrea and Djibouti on 6 June, under the auspices of Qatar, in which the neighbouring countries decided to resolve their border conflict through a negotiated settlement.

In March 2008, Eritrea had deployed troops and military equipment to the two areas adjoining its de facto border with Djibouti.

Pascoe said that the UN believed that States in the Horn of Africa, the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union and the UN should “work together to effectively address the inter-linked conflicts in the region, including Somalia and the long-standing border settlement between Eritrea and Ethiopia.”

In his address to the Council Eritrean ambassador Araya Desta, for his part, accused Ethiopia of refusing to honour its obligations and of “arming, training, hosting and financing Eritrean armed elements with the objective to destabilize Eritrea.”

He called on the Security Council to act and stressed that “issues of peace and Security must be addressed in a fair and objective way as the UN Charter dictates.”

Finally, Djiboutian representative Kadra Ahmed Hassan told the Council that her government “welcomes the developments on the ground described in the report” and “is ready to work closely with the Qatari government “in order to resolve the dispute with Eritrea through peaceful means.”

In his latest report on compliance with a Security Council resolution that imposed sanctions on Eritrea for its activities in Djibouti and Somalia, the Secretary-General says that Eritrea deserves credit for its recent constructive engagement with its neighbours and the international community and urges the country to provide evidence that it is complying with the resolution.

The Ugandan-drafted resolution alleged that Eritrea has aided Islamist insurgents in Somalia and bans the sale of weapons to and from Eritrea and imposes asset freezes and travel restrictions on the Horn of Africa state’s political and military leaders.

Since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, the country has been involved in two serious conflicts over territory with its neighbours, Ethiopia and Djibouti, and has been accused of supporting Somali rebels in their fight against their government.