The Eritrean authorities accused members of the U.N. Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) of making pornography, harbouring criminals and even of dishonouring the national currency by using it as toilet paper.
The government made its accusations in a statement broadcast on national television on Thursday.
UNMEE officials could not be reached for comment on the accusations, which were sure to put relations with the U.N. force under further strain.
The U.N. peacekeepers patrol a 15-mile (25-km) buffer zone along the unmarked, 620-mile (1,000 km) frontier between the two Horn of Africa neighbours that fought a two-year border war.
“The fact that UNMEE has to date not taken any concrete actions and shown no cooperation to correct its modus operandi and clean up its activities, exposes to grave danger the peace and stability of the people and government of Eritrea, as well as the security and stability of our region,” the government said.
Eritrea has accused UNMEE of illegally monitoring movements of its troops, prompting the closure to U.N. troops of a highway linking the capital Asmara to Barentu, a town to its southwest.
UNMEE says the restriction on its movement prevents it from fulfilling its mandate. On Thursday it accused Eritrea of detaining local staff, a violation of the peace accord that brought the 1998-2000 war to an end.
An UNMEE report last June included testimony from Eritrean women who said Irish peacekeepers had used prostitutes as young as 15 while serving the U.N. mission in Eritrea.
