Eritrea detains UN national staff

By Ed Harris
February 13, 2006

“The details are not yet known, but a number of UNMEE national staff were taken at the weekend and are still being held at police stations,” a diplomat told Reuters, referring to the U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).

Eritrea blames the international community, and the United Nations in particular, for not forcing Ethiopia to demarcate the Ethiopian-Eritrean border under the terms of a peace deal to end their 1998-2000 border war which killed 70,000 people.

The U.N. describes the 1,000 km (620 mile) border as tense. Last week it gave the United States another 30 days to continue mediation between the two Horn of Africa countries.

The reason for the arrest of the U.N. peacekeepers was not immediately clear.

“If they have broken the law, they should be arrested regardless of where they work,” said Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu. “We will not allow UNMEE to be a sanctuary for fugitives,” he added.

In September, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said seven Eritrean staff had been detained since mid-2004 despite an international treaty guaranteeing the safety of U.N. personnel.

A U.N. official said the seven staff had been charged with failure to fulfill their compulsory national service.

In October, Eritrea ordered an immediate ban on U.N. helicopter flights, restricting the U.N.’s capacity to monitor the border with Ethiopia.

The detentions of the U.N. peacekeepers happened while Eritreans were commemorating the country’s 1990 capture of Port Massawa during the 30-year struggle for independence from Ethiopia.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki did not mention Ethiopia or the international community in his speech on Saturday which some diplomats said was a softening of tone from recent speeches.