Eritrea rejects UN call to withdraw troops!

[Chimera]

Eritrea: Govt rejects UN call to Withdraw Troops

Wed. October 18, 2006 04:51 pm.

 

Eritrea has rejected a United Nations Security Council call to quickly withdraw troops from a demilitarised buffer zone on its arch-rival Ethiopia, - Sapa-AFP reported Wednesday.

 

On Tuesday, Eritrea said it had sent its soldiers into the so-called "Temporary Security Zone" (TSZ) to harvest crops.

 

However, in a contrary move, Eritrea said it had a sovereign right to have troops on any portion of its soil, including in the TSZ criticising the UN for ineffectiveness.

 

Eritrea also denounced the UN for failing to push Ethiopia to accept a border delineation that emanated from the 2000 agreement that ended the two countries' bloody two-year border war.

 

Eritrea’s Information Minister Ali Abdu said from Asmara that "It is unacceptable for the UN Security Council to make such a tepid call that causes more confusion and even complicates the situation."

 

"We are in our territory and this is our sovereign state," he said. "Our citizens are engaged in development projects, so what is the big deal?"

 

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council on Tuesday unanimously called for Eritrea to withdraw the 1 500 troops and 15 tanks sent into the TSZ on Monday in a move that UN chief Kofi Annan called a "major breach" of the 2000 accord.

 

Kofi Annan said such actions "could seriously jeopardise the peace process" and also have "potential consequences for the wider region".

 

Eritrea’s Ali Abdu, said that instead of making demands on Asmara, the UN should push Addis Ababa to implement a 2002 ruling that is part of the deal that reroutes parts of the 1 000km Ethiopian-Eritrean border.

 

source