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Ethiopia Says Pullout From Eritrea Complete
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 24 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The United Nations said Saturday the Ethiopian government had reported the completion of its troop pullout from Eritrea, paving the way for the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers between the neighboring states.
If confirmed, the completion of the withdrawal process would mark a major advance for peace in the Horn of Africa following the deaths of around 100,000 Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers in last year's bitter border war.
"The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea has received notification from the government of Ethiopia that it completed the redeployment of its troops on 22 February," UNMEE said in a statement.
The redeployment began on Tuesday, when 1,000 troops accompanied by tanks and heavy artillery, constituting the bulk of the Ethiopian forces in the south-central Senafe region, began moving back towards the Ethiopian border.
The withdrawal is a key element of a peace accord between Eritrea and Ethiopia finalized in December following a ceasefire agreed to last June.
The pullout coincides with the setting up by UNMEE of a 25-kilometer (15.5 mile) wide buffer zone along the Eritrean side of the border designed to separate the two armies, which first went to war in May 1998.
UNMEE said it would seek to verify Ethiopia's claims on Monday, the deadline set under an agreement in Nairobi earlier this month for Addis Ababa to complete the withdrawal of its troops.
Ethiopian troops had been in the country since they launched a major offensive there in May 2000.
Under the agreement, Eritrea is slated to move its forces to the northern boundary of the buffer zone, to positions held by its troops before the outbreak of war in May 1998, known as the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ), by March 3rd. Eritrea, for its part, must withdraw its forces 25 kilometers from Ethiopian lines.
UNMEE comprises more than 4,000 troops mandated to verify the establishment of the TSZ and to monitor the ceasefire.
"The establishment of the TSZ is a first crucial step to make it possible for the two governments to organize the return of displaced people, the re-establishment of local economies and to allow the international humanitarian community to make a full contribution," Saturday's UNMEE statement said.
More than 3,600 civilians have been repatriated since the peace accord was signed and both sides have released hundreds of prisoners of war, allowing them to return home.
At the beginning of February, Ethiopia and Eritrea appointed lawyers from the United States, Great Britain, Nigeria and the Netherlands to a neutral commission charged with delimiting their common border.
The delimitation commission arises out of the December peace accord, which also envisaged the creation of a claims commission to settle the question of compensation for war damage suffered by the governments and by private individuals of the two countries.
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