ADDIS ABABA, 11 January (IRIN) - Tension along the disputed Ethiopia-Eritrea border has eased following the withdrawal of eight Ethiopian troop divisions from the frontier, a senior United Nations official said on Wednesday.
"We have had some reduction in tension because the force levels on the border have reduced," said Maj-Gen Rajender Singh, troop commander for the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
"I am not saying that there are no tensions," he told a news conference. "[But] there was not a formation of military build-ups, no tanks or heavy artillery movement observed in the previous days."
On Monday, the United States launched a diplomatic initiative to encourage the two neighbours to demarcate their contested border, where both countries have massed troops.
John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN, said Washington was sending a team to try and resolve the current standoff, which had reached a "critical point".
He said Jendayi Frazer, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, and retired Marine Gen Carlton Fulford, director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, would lead the team. However, no date was announced for their travel.
UNMEE welcomed the US initiative. "I believe it [the US mission] is a chance for peace, and I expect the parties to contribute to that," said Azouz Ennifar, deputy head of the UN peacekeeping force.
Demarcation of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border was a key element of the December 2000 peace deal that ended their two-year conflict. Ethiopia has refused to implement certain conditions that would involve handing over the border town of Badme - where the war flared up - to Eritrea.
The Security Council on Monday discussed options for UNMEE in the face of the restrictions by Eritrea, which is angered by what it says is the reluctance of the international community to compel Ethiopia to comply with the stalled April 2002 border ruling.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last week laid out six options to the Council, including the complete withdrawal of UNMEE from the demilitarised zone between the two countries.
Eritrea criticised Annan's report. "The sad truth is all this commotion could have been avoided and prevented had Ethiopia honoured its treaty obligations and had the UN Security Council shouldered its responsibilities," its foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.
Ethiopian authorities were not immediately available for comment.
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