Friday, March 03, 2006

Eritrea ban blamed for UN death

The United Nations has accused Eritrea of placing its personnel at risk with a ban on helicopter flights.
This follows the death of an Indian peacekeeper on his way to hospital after a cardiac arrest in the buffer zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The evacuation flight took nearly four hours instead of 50 minutes. The helicopter had to use a longer route because of the ban, which Eritrea introduced in October, along with restrictions on ground patrols.

Eritrea believes the international community is not putting enough pressure on Ethiopia to accept a border demarcation made by an independent commission in 2000.

The neighbours fought a brutal war between 1997-2000 which ended with a peace agreement committing both sides to abide by the ruling of an independent commission which demarcated the boundary.

However, Ethiopia has not withdrawn its troops from the disputed border town of Badme, which the commission awarded to Eritrea.

Last year, Eritrea banned UN helicopter flights and called for the expulsion of Western peacekeepers.

In January, Eritrea's President Isaias Afewerki refused to allow the team of US diplomats and army officials to visit the border area.

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