afrol News, 31 March - The Eritrean government has shun the UN Security council resolution to pull out from a disputed area at the joint border with Djibouti, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon said in a statement.

The UN Security Council ordered Eritrea to withdraw its forces from a disputed border region with Djibouti in January, giving the country a five weeks ultimatum to vacate the disputed border of Ras Doumeira and Doumeira island.

The border dispute burst into fighting in June 2008, killing at least 35 people and left dozens wounded.

The UN Chief said the international body has not been availed information that Asmara has complied with the resolution, saying Eritrea was still insisting that it has not occupied any land that belongs to Djibouti and it cannot accept a resolution that demands the withdrawal of its forces from its own territory.

Mr Ban said just a day after the council’s 14 January resolution, Eritrea’s foreign ministry said the resolution was ill-considered, unbalanced and unnecessary against the Eritrean government.

The ministry also accused the council of tolerating Ethiopian occupation of the disputed border town of Badme and other territories claimed by Eritrea, urging the Council to deal with the stalled Eritrea and Ethiopia border row first.

The UN secretary general said he plans to pursue contacts with both parties as well as relevant regional organisations including the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to assess how best the two countries can implement the Resolution 1862.

Tension between the Horn of Africa countries has been high since 16 April 2008 when Eritrean troops raided Ras Doumeira, a disputed peninsula on the shores of the Red Sea.

Last June's confrontation was the first clash since 1996. The two countries had in the past clashed twice over the border area at the southern end of the Red Sea, in 1996 and 1999.

Eritrea which gained independence in 1993 from Ethiopia has been a menace in the Horn of Africa having been involved in two serious conflicts on border demarcation with its neighbours and is still recovering from its 1998 war with Ethiopia.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories