In Eritrea, UN Mission Is Running Out of Fuel, While Council Mulls Six More Months of Staying

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, January 25 -- UN peacekeepers in Eritrea have been without any fuel deliveries since December 1. Friday in front of the Security Council chamber, UN envoy Azouz Ennifar told reporters that unless the situation changes, a decision to leave the country would have to be made in February. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has suggested to the Council that the UNMEE mission should only be extended for a month. The goal of this short extension would be to send Eritrea a message. But what message? Others on the Council objected, saying that this was just what Eritrea wanted. These members suggested the standard six-month extension, combined with some other as-yet-undecided upon messaging. Inner City Press asked Mr. Ennifar if he thought that the UN's perceived acquiescence in Ethiopia's foray into Somalia has led Eritrea to be even more suspicious of all things UN. "I don't think I want to answer that question," Ennifar said. Video here, from Minute 4:06.

            It is often said that the UN only operates with the consent of host governments. UNMEE is right at the limit. Already, Eritrea has specified nationalities of peacekeepers it will not accept, and does not allow night flights. Both are conditions that, when raised by Sudan, are widely condemned in the media and, for example, by the UN's incoming Messenger of Peace. But this has been going on in Eritrea for some time. In part it is because supposedly binding decisions about land and demarcation have not been implemented. Inner City Press asked Ennifar for the UN's or the mission's position on so-called virtual demarcation. "I don't think the UN or the mission has to have a position," Ennifar said. Maybe that's the problem.

UNMEE, without fuel

            What other diplomatic channels are being tried, to solve these problems, Inner City Press asked. Ennifar answered rhetorically, "What more can we do than call on the Security Council itself?" But how is that working? The Council is now considering the six or one month extension of the mandate. The  underlying problems, it seems, are never on the table. And so it goes.

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These reports are also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

  Because a number of Inner City Press' UN sources go out of their way to express commitment to serving the poor, and while it should be unnecessary, Inner City Press is compelled to conclude this installment in a necessarily-ongoing series by saluting the stated goals of the UN agencies and many of their staff. Keep those cards, letters and emails coming, and phone calls too, we apologize for any phone tag, but please continue trying, and keep the information flowing.

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Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

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