Maj-Gen Rajender Singh, new UNMEE CommanderMaj-Gen Rajender Singh, new UNMEE Force Commander
NAIROBI, - The new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Maj-Gen Rajender Singh told IRIN on Monday he was optimistic that the border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea could eventually be resolved peacefully, adding that the military situation was fairly stable.
"I am basically an optimist. I do see a light at the end of the tunnel from the fact that the leadership on both sides is fully committed to peace [and] have reaffirmed that over and over again, including at the MCC [Military Coordination Commission] meeting today," Singh said in an interview.
UNMEE was established after Ethiopia and Eritrea signed an Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities on 18 June 2000 in Algiers, Algeria. The two countries had gone to war in May 1998 because of a border dispute. The cessation of hostilities agreement was followed by the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement on 12 December 2000, also in Algiers.
"I am quite hopeful that the current political impasse will be broken and I do see some better times coming as far peace in this region is concerned," Singh told IRIN in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. "As far as UNMEE is concerned, there is no lack of effort. It will be our endeavour, the endeavour of my troops on the ground to ensure that we do our best to ensure that peace and stability remains in the TSZ [Transition Security Zone], and that we carry out our tasks as per the mandate of the Security Council," he added.
Singh, who previously served as regional commander in the UN Verification Mission in Angola from 1985 to 1986, took over as UNMEE Force Commander on 23 July.
"I feel that as far as the situation on both sides of the border is concerned, militarily, the situation is fairly stable. We have been able to maintain a fair amount of stability and the situation by and large has been peaceful," he said. "The complete area has been generally free of incidents and we have had no major incident of firing against each other and as far as the military situation is concerned, I am quite happy."
Singh added that UNMEE had been able to successfully create a climate in which it was possible to bring lasting peace to the region.
"When one is dealing with a situation of this kind, you do encounter difficulties. But those difficulties are there when you are dealing with an inter-state situation anywhere. My own experience of dealing with the authorities [in the region] is that they have been fairly cooperative," he said.
"They have re-affirmed their complete cooperation with UNMEE and have, over and over again, emphasised the fact that they will cooperate with UNMEE in the achievement of its mandate," he added.
On the possibility of conflict again erupting in the region, Singh said: "UNMEE is here to create a kind of environment which reduces the possibility of conflict. However, this environment by itself is not enough to prevent conflict or totally eliminate the chances of conflict. If we really want the chances of conflict to be zero, then the current political stalemate would need to be broken."
He hailed the UN Security Council for supporting UNMEE, saying the proposals to restructure the force that were made by the Council on 14 September would "right-size" it without affecting its operations and mandate. "We have a force strength that will be able to live up to the expectations of the Security Council," he noted. "I am optimistic that the situation is going to improve."
During its recent meeting, the Council extended the mandate of UNMEE for another six months, but expressed concern over the lack of progress in efforts to resolve the dispute over the demarcation of the border between the two countries. It also approved Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recommendation that the mission be scaled down.
The peacekeeping force is currently made up of 3,800 civilian and military staff, and costs US $16.8 million a month to maintain.
In a report to the Council, Annan had recommended a gradual two-phased approach that would see headquarters staff scaled down by almost a third. Kenyan troops who patrol the eastern sector of the border would be pulled out, with more helicopter patrols being introduced to monitor the ceasefire. The three border sectors would be consolidated into two, covering the 1,000-km long frontier.
Singh, who was in Nairobi to attend the 26th MCC meeting for the first time, was introduced to the gathering by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila.
Legwaila told the MCC that while it had been more than four years since the two neighbours signed an agreement on cessation of hostilities, they still had a long way to go in normalising relations. He called for confidence-building measures to be implemented by both parties, as recommended in the Security Council Resolution, such as holding MCC meetings in the capitals of each country or at the border.
The MCC was attended by Capt Ernst Lochner of the African Union, while Ethiopia's military delegation was led by Maj-Gen Yohannes Gebremeskel and Eritrea's by Brig-Gen Abrahaley Kifle.
The peace process between the two neighbours stalled after Ethiopia rejected an April 2002 ruling by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission. Both countries had initially agreed to accept the ruling. Although the commission drew up and published details of the new border in 2002, the physical demarcation of the frontier has been suspended as a result of the dispute that erupted after Ethiopia's rejection of the ruling.
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The material contained in this article is from IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.
All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004