US embassy cable - 05ADDISABABA4046

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 004046 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2015 
TAGS: PREL, KPKO, MOPS, ET, ER, EE BORDER, UNSC 
SUBJECT: UNMEE OFFICIALS AWAITING GUIDANCE ON ERITREA'S 
REQUEST TO EXPEL PEACEKEEPERS 
 
REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 4044 
 
     B. ASMARA 1171 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES VICKI HUDDLESTON.  REASON: 1.4 (D). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY.  Eritrea's demand that American, Canadian, 
and European (including Russian) UNMEE staff depart within 10 
days could affect Ethiopia's previous commitment to withdraw 
troops from the border, senior UNMEE officials say.  UNMEE is 
awaiting guidance from New York on whether to comply with or 
to reject the GSE's request, the latest in a series of 
restrictions imposed since October.  Were UNMEE to comply, it 
would not only directly affect nearly half of UNMEE's 
military observers, but also hamper missionwide 
transportation and logistics.  In the absence of a formal 
status of mission agreement, UN legal officials are reviewing 
the June 2000 cessation of hostilities agreement to determine 
whether Eritrea can require host-country approval of staff 
serving in a Chapter VI peacekeeping mission.  India's 
ambassador to Ethiopia has discussed the possibility of 
replacing staff with those of unaffected nationalities, 
rather than withdrawal from UNMEE.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) On the afternoon of December 7, following an earlier 
briefing for NATO ambassadors (ref A), Addis Ababa-based 
officials of the UN Mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) 
briefed Western European missions, Bulgaria, Canada, the 
U.S., and UNSC members Tanzania and Algeria on the Government 
of the State of Eritrea's (GSE) December 6 decision to expel 
Western nationals serving in UNMEE.  Deputy Special 
Representative of the UN Secretary-General (DSRSG) Amb. Azouz 
Ennifar said that GSE Acting Commissioner for Coordination 
with the UN Peacekeeping Mission Col. Zecarias Ogbagaber had 
informed UNMEE on the evening of December 6 that "all members 
of UNMEE" holding U.S., Canadian, European, or Russian 
nationality should leave UNMEE within 10 days, "irrespective 
of the sector of their activity."  Eritrea had provided no 
further explanation, Ennifar said.  Amb. Ennifar said the 
request had been forwarded to UN headquarters in New York, 
and characterized it as a continuation of a decision taken by 
the GSE two months earlier to impose incrementally tighter 
restrictions on UNMEE and its freedom of movement.  UNMEE 
Spokeswoman Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainte said UNHQ would likely 
prepare a statement for release by the UNSYG. 
 
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ETHIOPIA MAY RECONSIDER REDEPLOYING TROOPS AWAY FROM BORDER 
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3. (SBU) Amb. Ennifar said that upon informing Ethiopia's 
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr. Tekeda Alema this 
morning of Eritrea's request, Tekeda responded that Ethiopia 
would not be provoked, and that Ethiopia's decision last week 
(following UNSCR 1640) to withdraw its troops along the 
border to positions held in December 2004 would be "examined 
in the context of these new conditions."  Ennifar commented 
that he believed that Ethiopia would implement a partial 
withdrawal -- withdrawing only in areas where Ethiopia 
assessed that Eritrea did not pose a risk. 
 
4. (SBU) Amb. Ennifar noted that at the November 25 meeting 
in Nairobi of the Military Coordination Commission, the only 
active mechanism for discussions between Ethiopia and 
Eritrea, Eritrea had rejected UNSCR 1640 for failing to 
resolve underlying issues.  He said that while Ethiopia had 
committed to withdraw troops to positions held in December 
2004, Eritrea had asserted that the directive to withdraw 
troops did not apply to Eritrea, as Eritrea claimed it had 
not moved any troops into the TSZ. 
 
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WOULD CURTAIL FIXED-WING OPERATIONS AND HALF OF UNMEE'S MILOBS 
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5. (SBU) DSRSG Ennifar said that the GSE's request would 
directly apply to approximately 150 UNMEE personnel in 
Eritrea:  90 out of 220 military observers, as well as 
approximately 50-60 civilian staff in Asmara.  However, 
indirect consequences would include hampering mission 
communications and logistics, he said, noting that UNMEE's 
chief of administration was Russian.  Ennifar also expressed 
concern that if the UN considered the GSE's request to apply 
to UNMEE contractors as well as personnel, then it would 
hamper demining operations and possibly curtail UNMEE's fixed 
wing air operations (as Ukrainian air crews operate two 
Antonov aircraft based in Asmara). 
 
6. (SBU) In response to questions from Western diplomats, 
Ennifar said it was "too early" to discuss whether the GSE's 
request would require UNMEE to additional posts (18 out of 40 
have been closed since the GSE's October flight ban) in the 
Temporary Security Zone (TSZ).  Whether UNMEE would comply 
and seek to substitute staff of either nationalities, or 
protest the decision, would depend on the UNSC's decision, he 
said.  "It is completely in the hands of the Security 
Council," Ennifar said.  He said the new restrictions were 
intended to put further pressure on the international 
community to address border demarcation, and that he believed 
that the GSE did not want UNMEE to leave.  If Eritrea wanted 
UNMEE to leave, it would simply direct UNMEE to do so, he 
said.  Asked to identify UNMEE's red-lines, Ennifar said 
UNMEE would have to reconsider its presence only when 
personnel's safety was at risk, or when it was reduced to so 
few personnel that it would be impossible to fulfill its 
mandate. 
 
7. (SBU) Further restrictions by the GSE were likely, 
according to UNMEE Head of Political Affairs and Principal 
Political Advisor Amb. Leandre Bassole, based in Asmara but 
visiting Addis Ababa.  Amb. Bassole said that when the GSE 
announced its ban on UNMEE helicopter flights, GSE officials 
had explicitly linked the move with a desire to prod the UNSC 
to act on border demarcation, and had said that additional 
restrictions could be imposed in the future.  DSRSG Ennifar 
noted that beginning with the flight ban imposed two weeks 
after the GSE's minister of finance's belligerent address to 
the UNGA on September 23, the GSE had placed an increasing 
number of restrictions on UNMEE: affecting not only its 
freedom of movement (restricting time and locations), but 
also measures that harassed UNMEE staff (e.g., forbidding 
UNMEE's PX to import shipping containers, and requiring 
departing UNMEE staff to provide receipts for all personal 
effects). 
 
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LEGAL BASIS OF ERITREA'S REQUEST UNCLEAR 
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8. (SBU) UN legal experts were reviewing the June 2000 
cessation of hostilities agreement (S/2000/601) and the 
December 2000 Algiers accord, although neither agreement 
provides much detail, to determine whether there was a legal 
basis for Eritrea's request, Ennifar said.  He observed that 
the June 2000 agreement may refer to consent of host 
countries, but that while the SRSG had to be approved by both 
countries, whether the composition of peacekeeping mission 
staff was subject to formal host-country approval remained an 
open question, he said.  Ennifar noted that UNMEE had 
operated until now without any formal status of mission 
agreement with the GSE, and had previously subjected 
composition of personnel to host-country approval. 
 
9. (SBU) Amb. Bassole commented that Eritrea's request was 
"directed against Western countries."  He noted that it came 
five years after the establishment of UNMEE, and therefore 
was without precedent.  Canada's ambassador said Canada was 
at a loss to explain its inclusion in Eritrea's expulsion 
order, as it was minimally involved in the border situation, 
but believed that Eritrea was likely protesting former 
Canadian foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy's tenure as UN 
Special Envoy for Ethiopia and Eritrea. 
 
10. (SBU) UN peacekeeping missions operating under Chapter VI 
of the UN Charter typically require host country approval, 
Ennifar said.  However, were the UNSC to decide to change 
UNMEE's mandate to Chapter VII (i.e., peace enforcement), 
then "they (Eritrea) cannot reject it," he said. 
 
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NO TALK OF WITHDRAWING FROM TROOP CONTRIBUTING COUNTRIES 
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11. (SBU) Troop contributing countries (principally Jordan 
and India) have given no official reaction to the GSE's 
request, Ennifar said, but share concerns about the safety of 
their personnel.  Amb. Bassole reported that India's 
ambassador to Ethiopia had met with UNMEE officials and had 
proposed that UNMEE examine: (1) the possible replacement of 
those asked to leave with staff from other nationalities, and 
(2) redeploying affected staff from Eritrea to Ethiopia. 
 
12. (C) Amb. Ennifar informed poloff that UNMEE has 
contingency plans, established earlier, for evacuation from 
Eritrea, but none for reinforcing its mission or for 
substituting staff.  He also observed that Eritrea's action 
was directed against all P-5 members except China (which has 
both MILOBs and civilian staff assigned to UNMEE), and 
asserted that China had recently provided arms to Eritrea. 
DSRSG Ennifar also noted that as of December 6 (prior to the 
GSE's announcement), UNMEE observers had not yet confirmed 
any Ethiopian withdrawal from border areas.  Troop movements 
north from Mekele (in Tigray) to the border had ceased, but 
no Ethiopian troops had been seen withdrawing south, he said. 
 
13. (C) COMMENT:  Allied missions are concerned that even if 
Eritrea's move is legally justified, it establishes a bad 
precedent.  Senior UNMEE officials are awaiting guidance on 
whether to comply with the GSE's request (but circumvent its 
effects by substituting personnel from other UN missions), or 
to reject it.  The UN has some ability to transfer assets 
among peacekeeping missions:  Ennifar noted that following 
the GSE's October ban on air operations, UNMEE transferred 
helicopters to MONUC in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
END COMMENT. 
HUDDLESTON