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UN demands Eritrea pullback from Dijbouti border
Djibouti map here. Eritrea map here. The area of dispute is in the northern Djibouti province of Obock.
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday unanimously demanded that Eritrea quickly pull its troops back from the Djibouti border and acknowledge the dispute with its Horn of Africa neighbor in an important area overlooking critical Red Sea shipping lanes.

In June, the Security Council condemned Eritrea for launching an attack against the tiny port nation of Djibouti, a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism, which the U.S. said left 44 Djiboutian soldiers dead and many more missing. The council had called for a cease-fire and urged the two countries to withdraw their forces from the border. Djibouti did, but Eritrea did not.

The council's resolution Wednesday expressed "deep concern" that Eritrea has not withdrawn its forces and has refused to engage in dialogue with Djibouti or accept the offers of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the African Union and others to help resolve the dispute. The council demanded that Eritrea "comply immediately" with its order to pull back its troops and start talking to resolve the conflict. It gave Eritrea five weeks to take action.

Uncertainty over the Djibouti-Eritrea border also led to hostilities twice in the 1990s. Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year guerrilla war, and their border is also in dispute.

In October, Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh warned the council that Eritrea's occupation of Djibouti's territory could lead to war again. He urged the council "to do everything possible" to persuade Eritrea to leave the territory it has occupied since March.

Eritrea had accused the United States of instigating the conflict.


Posted by: Fred 2009-01-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=259925