UN peacekeepers denied permission to cross from Eritrea to Ethiopia

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
UN peacekeepers resupplied their food but were running low on fuel Tuesday after being forced to withdraw all personnel to the Eritrean capital, unable to get permission to cross into Ethiopia, UN officials said. Eritrean authorities, continuing their "lack of cooperation" with the United Nations, ordered the peacekeeping mission patrolling the Eritrea-Ethiopia border to "regroup" at Asmara, Eritrea, the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations said Tuesday. About 1,460 UN troops had been spread among camps at Asmara, Barentu, Senafe and Assab. Eritrean authorities forced the U.N. peacekeeping mission to withdraw its 1,000 troops stationed at Barentu, Senafe and Assab, and to relocate them in Asmara. "This move will facilitate further relocation out of the country," the peacekeeping department said in a statement. Asmara has the nation's only international airport.