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New York - Alarmed by the growing tension between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the United Nations Security Council is discussing a draft resolution that calls on the two rival neighbours to implement a decision by an international commission on their border dispute.

The draft, which is being circulated among the council's 15 members, "calls on both parties to implement completely and without further delay the decision of the Eritrea-Ethiopia boundary commission and to create the necessary conditions for demarcation to proceed expeditiously".

A diplomat close to the current Romanian presidency of the 15-member council said Friday that the text was expected to be put to a vote in the coming days.

The draft also urges the two sides to meet with the commission to agree on the immediate resumption of the demarcation work and to achieve a full normalisation of their ties through political dialogue leading to further confidence-building measures.

Eritrea has in recent months stepped up sabre-rattling rhetoric over Ethiopia's refusal to accept the border demarcation and in early October, over UN protests, banned helicopter flights by the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).

The move, along with restrictions on UNMEE ground patrols, has forced the mission to abandon nearly half of its observation posts and left it unable to operate in nearly 60 percent of its mandated areas.

The text under consideration by the council demands that Asmara "reverse immediately and without preconditions" its ban on UN helicopter flights as well as other restrictions imposed on UNMEE operations.

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of using the situation to build up its military presence along the border in possible preparation for a new war.

UN chief Kofi Annan this week warned that the situation on the border was "seriously deteriorating" and urged the Security Council to press both nations to implement the peace deal and demand that Eritrea rescind the restrictions.

He also served notice that the world body may have to revisit UNMEE's mandate if it is prevented from doing its job, something that Ethiopia has said would violate the 2000 Algiers agreement that ended the war.

Eritrea has already rejected an earlier appeal from Annan to lift the chopper ban but has never offered an explanation for the move, which diplomats believe was meant to force the council to step up pressure on Ethiopia.

In his letter to the Security Council, Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki denied that his country was using the restrictions as a bargaining chip.

"The measures that (Eritrea) takes to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity are not tactically motivated posturing but rather legal acts of self-defence," he said.


Source:AFP