UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday expressed deep concern at the incursion by Eritrean troops into the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) separating Eritrea from Ethiopia in a major breach of the cease-fire that ended the two-year border war between the two countries.
 
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Annan called on Eritrea to withdraw its troops from the zone immediately.

"The secretary-general urges the government of Eritrea to withdraw its troops from the Zone immediately, and to cooperate with the United Nations in restoring the cease-fire arrangements," the statement said.

The United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) reported on Monday that the Eritrean Defense Forces (EDF) have moved approximately 1,500 troops and 14 tanks into the TSZ. The EDF also took over one UNMEE checkpoint in Sector West.

Overseeing the cease-fire between the two countries signed in Algiers in 2000, UNMEE currently fields nearly 2,300 military personnel to assist in ensuring the observance of the security commitments agreed by the parties and monitor the positions of forces on both sides.

Annan said the Eritrean incursion constitutes a major breach of the cease-fire and the integrity of the TSZ. "It could seriously jeopardize the peace process and undermine the Algiers Agreements between Ethiopia and Eritrea, with potential consequences for the wider region."

In his latest report last month on the conflict, Annan repeated concerns that Ethiopia had not accepted the binding decisions of the Boundary Commission demarcating the lines that had caused the war, and that Eritrea refused to continue to cooperate with the body.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2006)