ASMARA, Eritrea, March 21 (UPI) -- Eritrea expelled the head of a U.N. mine clearance team for what it called "repeated violations of Eritrean laws and regulations."
The order was the East African nation's latest move against the U.N. mission set up to monitor the cease-fire that ended a two-year border war with Ethiopia in 2000.
The U.N. Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia "does not agree with this decision or the rationale given, but has complied with the expulsion order," the mission said in a statement Wednesday from its headquarters in the capital of Asmara.
The program manager of UNMEE-Mine Action Coordination Centre David Bax left the country.
The Eritrean move follows a ban Asmara imposed on U.N. helicopters in October 2005, the expulsion in December 2005 of over 180 UNMEE staff on the basis of their nationality and restrictions on the freedom of movement of UNMEE patrols on the Eritrean side of the border.
"This latest action of the Eritrean authorities will further affect the mission's capacity to perform its functions as mandated by the (U.N.) Security Council," Wednesday's statement said.
Established in August 2000 as part of UNMEE, the MACC has coordinated and helped implement mine action programs in Eritrea and Ethiopia. It has also supported both the peacekeeping operation and the humanitarian relief efforts in the Temporary Security Zone and adjacent areas along the border.
Its activities help to ensure the mobility and safety of the U.N. peacekeeping force and to educate the local population to live safely in environments that are affected by the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance.
The action is seen as retaliation for the United Nation's inability to act against Ethiopia for not abiding by an agreement on drawing of the border.
