Ethiopia says UN failing on Eritrea border dispute

ADDIS ABABA, May 10 (Reuters) Ethiopia today said the United Nations had failed to stop Eritrea from undermining a 2000 peace deal over their disputed border by repeatedly moving troops inside a neutral buffer zone.

And Asmara again accused Ethiopia of fuelling conflict in the Horn of Africa and warned it could spawn a repeat of their 1998-2000 war which killed 70,000 people.

Analysts say the lack of a final resolution over the border has boosted tensions that are being played out in a proxy war in neighbouring Somalia and insurgent attacks in Ethiopia.

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday urged the rivals to withdraw their forces from near the 1,000 km border where it said both had deployed more than 5,000 soldiers in recent months.

The Council said Eritrea had moved soldiers inside the Temporary Security Zone -- a buffer area both countries are supposed to stay out of -- and that Ethiopia had put soldiers within kilometres of the zone.

''The Security Council is not strong on Eritrea, because Eritrea has repeatedly violated the cessation of hostilities which was the foundation of the Algiers agreement,'' Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Solomon Abebe said.

The cessation of hostilities was signed in June 2000, before a final pact sealed in Algiers in December 2000 that required both sides to accept an independent panel's decision on where the border should be.

Since a 2002 ruling awarding a flashpoint town to Eritrea, Ethiopia has balked at permitting the demarcation from going forward -- infuriating Eritrea.

Eritrea rejects UN accusations it is violating the buffer zone, saying it has the sovereign right to move troops anywhere inside its own borders.

In a letter to the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon dated Tuesday, Eritrea said Ethiopia was ''undoubtedly the cause of tension and insecurity in the region.'' ''It could also precipitate another round of hostilities with dire consequences for regional peace and stability,'' said the letter, written by Eritrea's UN envoy Araya Destas and seen by Reuters today.

Eritrea has long accused the United Nations of favouring Ethiopia, saying they were ignoring international law by not forcing Addis Ababa to allow demarcation to proceed.

REUTERS AK PM2245