VZCZCXYZ0021
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDS #4187/01 3561450
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 221450Z DEC 05
FM AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8393
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 6805
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 004187 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/E 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2015 
TAGS: PREL MOPS KPKO ET ER
SUBJECT: UNMEE TRANSFERS STAFF TO ETHIOPIA TO AVERT 
SHOWDOWN WITH ERITREA 
 
REF: A. ADDIS ABABA 4107 
     ¶B. ADDIS ABABA 4046 
     ¶C. ADDIS ABABA 3725 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES VICKI HUDDLESTON.  REASON: 1.4 (D). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY.  UNMEE has "temporarily" transferred 80 
personnel from Eritrea to Ethiopia, in order to comply with 
Eritrea's demand that U.S., Canadian, European, and Russian 
staff depart Eritrea.  While acknowledging the transfer of 
civilian administrative staff (e.g., handling personnel and 
telecommunications) to Addis Ababa, UNMEE's acting SRSG and 
Force Commander declined to provide details on how many of 
UNMEE's approximately 220 military observers had to be 
removed or replaced.  UNMEE officials assert that their 
ability to monitor the TSZ has not been dramatically 
effected; however, previous restrictions had already rendered 
UNMEE blind to 800 kilometers of the 1,100 km border.  An 
internal report from U.S. MILOBs notes that observers at team 
sites in Eritrea have been cut in half, and that "observation 
of the TSZ is easily less than 15 per cent."  UNMEE reports 
that Ethiopia's pullback of troops is proceeding as 
scheduled; Eritrea maintains it has no troops to withdraw. 
UNMEE notes the presence of nearly 2,000 "armed persons" in 
the TSZ, but no tanks or artillery.  UNMEE officials did 
not/not acknowledge any contingency planning for terminating 
the peacekeeping mission.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (U) On December 19, Deputy Special Representative of the 
UN Secretary-General (DSRSG) Amb. Azouz Ennifar and United 
Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) Force 
Commander Major General Rajender Singh briefed Addis-based 
representatives of P-5 missions and troop contributing 
countries via videoteleconference from Asmara. 
 
--------------------------------- 
ETHIOPIA PULLING BACK FROM BORDER 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ethiopia had begun withdrawing troops from the 
border, DSRSG Ennifar and MG Singh said.  Redeployment was 
proceeding as scheduled, and would likely be completed by 
December 22 or 23, as stipulated in the plan the GOE had 
given to UNMEE.  Asked by the French ambassador about reports 
that Ethiopia was only partially withdrawing its forces, 
Singh replied that it was "premature" to comment on 
unconfirmed reports that Ethiopia was leaving behind some 
equipment and troops.  UNMEE was "satisfied" with the 
transparency of Ethiopia's redeployment, Singh added. 
Netherlands ambassador noted that Ethiopian MFA director 
general had told him on December 16 that Ethiopia "would not 
be lured into war."  So long as Ethiopia knows it has the 
upper hand, Dutch ambassador said, there will be no 
aggression by Ethiopia, which continued to maintain that 
dialogue accompany demarcation. 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to Singh, there continued to be "no 
evidence" of tanks or artillery in the Temporary Security 
Zone (TSZ); UNMEE has previously said the presence of such 
equipment would be one of Ethiopia's redlines.  Singh noted 
that in response to UNSC resolution 1640, the Government of 
the State of Eritrea (GSE) had asserted that it had no troops 
within the TSZ, and therefore had no redeployments to make. 
Eritrea had nearly 2,000 "armed persons" at 17 locations 
within the TSZ, Singh said.  Most were small groups of 
80-100; two groups each had 150-200 persons. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
ERITREAN RESTRICTIONS ON UNMEE CONTINUE 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Singh reported "no basic change" in the GSE's 
restrictions on UNMEE.  Restrictions at nearly 13 locations 
had curtailed night patrols, he said; at one location, UNMEE 
had also been blocked from moving off the main road.  Singh 
said it was difficult to assess what the GSE was thinking, 
noting that Eritrean officials had been "cheerful" 
immediately prior to introducing a ban on UNMEE flight 
operations on October 4.  DSRSG Ennifar said that UN 
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations 
Jean-Marie Guehenno had departed Asmara for Kabul on December 
16, without having met anyone from the GSE, but that Italy's 
deputy foreign minister had met with President Isaias for two 
hours.  Visiting UN High Commissioner for Refugees Gutierres 
 
was scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Meles on December 
¶19. 
 
¶6. (SBU) In response to the GSE's demand that U.S., Canadian, 
European, and Russian staff be removed from UNMEE, the UNSC 
had issued a presidential statement on December 14 
reiterating that the GSE's decision was unacceptable, Ennifar 
noted.  The UN had then decided to move staff, but "in a 
multinational way," he added.  As a result, UNMEE had 
transferred some services (e.g., telecommunications) and 
equipment from its headquarters in Asmara to its headquarters 
in Addis Ababa, including the American chief of personnel and 
the Russian chief of administration.  Over the previous two 
days, UNMEE had moved approximately 80 staff from Eritrea to 
Ethiopia, Ennifar said.  Ukrainian flight crews manning 
UNMEE's fixed wing aircraft remained in place, as they were 
contractors, not staff.  "The relocation is temporary," 
Ennifar asserted, adding that UNMEE personnel had not 
encountered any additional difficulties prior to the GSE's 
December 16 deadline.  Ennifar said no UNMEE staff had been 
brought into Asmara to replace those departing, except for 
himself.  (NOTE:  Ennifar had been in Asmara for a week, 
serving as acting head of UNMEE as SRSG Legwaila Joseph 
Legwaila continues medical leave.  END NOTE.) 
 
¶7. (SBU) In response to French ambassador's concerns about 
the budgetary impact of relocation, DSRSG Ennifar said that 
UNMEE's "temporary decision" to transfer staff had had "no 
major effect" on its budget.  Force Commander Singh observed 
that the GSE's ban on flight operations had actually led to 
UNMEE saving money (presumably due to cost savings from lower 
aviation fuel bills). 
 
¶8. (SBU) The UNSC would meet December 22 to "further discuss 
the future of UNMEE," Ennifar said, and to discuss what could 
be done for UNMEE to allow it to fulfill its mandate, which 
had been "jeopardized" by GSE's restrictions over the last 
seven weeks.  He said the UNSC would meet January 2-3 to hear 
the UN Secretary-General's report on the parties' compliance 
with UNSCR 1640 and on the implementation of the 
Ethiopia-Eritrea Boundary Commission's call to demarcate the 
border.  Asked whether options to be considered by the UN SYG 
included the possible termination of UNMEE, Ennifar replied, 
"Your guess is as good as mine."  Many options could be put 
forward, but few would work out, he said, adding that the 
UNSC would have to decide UNMEE's future.  UNMEE peacekeepers 
were doing a good job, he said, despite facing restrictions 
and difficulties.  UNMEE was taking steps to ensure mission 
staff's safety and security, such as increasing its medical 
staff, to compensate for the ban on medical evacuations by 
air. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
NO PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT MILITARY OBSERVERS HAVE DEPARTED 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Questioned about UNMEE statements made December 7 
that the GSE's expulsion order would affect 90 of UNMEE's 220 
military observers (ref B), MG Singh only acknowledged that 
20 out of 41 troop contributing countries had been affected. 
MILOBs' mandate were not limited to observing the TSZ from 
within Eritrea, he said; they were also mandated to observe 
redeployment on the Ethiopian side.  Singh asserted that for 
MILOBs, it was "business as usual," with no additional team 
sites added to the 18 that existed on the two sides of the 
border.  Ennifar explained that UNMEE's military staff had 
always rotated, whereas its civilian staff had previously 
not.  UNMEE's role in the TSZ continued, Ennifar said, 
asserting that the GSE's most recent decision had "not 
dramatically affected" UNMEE's monitoring capability.  Asked 
by Austrian ambassador whether UNMEE was preparing to move 
MILOBs to Adigrat or Axum (Ethiopian areas near the previous 
flashpoint of Zelambessa, in UNMEE's central sector), Ennifar 
said such moves were premature to discuss.  "We need to give 
diplomacy a chance," he said. 
 
¶10. (SBU) UNMEE Senior Political Affairs Officer Dr. 
Abdel-Kader Haireche commented that a lesson learned for 
future missions was to have staff comprised of as many 
nationalities as possible.  He clarified that a total of 210 
MILOBs now remained in UNMEE (out of 220 as of December 7). 
 
¶11. (C) COMMENT: UNMEE officials are clearly trying to put 
the best face forward on a difficult situation.  DSRSG 
 
Ennifar's assertion that Eritrea's request to expel staff has 
"not dramatically affected" UNMEE's monitoring capability 
must be considered in the context of earlier warnings that 
previous GSE restrictions had already rendered UNMEE unable 
to monitor 800 km of the 1,100-km border.  While UNMEE 
refused to provide details of MILOBs transferred out of 
Eritrea, Norwegian ambassador informed Poloff that Norwegian 
MILOBs had been transferred from the TSZ to the Ethiopian 
town of Adigrat.  An internal sitrep from the 8 U.S. military 
officers serving as UNMEE MILOBs notes that the GSE's 
eviction order has led to half the number of MILOBs at each 
team site in Eritrea, and double the number of MILOBs at each 
team site in Ethiopia.  It also assesses that "observer 
shortage combined with flight and movement restrictions means 
that observation of the TSZ is easily less than 15 per cent." 
 Given the relatively greater transparency of Ethiopian 
redeployment, acknowledged by UNMEE, any further reduction in 
UNMEE's already diminished capacity to monitor Eritrean 
activity within the TSZ or adjacent areas should be of 
concern.  END COMMENT. 
HUDDLESTON