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INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 7370
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RHMFISS/CJTF HOA PRIORITY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ADDIS ABABA 001494 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF AND AF/E, AND INR/AA 
LONDON, PARIS, ROME FOR AFRICA WATCHER 
CJTF-HOA AND USCENTCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2018 
TAGS: PREL PBTS MOPS KPKO ET ER
SUBJECT: UNMEE: A FORCE IN NEED OF A MISSION 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Donald Yamamoto.  Reason 1.4 (B) and (D). 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  On May 17-18, PolOff and visiting Eritrea 
Desk Officer visited United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and 
Eritrea (UNMEE) headquarters in Adigrat, Ethiopia and learned 
that Ethiopian military activity had declined following a 
burst of movement in April, when several Ethiopian military 
units moved closer to the border following UNMEE's withdrawal 
from Eritrea.  After UNMEE left Eritrea, UNMEE headquarters 
reconfigured its border operations and restricted United 
Nations Military Observers (UNMOs) from liaising with 
Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) units along the 
border to avoid appearing biased against Ethiopia.  UN staff 
at Adigrat said that UNMEE would be able to detect a planned 
Ethiopian attack against Eritrea, but would not see 
indicators of an Eritrean attack or detect attacks involving 
Ethiopian units closest to the border.  UNMO staff noted that 
if there were to be a new, smaller UN observer mission, it 
would need a limited force protection component and medical 
facilities.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
ALL IS (RELATIVELY) QUIET ON THE CENTRAL FRONT 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2.  (C)  The senior UNMOs at Adigrat briefed that Ethiopian 
military activity had settled to a minimum in late May 
following the few weeks of increased activity during April, 
when some ENDF units and armor relocated closer to the border 
in reaction to Eritrean army occupation of UNMEE's abandoned 
team sites in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ).  The UNMOs 
noted that the large ENDF military hospital at Adi Hageray 
remained unoccupied in caretaker status. 
 
¶3.  (C)  The UNMOs expected that, as with past years, the 
imminent June-September rainy season would significantly 
reduce military activity on both sides of the border as the 
heavy rains will make many roads and stream crossings 
difficult to traverse and occasionally impassable.  The UNMOs 
noted that most of the roads near the border are unpaved. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Embassy officers traveled the road from Mekele to 
Adigrat, and although passing multiple ENDF installations, 
saw little military activity or traffic.  The large military 
base just outside Mekele where the Northern Command's 
military truck transport regiment is housed showed no 
activity and its normal complement of several hundred trucks 
were parked in their shelters.  UNMOs assess that the ENDF 
would need to use these trucks in the event of a planned 
offensive and consider high activity at the Mekele base to be 
a key indicator of Ethiopian intentions. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
UNMEE FORCED TO RECONFIGURE OPERATIONS 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C)  Because of UNMEE's forced reconfiguration following 
its withdrawal from Eritrea in April and May 2008, UNMEE 
collapsed its previous three operational sectors--Sector 
West, Sector Central, and Sub-Sector East (each with its own 
headquarters) into one sector with the headquarters for the 
entire Ethiopian-Eritrean border based in Adigrat, according 
to the Indian contingent commander. All UNMEE military 
observer activities and all UNMO reports concerning military 
activity are collated at Adigrat and forwarded to the Addis 
Ababa headquarters mission staff.  (Note: Sector East was 
renamed Sub-Sector East when the Kenyan Battalion was 
withdrawn in 2004). 
 
----------------------------------------- 
UNMEE OBSERVER ACTIVITY SHARPLY CURTAILED 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C)  After UNMEE withdrew from Eritrea, Acting/Special 
Representative for the Secretary General Azouz Ennifar 
restricted all UNMO patrols in Ethiopia from liaising with 
local ENDF commanders to avoid appearing biased because UNMEE 
was no longer patrolling in Eritrea, according to the UNMOs. 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00001494  002 OF 003 
 
 
As a result, UNMEE patrols the border area where they are 
permitted to travel by the Ethiopian military, but does not 
stop to visit individual units and commanders anywhere along 
the border to verify unit locations and activities.  The 
UNMOs also said that the UNMEE helicopters based at Adigrat 
were used for transport and medevac only, and not for 
observation missions. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
UNMEE CAN PROVIDE ONLY LIMITED WARNING OF CONFLICT 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶7.  (C)  As a result of UNMEE's withdrawal from Eritrea, UNMO 
officers made it clear that UNMEE could only warn of a 
planned Ethiopian offensive against Eritrea because they 
would see the movement of the Ethiopian divisions outside of 
the Adjacent Area--the 15 kilometer wide zone along the 
TSZ--toward the border.  UNMEE has no ability to warn of an 
Eritrean offensive and little or no ability to warn of any 
conflict involving Ethiopian units deployed inside the 
Adjacent Area. 
 
¶8.  (C)  As UNMEE is currently configured there are UNMOs at 
only seven remaining team sites inside Ethiopia near the 
Eritrean border.  From west to east the team sites are 
located at: Humera, Shiraro, Badme, Shire, Adi Abun, Adigrat, 
and Bure.  Humera, Badme, Shire, and Bure are within the 
Adjacent Area, but Shire, Adi Abun, and Adigrat are well 
outside the Adjacent Area, putting the UNMOs out of sight or 
hearing distance of any border skirmishes. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
REQUIREMENTS FOR A NEW OBSERVER MISSION? 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  The Indian contingent commander and the UNMOs were 
keenly interested in any news of UNMEE's future and made 
several observations about requirements for a follow-on UN 
observer mission.  The officers noted that the Indian Level I 
hospital at Adigrat is effectively the only operating Level I 
medical facility in northern Ethiopia, providing a necessary 
service not only to the UN staff, but also to the local 
population.  The hospital sees between 50-60 Ethiopians a day. 
 
¶10.  (C)  The officers also noted that as the UNMOs were 
unarmed, some level of force protection would be required to 
support a small observer mission.  They assessed a full 
battalion was unnecessary, but that at least a company of 
infantry with support elements would be needed for a basic 
level of security. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶11.  (C/NF)  UNMEE is a force currently in suspended 
animation awaiting its fate, with no clear indication of its 
purpose following its forced withdrawal from Eritrea. 
Because of UNMEE's decision to stop formal interaction with 
the ENDF, the military observers have little to do and are 
now limited to monitoring the ENDF from the side of the road 
and investigating border incidents when possible.  The UNMOs 
desire for force protection and medical care, although 
clearly in their self-interest, are valid issues that should 
be considered if a follow-on observer mission is established, 
particularly if US military personnel are assigned to the 
mission.  Nevertheless, despite the fact that UNMEE is now 
more than half-blind to the military situation along the 
border, Post assesses that one eye is better than none, and 
that the absence of any UN observers along this volatile 
border would effectively leave the international community 
blind and remove and effectively prevent any international 
investigation and mediation of small border incidents that 
have the potential to escalate. Post supports a prospective 
visit to the region by UN Under Secretary General for 
Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe to discuss with the Ethiopian 
government their willingness to accept such a mission.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
ADDIS ABAB 00001494  003 OF 003 
 
 
YAMAMOTO