ETHIOPIA/ERITREA: UNMEE'S DEPARTURE MORE THAN HALF

C O N F I D E N T I A L ADDIS ABABA 000723 SIPDIS 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: 03/13/2018 TAGS: PREL PBTS MOPS KPKO ET ER SUBJECT: ETHIOPIA/ERITREA: UNMEE'S DEPARTURE MORE THAN HALF COMPLETE Classified By: Amb. Donald Yamamoto. Reason: 1.4 (B) and (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY. On March 12, United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) Head of Addis Ababa Office Joseph Stephanides told PolOff that more than half of UNMEE personnel in Eritrea had already left the country. He said the remaining staff would be out of Eritrea by March 19, except for approximately 150 civilian and military personnel who would remain behind. Stephanides said that on March 11 a group of military observers were temporarily denied exit visas until UNMEE clarified that those troops would not return to Eritrea. END SUMMARY. -------------- --- UNMEE LEAVING WITH MINIMAL ERITREAN INTERFERENCE -------------- --- ¶2. (C) Stephanides opened by stating that the departure from Eritrea was going relatively well and that as of March 11 more than 700 UNMEE staff--more than half the contingent in Eritrea--had already departed Eritrea with little difficulty. He said the Eritrean government was not being helpful to UNMEE, but neither were they obstructing UNMEE's departure. Stephanides commented that all UNMEE personnel who were to leave Eritrea would be out of the country by March 19. He said UNMEE would leave about 75 military and 65-70 civilian staff behind to maintain the headquarters and prepare UNMEE's equipment for shipment to the ports of Massawa and Assab and out of the country. However, he added that UNMEE did not yet have approval from the Eritrean government to move the equipment to the ports. -------------- EXIT VISAS TEMPORARILY DENIED ON MARCH 11 -------------- ¶3. (C) Stephanides explained, in response to PolOff's query, that on March 11 the first group of military observers (milobs) to depart were denied exit visas by the Eritrean government because UNMEE did not clarify whether the milobs were planning on returning to Eritrea or were being repatriated. On March 12, UNMEE in a diplomatic note assured Asmara that the milobs were being repatriated to their country of origin. The exit visas were then immediately issued, with the milobs scheduled to depart Asmara on March ¶13. Stephanides said that this issue did not arise with the previous departure of the Jordanian and Indian troops because it was clear to Asmara that those troops would not be returning. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) Despite concerns by some diplomatic observers in Addis Ababa that UNMEE was at risk of being held hostage by Eritrean President Isaias, UNMEE's departure appears to be going relatively well and, in fact, will be complete two weeks ahead of schedule. END COMMENT. YAMAMOTO