Western peacekeepers began leaving Eritrea today after the United Nations agreed to pull out Americans, Canadians and Europeans from its mission to prevent war with Ethiopia.
The UN Security Council said in a statement the world body would "temporarily relocate" military and civilian staff from Eritrea to Ethiopia in the interests of safety.
Last week, Eritrea ordered out peacekeepers from the United States, Canada and Europe.
The decision affects some 180 military observers and civilian logistics staff, but the United Nations said today roughly 20 extra staff from other nationalities would also be leaving.
The deadline for their departure is tomorrow, and some began leaving today. "It is confused," said one UN staff member when asked about the mood in the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The head of UN peacekeeping, Jean-Marie Guehenno, arrived in Eritrea late on Monday in a last-ditch effort to resolve the crisis. "So far I have not met with any Eritrean official," he told a press briefing today.
"I made very clear that I am available for the Eritrean authorities. I cannot do more than what I have done."
The order for peacekeepers to leave will limit the UN's capacity to monitor the tense Eritrea-Ethiopia border, where a 1998-2000 war killed 70,000 people, but Mr Guehenno said the mission can still keep an eye on the frontier.