An increasingly belligerent border stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea could lead to renewed war, the top UN peacekeeper in the conflict said today.
The two Horn of Africa countries fought a two-year border war from 1998 to 2000 that killed an estimated 70,000 people.
Under a deal to end the conflict, both agreed to accept an independent commission's decision on where the border should be. But Ethiopia was unhappy with the April 2002 ruling that gave a disputed border town to Eritrea.
Eritrea has demanded the commission decision be accepted in full. In recent months more Ethiopian troops have moved closer to the frontier, increasing tension in the volatile region.
"The stalemate is firmly wedged between these two irreconcilable positions. The danger of the continued stalemate is war," said Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, head of the UN peacekeeping mission that patrols a security zone between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
"The longer there is no solution to the stalemate, the more it becomes very difficult to monitor a temporary security zone, while violent rhetoric is emanating from both capitals," he told a news conference.
Mr Legwaila said a March 14th UN Security Council resolution extending the peacekeeping mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia was too weak.