Greetings to all the reporters, diplomats and representatives of agencies and NGOs who are in attendance here in Asmara. I also welcome all the journalists, representatives of diplomatic missions, officials and guests who are joining us from Addis Ababa through this videoconference facility linking the capitals of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

TEMPORARY SECURITY ZONE

Let me start with the situation in the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ). On Wednesday 21 November, we confirmed that the situation is calm inside the TSZ and along its northern boundary. It is still calm and stable today. I am sure you have the copies of the statement we issued the day before yesterday.

In recent statements before the United Nations General Assembly on 15 November and Security Council on 16 November in New York, Ethiopia charged that "Eritrea was building-up its armed forces along the common border" and that Eritrea it had "deployed nearly thirty-thousand regular troops in the TSZ."

In response, I instructed our Force to investigate the charges. They did so immediately, on the ground and from the air with reconnaissance patrols in all three sectors of the TSZ - the West the Centre and the East. UNMEE has found no indication of an Eritrean military buildup. The TSZ remains stable and calm. This was reported as recently as two hours ago at our Senior Management Meeting.

ALLEGATIONS OF TROOP BUILD-UP

More recently, some of the reports published in the Ethiopian media have alleged that Eritrean forces invaded and controlled pockets of Ethiopian territory in the western sector. However, UNMEE's installations and patrols in the area report no unusual activity in the places indicated.

In accordance with Article 13 of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities, I call again on Eritrea to grant UNMEE the freedom of movement we require in the area adjacent to the northern boundary of the TSZ so that our peacekeeping troops and military observers can monitor the redeployed armed forces of Eritrea. I must stress that especially now it is vital for UNMEE to move freely in order to avoid allegations and suspicions such as these which have arisen recently. We need to monitor the activities of the redeployed forces where they are redeployed adjacent to the TSZ, as demanded of us by Article 13 of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities.

UNMEE's freedom of movement is not restricted in the area adjacent to the southern border of the TSZ. That is on the Ethiopian side. We can assure the world that we are fully aware of the activities of the Ethiopian forces. We have access, not only to the redeployment locations of the Ethiopian Armed Forces (EAF), but also to their bases.

Finally, I also call once more on Eritrea to disclose the number, strength, and disposition of its militia and police inside the TSZ. This is crucial. We need this information if we are to be able to monitor the activities of the police and militia effectively. This is an important element of the confidence building measures we seek to promote between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

I am sure when you read the newspapers some of you fear that the war is going to break out between Eritrea and Ethiopia. We have said in our statement two days ago that war is not about to break out between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Unfortunately the media is stirring up a psychosis of war between the two countries. UNMEE cannot help that except that we can continue to explain to the world that what we see as the organization responsible for monitoring activities of the redeployed forces. But, in particular, the organization responsible for monitoring the activities of the militia and police in the TSZ.

I hope when we say that the TSZ is stable and peaceful people will believe us. We have assets which we have been using since we were deployed to monitor the situation in the TSZ. I must repeat, as long as we are not allowed freedom of movement on the Eritrean side our credibility is going to suffer. Every time the other side makes accusations that Eritrea is mobilizing its forces to start another war we have always tried our best to investigate. When we investigate we of course are faced with difficulties on lack of freedom of movement on the Eritrean side. Therefore there will be times when we say there is nothing happening on the Eritrean side and that the world will say you are lying, 'how can you say there is nothing happening on the Eritrean side when at the same time you are saying you are denied freedom of movement?'. This is the dilemma we are faced with.

I appeal once again that we should be allowed unimpeded and unrestricted freedom of movement so that we will be able to vouch for Eritrea to say to the world: "Eritrea is not mobilizing its forces to start another war". The only way we can say so with some authority is if we have access to the areas where the EDF is redeployed. That is what Article 13 of the Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities states. It is an article that was not inserted in the Agreement by UNMEE. It is an Agreement that was signed by Ethiopia and Eritrea. Ethiopia and Eritrea invited the United Nations to come and help them implement the Agreement. We are not asking the parties to allow us to do something which is outside the framework of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities. We are simply saying please allow us to implement the Agreement which you have signed and which you have asked us to come and help you implement.

I must say it again, on the other side because we have freedom of movement, because we can go to their bases, because we can drive around the locations where they are redeployed we can say with authority to the rest of the world what the Ethiopian Army is doing because we see them and are free to pass by the places where they are redeployed and are able to tell the Security Council that Ethiopia is not planning anything mischievous against Eritrea. We want to do the same on the Eritrean side. This is the only way you can deal with the allegations and suspicions. That is if you can create an environment where you are not accused of hiding anything. It is not the intention of UNMEE to spy on the two forces of the countries. It is simply to pass by to exchange information with their commanders. It is not to ask how many missiles they have. We have come here to help the two countries make peace, not to spy on them, not to interfere with their security, not to violate their sovereignty. As you know the United Nations did not come here without an invitation. We have come here to help the two countries. This is our commitment.

AGREEMENT ON THE CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES

Let me read you the relevant articles in the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. They say,

(Paragraph 9) Ethiopia shall submit redeployment plans for its troop positions taken after 6 February 1999, and which were not under Ethiopian administration before 6 May 1998, to the Peacekeeping Mission. This redeployment shall be completed within two weeks after the deployment of the Peacekeeping Mission and verified by it.

(Paragraph 12) In order to contribute to the reduction of tension and to the establishment of a climate of calm and confidence, as well as to create conditions conducive to a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the conflict through the delimitation and demarcation of the border, the Eritrean forces shall remain at a distance of 25 km (artillery range) from positions to which Ethiopian forces shall redeploy in accordance with paragraph 9 of this document. This zone of separation shall be referred to in this document as the 'temporary security zone'

(Paragraph 13) The Eritrean forces at positions defined in paragraph 12 of this document, as well as Ethiopian forces at positions defined in paragraph 9 of this document, shall be monitored by the Peacekeeping Mission.

This means, when the Ethiopians draw the line in accordance with Article 9 and say this is the southern boundary of the TSZ and they redeploy behind that line, the Eritreans go to 25 kilometres and redeploy behind that line. Those are the positions we are supposed to monitor according to Article 13. I don't think that when we demand to have access to the redeployed positions of the forces we are simply taking it from the tops of our heads. It is from the Agreement that the two parties have signed. We are not saying we want to monitor them in Nakfa or Gonder. The reason why eventually it was decided we should monitor them in an area about 15 kilometres - that is not in the Agreement - what is in the Agreement are the words "adjacent areas". Once you redeploy beyond the lines of the TSZ those areas are called adjacent areas because they are adjacent to the TSZ. That is where we have to monitor the activities of the redeployed forces.

MINE INCIDENT

Now, I would like to inform you of an unfortunate incident. At 8:05 this morning a civilian truck carrying three passengers traveling on the Tokombia-Kuluku road in Sector West struck a land mine. An EDF truck in the vicinity went to the location to investigate. While the second truck was en route to the scene of the incident it also hit a land mine approximately 20 meters from the first explosion. This second truck was carrying five passengers. Furthermore, locals who came to witness the first incident were injured when the second truck struck the land mine. In all 16 people suffered casualties.

These incidents happened approximately five kilometers north east of Tokombia. This is outside the TSZ. UNMEE Military Observers from our Team Site in Tokombia rushed to the scene to come to the assistance of the victims. Four of the victims were medically evacuated to the UNMEE Team Site in Tokombia. Others will be evacuated to Asmara by helicopter and by road to Barentu. An investigation is underway. We will keep you updated as more details become available.

Now I will be happy to take your questions.

Q (Addis Ababa): There is a lot of confusion in Addis Ababa because it seems that what you are saying is contradictory. First of all, are you saying that there no amassing of Eritrean troops along the northern boundary. You do not have experts there to verify that. Secondly, you are saying that there are no 30,000 militia and police which is what the Ethiopians are saying but then you are asking for the size and strength of Eritrean militia. So could you possibly clarify that?

SRSG Legwaila: I thought I was clear enough. Perhaps in Addis Ababa there is some contradiction but in Asmara there is no contradiction [laughter]. What I am saying is that we are going through all kinds of contortions to find out what is going on in the adjacent areas north of the TSZ. We have very good knowledge, not excellent because we have admitted that there are blind spots somewhere in the center in the adjacent areas on the Eritrean side, but we have a very good inkling of what is going on in this side of the border in the adjacent areas.

Our information from the TSZ, from people who are living with the police and the militia, is that if they are counting around 9,400. I think 9,400 militia are not equivalent to 30,000 troops being in the TSZ. That is why I say to the parties believe us when we say something about inside the TSZ. I can tell you we are experts because we have almost all our military assets congregated inside the zone 24 hours around the clock. Therefore, there are not 30,000 troops inside the TSZ. I am glad the Force Commander was in Addis yesterday to confirm this.

I said myself that we have been screaming about being denied freedom of movement on this side it will be difficult for the world including the person who has asked the question to believe us when we say Eritrea is not preparing for war. This is simply to emphasize the fact that in order for us to speak with authority about the activities of the EDF we must have the kind of freedom of access to the areas where the EDF are deployed which we don't have now. The fact that we have access through the roads into the TSZ and that we can use our assets creatively whether we monitor, particularly from the air, we have an inkling of what the EDF is doing in the adjacent areas. We have said repeatedly unfortunately there is a blind spot somewhere in the center where we cannot say with authority that we know exactly what is going on there but it would be easy from the vantage point of the TSZ and access roads to know something about what is going on inside these blind spots. Anybody who wants to prepare for war has to go through the TSZ which means they have to go through us, because we are controlling the zone from a monitoring standpoint.

Q (Asmara): UNMEE is asking the Eritrean government to know the number and location of militia and police in the TSZ. The Eritrean government have told journalists that there is no language in the Peace Agreement which obligates the Eritrean government to disclose this information. Why is UNMEE pushing to know the number and location of militia and police in the TSZ?

SRSG Legwaila: Good question. We have debated that question with Eritreans and it is very true that it is not anywhere in the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities that Eritrea must give the UN numbers and the configuration of the militia and police. What we are talking about here is transparency on both sides. This information is very important for the United Nations because we are the ones who are monitoring the activities of the police and the militia in the TSZ. We have to know how big are the numbers we are supposed to monitor. We have never gone to the Eritreans and said you are violating an article in the Agreement. We are saying in the interest of transparency in order to avoid what we are getting now…even the other side is suggesting that there are 30,000 troops in the TSZ…we want to know the numbers of people who are supposed to be police and militia in the TSZ so we can say to the other side there are not 30,000 militia and police in the TSZ. The lack of transparency can cause misunderstandings which can lead to war. Wars have been waged because of a misunderstanding. Let's avoid these things which cause misunderstandings or suspicions which might cause the other side to come out with allegations which may stir up war again. That is all we are saying .

Q (Addis Ababa): You said that since you do not have the access to the northern part of the Temporary Security Zone, and adjacent areas, it means you are not able to say with authority that actually the Temporary Security Zone is not stable and calm, giving room to the allegations to be true, that there is a threat of war between the two countries. Don't you think that you are failing to discharge your mandate then?

SRSG Legwaila: No, I think you are failing to understand me [laughter]. I wasn't talking about the TSZ, I was talking about the adjacent areas. You are mentioning the stability and calmness of the TSZ, that is beyond question. What you are trying to do is ask the same question that has been asked before about the adjacent areas where we have a blind spot. I think I have answered that question.

Q (Asmara): Is there any specific reason why the Eritrean government is denying access to the freedom of movement…?

SRSG Legwaila: I wish I knew why. As I said, we are not here to harm the security of Eritrea or Ethiopia. We are here to help protect the security of the two countries as long as we are here. Therefore, I do not know, because freedom of movement is so innocuous. To be honest with you we report to the Security Council. We can't report on the activities of a force if we don't see those activities. All we want is to see what they are doing so that in the event that the parties prepare for war we can warn the Security Council and say, 'yes, we saw them moving with big tanks, the Ethiopians towards the north and the Eritreans towards the south'. That is all we are asking for. It is them, according to Article 13, who said 'please, monitor us where we are redeployed'. It is not the United Nations who said 'we are going to monitor you.' We are asking for this because it is in the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities. I don't know the reason why the parties cannot see that any denial of freedom of movement is a violation of the article I have just read.

Q (Addis Ababa): Eritrea has restricted freedom of movement in the northern part of the TSZ and adjacent areas, how can you be sure whether Eritrea is redeploying troops?

SRSG Legwaila: Let me repeat again. When we were first told by the Ethiopians that Eritrea was building up forces along the border we scrambled our airplanes and flew along the border to find out if there is any buildup along the northern border of he TSZ. And then, of course, we used our vehicles on the ground to also check. That is the reason why I am saying because we are being denied freedom of movement we go through all kinds of contortions to find the truth and one of the contortions is to fly so we can see what is happening on the ground. That is why we are very consistent and we can assure the world that there is no war brewing up on this side of the northern border of the TSZ.

Q (Asmara): I was just wondering what your analysis was for why there has been this rhetoric about war in the last few weeks and what it actually reflects on the state of trust between not just between Ethiopia and Eritrea but their faith in the UN?

SRSG Legwaila: The fact that they have invited the United Nations here and the fact that there's been peace since the United Nations has been here shows of course that the credit doesn't go exclusively to the United Nations, it also goes to the parties themselves. They have respected the intercession of the United Nations which they have invited. And therefore as long as they keep us here we believe that they have faith in us, in our ability to police the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) because that is the area which has separated them. The day they ask us to leave we will know they have no faith in us, so I don't really believe that I can question the faith that the parties have in the United Nations until I'm proved wrong.

Q (Addis Ababa): Well, I don't expect you to say more than what you are saying but from what I gather from the expressions on the video and the phrases you are choosing to say, it seems that you have a problem which you are refusing to say. Could you please be open and tell us what it is.

SRSG Legwaila: You know I'm a peacemaker and peacemakers cannot afford to be secretive so I am not secretive. That is the worst thing I can ever do. You know it boggles my mind anytime anybody suggests that the United Nations can see the Eritrean troops along the border preparing for war and then the United Nations says "shhhhh, don't tell anybody". Can you imagine that? So all I can say to you is that I'm not hiding anything, absolutely nothing. I'm not even hiding the fact that we are denied freedom of movement this side. So there is nothing I'm hiding and therefore I want you to go to bed and sleep comfortably.

Q (Addis Ababa): As you know the Ethiopian Foreign Minister has stated the country's position. These are adversaries, they have their ways of spying on each other. The Minister is a man representing a country with a population of about 65 million. He has a heavy responsibility. Do you think that he was lying?

SRSG Legwaila: My dear brother do you think that we were lying to go to the same high institution of the world, the United Nations and the Security Council and to say to the Security Council we have seen absolutely no evidence that Eritrea or Ethiopia is preparing for war? We have gone to the same. Actually we are the servants of that very institution that you are talking about and we report to that institution and we are not going to lie to that institution. You remember last month there was also the charge that the Eritrean Army was on the alert and we were brave enough after we investigated to say to the Security Council and to say to the Ethiopian Government that we haven't seen any evidence and nothing has happened of course. Now we are dealing with new charges that there is a build-up, that there are 30,000 troops inside the Temporary Security Zone. Do you think that we can just gullibly report to the Security Council that there are not 30,000 troops inside the Temporary Security Zone if they are there? That war is not breaking out if war is about to break out? So both the Foreign Minister and me both of us have reported to the organization, now from that organization of course the jury is still out.

Q (Asmara): Why is UNMEE pressing on the issue of freedom of movement when there is a big problem of Ethiopians in the TSZ, which creates a problem for the returnees?

SRSG Legwaila: There are no Ethiopian troops in the Temporary Security Zone we are monitoring. There aren't. Otherwise every time we find Ethiopian troops in the Temporary Security Zone, we tell them to get out and they get out. That is in the Temporary Security Zone we are monitoring, there are no Ethiopian troops and there are no Eritrean troops in that Zone. So what we are saying to the Eritrean side is that we deserve freedom of movement if they want us to see what they are doing and if they want us to report authoritatively to the world that they are not doing that which is being alleged that they are doing.

Q (Addis Ababa): I was interested to find out if there is any dialogue going on between Ethiopia and UNMEE about these allegations because they say yes and UNMEE says no?

SRSG Legwaila: Oh yes, there is continuous dialogue. The Force Commander came back about one hour ago from Ethiopia and as you know I returned the Sunday before, from Ethiopia where I had a meeting with the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs. So there is dialogue because every time one party says the other party is doing this, we investigate and after we have investigated we go back to the party to say yes you are right they are doing that or you are not right they are not doing that. Even yesterday when the Force Commander went to Addis, I gave him a letter to say to the Foreign Minister that we have investigated even the few places that he mentioned in the Western Sector, we have investigated and we have found no evidence of anything unusual there. So there is dialogue, continuous. And yesterday, the Deputy, Mr. Gaye also met the Minister of Foreign Affairs. No, Minister Seyoum. So there is lots of dialogue.

Q (Asmara): UNMEE has just confirmed that the situation is calm, however the Ethiopian Government is still accusing Eritrea of deploying troops in the TSZ. And the Ethiopian Minister has said that if Eritrea continues to do so, we will not ask anybody's permission to wage war against Eritrea. Isn't this a violation of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities?

SRSG Legwaila: Well if they fight that's a violation of the Agreement of the Cessation of Hostilities. But they keep saying if you keep doing this we are going to fight. So unfortunately in the Agreement there is no article which says you must never even open your mouth to talk about war because if this were the case both sides would have been accused of violating the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, so what I'm saying is that we are going to be very honest with the international community, we are going to make sure that we warn the international community if war is about to break out but as of now we cannot say war is about to break out because there is no evidence that war is about to break out. We have to be honest because they have asked us to help them and in the process of helping them, we cannot lie. We have to tell the truth. Please let's be calm, we should not make too much noise while the Border Commission is busy doing its work. Let's be calm and make sure we maintain stability and calmness in the Temporary Security Zone and the adjacent areas to wait for the Boundary Commission to complete its work and announce its decision, and we don't have to wait for too long. That is my appeal.

Q (Addis Ababa): Could we have a military answer, out of the Temporary Security Zone, are there any movement of army or army positions on both sides?

SRSG Legwaila: Yes I have, I have a General here for you: Major-General Patrick Cammaert.

Force Commander: The answer if of course there are movements outside the Temporary Security Zone, it would be very strange if there were no movements in the adjacent areas, of approximately 15 kilometres, you have the redeployed forces of both parties, north and south. Of course they are moving. We have soldiers who are going on leave, you have soldiers and units who are helping in the harvesting, so you have movements and we are observing and monitoring those movements but as the SRSG has said we have some blind spots where we would like to know what is going on and that is denied. But of course there is movement because you have troops on both sides in the adjacent areas.

Q (Asmara): From a historical point of view and as his Excellency has alluded, wars are known to have broken out as a result of perceptual differences. Wars have also broken out stemming from these perceptual differences which can also constitute wrong signal interpretation, communication and interpretation. For example, Ethiopia is suspecting that there is a buildup on the Eritrean side. There is the accusation of Eritreans, political elites, who have argued that Ethiopian troops are positioned inside the TSZ. There is also the ongoing controversy as to the objective determination of TSZ between both parties. And when I tie it to the question posed by the BBC correspondent about the implications of some of these phenomena, what steps is UNMEE taking with a view to bridging what is an apparent gap. Maybe by bringing the two foreign ministers together so as to assure them that there is no … I remember the foreign minister saying, "We will go to war without recourse to anybody …. So with all these things going on, I'm suggesting that a mechanism should be foisted with a view to narrowing the gap.

SRSG Legwaila: The problem is that we have been busy, we the people of UNMEE, encouraging confidence-building measures. And I can tell you that so far we have failed because the parties don't want to meet. There is only one forum where they meet, and that is the Military Coordination Commission. And even in that forum, the people who meet are military people, not politicians. We have not been able to succeed in getting the politicians to meet, my friend. Even the religious people, the people who are supposed to lead us to salvation, are unable to meet, the patriarchs. I have been busy with them through the Norwegian Church Aid to get the people of God to meet and lead the politicians to salvation. Even they are finding it difficult to meet. So that is the problem. And then of course people some time think those who are dealing intimately with the two parties will think that it is easy, even despite the fact that the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities is very clear as to how the borders of the Temporary Security Zone are to be demarcated. People think it's very easy to invoke the line of 6 May 1998 and say it's here. Okay, you move 25 kilometres and then we have a Temporary Security Zone. What happened is that eventually, we had to save the peace process by adjusting the lines of the Temporary Security Zone the way we did. I can tell you, as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, that if we didn't do that, either war would have broken out again or there would simply be no Temporary Security Zone. And in the absence of the Temporary Security Zone, there would probably be anarchy. The ceasefire would have been violated. The forces would have been as close as they were, sometimes as close as 100 meters apart - the trenches. The parties should be grateful that the Temporary Security Zone was declared on the 18th of April, that we are still there monitoring it, in 3 or 4 months, the Boundary Commission will probably come up with a decision. The parties should congratulate themselves that they've gone a long way towards a final solution to the border dispute, instead of alleging this, denying this, us meeting here talking about a crisis where it is said war is about to break out. People should be really keeping calm and waiting with bated breath for the decision of the Boundary Commission. It really surprises me that we can still be arguing about maps. The Boundary Commission is making progress. And for us to be arguing about the map of something that is temporary saddens me, to be honest. And therefore, though I can't stop people from talking about the map, talking about this one being inside the Temporary Security Zone, this one not being inside the Temporary Security Zone, I really find it unfortunate that we can stir up so much controversy, stir up so much fear here in the region and outside. I keep saying, when people are talking about war, I can just imagine the IDPs who have returned to their villages in the Temporary Security Zone hearing that another war is about to break out. You know what they think when they hear another war is about to break out? They think of the squalid IDP camps which they left. They think, even worse, that towns like Tserona, even Shera, Senafe, which have been reconstructed are going to be destroyed again. They think all the effort that has gone into the reconstruction of their wells, hospitals, houses, is going to be destroyed again. And that is why I want the parties, please, to banish from their minds and from their lips the word "war". You're frightening people unnecessarily. Let's create conditions of peace so that when the Boundary Commission eventually announces its decision, the people of the two countries can finally celebrate and say, "From now on we are going to adopt the logic of peace, rather than the logic of war".

Q (Addis Ababa): Sir, you have been trying to reassure us this morning that there is no significant military movement and no --- of war. At the beginning of November, UNMEE reports were saying that there has been no significant increase in the number of IDPs returning, the exchange of POWs has been stalled, and also how about mine action in the TSZ. Can you tell us of any developments in this regard?

SRSG Legwaila: First of all, let's talk about the return of the IDPs. Of course, we have now about 53,000 IDPs who are unable to go back to their villages for various reasons. One, their villages are still infested with mines, and it takes a very long time to remove the mines. The Eritrean government mining people and MACC, that is the UN Mine Action, the Force itself - we are all collaborating in making sure that these villages and the roads can be cleared of mines so that people can go back to their villages. And two, some cannot return to their villages because their villages are still being reconstructed. The Force Commander the other day was in the village of Shera which I saw earlier in the year with no windows, no roofs, no doors. He was very impressed that through UNDP and other organizations many of the houses now have roofs, they have doors, they have windows. That means the people will return to the village of Shera. And there are villages which are completely destroyed. The village of Geleba, for instance, is completely destroyed. I went there. Even the grass is taller than whatever is left of the walls of the houses. They have to be reconstructed in order for people to go there. And therefore it will take some time for some people to go there. And then, of course, thirdly, there are people who are scared to go to villages which are too close to the southern boundary of the Temporary Security Zone and they are scared of seeing on the other side of the border the Ethiopian positions. And fourth, there are people who are scared of going to the villages although I was assured by the Ethiopian government that they have no problems with villagers, Eritrean villagers who, when the conflict broke out, came from villages which are on the other side of the colonial border. They [Ethiopians] have no problem with them going back there. But people are scared of going there, of going to villages which are on the other side of the border. So there are many, many reasons why people are not able to go to their villages. But they are trickling back. As the villages become habitable, they go back. They go back, sometimes on their own, on the spur of the moment they decide to go to their villages. And these people are so indomitable in spirit that some of them even go to villages that are completely demolished, just to rebuild their villages. So there are still difficulties which we, the governments, the NGOs, the UN agencies - there are problems which we have to resolve together in order to make it possible for these unfortunate people to go back to their villages.

On the question of the POWs, it is very clear that Article 2 of the Peace Agreement of December 12th, says the parties are to release their POWs and they are late in releasing them. They started very well in releasing the POWs. Unfortunately, they stopped some months ago. Last month, Eritrea released 24 and Ethiopia 23, the sick POWs. Yesterday I had a meeting with someone from the ICRC, just to find out what is going on. It is of great interest to us that the POWs be released. And we are going to continue to pressure the parties to release the POWs. But I can tell you that the UN cannot force the parties to release the POWs. In any case, they have an agreement which they have to implement.

Concerning mine action, unfortunately, I'm not an authority on mines insofar as mine information is concerned. Maybe I'll give it to a military man to talk about.

Force Commander: The recent developments on mine information is that on the 1st and 15th of October we had a very fruitful meeting with the engineers in Ethiopia, in Addis Ababa, and we got very good mine information and that mine information is now being studied in detail by the Mine Action Coordination Centre. We are in very close contact with the Mine Action Coordination Centre to see what the outcome is but I can assure you that the picture we are painting now with the information from Eritrea and the information from Ethiopia is very good for us and for those returning to their villages so they can go to a safe area.

Q (Asmara): Administrators (in Eritrea) have complained that mine clearance is very slow. Why is that?

SRSG Legwaila: It's very slow, although your country (Eritrea) has trained a lot of people, we, NGOs like Halo Trust. But taking out mines, because they are taken one after the other. The other day, the Eritrean Commissioner, Andebrhan, at the United Nations said that there are 2 million mines, that is, mines laid throughout all the wars that have been fought here. In other words, the mines that are being removed are not only mines laid in 1997, 1998. They are mines which have been there for a very long time. Two million mines is a lot. It is impossible for UNMEE and the government to clear all these mines in such a short space of time to allow people to go there. Same in Angola, and probably the same in DRC. I think what is of great urgency, is that the mines from around the villages, fields and grazing areas must be removed so that people can graze their cattle, till their land and walk around their villages without the danger of being blown up by a mine. A good example is what I spoke of today in Tokombia: one truck tries to rescue another and is destroyed by mines. This is how dangerous mines are. So it takes a very long time.

Q (Addis Ababa): You are a very stubborn optimist, but optimism is not enough in our line of work. Behind all these accusations recently, there are many domestic concerns. Do you expect these internal problems to complicate the situation?

SRSG Legwaila: No, I don't. As you have rightly described me, I'm a stubborn optimist and I will be stubborn in my optimism until I leave this area. I am optimistic that in the not too distant future, there will be peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia. In addition to being a stubborn optimist, my profession is that of a political scientist. And I've been making peace throughout my diplomatic life. So I am not surprised that there are internal pressures on both sides which may make people say things which may create a lot of confusion and engender a lot of fear among the populations of the two countries. Well, that is regrettable. But I don't think we should all now become pessimists, and say, "These people are beyond the pale, they will never make peace, they will always be fighting". They are intelligent people, they are people who actually know better the consequences of war than many countries. Eritrea and Ethiopia have gone through a lot. Therefore, I am not in any position to write them off on the basis of what they are saying now. The very fact that last year they ended the war and they decided on the 18th of June to sign an agreement, which we are now implementing - the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities (ACH) - that they decided to police their own ceasefire before the United Nations came here, the very fact that they did that, the very fact that we came here. We have been here for a year and there has not been any war. Of course, the rhetoric has always been there. I remember when the Secretary-General came here last year, he said to me, please try very much to ask the two sides to de-escalate the rhetoric, because the rhetoric alone can create a lot of confusion, can cause war. And I went to Prime Minister Meles and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, can you help us persuade the newspapers, particularly those which are controlled by government, not to say the things they are saying against the other side". And I went to President Isayas and said the same thing. And at some point, I thought the rhetoric was de-escalating. Of course, it is often cyclical, like the rainy season. Right now the rhetoric has gone up again, and we are trying to lower the volume but it is difficult. I remember one time being told by Prime Minister Meles, after I told him, "Please, Sir, there is a newspaper which says a lot of things." He said, "Mr. Special Representative, don't worry, the armies of Ethiopia and Eritrea are very disciplined, they are not going to fight because we are insulting each other." And the Prime Minister was probably right because that was a long time ago when he told me this. The rhetoric has been going on for a long time, and there has not been a war between the two sides because they are saying terrible things in the newspapers about each other. At that time, I didn't even know what "weyane" and "shabia" meant. I thought they were swearing at each other. Even here in Eritrea when they had a dinner in honor of UNMEE, and they asked me to say something, I said, "Why are you insulting each other. You call each other "weyane", "shabia". You are Ethiopians and Eritreans, why are you calling each other "weyane" and "shabia"." Eventually, I was orientated. But the Prime Minister of Ethiopia was right because they haven't gone to war because they use those terms. So that is why I am optimistic, that is why I believe those two countries want to make peace. By the way, those of you who have not dealt with matters of war and peace: it is easy to go to war. It is very, very difficult once you have gone to war, to make peace. And that's the reason why you have the atmosphere which we face today. Those are the birth pangs of making peace. We are sitting as midwives to peace and the likelihood is that as we go along, we may think of bringing about that peace through Caesarean section.

Q (Addis Ababa): We're approaching the first anniversary of the Algiers Peace Agreement. For months now, we're coming to these briefings hearing about the restricted access on freedom of movement. Isn't is now time, as people in Addis are suggesting, that UNMEE stop urging, stop appealing and start doing something more. What about the possibility of the imposition of sanctions at this stage?

SRSG Legwaila: You've asked a very good question except that I thought that you knew that beyond reporting to the Security Council, UNMEE doesn't have the power of physical coercion and that UNMEE can't even impose sanctions. And therefore, the problems we cannot solve on the ground, since we have been sent here by the United Nations, this is a UN mission, authorized by the Security Council. What we cannot solve, we send to the Security Council. In other words, we will continue to say what we are saying and we will continue to report to the Security Council. Unfortunately, we cannot dictate a course of action to the Security Council - the Security Council is a master of its own decisions. Therefore, all we can do is report that we have difficulties, please can you help. Which we have been doing by the way. If you have read our reports, we have done that faithfully throughout the year we have been in the mission area.