UN to monitor Horn ceasefire

UN troops will be deployed within Eritrea

The United Nations Security Council has unanimously agreed to send up to 100 military observers to Ethiopia and Eritrea to monitor the ceasefire agreed between the two countries in June.

The observers will liaise with the Eritrean and Ethiopian armies and prepare for the arrival of UN peacekeepers.

Between 2,000 and 4,000 UN troops are expected to patrol a 25km buffer zone on the Eritrean side of the contested border.

This is a significant sign of confidence in the cessation of hostilities there

US deputy ambassador Nancy Soderberg

The force, to be deployed in three large sectors, will remain until the two countries agree to an internationally arbitrated frontier.

Tens of thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the two-year border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Cessation of hostilities

The UN Security Council resolution adopted on Monday officially establishes the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea.

"This is a significant sign of confidence in the cessation of hostilities there," US deputy ambassador Nancy Soderberg said after the 15-0 vote. "We're encouraged that things are moving in the right direction."

The resolution asks the 100 observers to visit military headquarters in both countries, to establish and put in operation a mechanism for verifying the cessation of hostilities.

UN observers are to verify cessation of hostilities

It asks UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to prepare for a full-fledged mission, which the council will have to authorise at a future date.

The council has also asked Ethiopia and Eritrea to allow the deployment of demining experts to assess the scale of the danger presented by the vast collection of landmines and other unexploded munitions left scattered across the battlefields of the border war.

The council has been pressing for months for an end to the border conflict between the former allies on the Horn of Africa.

In May, the council banned shipment of arms to the two countries in an attempt to get them to reach a peace agreement.

The18 June agreement was brokered by the Organisation of African Unity and envoys from the United States and European Union.

The OAU has also promised to send military and civilian observers to monitor the accord, but did not provide details on numbers.