Sunday November 11, 2018
The U.N. Security Council is considering lifting sanctions on Eritrea
next week after a rapprochement with Ethiopia, although some members
want to maintain some diplomatic pressure to ensure a dispute with
Djibouti is resolved, diplomats said on Monday.
A
British-drafted resolution, seen by Reuters, proposes the immediate
removal of an arms embargo and targeted sanctions - a travel ban and
asset freeze - imposed on Eritrea. It also strongly encourages Eritrea
and Djibouti to work towards normalizing ties and settling a decade-old
border dispute.
However, diplomats, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said France and some other council members were keen to
maintain some sort of diplomatic pressure on Eritrea. Council members
can propose changes to the text during negotiations on the draft
resolution this week.
A resolution needs nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the United States, China, Russia, Britain or France.
When asked if Beijing was in favour of removing sanctions, Chinese U.N. Ambassador Ma Zhaoxu said: “We’re in consultations.”
Ethiopia
and Eritrea in July declared an end to their state of war and agreed to
open embassies, develop ports and resume flights between the two
countries after decades of hostilities.
The Security Council
welcomed the renewed ties in a statement at the time, but it stopped
short of pledging that it could review sanctions after the United
States, China, Britain, France and Ivory Coast raised concerns about
linking the development.
Then in September, Eritrea and Djibouti
agreed to work on reconciling. Deadly clashes broke out between the Horn
of Africa countries in June 2008 after Djibouti accused Asmara of
moving troops across the border.
A November 2017 Security
Council resolution said the peaceful settlement of the border dispute
would be a factor in any review of sanctions on Eritrea. Both the United
States and China have military bases in Djibouti.
“The United
States will continue to support efforts throughout the region towards
peace, integration, and cooperation on shared objectives and
challenges,” said a U.S. mission to the United Nations official, adding
that they would not speculate on negotiations on the resolution.
Eritrea
has been subjected to a U.N. arms embargo since 2009 after U.N. experts
monitoring sanctions on Somalia accused Eritrea of providing political,
financial and logistical support to armed groups undermining peace and
reconciliation in Somalia. Eritrea has denied the accusations.