PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR ETHIOPIA/ERITREA

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR ETHIOPIA/ERITREA

At a Headquarters press briefing today, Secretary-General Kofi Annan introduced his new Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila of Botswana.

Mr. Annan said Mr. Legwaila was a seasoned peacekeeper who would be remembered by most people for his role in Namibia. Of course, he had also served on the Security Council, and he knew the United Nations well. He would be taking over an operation that was moving in the right direction, with a full complement of troops and observers. (The full text of the Secretary-General’s remarks and response to correspondent’s questions has been issued separately, in Press Release SG/SM/7617.)

Mr. Legwaila, who said he had been at the United Nations for more than 20 years, stressed that the Mission was a simple, traditional peacekeeping mission that he expected would succeed brilliantly.

Asked what qualifications he brought to the post, Mr. Legwaila said that, beyond the Secretary-General’s deeming him to be qualified to lead the Mission, he believed his most important qualification was that he was an African with an interest in peace between two brothers -- the Ethiopians and the Eritreans. The two countries had signed an agreement that they were determined to implement after so much bloodshed.

His job was to help the two parties implement their agreement and monitor the cease-fire, which was one of the very few holding well, he continued. The Mission would observe the final negotiations on the delineation and delimitation of the border. The actual negotiations were the responsibility of the two parties, under the auspices of the Organization of African States.

Asked if he anticipated that there would be less territory for Eritrea as a result of the negotiations, Mr. Legwaila replied that it was not the Mission’s job to be involved in those intimate details, since they were the sole responsibility of the two parties. The Mission’s job was to help them maintain peace on the border while they were negotiating. “We will welcome any outcome that is acceptable to both sides,” he said.

He would be commuting between Asmara and Addis Ababa, he said. While he had already met informally on several occasions with the Security Council, he would also be returning periodically to brief the Council.

Asked if he would be tackling the broader issues of refugees and poverty reduction, Mr. Legwaila said that it was traditional in United Nations peacekeeping operations to have the United Nations agencies involved and contributing to the peace that was being sought. He would be cooperating with the agencies and would be kept informed about their plans and activities. He recalled that, during the United Nations operation in Namibia, the mission had

Ethiopia/Eritrea Briefing - 2 - 7 November 2000

continuous contact and dialogue with the agencies. While the agencies and the Mission had separate responsibilities, “We are working for the same United Nations, the same international community,” he said.

A correspondent noted that Mr. Legwaila was the third recent African appointment as a special representative of the Secretary-General. Was that practice healthy for the Organization? he asked. Mr. Legwaila pointed out that he had overlooked the appointment of Kamel Morjane, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the past, non-Africans were appointed as special representatives, but the practice started changing under former Secretary- General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and had been expanded by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

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