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The UN Security Council on Wednesday adjusted the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) so that it can assist in the "expeditious and orderly" implementation of a recent independent commission's decision on the border between the two countries.
In an unanimously adopted resolution, the council called for a number of specific steps to achieve this end, including demining in key areas to support border demarcation, and new administrativeand logistical support for the Boundary Commission's Field Offices.
The council strongly urged the parties "to provide their full and prompt cooperation in the process with a view to ensuring an expeditious transition for the benefit of the affected populations."
The parties were also called on to abide "scrupulously" by their agreements, to resolve all outstanding issues, and to cooperate "fully and promptly" with the Boundary Commission.
Stressing the importance of arrangements for the separation of forces, the council appealed to the parties to exercise restraint,and called on both to refrain from unilateral troop or population movements until the demarcation and orderly transfer of territorial control has been accomplished.
It demanded that UN mission be allowed full freedom of movementand that the parties immediately remove all restrictions on the mission's personnel.
Concerning confidence-building measures, the council called on Ethiopia and Eritrea to release and return all remaining prisonersof war and civilian internees and to take other measures that will"promote reconciliation between the two peoples for their mutual benefit."
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2002)
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