Losing patience
The UN peacekeepers were sent eight years ago to monitor a border security zone after the war which killed tens of thousands of people between Eritrea and Ethiopia in the late 1990s.The Eritreans are angry about Ethiopia's failure to hand over the disputed town of Badme - which a boundary commission set up after the war awarded to Eritrea - and want the international community to put pressure on Ethiopia to withdraw.Having lost patience with the UN, Eritrea cut off fuel supplies to the UN's 1,400 troops and 200 military observers.The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Ethiopia says Eritrea may be hoping the UN force will abandon some vehicles and communication equipment.But the Eritrean ambassador to the UN, Araya Desta, told the BBC his country simply did not have any more supplies to spare.He added that the Security Council's reaction had been "outrageous"."To victimise the victim is ridiculous and shameful for the council," Mr Desta said.The government in Addis Ababa said it would co-operate in letting the troops relocate to northern Ethiopia.
As in the days of Noah....