Carol Bellamy, executive director of the UN Children's Fund says Eritrea's peace deal with Ethiopia leaves it to contend with a humanitarian crisis. The peace treaty, signed on June 18, forces nearly 1m Eritreans displaced by the war to remain in refugee camps with little food, water or medical supplies until UN peacekeepers are deployed. Bellamy says: A good one third of the population of this country is confronting a very serious, serious humanitarian crisis". Ending a 5-day tour of the countries of the Horn of Africa, Bellamy holds a news conference in Nairobi, Kenya and says Eritrea was in particular jeopardy from the twin threats of war and drought. (The FMs of Ethiopia and Eritrea signed the peace accord in Algeria, aimed at ending the war in which more than 100,000 soldiers have died. The agreement calls for an immediate cease-fire and the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in a buffer zone inside Eritrea until the disputed 1,000 km border is demarcated.)
On June 19, Eritrea says it doubted Ethiopia's statement that it had withdrawn its troops from Tesseney, a key trading town near the Sudanese border. Yemane Ghebremeskel, spokesman for the Eritrean president, says: There is no message of peace, of confidence building. The question is where are they? They have to withdraw all the way. Otherwise civilians cannot go back". Yemane says he was suspicious that Ethiopia was not really planning for peace. (Eritrea did begin repatriating hundreds of Ethiopians on June 19 from camps near Adikeyhe, Eritrea, about 100 km south of the capital Asmara.) During her news conference, Bellamy appeals for quick international aid before seasonal rains flood drought-stricken riverbeds, spreading malaria.