By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- The United States has presented to the U.N. Security Council a draft resolution that would establish an arms embargo against Ethiopia and Eritrea in an attempt to end their border war.
U.S. Ambassador Nancy Soderberg told journalists after a closed council meeting May 15 that the U.S. delegation "has introduced a resolution which would impose an arms embargo immediately on Eritrea and Ethiopia and a diplomatic (embargo) on Ethiopia until it agrees to a cessation of hostilities.
"We believe the arms embargo would be helpful over time to degrade the capacity to continue this war," Soderberg added. "We also believe that we should have diplomatic sanctions on the party that refuses to agree to a cessation" of hostilities."
On May 12, the Security Council passed another resolution demanding that the two countries stop fighting or face unspecified U.N. actions within 72 hours. Eritrea has accepted the resolution, but Ethiopia has not.
The United States and Great Britain are pushing for an immediate vote on the draft resolution.
Russia meanwhile has proposed a resolution that differs widely from the U.S. draft and diplomats were to meet early May 16 to try to bring the draft resolutions into agreement.
Nevertheless, Soderberg said May 15 that the U.S. delegation is "pushing for a vote tomorrow (on its resolution). We are deeply concerned about the cost of human life to this conflict and we want to see it brought to an end as soon as possible."
Imposing an arms embargo would send "a very strong signal initially and over time we hope it would degrade their ability to carry on this war which has cost almost as many lives as America lost in Vietnam," she said.
The U.S. draft strongly condemns the continuing fighting between Eritrea and Ethiopia and demands that all fighting and use of force cease now. It also demands that both parties withdraw their forces from direct contact with each other and that they speedily reconvene substantive peace talks under OAU auspices without preconditions.
It further urges that all states halt the sale or supply of any arms, personnel, training, weapons, ammunition, vehicles, paramilitary equipment or spare parts by their nationals or from their territories to both Ethiopia and Eritrea. And it declares that all states shall prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of senior Ethiopian government officials named by a sanctions committee established by the council to oversee the sanctions regime.
"The human toll in this war is extremely dramatic," the ambassador said. Obviously both Ethiopia and Eritrea have enough weapons to fight for now, "but we hope over time (the embargo) would have an impact."
British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said that the council seeks a "response from the government of Ethiopia that it wants peace and a cease-fire in order to have those talks in the best possible framework without preconditions."
"If that happens it will be a very good step for Africa and for the Ethiopian and Eritrean people," Greenstock said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)