Delays in Border Accord a Peril, Food Agency Says

Delays in creating a buffer zone to separate the armies of Ethiopia and Eritrea after a cease-fire have left the fate of 1 million hungry Eritreans in the balance, the World Food Program said.

The U.N. agency said hundreds of thousands of families fled their homes when a border war between the Horn of Africa neighbors broke out in May 1998. The delay in creating the buffer, which covers a large part of the agriculturally productive area, has prevented their return, the agency said.

“The country is agriculturally crippled,” said Patrick Buckley, the agency’s country director in Eritrea. “If people are not back in their villages at the latest in one month’s time, they will not be able to take advantage of the rains to start cultivating and planting.”