[b]Eritrea arrests UN staff for human smuggling[/b]
[URL=http://www.int.iol.co.za]Information provided by IOL[/URL] - Eritrea has arrested some United Nations staff working for a peacekeeping mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia on accusations that they tried to smuggle young people out of the country, the government's website reported.
"Members of the United Nations Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) were apprehended yesterday by Eritrean security forces while illegally trying to move property and youths out of the country by hiding them in their vehicles," the official website for Eritrea's information ministry said in the report dated August 29, adding the incident happened the previous day.
The website accused the United Nations staff of receiving money to sneak the people out.
UNMEE officials were not readily available for comment.
Last year, Eritrea imposed harsh restrictions on UN peacekeepers, including a ban on helicopter flights.
UNMEE is in the country to monitor a 1 000km border with Ethiopia and prevent a recurrence of a 1998-2000 war that killed some 70 000 people.