Kiwi UN peacekeeper deported for spying

ERITREA - A New Zealander is among five United Nations peacekeepers ordered to leave Eritrea after being accused of spying, according to a report today by news agency AP.

The report said the Eritrean government accused the five yesterday, and gave them 24 hours to leave the country.

Etritrea's Information Ministry announced the peacekeepers had been apprehended while "deploying spy networks, recruiting mercenary agents and providing radio communication facilities".

The other staff members are from Britain, South Africa, Liberia and Trinidad and Tobago.

The UN has more than 2000 staff patrolling a buffer zone on the Eritrean side of the disputed Eritrea-Ethiopian border.

Last month, Eritrean police arrested several UN peacekeepers for allegedly trying to smuggle people out of Eritrea, the Information Ministry said.

In August 2003, there was a spate of incidents where Eritreans slipped across the border by hiding among peacekeeping personnel, sparking a UN overhaul of its security measures, AP said.