BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: And we begin with an agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea. After much international pressure, the two impoverished African countries agreed Sunday to end their border war. Carol Pineau explains the accord and how it's going to be enforced.</s>CAROL PINEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The speeches, signatures of the foreign ministers, the handshake -- as the signing ceremony for a peace agreement to end the Horn of Africa war came to a close, a ceasefire went into affect between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Western officials say the agreement is solid.</s>ANTHONY LAKE, U.S. ENVOY: I am very confident that they will maintain this agreement. This would be a -- will be a mission in which the United Nations and all the participants are helping two highly disciplined armies separate and then maintain that separation.</s>PINEAU: But some officials say enforcement measures must be put in place as quickly as possible if the agreement is to be more than a peace plan on paper. The agreement calls for the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force along a temporary security zone, an area well inside Eritrean land now occupied by Ethiopian troops. Ethiopia has refused to redeploy its troops from the area until that peacekeeping force is in place. Military experts say that could take two to three months, or even longer, during which time there would be no independent verification of facts on the ground. In the meantime, two of Africa's largest armies face each other across the frontlines; once close allies, now bitter enemies. While the agreement calls for sanctions and other punitive measures against either country breaking the ceasefire, those steps cannot be put into affect without independent verification. Until peacekeepers arrive and secure the area, Eritrea has estimated 750,000 war displaced will be unable to return home. Eritrean officials say the road to a lasting peace lies with final demarcation of the border. The agreement calls for an independent commission to decide the border according to Italian colonial maps. But for now, that final step is a long way off.
Ethiopia and Eritrea Sign Accord to End Two-Year-Old Border War