UNITED NATIONS (AP} -- The UN Security Council sent a ""firm and unwavering demand"" Monday that Eritrea immediately lift fuel restrictions hampering the efforts of peacekeepers monitoring a tense buffer zone between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

In a report to the council last week, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Eritrea had restricted supplies of diesel fuel available to peacekeeping forces since Sept. 2006, creating ""critical fuel shortages."" With generators used at camps and some field checkpoints for only two hours a day, he said, peacekeeping patrols have been cut back and field staff have struggled to stay in touch.
Ban said the mission might have to pull out of Eritrea if fuel restrictions are not lifted by Wednesday, since there are only a few days of diesel supplies left and the reserves are intended for emergency evacuations.
""The members of the Security Council reiterate their firm and unwavering demand that Eritrea forthwith and without preconditions lifts its restrictions on fuel deliveries,"" the UN's most powerful body said.
Last week, the council had extended the mission's mandate another six months.
Eritrea's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement sent to The Associated Press that the council ""will only contribute to a complication of the situation and is ultimately meant to serve the U.S. agenda of escalation and management of crises in the region.""
The UN General Assembly has approved $113.5 million a year for the UN peacekeeping mission through June 2008. As of Jan. 1, the mission had 1,683 troops, military observers and staff.
UN peacekeeping forces there have observed Eritrean troops training with small arms and mortars, and operating several tanks and artillery guns, according to Ban's report. Ethiopian armed forces have been using reconnaissance helicopters and armored personnel carriers while advancing 2,300 more troops in the border areas, the report said.