The Eritrean Foreign Minister, Haile Weltensae, says Ethiopia has given his government seven days to cut its diplomatic presence in Addis Ababa to three people, and to close two consulates.

The minister was speaking on the sidelines of the Organisation of African Unity foreign ministers' meeting in Burkina Faso.

Earlier, the OAU secretary-general, Salim Ahmed Salim, called on Eritrea and Ethiopia to exercise maximum restraint, to enable a peaceful settlement of their border dispute.

Foreign nationals are being advised to leave Eritrea; the United States is sending an aircraft to evacuate its nationals, and British officials say they're working with other countries to arrange flights.