The OAU secretary general, Salim Ahmed Salim, urged African leaders to put the weight of the continent behind efforts to broker an end to the fighting.

He was speaking in Burkina Faso, where foreign ministers are preparing the agenda for a OAU summit on Monday.

But weeks of mediation by the United States and other countries have, so far, failed to resolve the situation.

US-Rwandan plan

A joint American-Rwandan four-point initiative to solve the dispute was rejected by Eritrea on Thursday.

The plan provided for an Eritrean withdrawal, the deployment of an observer force, the return of the previous civilian administration and an investigation of the rival claims to the disputed area.

The Eritrean Government said the plan was not controversial, but that serious issues of detail and implementation remained.

The Ethiopians supported the initiative, but the Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, said he had ordered Ethiopian defence forces to take all necessary measures to safeguard the country's territorial integrity.

Egypt offers mediation

On May 31, Egypt offered to help mediate between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

The Egyptian foreign minister, Amr Mussa, pledged Egyptian Government assistance for the other international efforts to secure a settlement.

But Ethiopia refused to negotiate at that time, until Eritrean troops withdrew from the disputed zone.

Djibouti president steps in

Earlier in May, the President of Djibouti, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, flew to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to mediate in the crisis. According to a spokesperson for the Djibouti Government, he held talks in his role as head of the seven-nation regional grouping, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development.