A European Union delegation which has been touring the Horn of Africa to try to revive efforts to end the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict says its meetings have been fruitful.

The EU team, led by the Italian deputy foreign minister, Rino Serri, has met both presidents as well as a number of top officials in the region; it had previously discussed the issue with top United States officials.

Its visit comes after the peace plan of the Organisation of African Unity, which calls for a ceasefire and withdrawal of troops from the disputed border region, became bogged down over technicalities.

A delegation member Maurizio Melani said he thought it would now be possible for the OAU mediator to bring the talks to a successful conclusion. Thousands of people have died in fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea which broke out in 1998 after a dispute over a small stretch of frontier territory.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service