Calls for restraint after Horn fighting

The Ethiopians had declared the war over

The mediator organising indirect talks between Ethiopia and Eritrea has called on both sides to exercise restraint after renewed fighting in the two countries' border war.

Eritrean and Ethiopian forces fought a fierce battle near the key Eritrean Red Sea port of Assab on Saturday, with Eritrea saying it had repulsed invading forces.

But the government in Ethiopia said its forces were simply responding to a "provocative" attack from two Eritrean battalions.

Ahmed Ouyahia, who mediates the peace talks organised by the Organisation for African Unity, played down the clashes, saying it was normal that that were skirmishes on the battle front.

Speaking after separate meetings with both delegations in Algiers, he said "a consolidated and revised" peace proposal would be given to both sides for review on Sunday.

The two sides resumed talks on Saturday in the Algerian capital after a 24-hour delay.

Artillery fire

Ground fighting is reported to have died down, but shelling is said to be continuing.

The Eritreans say the frontline is only 37km (22 miles) from the port, once a key supply point for landlocked Ethiopia.

The BBC's Alex Last in Asmara says analysts have, for some time, expected Ethiopia to launch an attempt to capture the port.

Analysts had expected an Ethiopian attack on the port

On Friday Eritrea said the port's water depot had been bombed by Ethiopian warplanes, which Ethiopia denied.

Eritrean presidential adviser Yemane Gebremeskel, told the BBC that the fighting on the ground had halted on Saturday afternoon, due to extreme temperatures of well above 40C.

But he said the two sides were continuing to exchange heavy artillery fire.

In Addis Ababa, Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse said: "We didn't start the fighting. All our military is doing is defending our positions."

Proposals

Mr Ouyahia, special envoy of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, said the proposal had been drafted with US envoy Anthony Lake and European Union representative Rino Serri.

Delegates from Ethiopia and Eritrea had received initial peace proposals aimed at ending the two-year border conflict on Thursday, which were being reviewed by their governments.

Thursday's proposal reinforced guarantees for Ethiopian troop redeployments and Eritrean troop withdrawals in order to avoid further confusion on the battlefield, Mr Ouyahia said.

The border war, which has been continuing for two years, flared up again in early May.

There had been months of relative calm, but Ethiopia launched a series of assaults along the border after peace talks collapsed.

Its gains included the town of Zalambessa, which it regards as part of its territory, and the western town of Barentu, from which it has since withdrawn.

On Wednesday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi announced that, as far as Ethiopia was concerned, the war was over.

Displaced

As many as 750,000 Eritreans are thought to have been forced to flee their homes and farms as Ethiopia's army advances.

World Food Programme spokeswoman Lindsey Davies said most of the displaced had moved to camps and were in "fair" condition.

They had left their farms during the crucial planting season, she added, and would need to be back in the fields within two months if they were to harvest crops in November.

"Obviously the big concern is how long are these people going to have to stay in the camps," she said.

She said the WFP plans to fly in 325 tonnes of emergency food supplies by next Friday.