By BRAHIMA OUEDRAOGO
Associated Press Writer
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) Feuding neighbors Eritrea and Ethiopia broke off two days of separate talks with African mediators Sunday without agreeing on a formula to end their tense border standoff.
The two Horn of Africa countries have massed troops along their border and the situation is at a stalemate. Fighting has subsided since mid-June, following a U.S.-brokered deal to stop deadly air raids.
Another round of peace talks has not yet been scheduled.
On Sunday, Eritrea's Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin proposed the creation of a demilitarized zone patrolled by United Nations and neutral African forces. It marked the first time Eritrea expressed readiness to leave territory it claims.
It was unclear exactly which areas were envisioned in the proposed pullout.
``We don't need a war to solve a border problem,'' Seyoum said.
Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs Minister Haile Woldetensae said later he was ``not optimistic'' despite the new proposal, which appeared to meet at least some of Ethiopia's demands.
The developments came after both Seyoum and his Ethiopian counterpart met separately with Burkina Faso President Blaise Campaore, who is the host of mediation efforts led by Organization of African Unity Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim.
Ethiopia says it was Eritrea's invasion of two districts on the western end of the 600-mile border between the countries in early May that precipitated the crisis.
Eritrea, which claims rights to the disputed areas under colonial-era agreements, gained independence for Ethiopia in 1993.