Former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake and senior officials at the State Department have been working on the problem, with Lake having made about a half a dozen visits to the region, said White House National Security Council spokesman David Leavy.

``I don't see any need for Rev. Jackson to come in,'' said Leavy, amid speculation that Jackson might be called on to mediate in the dispute. At the same time, Leavy lavished praise on Jackson's role in helping resolve a civil conflict in Sierra Leone this year.

Ethiopia and Eritrea have accepted a cease-fire agreement under the auspices of the Organization of African Unity.

Eritrea subsequently accepted the OAU's detailed peace plan, which calls for a cease-fire, a withdrawal of troops to positions they held before fighting began on May 6 last year, and then negotiations on the disputed area.

INTRO: Regional mediators trying to the end the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea now face a spread of the conflict to Somalia. V-O-A East Africa Correspondent Scott Stearns reports Ethiopia says Eritrea is arming Somali rebels.

TEXT: Ethiopia says Eritrea is trying to open another front in their border war by backing rebels in neighboring Somalia. Ethiopia's Defense Ministry says that in the past week Ethiopian forces killed more than 300 of those rebels who were trying to slip across the border from Somalia.

Ethiopia blames Eritrea, saying the ruling party in Asmara is playing a major role in arming and training two Somali separatist groups -- the Oromo Liberation Front and A1-Itihad Al-Islamia. Both operate in Somalia.

The O-L-F wants more autonomy for ethnic Oromo inside Ethiopia. Al-Itihad Al-Islamia wants Ethiopia's Ogaden region to rejoin Somalia. Ethiopia has tried to counter that threat by backing rival militiamen to clear-out Al-Itihad bases in Somalia's Upper Juba region. Still, since the start of its war with Eritrea 15 months ago, Ethiopia has seen an increase in fighting along its border with Somalia.

The Ethiopian army says it has killed more than 700 rebels in the past three months. The O-L-F says it killed 107 government soldiers and wounded 95 during the past few weeks. Eritrea says this upsurge in fighting is a result of the Ethiopian government's inability to deal with opposition groups, not a result of Eritrean interference.

Eritrea says it is Ethiopia that is keeping the war going, preparing for more fighting while stalling a regional peace deal. The Organization of African Unity plan calls for a demilitarization of the contested town of Badame and the creation of a six-month peacekeeping force to control the border area. It halts the expulsions of each other's nationals and creates an international panel to draw-up a new border map under United Nations supervision.

After months of delay, Eritrea finally accepted details of the O-A-U plan. Ethiopia has asked for some clarification, largely concerning exactly what areas are in dispute and when troops withdraw. Eritrea says this delay is what it calls a "transparent ploy" to block the peace process. Ethiopia says Eritrea cannot be serious about that plan while it is supporting rebels in what the defense ministry calls a campaign to jeopardize the stability of Ethiopia.

The Technical Arrangements for the implementation of the OAU Framework Agreement and Modalities was presented to both countries last week.

The OAU said the request for ''some clarifications on some aspects of the technical arrangements'' was made by Ethiopia to Ahmed Ouyahia, the personal envoy of Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, the current OAU chairman.

''The personal envoy assured the Ethiopian party that the clarifications sought on the technical arrangements, once formally submitted, will be given a speedy reply in line with the framework agreement and the formalities for its implementation,'' it added in a statement. Eritrea has already accepted the plan as presented to it.