The Immigration and Security Authority ordered all Eritreans in Ethiopia who voted in a 1993 referendum on Eritrea's independence and later took Eritrean citizenship to register as aliens within the next two weeks.

The exact number of Eritreans affected by the directive is not known, but in early 1997, an Eritrean diplomat in Addis Ababa told a newspaper that 135,000 Eritreans living in Ethiopia had voted in the referendum. An estimated 500,000 people originally from the territory that is now independent Eritrea are believed to live in Ethiopia.

After a 30-year guerrilla war, Eritrea won de facto independence from Ethiopia in 1991.

Since May 1998, Ethiopia and Eritrea have been involved in a costly border war, and although both have agreed in principle to a peace plan, they have not yet agreed on how to implement it.

Eritrea was incorporated into Ethiopia in the 1950s.

The International Monetary Fund IMF has praised Ethiopia for its recent economic progress, but cautioned that the country must not risk letting its national expenditure get out of control.

The IMF said Ethiopia's economic progress over the past two years had been remarkable, especially in light of trade losses, bad weather conditions and the cost of the war with Eritrea.

But an IMF statement said it was concerned about the expected widening trade gap caused by a global fall in the price of coffee, Ethiopia's key export.

And it called on Ethiopia to improve the collection of taxes, encourage competition, and to consider allowing foreign banks to operate. The IMF said it regretted the heavy human and economic costs brought about by the conflict with Eritrea and said it hoped for a prompt settlement.

Praising the East African country's ``prudent macroeconomic policies,'' the lending agency said it nevertheless was concerned about the expected widening trade gap caused by a global fall in the price for coffee -- Ethiopia's key export -- and the effects on public spending caused by the war with neighbouring Eritrea.

Tens of thousands of soldiers have reportedly been killed in battles along the two nations' 600-mile (1,000-km) border since May last year.

``The main challenge facing the authorities now is to strengthen fiscal discipline, notwithstanding the current spending pressures and the unfavourable external environment, so as to preserve the hard-won gains in macro-economic stabilisation,'' the IMF said in an annual review of the Ethiopian economy.

The report advised the Ethiopian government to improve tax collection, if need be by introducing new legislation and broadening the tax base.

The IMF urged Ethiopia to help secure its economic future by restarting talks with international donors, including the Washington-based agency.

But Afwerki, here on an unofficial visit, cautioned that Ethiopia has yet to agree to a proposed regional peace plan and "the war is still not behind our backs."

"The road to peace is going to be difficult and full of complications," he added.

The two Horn of Africa nations have been at war since May 1998 over contested areas of their 620-mile border. Tens of thousands of soldiers and hundreds of civilians have died in the war and nearly half a million residents on both sides of the border have been driven from their homes.

"This war is a senseless war," Afwerki told a National Press Club news conference. He called it "the most devastating war in the world."

The Eritrean government earlier this month accepted the Organization of African Unity's plan for ending the war.

Both Eritrea and Ethiopia previously accepted a framework peace plan drafted last year, as well as an update drafted in July.

However, Ethiopia has not yet agreed to the third and final document.

Ethiopian officials said they were seeking clarifications from Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika, the current chairman of the Organization of African Unity. The OAU has been mediating an end to the war along with the United Nations and the United States.

"Ethiopia has yet to accept the package, saying it is seeking clarifications, although the carefully worked out OAU plan is extremely detailed and very clear," said Afwerki.

He said his visit to the United States was not an official one and he did not plan any meetings with U.S. officials.

Afwerki said Eritrea wants Ethiopia to compensate those whose property was seized, but would not insist on that as a precondition for peace.

"There are 60,000 people expelled illegally and their property seized," he said. He put the price tag at $800 million.

A senior Egyptian official has criticised faction leaders in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, for not doing enough to end instability and run the city effectively.

The under-secretary for foreign affairs, Faizah Abu-Nagha, said that money given by Egypt to the joint administration for Mogadishu was being spent on decorating buildings rather than promoting peace.

She was speaking at the end of a visit to Somalia by a five-strong Egyptian delegation, which also visited the autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland.

Mrs Abu-Nagha commended the leaders there for bringing relative peace to their areas.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

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