INTRO:  THE WAR BETWEEN ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA HAS DRIVEN THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE IN THE SOUTHEASTERN PORTION OF ERITREA FROM THEIR 
HOMES.  ARTILLERY SHELLS, AND MORE RECENTLY AIR BOMBARDMENTS BY 
ETHIOPIAN FIGHTER JETS, HAVE CREATED A NUMBER OF GHOST TOWNS AND 
VILLAGES AND BROUGHT TERRIFIED RURAL ERITREANS INTO CAMPS WHERE 
THEY LIVE IN TENTS ALONGSIDE THEIR ANIMALS.  DIANNA CAHN WAS IN 
THE MAIWURAY CAMP AND SPOKE WITH RESIDENTS OF NOW-ABANDONED TOWN 
OF TSORONA.

TEXT:  DAWN BREAKS AT THIS IRONICALLY PICTURESQUE CAMP FOR WAR 
DISPLACED, TO THE BRAYING OF MULES AND CROWING OF ROOSTERS.  BUT 
THE DISTANT BOOMS OF ARTILLERY QUICKLY REMINDS RESIDENT OF THE 
MAIWURAY CAMP WHY THEY ARE LIVING IN TENTS.

FIERCE FIGHTING HAS FORCED THOUSANDS OF ERITREANS LIVING NEAR THE
BORDER WITH ETHIOPIA TO FLEE THEIR HOMES.  ONE WOMAN, CLUTCHING 
HER YOUNG BABY, SAYS SHE FINALLY HAD A WARM HOUSE AFTER SEVEN 
YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE.  NOW, SHE SAYS WITH TEARS IN HER EYES, SHE
IS ONCE AGAIN DRIVEN TO LIVING IN A TENT.

THESE FARMERS AND PASTORALISTS COME FROM THE TOWN OF TSORONA, A 
HAMLET OF SIX-THOUSAND ALONG THE KEY SUPPLY ROUTE HEADING SOUTH 
TO THE FRONT LINES IN SOUTHEASTERN ERITREA.

WITH TENSIONS ESCALATING OVER THE PAST TWO MONTHS, ARTILLERY 
SHELLS HAVE HAVE BEEN FIRED EVER MORE FREQUENTLY INTO THE TOWN 
AND SURROUNDING VILLAGES LESS THAN 20 KILOMETERS FROM THE 
ETHIOPIAN BORDER.

NOW THESE PLACES ARE GHOSTOWNS -- THEIR RESIDENTS FLEEING TO 
THREE CAMPS FURTHER NORTH, HOPING THEY WOULD BE LESS OF A TARGET 
OFF THE MAIN ROAD.

//OPT// STILL, ARTILLERY FIRE HIT THE MAAYNI CAMP THIS WEEK 
KILLING A 19 YEAR OLD GIRL.  SEVERAL VILLAGES IN THE VICINITY 
HAVE ALSO BEEN STRUCK. 

IN THE MAIWURAY CAMP, TENTS COVERED IN A MUD CAMOUFLAGE SIT AMONG
TREES AND THORNY ACACIA BUSHES IN A VALLEY FLANKED BY ROCKY 
CLIFFS.  LARGE HERDS OF COWS AND GOATS SHARE THE DUSTY TERRAIN 
WITH FIVE-THOUSAND RESIDENTS WHO HAVE SET UP A MAKESHIFT SCHOOL, 
SMALL MARKET STALLS SELLING TOMATOES AND ONIONS, AND EVEN A CAFE 
SELLING GOAT MEAT AND COLA.

TSORONA ZONE ADMINISTRATOR AHFEROM TEWOLDE SAYS 12-THOUSAND 
RESIDENTS FROM HIS ZONE ARE NOW DISPLACED BY THE WAR.  THEY STAY 
AROUND THE CAMPS DURING THE DAY, AND WALK DOWN TO TEND THEIR 
FIELDS UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS, HE SAYS. //END OPT//

RESIDENTS COMPLAIN OF A SHORTAGE OF BLANKETS AND WATER AND OF THE
SUFFERING AGAIN AFTER 30 YEARS OF A WAR WHICH FINALLY ENDED IN 
1991.

BACK THEN, ERITREAN GUERRILLAS FOUGHT ALONGSIDE ETHIOPIAN REBELS 
TO OVERTHROW DICTATOR MENGISTU HAILE MARIAM IN 1991, AND TWO 
YEARS LATER WERE GRANTED INDEPENDENCE BY THEIR COMRADES WHO TOOK 
CONTROL IN ETHIOPIA.

ANOTHER WOMAN SELLING TOMATOES SAYS HER FAMILY FLED AS REFUGEES 
TO SUDAN DURING THE WAR.   IT'S ASKING TOO MUCH, SHE SAYS, TO BE 
FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES AGAIN.

MEANWHILE, A GROUP OF WOMEN IN BARE FEET AND WRAPPED IN WHITE 
SHAWLS DANCE AROUND A TREE.  "WE SHALL BEG GOD FOR PEACE," THEY 
SING. (SIGNED)

NEB/DC/PCF

11-Feb-99 10:25 AM EST (1525 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America

INTRO:  THE ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY (O-A-U)  IS WORKING 
TOWARD A CEASEFIRE IN THE WAR BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA.  
V-O-A'S SCOTT STEARNS REPORTS FROM ETHIOPIA'S CAPITAL, ADDIS 
ABABA.

TEXT:  O-A-U SECRETARY GENERAL SALIM AHMED SALIM HAS BEEN ON THE 
PHONE WITH LEADERS OF BOTH NATIONS SINCE THIS LATEST ROUND OF 
FIGHTING BEGAN SATURDAY.

THE O-A-U WANTS ERITREAN PRESIDENT ISAYAS AFEWORKI AND ETHIOPIAN 
PRIME MINISTER MELES ZENAWI TO STOP THE FIGHTING, PULL BACK THEIR
TROOPS, LET AID AGENCIES INTO THE BATTLEFIELD, AND AGREE ON A 
PLAN TO MEDIATE THEIR BORDER DISPUTE.

O-A-U SPOKESMAN IBRAHIM DAGASH SAYS THERE IS  NO  TALKING ABOUT 
PEACE WHILE PEOPLE ARE DYING AT THE FRONT.

                      ///  DAGASH ACT  ///

         OUR PRIORITY IN THE O-A-U IS TO STOP THIS FIGHTING, TO 
         HAVE A CEASEFIRE, SO AS TO GIVE WAY FOR THE PEACE 
         PROCESS TO MOVE BECAUSE IN THIS PEACE PROCESS, WE CAN DO
         NOTHING AS LONG AS THERE IS FIGHTING. 

                        ///  END ACT  ///

THE WAR BEGAN LAST MAY WHEN ERITREAN TROOPS CAPTURED LAND THAT 
WAS PREVIOUSLY UNDER ETHIOPIA'S CONTROL.  SINCE THEN, THE O-A-U 
HAS COME UP WITH A PLAN TO ARBITRATE CONTESTED TERRITORY ALONG 
THE 800-KILOMETER BORDER.

///  OPT  ///   ERITREA WANTS INTERNATIONAL MONITORS IN THE 
DISPUTED AREAS BEFORE WITHDRAWING ITS FORCES.  ETHIOPIA WANTS 
THOSE TROOPS OUT AND LOCAL ETHIOPIAN AUTHORITY RESTORED BEFORE 
ANY FORMAL PEACE TALKS.   ///  END OPT  ///

WHILE ETHIOPIA HAS AGREED TO THE PEACE PLAN, ERITREA HAS YET TO 
MAKE A DECISION, ASKING THE O-A-U FOR CLARIFICATION ON SEVERAL 
POINTS ABOUT THE BORDER.  NOW THAT THE O-A-U HAS ANSWERED THOSE 
QUESTIONS, SPOKESMAN DAGASH SAYS IT IS UP TO ERITREA TO MAKE THE 
NEXT MOVE.

                   ///  SECOND DAGASH ACT  ///

         ERITREA HAS ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT OUR INITIATIVES, OUR 
         PROPOSALS.  THEY RAISED 29 QUESTIONS.  WE GAVE THE 
         RESPONSE.  WE ARE WAITING FOR THEIR REACTION.  THIS IS 
         WHY THE DELAY.  THE BALL IS IN THE COURT OF ERITREA, 
         ACTUALLY. 

                        ///  END ACT  ///

IF ERITREA CONTINUES TO DELAY THE PEACE PROCESS, ETHIOPIAN 
FOREIGN MINISTER SEYOUM MESFIN SAYS HIS GOVERNMENT WILL BE FORCED
TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM MILITARILY.  HE SAYS ERITREA'S DELAY IS A 
PLOY BY AGGRESSORS TO TRY AND KEEP LAND THEY HAVE TAKEN BY FORCE.

                      ///  SEYOUM ACT  ///

         ERITREA HAS SO FAR REFUSED TO RESPECT THE VOICE OF 
         AFRICA BECAUSE IT HAS CONCLUDED THAT THE INTERNATIONAL 
         COMMUNITY IS UNLIKELY TO BRING EFFECTIVE AND MEANINGFUL 
         PRESSURE TO BEAR ON ASMARA.  STAY PUT, PREVARICATE, AND 
         CAUSE THE DETERIORATION OF THE SITUATION, AND THEN BOTH 
         THE AGGRESSOR AND THE AGGRESSED WILL PROBABLY BE PUT ON 
         THE SAME LEVEL.  THIS IS WHAT ERITREA HAS BEEN COUNTING 
         ON, A VICTORY FOR THE AGGRESSOR IN A SITUATION WHERE 
         INTERNATIONAL LAW IS MADE A MOCKERY OF. 

                        ///  END ACT  ///

///  OPT  ///   FOREIGN MINISTER SEYOUM SAYS HE IS MOST CONCERNED
ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY PUTTING ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA ON
THE SAME LEVEL.  BEFORE THIS LATEST ROUND OF FIGHTING, ETHIOPIA 
ENJOYED ITS ROLE AS THE VICTIM IN THE CONFLICT.

///  OPT  ///   NOW, UNITED NATIONS MOVES TOWARD AN ARMS EMBARGO 
APPLY TO BOTH COUNTRIES EQUALLY.  U-S CALLS FOR A RETURN TO A 
MORATORIUM ON AIR STRIKES SINGLED OUT ETHIOPIA, WITH PRESIDENT 
CLINTON URGING THE GOVERNMENT HERE TO REFRAIN FROM FURTHER USE OF
AIR SUPPORT ALONG THE NORTHERN BORDER.

///  OPT  ///   FOREIGN MINISTER SEYOUM SAYS IT IS ERITREA THAT 
BROKE THE MORATORIUM,  NOT  ETHIOPIA.  AS FOR THE U-N ARMS 
EMBARGO, ETHIOPIAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESWOMAN SELOME TADESSE SAYS THE
IDEA SHOWS A FUNDAMENTAL MISUNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHO IS TO BLAME 
FOR STARTING THE WAR.

///  OPT ///   ETHIOPIA IS QUICKLY LOSING MUCH OF ITS 
INTERNATIONAL GOOD-WILL AMIDST ALLEGATIONS OF ETHIOPIAN JETS 
BOMBING CIVILIAN TARGETS ACROSS THE BORDER.  THE GOVERNMENT IS 
PREVENTING FOREIGN AID WORKERS, FOREIGN DIPLOMATS, AND FOREIGN 
JOURNALISTS FROM VISITING THE FRONT, ELIMINATING ANY INDEPENDENT 
ASSESSMENT OF THEIR BATTLEFIELD CLAIMS.   ///  END OPT  ///

O-A-U SPOKESMAN DAGASH SAYS THE LONGER THE CONFLICT GOES, THE 
MORE IT THREATENS EVERYONE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA, ALREADY REELING
FROM CLAN VIOLENCE IN SOMALIA AND CIVIL WAR IN SUDAN.

               ///  OPT  //  THIRD DAGASH ACT  ///

         WE ARE VERY MUCH CONCERNED BECAUSE OF THE SECURITY AND 
         THE STABILITY OF THE WHOLE REGION, AND THIS WAR IS 
         ACTUALLY DAMAGING ALL OUR EFFORTS, ALL THAT WE BUILT 
         UNTIL NOW TO HAVE STABILITY AND SECURITY IN THE HORN OF 
         AFRICA. IT HAS CONSEQUENCES, NEGATIVE, ON THE WHOLE 
         REGION. 

                 ///  END ACT  //  END OPT  ///

IN THE SHORT-TERM, WESTERN DIPLOMATS ARE  NOT  OPTIMISTIC ABOUT A
CEASEFIRE, AS BOTH ARMIES HAVE SPENT THE PAST EIGHT MONTHS 
REINFORCING THE BORDER, AND THEY NOW WANT TO SEE IF THEY CAN 
SHIFT THE BALANCE OF POWER ON THE BATTLEFIELD BEFORE GIVING 
MEDIATION ANOTHER TRY.  (SIGNED)

NEB/SKS/JWH

11-Feb-99 10:00 AM EST (1500 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America

INTRO:  THE BORDER WAR BETWEEN ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA IS IN ITS 
SIXTH DAY, WITH BOTH SIDES CLAIMING SUCCESS IN FIERCE FIGHTING.  
DIANNA CAHN VISITED HADDESHADI, ON THE ERITREAN SIDE OF THE 
BATTLE LINE, AND FILED THIS REPORT. 

TEXT:  INCOMING ARTILLERY SHELLS CRASH ON THESE FRONT LINE 
EASTERN MOUNTAIN SLOPES.  BUT ERITREAN SOLDIERS OTHERWISE RELAX 
IN THE RELATIVE CALM OF WHAT EARLIER THIS WEEK WAS THE SCENE OF 
FIERCE BATTLES WITH ETHIOPIAN FORCES.

AT THIS FRONT LINE ON THE DISPUTED BORDER, 15-KILOMETERS SOUTH OF
THE BATTERED AND ABANDONED TOWN OF TSORONA, SOLDIERS LOUNGE UNDER
THE PROTECTION AND SHADE OF A NORTHEASTERN MOUNTAIN SLOPE.  THE 
MOUNTAIN SEPARATES THEM FROM THE SIGHTS AND SHELLS OF ETHIOPIANS 
ACROSS THE BORDER TO THE SOUTH AND WEST.

MOST OF THE ARTILLERY APPEARS AIMED AT A KEY SUPPLY ROUTE LEADING
SOUTH THROUGH TSORONA TO FRONT LINE POSITIONS.  IT IS A DIRT 
ROAD, WHERE PASSING TRUCKS RAISE BILLOWING DUST TRAILS, EASY TO 
TRACK FROM ACROSS THE BORDER.

MORNING SHELLING WAS HEAVY, ECHOING OFF THE MOUNTAINS AND RAISING
PILLARS OF BLACK SMOKE.  SEVERAL SHELLS FELL AROUND TSORONA, 
LEAVING A GROUP OF HAYSTACKS IN FLAMES.  FIELDS SURROUNDING THE 
TOWN ARE BLACKENED AND CHARRED FROM FIRES.  SEVERAL HOUSES ARE 
REDUCED TO RUBBLE. 

THE TOWN AND MANY SURROUNDING VILLAGES HAVE BEEN ABANDONED.  
OFFICIALS SAY 12-THOUSAND ERITREANS IN THE SOUTHEAST HAVE BEEN 
DISPLACED AND ARE LIVING IN CAMPS FURTHER NORTH.

BUT SOLDIERS ON THE ROAD LEADING TO THE FRONT WERE RELAXED.  THEY
FILLED CANTEENS FROM LARGE VATS OR WASHED DIRTY CLOTHES ALONG THE
ROADSIDE AND WAVED CHEERFULLY TO REPORTERS PASSING BY.

AT HADDESHADI, BODIES OF ETHIOPIAN SOLDIERS LAY STREWN AND 
ROTTING IN A VALLEY WHERE BOTH SIDES CLAIMED VICTORY IN BATTLES 
FOUGHT TUESDAY.

ERITREAN COLONEL MAKONEN HAILE SAYS THE ETHIOPIANS LOST THE 
BATTLE AFTER LAUNCHING AN ASSAULT AGAINST THE ERITREAN POSITIONS.
COLONEL MAKONEN SAYS HIS UNITS COUNTED THE BODIES OF 15-HUNDRED 
DEAD ETHIOPIANS.

HE SAYS HIS FORCES DROPPED BACK BEHIND A RIDGE AND THEN ENCIRCLED
TWO ETHIOPIAN BATTALLIONS AS THEY ENTERED A DRY RIVERBED BETWEEN 
MOUNTAINS.  HE SAYS MOST OF THE ETHIOPIANS WERE KILLED AS THEY 
TRIED TO RETREAT.

IN ONE STRETCH OF ABOUT 500 METERS ALONG THE WINDING RIVERBED, 12
DEAD SOLDIERS WERE STREWN ALONG THE ROCKS.  COLONEL MAKONEN SAYS 
THE BODIES IN THE RIVERBED CONTINUE A FULL FIVE KILOMETERS ALONG 
THE DRY STONES.

WHILE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO CONFIRM, ERITREAN CLAIMS OF VICTORY AT
THIS FRONT APPEARED TO BE VALID.  BUT THIS WAR, WHICH WORLD 
POWERS ARE DEMANDING COME TO A HALT, DOES  NOT  APPEAR TO BE 
NEARING AN END.  (SIGNED)

NEB/DC/JWH

11-Feb-99 7:56 AM EST (1256 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America

Defence Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau told reporters on Thursday the 3,900-tonne Jean Bart, equipped with medium-range U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles, had arrived in the tiny former French colony of Djibouti in recent days.

"We decided to bolster our forces in the area and went on standby alert due to the new presence of modern planes," he said.

He identified the new aircraft as Mig-29s on the Eritrean side and Sukhoi-27s with the Ethiopian air force. Both planes are Russian-made and experts said they were advanced aircraft of a type generally unseen in black Africa.

Air protection of Djibouti, which borders both belligerents, was so far provided by a dozen ageing French air force Mirage F-1 fighter-bombers.

Staff officers said the F-1's would have to be airborne virtually round-the-clock for their radars to pick up possible intruders flying at the speeds the Russian planes can reach.

The Jean Bart is designed to provide anti-aircraft cover for French aircraft carriers and has a DRBV-26 radar which can spot arriving planes at distances of up to 360 km (225 miles).

It is equipped with 40 supersonic Tartar anti-aircraft missiles with a range of about 50 km (30 miles).

An Ethiopian fighter plane dropped at least four bombs in a pre-dawn raid on Tuesday on the small village of Laili Deda, killing two women, two men and an infant.

The government said it ``sincerely regrets'' the deaths but stressed that Laili Deda -- a village of tents populated by 500 Eritreans expelled from Ethiopia last year -- lies within the disputed Badme border region and close to the front line.

It accused Eritrea's government of settling civilians at Laili Deda last June, ``thereby putting the lives of anyone residing there at risk.''

``The Eritrean government not only should have evacuated the civilians from the area when fighting broke out on the Badme front on February 6, but the Eritrean authorities should never have positioned civilians so close to the hostile border for any length of time,'' the Ethiopian government said in a statement.

It said it had never targeted innocent civilians.

Laili Deda's residents were expelled from Ethiopia after the first round of the border war in May and June last year and were given tents by the Eritrean government to set up home.

The conflict restarted last Saturday after both sides used the eight-month lull to reinforce their positions in the Badme region and along the 1,000-km (600-mile) frontier.

Eritrea has military positions close to Laili Deda and Ethiopia says they were the target of Tuesday's attack.

But the five civilian victims -- all members of the same family -- were killed in an almost direct hit on their tent.

A Reuters correspondent and other reporters were in the area and verified that it was an Ethiopian plane that bombed the town and that the victims were civilians.

The government said it ``sincerely regrets these civilian deaths, if indeed such accounts are accurate.''

Both sides have accused each other of targeting civilians in their bloody border war but the attack on Laili Deda was the first to be independently confirmed in the new round of clashes.

Fighting along the frontier has eased over the last two days but neither side has given any indication of being ready to compromise or pull back troops and further battles are expected.

``We feel there is a real prospect for continued fighting,'' U.S. Ambassador William Clarke told Reuters in the Eritrean capital Asmara.

He said the U.S. government had already authorised non-essential embassy staff to leave before fighting broke out on Saturday, but was now ordering non-essential staff to leave and strongly encouraging all its other citizens to get out.

Hundreds of soldiers and a handful of civilians are thought to have died since fierce fighting resumed on Saturday after an eight-month lull, with ground troops backed by air power and heavy artillery battling along the rocky, mountainous frontier.

The U.N. Security Council called on Wednesday for an immediate ceasefire and talks between the two sides. It also urged all countries to halt the sale of arms and munitions to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

But neither side showed any sign of folding.

``The Security Council should point the finger at the culprits,'' Eritrean presidential advisor Yermane Gebremeskel told Reuters. ``The Ethiopians initiated hostilities when we were both asked to show restraint.''

Ethiopia's response was equally uncompromising.

``This (U.N. call) would be better directed at Eritrea,'' Ethiopian government spokeswoman Selome Taddesse told Reuters in Addis Ababa. ``We have been invaded and stayed put for nine months. They cannot ask us not to defend our sovereignty.''

Although Eritrean state radio said the border area was calmer on Thursday, Ethiopia said it was merely reinforcing its new positions after gaining ground in the first four days of fighting.

``We are consolidating our positions that Eritrean forces are attempting to recapture,'' Taddesse said.

The first round of the border war erupted last May and Eritrea occupied the contested Badme region as well as another pocket of land along the frontier. Fighting died down in June but reignited on Saturday and has spread to two fronts.

Both sides used the lull to rearm. Despite their small economies they both have large, well-equipped armies.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in May 1993 after a referendum. Ethiopia supported the move and the two countries were allies until last May.

Relations have rapidly deteriorated since then, and Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin insisted on Wednesday there was ``no question'' of a ceasefire without an Eritrean withdrawal from the contested land.

Ambassador Clarke said there were around 300 U.S. citizens, many of them of Eritrean descent, in Asmara and thousands more in Ethiopia. Non-essential embassy staff had already left Asmara but some remained in Addis Ababa, he said.

He said citizens were being asked to make their own way out by commercial flights, adding that a formal statement would be issued from Washington later on Thursday.

German and British nationals were also advised to leave Eritrea last weekend. Workers from British charity Voluntary Service Overseas were also ordered to leave Asmara by Sunday, senior VSO official David Adams told Reuters on Thursday.

``No, its okay,'' she smiled. ``Just say ciao to everyone in Asmara.''

Fellow soldiers stood by a dirt road built recently by the army to supply forces dug in along a 12 km (7.5 mile) ridge of hills on the Tsorona military front.

Washing clothes, smoking and or just chatting idly, they looked confident and relaxed. Next to them were boxes of ammunition stamped with the name of their port of entry -- Mombasa in Kenya.

Although the Tsorona front -- around 120 km (75 miles) from Asmara -- was relatively quiet late on Wednesday, there were still plenty of signs of the fierce fighting which took place when Ethiopian troops attempted to storm Eritrean lines two days earlier.

After an exchange of heavy artillery on Wednesday morning, there was only sporadic shelling for the rest of the day.

An Eritrean colonel at the front said his forces had killed 1,500 Ethiopians of the elite 20th and 24th Division.

Bodies of Ethiopian troops could be seen behind the Eritrean frontline. A Reuters correspondent saw 12 Ethiopian corpses in the space of 500 metres (yards). The body of one soldier hung upside down, his foot caught in the branch of a small tree.

Occasionally the breeze would carry the pungent smell of death from further away.

The contents of soldiers' knapsacks were strewn among the rocks: biscuits, underwear, binoculars, caps and even army-issue condoms lay scattered about.

Most of them were killed, said Colonel Makkonen Haile, trying to escape after the Eritreans had tricked them with a classic false retreat.

The Eritreans withdrew and, as Ethiopian troops surged forward, went around their flanks and took them from behind.

``If they come again ... we will destroy them,'' Makkonen told Reuters.

Eritrean troops were still flushing Ethiopian soldiers out of hiding places on Wednesday afternoon. One prisoner of war captured that morning sat at the side of the road with soap on his face, washing himself as an Eritrean soldier poured water for him.

Ethiopia claims to have captured the strategic village of Kinuto during the fighting but Colonel Makkonen denied this, using a map to point out the ridge just two km away.

He invited journalists to drive to the area but shelling of the road interrupted the journey as the Ethiopians used the plume of dust thrown up by the vehicle as a sight for their artillery.

Fighting on the Tsorona front erupted after Eritrea repelled a similar attack in the Badme border region further to the west.

Ethiopian government sources said battles were continuing for the sixth day -- despite declarations in Asmara that no fighting had taken place on Wednesday -- and that the clashes were particularly ferocious on the western Badme front.

Both governments reacted with dismay to a UN Security Council vote demanding an immediate halt to hostilities and urging a ban on the sale of arms and ammunition to both.

Ethiopian government spokeswoman Salome Tadesse told AFP the ceasefire demand was illogical.

"Ethiopia does not want this war," she said.

"Ethiopia has been attacked in its national sovereignty. If you are attacked on your own land, what do you do?"

In Asmara, Eritrean foreign ministry official Andemicail Kahsay told AFP his government was dismayed the council had not named Ethiopia as the aggressor.

"We find it unacceptable that the Security Council cannot point out the aggressor," he said.

In Addis Ababa, a communique issued by Tadesse's office said: "Ethiopia calls on Eritrea to evacuate civilians from the battle zones."

Asmara charged Tuesday that an Ethiopian aerial bombardment of the village of Laili Deda, close to the western front, had killed five civilians.

The communique said that if this were true, "the Ethiopian government sincerely regrets these civilian deaths."

It added, however: "Eritrean authorities should have never positioned civilians so close to the hostile border for any length of time."

Ethiopia has never intentionally targeted civilians, the communique added.

The United States was meanwhile organising what amounts to an evacuation of Americans in non-essential jobs in Ethiopia and Eritrea, a diplomat told AFP.

The US government, which is officially "requesting" the departures, will pay the travel expenses of such Americans working at the US embassies in the two capitals, and those with the Peace Corps and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), along with their families, he said.

Washington circulated a message in mid-January "encouraging" such non-essential workers to leave, but few heeded it. The new request represents a step up, and one that employees of the US government will feel unable to refuse, observers said.

Ethiopian sources said fighting was continuing Thursday at the strong-point of Geza Gerlase, on the western front, which Ethiopia claimed to have captured Saturday, but which the Eritreans said remained in their hands.

"The Eritreans are trying to recapture the strategic positions conquered by the Ethiopian army," an Ethiopian government official told AFP.

"Our territory has been attacked, and we must defend it with all the means at our disposal, but without targeting civilians."

A western diplomat in Addis Ababa told AFP that fighting was continuing on both the western and the central fronts, but that after five days of hard fighting, "some battle fatigue must be setting in."

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin told a press conference Wednesday evening: "The Ethiopian army is progressing well on the war front."

Seyoum said his country would exercise its right to self-defence so long as Eritrea continued to occupy Ethiopian territory.

"We are determined to fight the aggressor army and rout it out to its own territory," he said.

The foreign minister acknowledged the Ethiopian forces had sustained casualties -- Eritrea claimed to have killed 1,500 Ethiopian troops on Monday alone -- but gave no figures.

Japanese special envoy Morisho Aoki meanwhile arrived in Addis Ababa Thursday to begin a mediation bid, Japanese diplomats said.

Aoki, Japan's Nairobi-based ambassador to both Ethiopia and Eritrea, is bearing a message from Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi calling for a peaceful settlement to the conflict. He is due to go on from Addis Ababa to Asmara to deliver a similar message to Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki.