A statement issued here by the office said, U.N. chief Kofi Annan has sent his special envoy for Africa to the region in support of the framework agreement of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on the Eritrean- Ethiopian border conflict.

The statement said, "Ethiopia welcomes Sahnoun's visit because we do not want to leave any stone unturned in the search for peace."

The OAU peace plan, which was endorsed by the Central Organ summit of the OAU Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management and resolution in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in December, 1998, calls for withdrawal of Eritrean forces to positions it held before May 6, 1988 and return civil administration to Badme, the disputed border area.

Ethiopia has accepted the OAU framework agreement. OAU spokesman Ibrahim Dagash said Tuesday that OAU is awaiting a reply from Eritrea following last week's OAU response to a series of clarifying questions the Eritrean government posed to the OAU regarding the peace proposals.

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that in giving its support to the framework agreement of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) by calling it "the best hope for peace" and by calling for its "full implementation without delay", the Security Council has left no room for prevarication by Eritrea.

The official Ethiopian News Agency quoted the statement as saying that " Ethiopia has sought to seek a solution to the crisis through peaceful means in the hope that justice and international law will prevail."

The statement said Ethiopia which recognizes that the OAU peace proposals are "fair and balanced" and "notably did not reward aggression" has accepted in full the proposals.

It said the proposals represented the best possibility to address the fundamental issues at stake in the dispute in a just manner, adding the proposals are clear and their implementation is being urgently awaited by Ethiopia and the international community.

"But what can be seen from Eritrea's reaction to the resolution is that its authorities are still far from being prepared to listen to reason," the statement added and urged the international community to follow closely what Eritrea might be up to.

The Security Council adopted a resolution Friday calling on Eritrea to accept the OAU framework agreement for the peaceful resolution of the Ethio- Eritrea border dispute. Ethiopia has accepted the framework agreement which calls for the withdrawal of Eritrean forces to their positions held before May 6, 1998 and for the return of the civil administration to Badme, the disputed border area.