"The politicians should answer that," Major Belete Mesele said when asked how the accord to halt the two-year-old war between the Horn of Africa neighbours would affect the military situation inside Eritrea.

Speaking on a peak of the Ambaseira mountains, Belete said his men's occupation of this position prevented Eritrean forces, whose nearest line could be seen across a dramatic landscape some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, from recapturing Senafe, an Eritrean town occupied by Ethiopian troops.

The Ethiopian army advanced into southwestern and southern Eritrea last month in a move aimed successfully at forcing Eritrean troops out of disputed border territories.

Addis Ababa has said its troops will stay in Eritrea until "security guarantees" are delivered. One of the key points of the latest peace proposal, aside from a commitment from both sides to cease fighting, is the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force in a 25-kilometer-wide (15.5-mile-wide) strip of territory inside Eritrea along the 1,000-kilometer-long (620-mile-long) border.

Two weeks after this deployment, the Ethiopian troops are meant to withdraw to positions held before the war began in May 1998.

Since the organisation and positioning of the UN force could take several months, questions have been raised as to whether the Ethiopians might pull back from some of their positions inside Eritrea, which include points more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of the border, before the arrival of the blue helmets.

"Nothing changes until we get different orders," said the major, who appeared unwilling to believe the Eritreans were sincere in their commitment to peace.

"Some signs indicate that they are preparing for a new offensive" on his position, he said, adding that Eritrean troops had on June 9 tried very hard, for three days, to take the mountain.

Since that offensive, he said, there had been sporadic fighting, the last episode being a few mortar shells fired in his direction on Thursday.