A statement from the official ERINA news agency faxed to AFP in Nairobi quoted a senior Eritrean foreign ministry official as urging Ethiopia "not to pursue this argument."

"It is nowhere to be found in the Organisation of African UnityFramework Agreement and they cannot add elements to the plan at this stage. Anyone can read the framework themselves," the Eritrean statement said.

Ethiopia on Friday charged that Eritrea's declared acceptance of the OAU plan was "bogus, tactical and designed to buy time" and demanded its "immediate and unconditional retreat from all our territories" before peace talks could start.

The Eritrean statement pointed out that under the OAU plan, both sides must agree to an immediate cessation of hostilities, with Eritrean troops redeploying from Badme and its environs on the western front of the 1,000-kilometre (600-mile) border between the two Horn of Africa neighbours.

The redeployment "is asked of Eritrea as a sign of goodwill and should not prejudge the final status of this area," the Eritrean statement said.

"This should immediately be followed by the demilitarisation of the entire border, through the redeployment of the forces of both parties along the entire border to positions to be determined subsequently, followed by the technical demarcation of the border," it added.

"There is simply no ambiguity and no room for the liberal interpretation Ethiopia seeks to inject into the OAU plan, unless they are reading from a new script," the Eritrean statement maintained.

"It is Ethiopia which bears full responsibility for the consequences of the war," the Eritrean official said.

"Indeed Ethiopia used force to occupy the Bada region (eastern front) in July 1997 and published an illegal map, redrawing Eritrea's international boundaries in October 1997," the statement said.

The two African neighbours interpret the OAU plan differently, with Ethiopia stressing that peace can only come from immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Ethiopian areas occupied since May 1998.

Ethiopia claims Eritrea continues to occupy "Ethiopian territory in the regions of Zala Anbesa-Aiga and Egala (central front) and Bada-Burie (eastern front), demanding that Eritrean forces retreat from all contested areas before implementation of the peace plan.

The plan envisages a ceasefire, demilitarisation of the border -- which implies a pull-back by both sides -- the deployment of peacekeepers and observers, and neutral demarcation of the frontier.