JERUSALEM, July 31 (Reuters) - Israel will delay upgrades of Ethiopian fighter jets to avoid influencing the outcome of Addis Ababa's violent border dispute with Eritrea, an Israeli official said on Friday.
``The planes, if they are renovated, will be delivered only in another year on condition that the dispute ends,'' said the official, who spoke on condition he was not identified.
``If the dispute continues, the planes will not be delivered,'' the official said.
Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper reported the delay affected 11 Ethiopian MiG-21 jet fighters and that the postponement came after Eritrea expressed concern the upgrades would affect the balance of forces in the conflict.
Ethiopia and Eritrea, former Horn of Africa allies, fought a bloody ground and air war between May 6 and June 11 over the disputed border territory of Badme and Sheraro.
Israel, which has defence and commercial ties with both countries, has expressed concern with the fighting which claimed hundreds of lives.
Israel maintains a base on Eritrea's Dahlak Islands in the Red Sea where it has facilities to supply submarines and a monitoring station to eavesdrop on Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Jane's Defence Weekly reported last month.
Jane's reported Israel also maintains a base in mainland Eritrea in the Mahel Agar mountains near the border with Sudan to eavesdrop on the Khartoum government.
Israel has longstanding defence ties with Ethiopia. Jane's said Israel's Mossad spy service maintains a large station in Addis Ababa. The official declined comment on Israeli defence links with either country.
But the official said Ethiopia had requested Israeli help in mediating its dispute with Eritrea.
Eritrea has resisted a clause in a peace plan sponsored by the United States and Rwanda, endorsed by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to withdraw to territory it held before the conflict began on May 6.
The plan made no similar demand of Ethiopia, which has rejected Eritrea's call for arbitration to settle the dispute.