NAIROBI (AFP) — Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki has ruled out a dialogue with Djibouti over a frontier dispute behind recent clashes that left nine soldiers dead, an official statement said Tuesday.
In a telephone call with Yemeni President President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Monday, Afeworki said Eritrea would "by no means engage" in any diplomatic activity with its neighbour.
"It has no desire whatsoever to be dragged into the current diplomatic and media tit-for-tat designed to further aggravate the fabricated problem," the statement said.
Saleh reportedly spoke to Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh and Assaias on Monday and urged both to show restraint after border clashes killed nine Djibouti soldiers.
Saleh urged both leaders to settle their differences "through dialogue and understanding, and to avoid any escalation... harmful to stability, security and peace in the region," the official Saba news agency said.
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) also weighed in, urging the rival sides to talk out of the crisis.
"The OIC has been instrumental in dealing with many problems," Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told AFP in an interview in the Ugandan capital, where is due to attend the group's June 18-20 meeting.
"We continue to encourage the parties (Eritrea and Djibouti) to find a peaceful solution to the problem," he said, adding that the OIC meeting will also discuss the stand-off.
Djibouti, unlike Eritrea, is an OIC member.
The long-running border row between Djibouti and Eritrea over the disputed Ras Doumeira promontory on the shores of the Red Sea flared up last week after previous clashes in 1996 and 1999.
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