By Jonah Fisher BBC, Asmara

The Secretary General of the United Nations has warned that patience is running thin with the delays in demarcating the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Mr Annan wants the international community to help the Horn peace

Kofi Annan said there had been no progress in improving relations between the two countries and has urged the international community to be more active in helping both countries fulfil their commitments under the peace deal.

The start of border demarcation has already been delayed twice this year and a third date set for October now looks likely to pass without progress.

The time may be approaching when the parties will have to be more actively assisted in concluding the process without further delay Kofi Annan

The UN presence in Ethiopia and Eritrea costs well over $150m a year with 4,000 peacekeepers in place on the ground.

Nearly three years after the peace agreement that ended the border conflict the UN's role here is to maintain a security zone while an independent commission rules and then marks out where the border should be.

No progress

That Commission issued its first ruling in April last year but since then there has been no progress in actually putting border posts on the ground.

Whereas previously these progress reports have been patient with the parties, this one lays bare the UN's frustrations.

Kofi Annan warned that events elsewhere on the African continent have shown the growing demand for peacekeepers and that the deployment here had always been a temporary one.

"The time may be approaching when the parties will have to be more actively assisted in fulfilling both the letter and the spirit of the Algiers Agreements and concluding the process without further delay," Mr Annan said.

He called on "closest friends and allies" of Eritrea and Ethiopia to play a crucial role in ending the impasse in the Horn.

While the report stopped short of blaming one side for the delays, the Ethiopian Government are known to still have deep reservations about losing the symbolic town of Badme, while the Eritreans in contrast claim to be ready to start.

The latest start date for demarcation in October now seems extremely unlikely.

The very first item on the latest schedule was the appointment of liaison officers which was supposed to take place in July.

It is now early September and Ethiopia have still not done so, a further indication if any more was needed that the UN may be here for a long time to come.