Ethiopia does not accept the awarding of Badme to Eritrea

Meles Zenawi told MPs any attempt to force Ethiopia to accept the legally binding decision would raise tensions.

A Hague-based commission was set up to rule on the demarcation of the 1,000 km border but awarded the hotly-disputed village of Badme to Eritrea.

He said his government did not want to see a return to war, and emphasised that urgent action was needed.

"It is impossible to say that these illegal and unjust decisions must be implemented as they stand," he said in a speech to Ethiopia's parliament.

Mr Meles said that he felt that dialogue with Eritrea was the way forward, as had occurred after an international ruling over a territorial dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon.

Impasse

The UN Security Council has already rejected a request from Ethiopia to set up a new commission to rule on the disputed border.

Recently, Eritrean government officials reiterated that Ethiopia should accept the border commission's findings and rejected talks with Ethiopia on the issue.

Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers are warning that efforts to maintain peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea are under severe stress.

The head of the peacekeeping mission deployed on the border between the two neighbours, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, told journalists that the three-year-old peace process was at an "impasse".

He said they were concerned over provocative language coming from local media and said the failure of the peace process was "too ghastly to contemplate".

"Without the demarcation of the border, no-one in his right mind can consider the peace process successful," he said.

The two countries waged a bitter war between 1998 and 2000 over the issue - a conflict which cost up to 100,000 lives.

Marking the border was supposed to begin this month but it has been postponed.

Attention now turns to the visit of a United States envoy to both countries next week.

As the biggest single donor to both countries, the US stance is likely to prove crucial to hopes of a peaceful resolution.