The African Union called for restraint Friday in the escalating border row between Ethiopia and Eritrea, saying the latest military confrontation could lead to another war. The AU called on both countries "to refrain from any action" that could aggravate the situation further. The head of the AU Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare, expressed concern "at the reported movements of military personnel on both sides of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) as well as irregular activities within the TSZ", reported the dpa from Addis Ababa. The TSZ is a 25 kilometre-wide buffer in Eritrea along the 1,100- kilometre disputed border and separates the forces of either country. Some 3,200 multi-national forces under the U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) have been monitoring the zone for the last five years. Konare said confrontation would have "far-reaching implications for the two countries and the region as a whole," and reiterated AU's support of UNMEE, whose movements to monitor the border area have been curtailed by Eritrean restrictions on helicopter flights over its territory since early October. --More 0025 Local Time 2125 GMT
