Eritrea said today it had completed a long-awaited withdrawal from a buffer zone agreed under a peace deal to end its two-year war with Ethiopia.
The withdrawal has yet to be independently verified but, if confirmed, would represent a step forward for a delicate peace process aiming to settle a border dispute between the two Horn of Africa neighbours under United Nations supervision.
The Eritrean Defence Forces have completed the rearrangement of their positions to above the northern line of the Temporary Security Zone, Eritrea said in a statement.
Eritrea missed a deadline for pulling out of the zone in March in protest at UN changes in the boundaries which it said were made without its agreement. But it later agreed to resume the pull-back.
The dispute had left Eritrean refugees unable to return to their villages to plant their crops in time for the rainy season, but Eritrea said they could now return immediately.
Eritrea's announcement followed an appeal from the United States on Monday for both sides to accept UN efforts to resolve disagreements over the 15-mile (25-km) zone's borders.