ADDIS ABABA Ethiopia on Friday accused neighbor Eritrea of reneging on the deal establishing a temporary security zone along their border.

Ethiopia said Eritrea had agreed to turn a 25-kilometer-deep stretch of land into a security zone as specified in a cease-fire accord they signed in June to enable monitoring by UN peacekeepers.

A spokesman for the Addis Ababa office of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea said a military coordination commission meeting of the UNMEE in Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday "failed because of Eritrea's refusal to accept the redeployment plan submitted by Ethiopia".

The Eritreans objected to areas which Ethiopia said should fall within the scope of the temporary security zone.

"The parties decided to refer the matter to the special representative of the Secretary General of UNMEE, Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, for his guidance," UNMEE said.

The third meeting of the Military Coordination Committee is to be held in Nairobi on January 23.

On January 5, UNMEE is to provide a comprehensive map to both sides of suspected minefields in the two countries, which it has to compile on the basis of information to be provided by both governments.

Ethiopia and Eritrea signed an agreement in Algiers earlier this month ending a border conflict lasting more than two years which claimed tens of thousands of lives. (DPA)