(Updates with Ethiopian president's comments paragraphs 7-9)
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Eritrea on Wednesday renewed its demand that Ethiopia implement a border ruling as part of the pact ending their 1998-2000 war, after Ethiopia threatened to call off the peace deal.
In a letter to Eritrea's foreign minister, Ethiopia had accused Asmara of violating the deal on several fronts including coordinating "terrorist activity."
Addis Ababa said as a result it was considering terminating or suspending all or part the Algiers agreement that ended the two-year border conflict that killed 70,000 people.
Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu said Asmara had no knowledge of any such letter and that it was Ethiopia's concern.
"That's not our business. It's up to them," he told Reuters by telephone. "What we know is there has been a legal verdict and what we want is the implementation of that. No more, no less."
But Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Giorgis told reporters in Houston, where he was meeting with local businessmen, that his country would abide by the peace pact.
"Ethiopia will not cancel the peace agreement with Eritrea. We are committed to the peace agreement," he said.
The president is head of state but real executive power is held by Ethiopia's prime minister Meles Zenawi.
Relations between the Horn of Africa neighbors deteriorated when Ethiopia initially rejected a 2002 ruling by an independent border commission, despite agreeing earlier to accept whatever the commission ruled as final and binding.
In November, the border commission gave the countries a year to begin physically marking the border, saying it had marked the boundaries aerially and would let them stand if the countries did not finish the job themselves.
But there has been no let-up in tension. This month, Ethiopia said its soldiers were just metres (yards) apart from Eritrean troops who had moved into what is supposed to be a neutral buffer zone.
Analysts and diplomats say neither country wants to go to war, in spite of the inflammatory rhetoric on both sides. But they worry that an unplanned skirmish could trigger conflict.
The two countries are on opposite sides of the conflict in Somalia, with Ethiopia backing the Somali government and Eritrea the Islamists forced out of Mogadishu in December.
Eritrea denies Ethiopia's allegations of support for armed groups. This month, it accused Ethiopia of sinking demarcation talks on their 1,000 km (620 mile) frontier.
Abdu ruled out any dialogue, which is what Ethiopia wants.
"There was not, there is not and there will not be any direct communication between us," he said. (Additional reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston)
