Ethiopia claimed that the Eritrean president, Isayas Afewerki, was pulling back not because of diplomatic pressure but because his army was falling apart.

"Territorial gains mean nothing," said Yemane Ghebremeskel, a spokesman for the Eritrean president, Isaias Afwerki.

And if you are from a different African country, would you like your president to receive the Eritrean president?

The Ethiopian prime minister, Meles Zenawi, and the Eritrean president, Isaias Afwerki, former allies against Ethiopia's long-time strongman Mengistu Haile Mariam, shook hands after the signing ceremony.

A successful attack on Asmara would almost certainly lead to the overthrow of the Eritrean president, Isaias Afewerki, who Ethiopia says is entirely to blame for the war which began two years ago when Eritrea invaded large parts of northern Ethiopia.

The Eritreans suggested that 11 upper-level officials, who criticized the Eritrean president after the war with Ethiopia, had been recruited by the CIA.

In 2010, the Eritrean president Isaias Afewerki, sent a letter to the Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, calling for the Arab League's pressure on removing the latest UN sanctions over the country.

After his meeting with Mr. Rumsfeld today, the Eritrean president vowed to stand by the United States in its fight against terrorism.

Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia in 1993, and in 1994 the Eritrean president declared that rebuilding the railway was a priority for the new nation.

The Eritrean president, Isaias Afewerki, has jailed opponents and government officials who called for democracy, refused to implement the constitution, canceled two elections and stifled the independent press.