[7] During the conflict, France provided logistical, medical and intelligence support to Djibouti, but did not participate in direct combat.

The allegations were then made by the foreign affairs, Mohamed Moussa Chehem, to his perplexed Eritrean counterpart, Petros Solomon, who was on an official visit to Djibouti the following day.

On April 18, Mr Solomon stated categorically in a press statement that "there has never been any clash or incident in Doumeira", adding that the Eritrean government was "surprised and saddened" by the allegations.

[12] In January, Eritrea reportedly requested to cross the border in order to get sand for a road, but instead occupied a hilltop in the region.

[13] On April 16, Eritrea is reported by Djibouti to have set up fortifications and dug trenches on both sides of the Djiboutian border near Ras Doumeira.

[6] Djibouti, in a letter to the UN calling for intervention, claimed new maps put out by Eritrea showed Ras Doumeira as Eritrean territory.

[16] In an interview with the BBC on 17 June 2008, President Guelleh "France would have militarily intervened in accordance with this [defense] agreement.

[21] On December 23, 2009, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1907 was adopted, it imposed arms embargo on Eritrea, a travel ban on its leaders, and it froze the assets of some of the country's political and military officials.

The United Nations Security Council called on both sides to exercise maximum restraint and re-establish dialogue.

[26] The Peace and Security Council of the African Union urged Eritrea and Djibouti to exercise the utmost restraint and to resolve the dispute through dialogue including fully cooperating with an AU mission sent to the area.

"[16] On June 24, 2008, the United Nations Security Council held a meeting at their headquarters in New York to hear a briefing of the situation, as well as statements from the Prime Minister of Djibouti Mohamed Dileita and the ambassador of Eritrea.

[29] The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1862 on January 14, 2009, urging dialogue between the two countries to solve the issue peacefully.

[30] On 23 December 2009, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Eritrea for providing support to armed groups undermining peace and reconciliation in Somalia and because it had not withdrawn its forces following clashes with Djibouti in June 2008.

[31] In early June 2010, Djibouti and Eritrea agreed to refer the matter to Qatar for mediation, a move that was praised by the African Union.