1.   Francis Gutmann, head of a French delegation on a shuttle mission in the region, was to discuss the dispute over the Hanish islands which both countries claim.

2.   Egypt and Ethiopia are both mediating between the two nations which lie on opposite sides of the mouth of the Red Sea, where the Hanish islands are located.

3.   Ethiopia on Friday welcomed the reported breakthrough in peace negotiations to seek a peaceful solution between Eritrea and Yemen over the Hanish islands in the Red Sea.

4.   Yemen urged the United States on Monday to mediate in its dispute with Eritrea over the Hanish island chain in the Red Sea, an official report here said.

5.   Meanwhile, a Yemeni opposition party pressed the government to retake the Hanish islands, and the Arab League called for Eritrea to pull out of Lesser Hanish.

6.   Sovereignty over the Hanish islands, a former Ottoman possession, has never been decided by international convention.

7.   The conflict over the Hanish islands, whose sovereignty has never been fixed by international convention, degenerated into armed conflict last December when Eritrean troops seized Greater Hanish.

8.   The Hanish islands control access to the Bab al-Mandab straits at the entrance to the Red Sea and its oil traffic.

9.   The Hanish islands control access to the Bab al-Mandab straits.

10.   The Hanish islands command access to the Bab al-Mandab straits between the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.