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Reuters Thu 12 Jun 2008 Omar Hassan and Jack Kimball DJIBOUTI/ASMARA, June 12 (Reuters) - Arab and Western nations called on Eritrea on Thursday to withdraw its troops from the border with Djibouti following clashes that killed nine Djiboutian soldiers and wounded 60 others. Officials said the first fighting for a decade between the Horn of Africa neighbours, two of the continent's smallest states, stopped late on Wednesday. Troops from both sides had exchanged fire since Tuesday along a part of their frontier that overlooks strategic shipping lanes in the Red Sea. Djibouti hosts French and U.S. military bases and is the main route to the sea for Eritrea's arch-foe and Washington's top regional ally, Ethiopia. France said its military was providing logistical support to Djibouti. Africa's youngest nation, Eritrea has fractious ties with the West, which accuses it of backing Somali insurgents and expelling U.N. peacekeepers on its border with Ethiopia. The Arab League called on Eritrea to withdraw its forces immediately from the border area, stressing the need to respect Djibouti's sovereignty, Egypt's state news agency MENA said. It said the League took the decision during an emergency session to discuss with the crisis. The United States and Ethiopia have blamed Eritrea for the clashes. France urged Eritrea to be "cooperative" and let a neutral party shuttle between Djibouti and Asmara for talks. A Djiboutian military official said the death toll had risen to nine soldiers killed and 60 wounded. There was no independent verification of events from the remote border area. Without confirming or denying the clashes, Eritrea has dismissed Djibouti's versions as "concocted animosity". "The Eritrean government ... will under no circumstance get involved in an invitation of squabbles and acts of hostility designed to undermine good neighbourliness," it said. UNEXPECTED Analysts say the border row was unexpected since the frontier had been uncontested. "It cannot be about the border ... I don't see any reason to play up this problem of an unclear border except for ulterior motives," said Jon Abbink, a Horn of Africa analyst. The clashes erupted on Tuesday afternoon after a face-off lasting nearly two months. Djibouti accuses Asmara of entering its territory to build defences. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki has denied any aggression. Djibouti's smaller army of 11,000 troops had begun to call up demobilised soldiers and retired policemen. Eritrea has 200,000 soldiers, but many are on its border with neighbour Ethiopia with whom it fought a 1998-2000 war. Since then, tensions have remained high. Clashes on the Djibouti-Eritrea frontier broke out in the Ras Doumeira area, which straddles the Bab al-Mandib straits. Experts say the only undecided area of the border is the tiny Ras Doumeira island, next to a village of the same name. France has a mutual defence treaty with Djibouti after that nation's independence in 1977. It is also an important route for landlocked Ethiopia, which has vowed to protect its access to Djibouti's port.