Proximity question

[Gildagger]

I am preparing to war with the zulu. The zulu have a city only 2-4 tiles away from most of my units in my territory.( our cities are very close) However, every single unit is within my borders. Yet somehow they are able to push the message " I see you amassing an army near my border.. Blah blah" this message forces me to either declare war prematurely or lie and say im just "passing through." and suffer a diplomatic hit with all other civs when i go to war in a few turns. Why can't i put as many units as i want on my borders without repercussions if they are all inside my territory? Is this a bug or an AI cheat or?

 

[pdxmm]

It isn't a bug as far as I know. The Zulu don't trust you for whatever reason (Shaka doesn't need one) but having touching borders is enough for a warmonger to call you out if they see a lot troops massing near them and it doesn't matter if they are in your land or not. If you keep most of them a couple of tiles back then he won't be able to see them.