Ethiopian premier concurs with Sudan’s junta on truce
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says he has reached an agreement with the leader of neighbouring Sudan to peacefully settle a border dispute that has led to armed clashes.
The talks between the two leaders follow fighting in a volatile border region last month in which Sudan said that Ethiopian forces had captured and killed Sudanese troops – a claim denied by Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian premier met Sudan’s military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, in Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Tuesday, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an eight-member regional bloc.
“We have both agreed that our two countries have plenty of collaborative elements to work on peacefully,” Abiy tweeted on Tuesday.
“We both made a commitment for dialogue & peaceful resolution to outstanding issues,” he said.
Burhan said the IGAD meeting gave them an opportunity “to take stock of the response” to challenges in the region, but he did not elaborate.
“We are happy to convene in a very short time to discuss matters of great importance,” he said. Sudan’s ruling sovereign council said only that there had been a “closed-door meeting” between al-Burhan and Abiy. - Xinhua
