US Urges Restraint as Egypt Hosts Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia Leaders Over Horn Tensions
The United States called on Saturday for restraint and a return to dialogue and cooperation between Ethiopia and Eritrea, as Egypt prepared to host the leaders of Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia on Sunday in El-Alamein for talks that come amid renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia and a sharp diplomatic break between Addis Ababa and Asmara.
“Increasing cross-border tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have the potential to affect the entire region,” the US State Department said in a statement carried by AFP. Washington urged both countries “to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of their neighbors, exercise maximum restraint and return to dialogue and cooperation.”
A diplomatic source told AFP that Sunday’s mini-summit in El-Alamein would bring together Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, on the sidelines of an African business forum. The Egyptian presidency said President el-Sisi would join the four-way El-Alamein Consultative Summit for “consultations and coordination on regional issues of mutual interest,” Arab News reported. Sudan is expected to be represented by al-Burhan, according to those reports.
The talks come a day after federal forces and allied fighters were reported inside Mekelle and the TPLF said it had temporarily left the city.
The African Union on Friday urged Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt to refrain from actions or rhetoric that could further escalate tensions and called for disputes to be resolved through dialogue, Arab News reported. Relations between Egypt and Ethiopia have long been strained by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, Arab News reported. Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have deteriorated amid concerns in Asmara over Ethiopian ambitions for access to the port of Assab, Arab News reported.
Ahead of Sunday’s mini-summit, el-Sisi met Isaias Afwerki in El-Alamein on Saturday and reaffirmed Egypt’s support for Eritrea’s security and stability, and for its sovereignty and territorial integrity, according to the Egyptian presidency as reported by Arab News. Afwerki said Egypt and Eritrea shared broad agreement on respecting state sovereignty and staying out of other countries’ internal affairs. El-Sisi also met Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and restated Cairo’s support for Somalia’s sovereignty and unity. The mini-summit is set to run alongside the African Union’s Mid-Year Coordination Meeting, which Egypt is hosting in El-Alamein.
Porto Marina at El-Alamein, a 2006 photograph by Amr Fayez. This is not a picture of Sunday’s meeting.