Ethiopian, Sudanese leaders agree to resolve disputes through talks

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – Ethiopia’s prime minister and Sudan’s leader on Tuesday agreed to calm tensions between the two countries and resolve outstanding issues through talks.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of Sudan met on the sidelines of a regional conference in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

“We have both agreed that our two countries have plenty of collaborative elements to work on peacefully,” Abiy tweeted, saying they made a commitment to dialogue and peaceful resolution of outstanding issues.

The meeting comes amid heightened tensions between the two countries after armed clashes over a disputed territory called al-Fashqa along the border.

The chairperson of the African Union Commission on Wednesday called on both Sudan and Ethiopia to refrain from military escalation over the al-Fashqa border area.

Al-Fashqa, a northern border triangle between Ethiopia, Sudan and Eritrea, has been a flashpoint over the past decade between Sudan and Ethiopia.

The two Eastern African nations share a 1,600-kilometre-long (994-mile) boundary that has never been delimited, causing intermittent confrontations.

A June 22 incident at the contested area in which seven Sudanese soldiers and one civilian were killed caused the latest escalation, with the two countries trading blames for the incident.