From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Sat Oct 03 2009 - 14:57:34 EDT
Thursday 01 October 2009 - 04:36 PM
Aboul Gheit and Omar Suleiman in Eritrea
By Gomaa Hamdallah
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and head of intelligence Omar
Suleiman will go to the Eritrean capital of Asmara on 1 November for
talks with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and other leading political
figures.
The talks will address Egyptian-Eritrean relations and the situation in
Somalia, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hossam Zaki.
Talks will also address the security of the Red Sea and the Nile water
resources, and will seek solutions for the ongoing conflict and
political instability in Somalia, African diplomatic sources said.
It is unclear if these talks constitute a joint Egyptian-Eritrean
initiative, but sources said the leaders hope to solve the problem of
Somali piracy in the Red Sea and thereby end the presence of foreign
fleets in the waterway.
Pirates based in Somalia have hijacked dozens of ships passing through
the Gulf of Aden in recent years, including a number of ships with
Egyptian origins. According to many experts, Somali piracy is a threat
to the economy of the Suez Canal.
The sources denied speculations that the two ministers went to Eritrea
to investigate allegations of Iranian political activity there.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
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