Date: Thursday, 10 October 2024
Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was visiting Eritrea on Thursday against a backdrop of heightened tensions in the volatile Horn of Africa region, particularly soured ties between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa.
His Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi -- whose government is siding with Somalia in its standoff with Ethiopia -- was also heading to Asmara later Thursday, Sisi's office said in a statement.
Mohamud arrived in Asmara late Wednesday for a three-day visit at the invitation of Eritrean Isaias Afwerki, heading a delegation including Foreign Minister Ahmed Moalim Fiqi, Eritrea's information ministry said in a post on X.
It said the two leaders would discuss enhancing bilateral ties and "regional and international issues of mutual interest".
Tensions have soared in the Horn of Africa since Ethiopia in January signed a controversial deal with the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland giving it long-sought access to the sea.
The agreement would see landlocked Ethiopia lease a stretch of coastline from Somaliland for a naval base and port, but it has enraged Somalia which refuses to recognise Somaliland's 1991 declaration of independence.
Somalia has reacted by growing closer to Ethiopian rival Egypt, with the two countries signing a major military deal in August.
Cairo has long been at odds with Addis Ababa, particularly over the vast Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile which it says threatens its water supply.
Sisi's office said his Asmara visit would focus on building relations with Eritrea and address "efforts to establish stability and security in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, in a manner that supports development and serves the interests of the peoples of the region".
Relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have also been deteriorating recently, even though troops from Asmara backed Ethiopian government forces in the brutal 2020-2022 war against Tigrayan rebels.
Last month Ethiopian Airlines said it was suspending flights to Asmara because of "difficult" operating conditions.
