Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sayas he has met with Sudan’s coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Nairobi and that both committed to “dialogue” to resolve any differences.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of a meeting of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a seven-country regional body
Their talks follow a clash in a volatile border region last month in which Khartoum said that Ethiopian forces had captured and killed Sudanese troops — claims denied by Addis Ababa.
In a Twitter post, accompanied by a picture of the two men Abiy said “We have both agreed that our two countries have plenty of collaborative elements to work on peacefully.”
On the other hand, 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.
Sudan’s ruling sovereign council said only that there had been a “closed-door meeting” between Burhan and Abiy.
IGAD and the African Union (AU) voiced alarm last week over the escalating tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan following the incident in the disputed Al-Fashaqa border area.
Khartoum said the Ethiopian army had executed seven Sudanese soldiers and a civilian in a clash on June 22 in Al-Fashaqa, and announced it was recalling its ambassador.
But Addis Ababa claimed that Sudanese forces had crossed into Ethiopian territory and that the casualties resulted from a skirmish with a local militia, denying its soldiers were in the area at the time.
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