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Ethiopia and Eritrea consolidate their relationship

-Djeddah, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – Ethiopia and Eritrea on Sunday signed an agreement in Saudi Arabia consolidating their reconciliation and strengthening “security and stability in the region” of the Horn of Africa, said officials.
The details of the new agreement signed in the city of Jeddah have not been disclosed, but sources close to the Saudi government say it will help strengthen relations between the two countries.
Chaired by King Salman of Saudi Arabia, the signing ceremony was attended by his son, Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
“The peace agreement signed today between Ethiopia and Eritrea in Jeddah is a historic event that will contribute to strengthening security and stability in the region,” the Saudi Foreign Minister said on Twitter. Adel al-Jubeir.
Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Reformer Abiy Ahmed officially ended a border conflict on 9 July, which left 80,000 people dead between 1998 and 2000, sealing a dramatic rapprochement under the leadership of Abiy. , named in April.
The rapprochement included the reopening of embassies in Asmara and Addis Ababa, and the re-establishment of air links, commercial relations and telephone lines. On Tuesday, they reopened two border posts.
– “Wind of hope” –
Saudi Arabia, but also the United Arab Emirates, which has a military base in Assab, Eritrea’s strategic port for military operations in Yemen, have contributed to the historic rapprochement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
These two Gulf countries, which also have close relations with Ethiopia, are trying to pacify the region, a sign of the increasing importance of the Gulf countries to East Africa, while fighting rebels in Yemen. Houthis backed by Iran.
Dozens of ships pass daily by Bab el Mandeb, a strategic strait that separates the Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa.
Yemeni rebels have launched several attacks on ships in the region.
Saudi Arabia will also hold talks on Monday and Tuesday between the presidents of Djibouti and Eritrea, two countries in the Horn of Africa that have long been opposed by a border dispute, the secretary general of Jeddah told Jeddah. UN.
Relations between Djibouti and Eritrea had strained after an April 2008 incursion of Eritrean troops into Ras Doumeira, a strategic promontory overlooking the entrance to the Red Sea north of Djibouti City. The two countries had opposed twice in 1996 and 1999 for this area.
Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh made a surprise visit on 6 September to his Djibouti counterpart Mahamoud Ali Youssouf in Djibouti City, with a view to normalizing relations between the two countries.
“A breath of hope is blowing over the Horn of Africa,” said Guterres.
“This is part of a broader cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the Emirates to attract the Horn of Africa in their orbit, given the war in Yemen,” said AFP Theodore Karasik, analyst at Gulf States Analytics.

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