Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in Khartoum International Airport on Tuesday morning for a one-day visit to Sudan to strengthen relations between the two countries and discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Ahmed was received by Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, among other ministers and state officials.
The newly appointed Ethiopian ambassador to Khartoum Yibeltal Aemero, said that the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s visit to Sudan will see meetings with Sudanese leaders on bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to enhance them.
The aim of the visit, according to the ambassador, will be to strengthen relations and maximize mutual cooperation between both countries.
On Monday, the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council Abdul Fattah al-Burhan received Aemero’s credentials at the republican palace.
In statements following the credentials ceremony, Aemero said that the meeting with Burhan discussed bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Sudan in economic, political and social fields.
He indicated that the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council welcomed the due visit of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister to Sudan.
Ahmed’s visit to Khartoum comes at a sensitive time when trilateral negotiations between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt continue to assess points of contention over the GERD.
The arrival of Ahmed to Sudan also coincides with the Tuesday arrival of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Khartoum, on an official visit as part of his six-day tour in the region.
Pompeo’s tour includes Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates from 23 to 28 August, to discuss expanding the circle of peace and normalization between the Arab countries and Israel after the peace agreement signed by the UAE and Israel.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
