Ethiopian PM in Sudan to broker differences amid escalating political tensions

ADDIS ABEBA: June 7 (Ethiopian Informer) – Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has left here on Friday to Khartoum, capital of Sudan, for talks with members of the military council and opposition leaders amid growing political tensions in Ethiopia’s neighboring nation.

Among the high-level Ethiopian delegation that left to Ethiopia’s neighboring country Sudan, include Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gedu Andargachew as well as senior Ethiopian military figures, according to the statement from the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s Office.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, together with his delegation, arrived in Khartoum, Sudan this morning for talks with the Chief of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council, Lt. Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.#PMOEthiopia pic.twitter.com/HaUPXMGv67

— Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) June 7, 2019

The Ethiopian PM is expected to broker talks between members of Sudan’s Transitional Military Council and protest leaders, as the African Union (AU) on Thursday suspended the country’s participation “in all activities” of the 55member pan African bloc.

“The Council decides… to suspend, with immediate effect, the participation of the Republic of Sudan in all AU activities until the effective establishment of a civilian-led Transitional Authority, as the only way to allow the Sudan to exit from its current crisis,” the AU Peace and Security Council (AU-PSC)  said on Thursday.

“Should the Transition Military Council fail to hand over power to a civilian-led Transitional Authority, the Council shall, without any further delay, automatically impose punitive measures on individuals and entities obstructing the establishment of the civilian-led Transitional Authority,” the AU added.