Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi has held talks with visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer on the upcoming African Union summit in Khartoum and Ethiopia-Eritrea border situations, officials said Saturday.
Meles and Frazer on Friday discussed the future relations between the United States and the AU, and the AU summit to be held on Monday in the Sudanese capital Khartoum as well, among others, according to a spokesperson of Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry.
After talks with Meles, the U.S. diplomat plans to attend the AU summit.
The two sides deliberated on Ethiopia-Eritrea border situations and the practical application of the UN Security Council’s resolution 1640, adopted on November 23, 2005, in particular, said the spokesperson.
They also consulted on things that the U.S. government and international community need to do to resolve the Ethiopia-Eritrea border dispute, he said.
They also exchanged views on the prevailing situations in Ethiopia, particularly the activities being made to further enhance democracy and ensure the supremacy of law in the country during post-election period.
Meles and Frazer also discussed the bilateral cooperation and relations between Ethiopia and America. They deliberated ways of enhancing U.S. support to Ethiopia.
On Thursday, Frazer traveled to northern Ethiopia to visit the border with Eritrea on a curtailed mediation mission intended to ease tensions and avert a potential new war between the arch- rivals after Asmara snubbed her plans to visit.
From 1998 to 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war, in which 70,000 people were killed. Since July 2001, a UN peacekeeping force, which now numbers about 3,000 troops and observers, has been patrolling a buffer zone separating the two countries’ militaries.
In recent months, tensions have grown with renewed military buildup along the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.
The United States considers Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa’s top military power, a key counter-terrorism ally in the area.
The United States has said it will not follow other donors in withholding aid to Ethiopia over a government crackdown on opposition supporters, and will not cut the 600 million dollars it is giving for development and fighting HIV/AIDS.
Source: Xinhua