Ethiopia backs Sudan’s stance on UN forces for Darfur
Sept 26, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia announced its support to maintain the African Union peacekeepers it Sudan’s troubled Darfur region. It also said that deployment of international forces should not be made without the Sudanese approval.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, affirmed the supportive stance of his country to the African Union forces in Darfur. Zenawi said that any international support should go to the African Union troops in Darfur.
He also expressed satisfaction over the AU’s decision extending the mandate of its forces for three months. Zenawi added that Ethiopia believes in the right of Sudan to maintain its sovereignty and that deployment of any forces in Darfur cannot be made without the consent of the Sudanese government.
Zenawi met, in the sideline of the Sixth Conference of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), with the Sudanese Presidential assistant
Nafie Ali Nafie, in the Ethiopian town of Makale.
The two sides discussed the plan of Sudan for the coming three months pertinent to dealing with the issue of Darfur besides means of reactivating the joint projects between Sudan and Ethiopia.
Sudanese government has faced international pressure to allow a U.N. peacekeeping force to enter the Darfur region, where ethnic fighting has killed at least 200,000 people and chased 2.5 million from their homes since 2003.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister praised progress of the commercial and investment relations between Sudan and Ethiopia, describing these relations as strong and witnessing progress.
Addressing the Sixth Conference of the EPRDF, Zenawi affirmed that the Sudanese – Ethiopian relations have witnessed great development, stressing keenness of the two countries to implement all the agreements between them.
He went on to say that Sudan is top among the countries that Ethiopia has managed to consolidate its diplomatic and commercial ties with, explaining that these countries include also China, Japan, Indonesia, India and Malaysia.
(ST)