Eritrean, Ethiopian leaders visit South Sudan on Monday
March 3, 2019 (JUBA) – The Eritrean and Ethiopian leaders are expected on Monday in Juba for talks with President Salva Kiir who had to interrupt a tour in the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region.
The one-day visit comes in the framework of the regional efforts to consolidate economic and political integration of the East African region which remains among the most fragile parts of the continent in term of regional cooperation.
Also, it comes 24 hours after a visit to Asmara by the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopian Prime Abiy Ahmed to discuss with President Isaias Afewerki regional issues and bilateral relations.
In a statement on Sunday, South Sudan’s Information Minister Michael Makuei said the visit aims at strengthening the relations between South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Makuei further said the two leaders who will begin a state visit in the morning will be received by President Salva Kiir at Juba International Airport.
Following what, the three leaders will hold a meeting at the State House before to issue a joint communiqué and leave Juba in the afternoon.
The South Sudanese information minister has urged the locals to turn out in big numbers to welcome President Isaias Afwerki and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when they arrive in the capital on Monday.
On 18-19 August 2018, President Kiir was in a two-day visit to Asmara for talks with his Eritrean counterpart on bilateral relations and regional issues.
ABIY VISITS KHARTOUM
The Sudanese presidency on Sunday evening released a short statement saying that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abyei Ahmed will arrive at Khartoum airport for a meeting with President Omer al-Bashir.
The statement further said he would depart at 09:00 am and called on the press to attend a meeting before his departure.
INTERRUPTED TOUR
President Salva Kiir returned to Juba on Sunday before to complete a two-week tour to the states of Greater Bahr El Ghazal to brief people about the revitalized peace agreement and meet the populations and listen to their demands.
The road tour had begun on 26 February and was supposed to end in Lol state.
But President Kiir during his Peace Tour which reached the region through Terkeka State actually visited only four states of Bahr El Ghazal region: Eastern Lakes State, Western Lakes State, Gok State and Tonj State.
(ST)