Eritrea hopes regime change in Sudan improves bilateral relations
May 19, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – The Eritrean Foreign Minister Sunday held a “fruitful” meeting with the head of Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) and expressed hopes that political change in Sudan would positively impact relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, accompanied by presidential adviser Yemane Ghebreab, started a two-day visit to Khartoum after the downfall of Bashir’s regime.
Saleh handed a letter from President Isaias Afwerki to the head of the military council, Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan, on relations between the two countries, according to the Eritrean information ministry
President Isaias stressed Eritrea’s confidence in the ability of the Sudanese people to find a solution to their own issues, said the Eritrean government.
Asmara accused the regime of deposed President Omer al-Bashir of supporting Eritrean Islamist movements and working to destabilize the country in cooperation with Qatar and Turkey.
Khartoum, for its part, declared a state of emergency in Kassala state and closed the border for more than a year after accusing Eritrea of supporting armed opposition groups.
In a press statement issued by the TMC media after the meeting, Osman said that the visit comes within the framework of his country’s desire to know about the developments in Sudan after the overthrow of al-Bashir’s regime and the ongoing negotiations between the military council and the Forces for Freedom and Change.
He expressed hope that “the process of change in Sudan will lead to the consolidation of relations between the two countries and achieve the interests of the two peoples.”
The minister also said that the meeting dealt with the peace agreement between Eritrea and Ethiopia and the cooperation agreement between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia in the economic and social fields.
(ST)