U.S. senators to visit Sudan for talks on border dispute with Ethiopia
April 30, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – U.S. Senators Christopher Coons and Chris Van Hollen will visit Sudan on Monday for talks on the on border dispute with Ethiopia, said the official news agency SUNA.
The two lawmakers who are members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will meet the head of the Sovereign Council, Prime Minister, Justice Minister and Irrigation Minister.
During the 3-day visit, the Democrat senators will also visit Um Rakuba camp for Ethiopian refugees in eastern Sudan Gadaref state.
Coons is perceived in Khartoum as a friend of Sudan because he worked tirelessly last year to bring Sudan out of the terror list and contributed to legislation to protect democratic transition in the East African country.
Van Hollen has been following the situation in Ethiopia and initiated a letter to former Secretary of State Pompeo on 19 November 2020 urging him to press the Ethiopian Prime Minister to cease the fighting in the Tigray region.
On 21 and 22 March, Coons was dispatched to Addis Ababa by President Joe Biden to discuss the situation in the Tigray region with the Ethiopian officials. Also, he discussed the GERD issue and the border standoff with Sudan.
On 24 April, he expressed fears of possible destabilisation in the Horn of Africa due to the recent developments in the region.
“The ongoing conflict in Tigray & continued involvement of Eritrean troops, rising ethnic violence across Ethiopia, & the lack of progress in negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and (border tensions in) al-Fashaga triangle threaten to erase recent progress in East Africa,” he said.
(ST)