The leaders of Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti held trilateral talks late on Wednesday on regional security and the Middle East war.
Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed discussed security, counter-terrorism, Somalia’s democracy, the Horn of Africa’s stability and boosting investment, mobility and infrastructure, Somali Information Minister Daud Aweis said in a statement after the talks.
“Peace and security in the region, the state of development of its economic integration, resolutions of shared interests for all three countries and the prevailing situation in the sub-region were discussed during this meeting,” said a statement from Djibouti, where the meeting was held.
The leaders also focused on the current conflict in the Middle East and its possible economic repercussions and harms for the Horn of Africa region.
Abiy and Mohamud were accompanied by high-level delegations that arrived in Djibouti earlier on Wednesday.
The talks came as the US-Israeli war against Iran launched on February 28 continued, claiming many lives, mainly civilians, as oil prices soared due to the conflict.
Both Somalia and Djibouti condemned Iranian attacks on Gulf countries.
Djibouti and Ethiopia have been contributors to a peacekeeping mission in Somalia against the Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab, since it began waging a war against the Somali government in 2007. – AA