Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi received and held talks here Thursday with the visiting United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Africa, Vicki Huddleston, touching mainly on existing Ethiopia-US relations and issues of common interest.
Meles and the visiting US official held fruitful discussions on political and security issues and on how to fight terrorism in the Horn of Africa region, according a senior government official who attended the discussions.
During the discussions, Meles expressed Ethiopia’s keen interest to scale up existing Ethiopia-US relations to a higher level in the years ahead. He also re-affirmed Ethiopia’s willingness to work with the US in efforts to resolve the crisis in Somalia and in Darfur in western Sudan.
After the meeting, Huddleston told journalists that she and the prime minister held valuable discussions on how to bolster co-operation between the two countries.
Huddleston, who had once served as Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Ethiopia, also said the two sides agreed to work together to resolve the crisis in Somalia and the Sudan.
In his discussions with Huddleston, Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin urged the US to continue its support for efforts by the Inter-Governtal Authority on Development (IGAD), the Horn of Africa regional grouping, to ensure peace and stability in the sub-region.
Seyoum briefed Huddleston on efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region. Ethiopia is the current Chair of IGAD.
Seyoum said US support for IGAD would have great importance to effectively discharge its mission in the region.
The two officials also discussed political and security issues and how to work together in the region, according to an official who attended the meeting.
Huddleston told journalists later that she commended Ethiopia’s efforts to ensure peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. The US government also acknowledged the high economic growth which Ethiopia had registered in the last few years.
She also expressed her belief that the agreement among political parties in Ethiopia on an election code of conduct was a sign that the upcoming election process would be carried out in a good sprit. Source: (NNN-ENA)
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