Eritrean leader pays first visit to Somalia

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Eritrea's relations with its former enemy Somalia have taken another step forward with the arrival in Mogadishu of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Thursday for his first-ever visit.

Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi's office said in a statement the visit was meant to boost diplomatic relations and explore areas to cooperate in security and investment.

"President Isaias's historic visit is part and parcel of the consultative Tripartite Summits of the Heads of State and Government of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia," Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel said on Twitter.

The three countries have been mending their sometimes fraught relations since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April.

In July, Somalia and Eritrea said they planned to establish diplomatic relations as ties improved across the Horn of Africa following Eritrea's rapprochement with Ethiopia.

Past Somali administrations had accused Eritrea of supplying weapons to anti-government Islamist insurgents. Asmara has repeatedly denied this, saying the accusations were concocted by its enemy, Ethiopia.

(Top image: Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki (L) is welcomed by Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as he arrives at the Aden Abdulle International Airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, December 13, 2018.)

Source(s): Reuters