Reporter / Ethiopian Catholic Cardinal in a mediation mission banned from entering Eritrea
Posted by: Semere Asmelash
Date: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Ethiopian Catholic Cardinal in a mediation mission banned from entering Eritrea
Chairman of Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) and an Ethiopian Catholic cardinal, Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel has been banned from entering Eritrea, in a mission for mediation talks between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Reporter wrote on Sunday. Cardinals and bishops of other eleven countries who offered to act as mediators to resolve the long-running border dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea were allowed to enter but Berhaneyesus Demerew has been banned because he is an Ethiopian national, the paper wrote citing sources. AMECEA members have started talking to government officials in Eritrea, according to the Reporter. This is the Cardinal’s personal commitment and the incident would not stop him from trying to mediate the two country’s crisis in the future, an unnamed confidante told the paper. AMECEA is established in 1961 and now counts for more than 56 years of service. Since 1964 the head quarter of AMECEA is in Nairobi Kenya. Currently AMECEA member countries are Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. In addition Djibouti and Somalia are Associate Members of the Conference. It was recently reported that Washington would be willing to help facilitate conversations between the neighbouring nations saying Addis Ababa and Asmara had given the green light for mediation talks. Observers say the two countries, beset in their own internal problems, are eager for progress to be made on planned talks, and to see how far it can go.
