Date: Monday, 17 September 2018
Click here to read a report about Eritrea’s regional ambitions
The accord can also be viewed as Riyadh “moving forward on a key element” of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s so-called Vision 2030, which aims to make Saudi Arabia a global logistical and shipping hub, al-Sarhan said.
This “can only be realized if the Horn of Africa is at peace,” al-Sarhan said. “Hosting the signing of the Ethiopian-Eritrean peace agreement in Jeddah is an important sign of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to regional peace, security, and the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”
Eritrea and Ethiopia declared peace in July and agreed to reestablish economic links after an unprecedented summit between the neighbors’ leaders ended decades of enmity. The states fought a 1998-2000 border war that claimed as many as 100,000 lives and left thousands of Ethiopian and Eritrean families divided. The two sides have clashed sporadically in the years since and accused each other of supporting rival rebel groups.