ADEN - Hosts Yemen on Thursday offered to mediate in a mounting crisis between Horn of Africa rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea as regional leaders prepared to wrap up a two-day summit in the southern port city of Aden.
| Just how screwed does your country have to be such that Yemen becomes a beacon of sweet, reasoned diplomacy? |
President Ali Abdullah Saleh âannounced Yemenâs readiness to mediate between the two countries, or play any role that might help to ease tension and serve regional stability,â the official SABA agency quoted his as saying. He called upon Eritrea and Ethiopia to use dialogue to settle their disputes âin order to avoid wasting their energy and capabilities,â at the summitâs opening session on Wednesday.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that âmaintaining stability in the region would provide more time to focus on development efforts in each member state.â
| Not that it's important to do anything for the people, of course ... |
The leaders of the Sanaa Forum were expected to discuss regional security and other issues, SABA said. âYemen is following with great interest developments of events in our region, notably in Sudan and Somalia,â Saleh said before proceedings got underway with closed door discussions. He called on the international community to âsupport peace efforts in the region as well as efforts in the fight against terrorism.â
Saleh and Zenawi, as well as Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir and Somaliaâs transitional President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed were also expected to âput in place a (durable) structure for the âSanaa Forumâ,â he added.
| And we all know that there can be no Sanaa Forum without Somalia. |
Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al Kurbi had told AFP that member states should play a âcommon security role in the regionâs waters to prevent all kinds of sabotage and maritime piracy and enhance stability.â
| If it's the pirates versus the combined naval assets of Yemen, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, I'm taking the pirates and giving the points. |
|