1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Western Sahara

Peace broker arrives in Asmara

The Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, brokered a peace deal between Sudan and Eritrea in 1999, AFP reported, and this week he hoped to reactivate the accord signed in Doha in May 1999. His visit is aimed at normalising relations between Khartoum and Asmara, after Sudanese officials accused neighbouring Eritrea of backing Sudanese rebels in eastern Sudan. The Doha peace accord requires both countries to stop hosting and supporting the other’s opposition groups, and to form joint teams to monitor their common border. Since the agreement, Eritrea established agreed-upon border crossing points, but failed to expel armed Sudanese opposition groups. Journalists reported the presence of Sudanese rebels in western Eritrea in May, when the two year Eritrean-Ethiopian border war flared up again. The Eritrean government has denied any involvement in planning a rebel invasion of Sudan, or of a build-up of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) on the Eritrean border. Eritrea, for its part, protested that Sudan had facilitated Ethiopian troops in their invasion of western Eritrea in May and June.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

Share this article

Get the day’s top headlines in your inbox every morning

Starting at just $5 a month, you can become a member of The New Humanitarian and receive our premium newsletter, DAWNS Digest.

DAWNS Digest has been the trusted essential morning read for global aid and foreign policy professionals for more than 10 years.

Government, media, global governance organisations, NGOs, academics, and more subscribe to DAWNS to receive the day’s top global headlines of news and analysis in their inboxes every weekday morning.

It’s the perfect way to start your day.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian today and you’ll automatically be subscribed to DAWNS Digest – free of charge.

Become a member of The New Humanitarian

Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

Join