NAIROBI
Issues ranging from the peace agreement with Eritrea to HIV/AIDS and the political renewal process within the country were discussed between a German parliamentary delegation and senior Ethiopian officials, the state-run Walta Information Centre said 28 July. The six MPs, all members of the East Africa relations team, are on the second leg of a tour of Horn of Africa countries.
During a meeting with President Negaso Gidada on 27 July, the MPs had expressed Germany’s readiness to back Ethiopia’s anti-HIV/AIDS initiatives, Walta said. Negaso is the chairman of the National AIDS Council, which launched a five-year HIV/AIDS action plan and strategy in December 1999. HIV/AIDS was also on the agenda when the delegation met the Speaker of the Council of People’s Representatives, Dawit Yohanes, Walta reported. Dawit told the group that coping with HIV/AIDS was a “daunting task” which called for internationally coordinated efforts.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi assured the MPs that Ethiopia was “exerting utmost efforts” to implement the Algiers peace agreement with Eritrea, Walta reported. He also briefed the group on the continuing political reformation process in the country and measures being taken to address the rift within the central committee of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the news agency said.
Prior to arriving in Addis Ababa, the German delegation visited neighbouring Djibouti. According to the official Djibouti news agency web site, monitored by the BBC, during their two-day stay, the group met with President Ismael Omar Gelleh and other senior government officials, with whom bilateral relations and cooperation in the water and renewable energy sectors and German support for the national police forces were discussed.
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