Leaders speak of “brotherly relations”

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti have held talks in Nairobi on relations between the two countries. Meeting at the Ethiopian embassy on 2 June, the two leaders said the discussions on regional and bilateral issues had been “fruitful”. Ethiopian radio quoted Guelleh as saying that an agreement had been reached to strengthen “the brotherly relations” between the two countries.

Ethiopian government spokesman Haile Kiros told IRIN that the leaders had had good discussions on a range of topics. The meeting had been “very productive”, he said.

The relationship between Ethiopia and Djibouti would always be good because it was of a “family dimension”, Meles was quoted as saying. “If we have problems, we can solve them, and we have solved them,” he said. Some observers had said that relations between the two Horn of Africa neighbours soured following the Djibouti-hosted Somali peace conference, which resulted in the formation of the Transitional National Government in Mogadishu.