UK Secretary of State for FCD Affairs Dominic Raab in Ethiopia

The UK Secretary of State met with Lt Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan  in Khartoum before he arrived in Ethiopia to meet with Ethiopian officials. 

borkena
January 22, 2021 

UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, Dominic Raab on Friday arrived in Ethiopia for a one-day official visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia has disclosed. 

He met with president Sahlework Zewde and Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Zewdu. 

From the Ministry update, humanitarian assistance effort and reconstruction of the Tigray region was part of the agenda item during the discussion between the two foreign ministers. 

It is not reported if the visiting British top diplomat met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Normally, Abiy Ahmed shares updates on his social media page whenever he meets with foreign politicians.  

His visit to Ethiopia came a day after his visit to Sudan whose Military forces have made incursions into Ethiopian territory — in some places up to 50 kilometers deep inside Ethiopia. 

During his stay in Khartoum, he met with General Abdual Fetah Al-Burhan.  He tweeted :  ” Today I met Chairman of the Sovereign Council Lt Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan to discuss progress in delivering key reforms including economic reform, the democratic transition & cooperation with the ICC. The UK stands steadfast in our support for the Sudanese people on this journey”.

The United Kingdom is known to be a key partner of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, and there are speculations among politicized Ethiopians that the diplomatic campaign is aimed at resuscitating  what is left of TPLF  — a force that mobilized  at least 250,000 special forces and militia against the Ethiopian Defense Force. 

In November 2020, Ethiopia expelled a British journalist who also worked for the Crisis Group, William Davison, in connection with the military campaign in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.  Most Ethiopian activists on social media tend to link Mr. Davison with TPLF. 

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