[Sudan Tribune] U.S. senior diplomat Tuesday said that the border dispute between Sudan and Æthiopia poses a risk of conflict.Robert Godec, Robert Godec, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Bureau of African Affairs, made his statement in a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the conflict in the Tigray region of Æthiopia.
"The al-Fashaga border dispute poses a risk of conflict in the area. It is a deep dispute, and it is a considerable concern for the U.S.," Godec told the Congress members.
He further said his administration discussed the issue with Sudanese and Æthiopian officials and urged them to find a negotiated solution.
"But it is a risk," he stressed.
Last May, U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman was in Khartoum for talks with Sudanese officials over the border dispute and the Grand Æthiopian Renaissance Dam’s crisis.
Speaking about the ongoing conflict in northern Æthiopia, the State Department was assessing the violations of human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
committed in the region.
He further pointed to the continued presence of Eritrea
...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age...
n troops alongside the Æthiopian army in the Tigray region.
In a separate statement about the involvement of the Eritrean army in the conflict, he mentioned the deployment of Eritrean soldiers near the disputed area.
"Eritrean troops are present in al-Fashaga area," he added.
Last January, Sudanese military sources spokes to the Sudan Tribune about the deployment of Eritrean soldiers in the Æthiopia side of the border with Sudan.
In a visit to Khartoum on 4 May, President Isaias Afwerki sought to reassure the Sudanese officials and agreed with them to develop bilateral relations.