The leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan are also calling for talks to end Sudan’s civil war.
Published on October 5, 2026
Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan called for political and peaceful solutions to escalating conflicts in the region, including the civil war in Sudan and major fighting in Ethiopia.
The leaders of the four countries – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – issued a joint statement on Sunday after a meeting in New Alamein City in Egypt.
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Ethiopia has accused Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan of supporting the armed alliance fighting its government. Officials from all three countries have denied any involvement.
Earlier on Sunday, el-Sissi said cross-border challenges required “dialogue and not confrontation.”
The joint statement appears to oppose several policies Ethiopia has pursued in recent years, highlighting growing divisions between Addis Ababa and its neighbors.
The statement supports Sudan’s military government and calls for a political process led by Sudanese parties.
Sudan has been at war since April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Sudan and Ethiopia have exchanged accusations of meddling in Sudan’s civil war.
The statement also said control of the Red Sea should remain in the hands of coastal states, apparently in response to landlocked Ethiopia’s quest for sovereign sea access and a naval presence.
Somali Mohamud told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Mogadishu did not object to Ethiopia guaranteeing trade access through Somali ports, provided this was agreed with Somalia.
Egypt and Sudan, which have long contested the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile, have warned of what they call “unilateral measures” that harm downstream states.
The joint statement was issued as fighting intensified in Ethiopia between federal forces and an alliance of seven armed groups, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which fought a brutal two-year war with the government that ended with a fragile peace deal in 2022.
Government and allied forces recaptured the city of Mekelle on Sunday after the TPLF said it had “temporarily left” the Tigray regional capital to “operate from another location.”
According to Ethiopian state media, Tigray’s former interim leader Abraham Belay said on Sunday that the federal government was preparing a new temporary administration for the region and hoped to hold regional elections within months.
Ethiopian officials have accused neighboring Eritrea of directly supporting the rebel alliance in the Ethiopian civil war.
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said in a message on X on Sunday that Addis Ababa was trying to create a pretext to attack Eritrea.
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