Ethiopia monitoring Eritrea-Djibouti border spat, backs AU intervention

Ethiopia says it is keeping an eye on developments on the border spat between its neighbours – Eritrea and Djibouti.

Ethiopia – a regional security and economic giant, also said it fully supported the African Union (AU) intervention in the impasse. The AU commission chair last Friday said they had deployed a fact finding mission to the area.

A Foreign Ministry statement said, Addis Ababa was calling for all parties to restrain from escalating tensions but rather to resort to peaceful means to resolve their differences. They also called for the United Nations to join in the mission.

Djibouti late last week accused Eritrea of deploying troops to a disputed border region after Qatar withdrew its troops. The Gulf state had been acting as mediator in a border dispute but is believed to have pulled out after both countries sided with Saudi Arabia in a diplomatic row.

Qatar’s Gulf Arab neighbours cut ties with Doha at the beginning of June accusing Doha of backing Islamist militancy and Iran. Qatar strongly denies this.