U.S. to send FBI experts to investigate Ethiopia bomb blast

The United States will send experts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to Ethiopia to investigate a bomb blast that took place during a rally on Saturday, state-affiliated media said on Monday.

Fana Broadcasting Corporation quoted Under Secretary of Commerce Gilbert Kaplan as making the remark on Monday during his talks with Ethiopia’s minister of foreign affairs.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed survived the grenade attack on Saturday at a massive rally in support of his push for radical political and economic reforms, including a peace deal with regional arch-enemy Eritrea.

United States supports Abiy’s reforms

The United States issued a statement on Friday welcoming Ethiopia’s decision to resolve a border a dispute with Eritrea, saying it ‘looks forward to a normalisation of relations’ between the two countries.

In his meeting with the Ethiopian foreign affairs minister, Kaplan expressed the United States support for economic reforms made by Abiy’s government including the liberalisation of the economy.

Ethiopia recently announced that it would privatise previously state owned entities including the telecommunications companyand the lucrative Ethiopain Airlines.

Kaplan said the U.S. was optimistic about the potential for increased bilateral trade and investment, as the economy is liberalised.

According to the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), as of March 2018, there were nearly 251 U.S. investment projects active in Ethiopia.