Ethiopia hails Egypt efforts to help its Libya workers

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Hailemariam Desalegn visits Egypt

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom on Friday praised Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi for helping Ethiopian nationals leave crisis-hit Libya.

“This stance reflects President al-Sisi’s care for the people of Ethiopia,” Adhanom said in a statement broadcast by Ethiopian television, adding that the president’s efforts were “welcomed and appreciated by Ethiopia.”

The governments of Egypt, Sudan and Libya, Adhanom said, had all stood by Ethiopia to facilitate the return of its citizens from Libya.

He went on to note that “the special diplomatic ties” between the three countries were beginning to “manifest in cooperation on all fronts.”

Ethiopia’s top diplomat also urged his countrymen to refrain from attempts at illegal immigration, which, he warned, posed “real dangers to their lives, especially the youth.”

On Thursday, Egyptian state television showed al-Sisi shaking hands with a group of Ethiopian nationals who had arrived at Cairo International Airport aboard an Egyptian plane.

At the airport, al-Sisi said his country would continue to provide help to its sister African states.

“We want to send the message to our Ethiopian brothers that they can count on us,” al-Sisi told reporters.

He added that the Ethiopian nationals who arrived in Egypt on Thursday were among a number of other Ethiopian nationals freed by Egypt after having been detained in Libya.

Source