Ethiopian Premier Abiy Ahmed met Sudan's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Tuesday, becoming the first foreign leader to visit him in his war capital Port Sudan since the start of the conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Abiy, who was previously seen as closer to the RSF than the army and hosted its leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo in Addis Ababa in December, framed the visit as part of a push to bring stability to Sudan after nearly 15 months of conflict.
The war between the Sudanese military factions has forced almost 10 million people from their homes, created famine-like conditions in parts of the country, and threatened to destabilize the region.
While the RSF has taken most of the capital Khartoum and the center and west of Sudan, the army controls eastern and northern states, including Port Sudan, which has become its base.
The visit took place after an RSF attack on the southeastern state of Sennar last month brought the war closer to Sudan's border with Ethiopia.
There have been signs the RSF is moving into Gedaref state, which hosts more than 600,000 displaced Sudanese as well as tens of thousands of Ethiopian refugees.
(Reuters)