Ethiopia dismissed reports that it had allowed Sudan to occupy its territory during a ‘law enforcement operation’ in Tigray region.
Briefing journalists on Wednesday, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Ambassador Dina Mufti said Ethiopia and Sudan reached consensus in which Sudanese troops to tightly control the borders with Ethiopia until the law enforcement operation in Tigray was over.
“However, it was surprising to see the Sudanese military misconstrue the friendly talks for cooperation along the borderlines of Ethiopia as a green light to encroach into Ethiopian lands.” The spokesperson said
“It should be clear that our government is responsible and sensitive to the sovereignty of the country and could not agree, by any means, to let a third party occupy Ethiopian lands.”, ambassador Dina Mufti added.
Ethiopia still believes that there is no need for the flaring up of boundary issues with Sudan since the issue can get a peaceful resolution through dialogue. However, it is undeniable that we felt betrayed and backstabbed by the army of a friendly country, ambassador Dina stressed.
The Sudanese Army took advantage of the internal situation in Ethiopia to enter inside Ethiopian territory and loot property, burn civilian camps, attack and displace Ethiopians. This does not commensurate with the longstanding fraternal relationship that the two countries have.
Ethiopia strongly believes that the recent action of Sudan’s military will not serve the interest of the Sudanese people but the interests of third parties that calculated to profit out of the mutual destabilization of the two countries.
Ethiopia insists that the Sudanese army should go back to where it was before the invasion of our lands on November 06 as per the 1972 Exchange of Notes between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries that inked the agreement to keep the status quo in the area.
According to the spokesperson, Ethiopia is still ready to peacefully resolve the border dispute with Sudan which allegedly breached Ethiopia’s territory.
MG/abj/APA