Four African leaders issue joint declaration as Ethiopia war escalates

Egyptian, Eritrean, Somali and Sudanese leaders also call for talks to end the civil war in Sudan.

Al JazeeraFaisal Ali2026-10-05 00:33查看原文 ↗

Egyptian, Eritrean, Somali and Sudanese leaders also call for talks to end the civil war in Sudan.

Sudanese, Eritrean, Egyptian and Somali leaders pose for a group photograph during the quadrilateral summit in New Alamein City, Egypt, on October 4, 2026 [Handout/Villa Somalia]

Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan have called for political and peaceful solutions amid escalating conflicts across the region, including Sudan’s civil war and major fighting in Ethiopia.

The leaders of the four countries – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan – issued a joint declaration on Sunday following a meeting in New Alamein City in Egypt.

list 1 of 2 Ethiopia’s government forces retake airport from Tigray rebels in Mekelle

list 2 of 2 Ethiopian government forces seize Tigray capital Mekelle as rebels withdraw

Ethiopia has accused Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan of backing the armed alliance fighting its government. Officials from all three countries have denied involvement.

Earlier on Sunday, el-Sisi said that cross-border challenges required “a dialogue, not confrontation”.

The joint declaration appeared to push back against several policies pursued by Ethiopia in recent years, highlighting widening rifts between Addis Ababa and its neighbours.

The declaration backed Sudan’s military-led government and called for a political process led by Sudanese parties.

Sudan has been at war since April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Sudan and Ethiopia have traded accusations of interference in Sudan’s civil war.

The declaration also said control of the Red Sea should remain with the coastal states, seemingly in response to landlocked Ethiopia’s pursuit of sovereign access to the sea and a naval presence.

Somalia’s Mohamud told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Mogadishu does not object to Ethiopia securing commercial access through Somali ports, provided it is agreed with Somalia.

Egypt and Sudan, which have long disputed Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile, warned against what they called “unilateral measures” that harm downstream states.

The joint declaration was issued as fighting escalated in Ethiopia between federal forces and a seven-group armed alliance, including the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which fought a brutal two-year war with the government that ended with a fragile peace deal in 2022.

Government and allied forces retook the city of Mekelle on Sunday after the TPLF said it “temporarily moved out of” Tigray’s regional capital to “operate from somewhere else”.

According to Ethiopian state media reports, former Tigray interim leader Abraham Belay said on Sunday that the federal government is preparing a new temporary administration for the region and hopes to hold regional elections within months.

Ethiopian officials have accused neighbouring Eritrea of directly backing the rebel alliance in Ethiopia’s civil war.

Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said in a post on X on Sunday that Addis Ababa was trying to create a pretext for attacking Eritrea.

埃及、厄立特里亚、索马里和苏丹领导人也呼吁举行会谈，以结束苏丹内战。

2026年10月4日，苏丹、厄立特里亚、埃及和索马里领导人在埃及新阿拉曼市举行的四方峰会期间合影留念。[索马里总统府供图]

埃及、厄立特里亚、索马里和苏丹呼吁通过政治和和平方式解决该地区不断升级的冲突，包括苏丹内战和埃塞俄比亚的重大战斗。

埃及总统阿卜杜勒·法塔赫·塞西、厄立特里亚总统伊萨亚斯·阿费沃基、索马里总统哈桑·谢赫·马哈茂德和苏丹军队总司令阿卜杜勒·法塔赫·布尔汉这四个国家的领导人周日在埃及新阿拉曼市举行会议后发表了联合声明。

埃塞俄比亚政府军在默克莱从提格雷叛军手中夺回机场（共2条记录，第1条）

埃塞俄比亚政府军占领提格雷州首府默克莱，叛军撤退（共2条记录，此为第2条）

埃塞俄比亚指责埃及、厄立特里亚和苏丹支持与其政府作战的武装联盟。这三个国家的官员均否认参与其中。

周日早些时候，塞西表示，跨境挑战需要“对话，而不是对抗”。

这份联合声明似乎对埃塞俄比亚近年来推行的几项政策提出了反驳，凸显了亚的斯亚贝巴与其邻国之间日益扩大的裂痕。

该声明支持苏丹军方领导的政府，并呼吁由苏丹各政党主导的政治进程。

自2023年4月以来，苏丹军队与准军事组织快速支援部队（RSF）之间一直处于战争状态。苏丹和埃塞俄比亚互相指责对方干涉苏丹内战。

该宣言还表示，红海的控制权应继续由沿海国家掌握，这似乎是为了回应内陆国家埃塞俄比亚寻求对红海的主权控制权和海军存在。