The leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan called on Sunday for political and peaceful solutions to conflicts across the region, as fighting escalated in Ethiopia between federal forces and an armed alliance. The joint declaration was issued after a meeting in New Alamein City, on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. It was signed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The text 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). The declaration also said control of the Red Sea should remain with coastal states, a statement that appeared aimed at landlocked Ethiopia's pursuit of sovereign sea access and a naval presence. Egypt and Sudan, which have long disputed Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile, warned against "unilateral measures" that harm downstream states. Earlier on Sunday, el-Sisi said cross-border challenges required "a dialogue, not confrontation".
The declaration came as Ethiopian government and allied forces retook Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, after the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) said it had "temporarily moved out of" the city to "operate from somewhere else". The TPLF is part of a seven-group alliance fighting the government. It fought a brutal two-year war with Addis Ababa that ended with a fragile peace deal in 2022. According to Ethiopian state media, former Tigray interim leader Abraham Belay said the federal government is preparing a new temporary administration for the region and hopes to hold regional elections within months.
Ethiopia has accused Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan of backing the rebel alliance, and officials from all three countries have denied involvement. Ethiopian officials have also accused Eritrea of directly supporting the rebels. Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said on X that Addis Ababa was trying to create a pretext for attacking Eritrea. Sudan and Ethiopia have also traded accusations of interference in Sudan's war. Somalia's president told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Mogadishu does not object to Ethiopia securing commercial access through Somali ports, provided it is agreed with Somalia.
The declaration followed the Alamein Africa Forum, an African Union-mandated gathering of heads of state and business leaders that will become a biennial event. There, Burundi's President Evariste Ndayishimiye said persistent violence was stalling development: "No farmer goes to the fields anymore. No child goes to school anymore." He cited Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as examples of an "unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe". Sisi told the forum that every state has a right to development and to benefit from its natural resources, but must exercise it without harming others.
The joint statement appeared to push back against several Ethiopian policies and highlighted widening rifts between Addis Ababa and its neighbours, at a time when conflicts in Ethiopia and Sudan are already straining the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea region.