Leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan have urged political and peaceful solutions to mounting regional crises, including Sudan’s civil war and intensifying fighting in Ethiopia.
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]
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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan issued the appeal in a joint declaration on Sunday after meeting in New Alamein City, Egypt.
Ethiopia has accused Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan of supporting the armed alliance fighting its government, allegations officials from all three countries have rejected.
Earlier on Sunday, el-Sisi said the region’s cross-border challenges demanded “a dialogue, not confrontation”.
The declaration appeared to challenge several policies adopted by Ethiopia in recent years, underscoring growing tensions between Addis Ababa and its neighbours.
It endorsed Sudan’s military-led government and called for a political process managed by Sudanese parties.
Sudan has been embroiled in war since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Khartoum and Addis Ababa have each accused the other of interfering in Sudan’s conflict.
The statement also said authority over the Red Sea should remain with its coastal states. The language appeared directed at landlocked Ethiopia’s efforts to obtain sovereign access to the sea and establish a naval presence.
Somali President Mohamud told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Mogadishu had no objection to Ethiopia obtaining commercial access through Somali ports, provided any arrangement was reached with Somalia.
Egypt and Sudan, which have long clashed with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile, cautioned against “unilateral measures” that could damage the interests of downstream countries.
The declaration came as violence intensified in Ethiopia between federal forces and a seven-group armed alliance. The coalition includes the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which fought the government through a brutal two-year conflict that ended with a fragile peace agreement in 2022.
Government and allied troops retook Mekelle on Sunday after the TPLF said it had “temporarily moved out of” the Tigray regional capital to “operate from somewhere else”.
Ethiopian state media reported that former Tigray interim leader Abraham Belay said on Sunday that the federal government was preparing a new temporary administration for the region and hoped to hold regional elections within months.
Ethiopian officials have accused neighbouring Eritrea of directly supporting the rebel alliance in the country’s civil war.
Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel wrote on X on Sunday that Addis Ababa was seeking to manufacture a pretext to attack Eritrea.
