Ethiopian PM meets US senators

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Wednesday held talks with a delegation of US senators led by Senate Banking and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Richard Shelby.

Shelby said the two governments would continue to cooperate to ensure peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.

He added his delegation would contribute their share in the efforts the US government has been exerting to peacefully resolve the Ethiopia-Eritrea boundary dispute.

From 1998 to 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war, in which 70,000 people were killed. Since July 2001, a UN peacekeeping force, which now numbers about 3,000 troops and observers, has been patrolling a buffer zone separating the two countries' militaries.

In recent months, tensions have grown with renewed military buildup along the Ethiopia-Eritrea border.

The United States considers Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa's top military power, a key counter-terrorism ally in the area.

Source: Xinhua