Southern African bloc ends military mission in DR Congo

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia and Eritrea could be headed toward war, officials in a restive Ethiopian region at the center of the tensions have warned, risking another humanitarian disaster in the Horn of Africa.

Analysts said that direct clashes between two of Africa’s largest armies would signal the death blow for a historic rapprochement for which Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and could draw in other regional powers.

It would also likely create another crisis in a region where aid cuts have complicated efforts to assist millions affected by internal conflicts in Sudan, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

“At any moment, war between Ethiopia and Eritrea could break out,” Gen. Tsadkan Gebretensae, a vice president in the interim administration in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, wrote in Africa-focused magazine the Africa Report on Monday.

A 2020-2022 civil war in Tigray between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, and Ethiopia’s central government killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Fears of a new conflict are linked to the TPLF’s split last year into a faction that now administers Tigray with the blessing of Ethiopia’s federal government and another that opposes it.

On Tuesday, the dissident faction, which Tsadkan accused of seeking an alliance with Eritrea, seized control of the northern town of Adigrat.

Getachew Reda, the head of Tigray’s interim administration, asked the government for support against the dissidents, who deny ties to Eritrea.

“There is clear antagonism between Ethiopia and Eritrea,” Getachew told a news conference on Monday. 

“What concerns me is that the Tigray people may once again become victims of a war they don’t believe in.”

Ethiopia’s federal government has not commented on the tensions. 

Eritrea’s information minister dismissed Tsadkan’s warnings as “war-mongering psychosis.”

However, according to UK-based Human Rights Concern-Eritrea, Eritrea ordered a nationwide military mobilization in mid-February.

Two diplomatic sources and two Tigrayan officials said Ethiopia deployed troops toward the Eritrean border this month.

Payton Knopf and Alexander Rondos, the former US and EU envoys to the region, say the prospects of a new war are real.

JAKARTA: Indonesia aims to strengthen academic, scientific, and research ties with Saudi Arabia, its Ministry of Higher Education said on Thursday, following talks on future collaboration with the Kingdom’s envoy to Jakarta.

Indonesia’s Higher Education, Science and Technology Minister Brian Yuliarto met with Saudi Ambassador to Indonesia Faisal Abdullah Amodi on Wednesday to discuss plans for cooperation in higher education between their two countries. 

“We are committed to expanding cooperation between Indonesian and Saudi universities,” Yuliarto said in a statement.

“We hope that more Indonesian professors can collaborate with their counterparts at the top Saudi universities, partnering in more programs and research projects.”

Further talks are expected to take place after Eid Al-Fitr, involving rectors from Indonesian universities, the ministry said.

There are currently more than 2,000 Indonesians studying in Saudi Arabia, which is one of the top destination countries for young scholars from the Southeast Asian nation.

Saudi-Indonesian ties span centuries, but have gained momentum in recent years following King Salman’s visit to Indonesia in 2017, which has since sparked more bilateral exchanges. 

In education, cooperation includes exchange programs and Saudi scholarships for Indonesian students. 

Saudi Arabia’s higher education sector is observing a boom and becoming globally competitive and innovative, in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. Focusing on quality, international partnerships, STEM education, and research, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a leader in education in the Gulf region.

Saudi Arabia has also sponsored the development of multiple schools and universities in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation.