U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal next week to discuss security issues and other topics, the State Department said Thursday.<\/p>\n
In Abuja, Blinken and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will discuss collaborating on international health security, expanding energy access and security and other issues, it said.<\/p>\n
Blinken, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other officials \u201cwill discuss our shared interests as members of the U.N. Security Council, including addressing regional security issues, such as Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan,\u201d according to the department.<\/p>\n
Blinken\u2019s last visit will be with Senegalese President Macky Sall in Dakar \u201cto reaffirm the close partnership between our two countries,\u201d the agency said.<\/p>\n
Blinken\u2019s November 15-20 trip comes as the U.S. aims to boost an African Union-led initiative to end the fighting between the Ethiopian government and ethnic Tigrayans.<\/p>\n
Tensions in Ethiopia have escalated after reports of Ethiopian authorities detaining hundreds of Tigrayans, including some who are United Nations and African Union staff members, days after the government declared a state of emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very concerned about the potential for Ethiopia to implode,\u201d Blinken said at the State Department on Friday.<\/p>\n
Blinken said the U.S. is working closely with African Union envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is trying to help broker a cease-fire in the conflict.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Source: Voice of America<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Kenya, Nigeria and Senegal next week to discuss security issues and other topics, the State Department said Thursday.In Abuja, Blinken and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will discuss collaborat…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n