President Saleh to attend Addis Ababa summit

SANA’A, Dec 27 (Saba) – President Ali Abdullah Saleh will head for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Sunday to attend the tripartite summit that is scheduled to begin on Monday . President Saleh would head the Yemeni delegation, the Sudanese delegation would be presided over by president Omer al-Basher and the Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi would head the Ethiopian delegation. In remarks published on Friday, Foreign Minister Abu-Bakr al-Qerbi said that the Sana’a Grouping would not have any effects on other regional groupings and alliances. “Addis Ababa summit would not affect the Egyptian, Ethiopian and Sudanese congregation, and our grouping is open for the other countries,” he said. Al-Qerbi said that some official statements in Eritrea considered the Sana’a gathering as against them to topple the Eritrean political regime but it is not . He added that there is a meeting between foreign ministers of Yemen, Sudan and Ethiopia that would convene in Addis Ababa on Sunday to prepare for the three coutnries’ leaders. He said the summit would discuss a number of issues such as protecting the sea crossings in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, the peace in Sudan and restoring security and stability in Somalia. He also said that on the sideline of the summit, businessmen from the three countries would hold a meeting to discuss economic cooperation and the establishment of a free joint trade zone. JW/KM