Staff report: Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed Ali flew back to Addis Ababa on Monday after winding up a three-day visit, his first to Egypt since assuming the post in April. Summit talks between President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi and the visiting Ethiopian prime minister produced agreement on pushing forward bilateral relations and co-operation in all aspects. President Sisi pardons Ethiopian prisoners Before leaving Cairo, the Ethiopian prime minister expressed thanks to the Egyptian leader for the kind gesture to grant presidential pardon to a group of Ethiopian prisoners in Egypt. Thirty Ethiopian nationals benefited from the Presidential pardon. The pardoned Ethiopians left Cairo International Airport earlier in the day Monday. Speaking to a joint press conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali following a second round of summit talks on Sunday, President Sisi reiterated that the relation between the two countries is characteristically one of strategic partnership and that the deepening of shared interests with Ethiopia in all fields is an Egyptian strategic orientation. For his part, the Ethiopian leader asserted in statements to the press conference that his country will not harm Egypt's share of the River Nile water through the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Noting that Ethiopians are known for brotherliness and neighbourliness. The Ethiopian leader emphasised that his country has no desire or thought to do any harm to the Egyptian people. The Sisi-Abiy summit also produced agreement on activating an earlier accord with the Sudan for raising a tripartite fund to finance infrastructure projects in the three countries.
