US lifts sanctions targeting Eritrea's ruling party and the military

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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The United States lifted sanctions against Eritrea’s ruling party and the military that the former Biden administration imposed, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The sanctions were issued in 2021 over humanitarian and human rights concerns during a violent conflict in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray. Eritrean forces backed Ethiopian troops against fighters loyal to the regional government of Tigray in the conflict that ended with a peace accord in November 2022.

Many people in northern Ethiopia, including the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, were uprooted from their homes and tens of thousands of were believed to have been killed.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Friday statement that sanctions against some Eritrean individuals, including Hagos Ghebrehiwet, a key financial official, were removed. The Red Sea Trading Corporation, linked to the ruling party, also had sanctions lifted.

Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said the sanctions were unwarranted and caused considerable damage to his country.

“In this respect, we welcome the gesture and remedial measures by the Trump Administration,” Gebremeskel told The Associated Press.

The sanctions delisting comes as concerns have risen about security in the Red Sea.

Recent Houthi advances in Yemen have increased threats to shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while Eritrea’s southern coast and the port of Assab lie near the strategic passage connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.