US congressional delegation visits Asmara, seeks closer ties

A U.S. congressional delegation has visited Eritrea for the first time in 14 years as Washington seeks closer contact with the Horn of Africa state which made peace with Ethiopia last year.

Karen Bass, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, was accompanied by fellow legislators Ilhan Omar and Joe Neguse.

“Eritrea has been a mystery,” Karen Bass told reporters in Ethiopia on Monday after visiting Asmara. “I’m hopeful that reforms will take place, most notably in the area of human rights.”

Bass said she hopes that several U.S. nationals detained in Eritrea, including four U.S. Embassy staff, will be released “promptly, as well as other people who are incarcerated.”

Eritrea’s Information Minister said in a Twitter post that the US lawmakers met with the foreign minister, presidential adviser and head of economic development.

Omar, who was born in nearby Somalia, told The Associated Press that she was impressed with the regional thaw in East Africa after Eritrea and Ethiopia made peace, two decades after a border war killed some 80,000 people. Diplomatic and other ties have been restored, leading to celebrations and emotional family reunions.

In November, the United Nations Security Council lifted sanctions on Eritrea, opening the way for further interest and investment in the country on the Red Sea across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen, on one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Tibor Nagy, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa, visited Eritrea late last year for a ground-breaking meeting with Isaias, later speaking of the possibility of better relations and of U.S. investment.

“We hope to get to the point where relations with Eritrea are just as warm and cordial as those with Ethiopia,” Nagy told reporters