Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Friday held mediation talks in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to try to broker a deal between the country’s military rulers and demonstrators.

He arrived days after talks between the two sides broke down amid a deadly crackdown on protestors.

Abiy and his delegation arrived in Khartoum  and held discussions "with members of the forces fro freedom and change" his office tweeted on Friday.

Abiy’s visit comes within days of deadliest confrontation between the military and protestors since the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir last month.

Doctors linked to the demonstration have said Monday’s violence left at least 100 people dead, while government sources have put the death toll at about half that figure.

A source from the Alliance for Freedom and Change told the Nation that the opposition alliance was invited to meet the Ethiopian premier during his one-day visit.

"Alliance for Freedom and Change has received an invitation for a meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who will visit the country on Friday. The agenda of the invitation is only related to the talks over the political crisis in Sudan,” the source reportedly said.

Abiy’s visit comes a day after the African Union suspended Sudan from the pan-African organisation until the military rulers hand over to civilian-led authority.

Abiy is the first foreign leader who has directly intervened to help end the crisis, which started as a protest against rising prices of bread and fuel in the city of Atbara on December 19, 2018.

The protests have since spread across the country and resulted in the coup that ended al-Bashir’s 30-year-rule and then forced the coup leader Gen Ibn Auf to step down himself.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com