The Egyptian-Ethiopian historical and geographical relations are very important since Ethiopia is one of the most important countries in Nile Basin. In addition to that Egypt has played a great role in religious, educational and economic fields in Ethiopia, said Dr. Saleh Mohamed Omar, a researcher at Contemporary Egyptian History Center.
Egyptian-Ethiopian relationship was subjected to intense tension periods especially, before the historic visit of the Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in 1959, five years after The official invitation of President Gamal Abd El Nasser.
The visit was the subject of a seminar entitled "Egyptian-Ethiopian relations through history" during the Ministry of Culture's celebrations on Egypt's chairmanship of the African Union. The event was held at the Egyptian Book House, and rare pictures of that visit were presented during symposium. It was organized Dr. Omar.
Omar explained that the importance of studying Egyptian-Ethiopian relations based on understanding these relations nature and its historical impact on current history.
This is what appears in Egypt's follow-up strict diplomacy while dealing with African issues, especially the Ethiopian. Egypt's presidency of African Union and the hosting the Nations Cup show the comeback of Egyptian leadership.
Former President Nasser played a great role in the liberation of the continent from colonialism and occupation and President El Sisi is now exerting efforts to free Africa from economic dependence.
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Haile Selassie[/caption]
Omar reported that the historic visit included many odds between the Ethiopian and Egyptian leadership, some of which have been since 1940s, until President Nasser hosted officially Emperor Haile Selassie in 1954. The visit included negotiation and settlement of disagreement in June 1959.
The results of these compromises were great; it opened the door to cooperation and resolved international issues, including trade exchange agreement in October 1959, followed by several visits in 1963, 1968 and 1970.
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Haile Selassie in the Egyptian Church[/caption]
As for the disagreement reasons which preceded the visit, some were announced and what remained hidden for many years.
Among the declared reasons was the death of Prince Markoni the emperor son's death, thus the visit was delayed to declare mourning, then later on postponed because of the election of House of Representatives.
As for the hidden reasons, there were many related to the Egyptian influence inside Ethiopia and the Ethiopian complaint included cutting off the material aid to Ethiopian students who were studying in Egypt.
Also, the Americans had a role in distorting the Egypt's image and described it as a destructive of Nile water.
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