Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, who is leading Eritrea's delegation to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly, is holding a series of diplomatic meetings on the margins of the assembly.

In talks on Friday 25 September with his Egyptian counterpart Dr Badr Abdelatty, the two discussed strengthening bilateral relations and economic cooperation in mining, ports, maritime transport, pharmaceuticals and fisheries, as well as coordination on Horn of Africa affairs including Sudan and Somalia.

Both ministers again stressed that the security and management of the Red Sea is a matter for the littoral states alone. According to the Eritrean delegation, Egypt reaffirmed its full support for Eritrea's sovereignty, unity and territorial independence, and the two sides agreed to continue consulting on shared regional priorities.

In a meeting with Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis, the two focused on closer bilateral cooperation and on current developments in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.

Since beginning his round of talks with UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday 23 September, the minister has also met Sweden's Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, the UK's National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, Algeria's Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf and Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré.

In the meeting with his Algerian counterpart, covering Red Sea and Gulf of Aden security and peace and security in Africa, both ministers affirmed their commitment to respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of African states and rejected foreign interference that contributes to conflicts across the continent.