Obama in Ethiopia for key talks with regional leaders

President Barack Obama is in Ethiopia on the second leg of his African tour – the first serving US leader to visit the country.

He is due to hold talks with government officials and discuss the civil war in South Sudan with regional leaders.

President Obama will also be the first US president to address the 54-member African Union at its headquarters in Addis Ababa on Tuesday.

Obama flew to Ethiopia after a two-day visit to Kenya.

There he had discussed trade and security but also called for greater human rights and warned of the dangers of corruption.

The US president was greeted at Addis Ababa’s international airport by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

On Monday, Obama is due to discuss ways to bring South Sudan’s 19-month-old civil war to an end.

In talks with leaders from Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda as well as the Sudanese foreign minister, he is expected to call for tougher sanctions and a possible arms embargo if the warring factions do not agree on a peace deal.

However, a US official travelling with Obama said Monday’s talks were not expected to lead to a breakthrough.

“This is an opportunity to reinforce the effort that’s on the table and to strategise… on next steps in the event that it doesn’t succeed,” the official told reporters.

Fighting in South Sudan has left thousands of people dead and displaced more than two million, reports the BBC.

Security issues will also be on Obama’s agenda as Ethiopia, like Kenya, is battling the jihadist group al-Shabab.