Ethiopian Prime Minister Desalegn holds talks with Obama

Source; TVC NEWS, U.S. President Barack Obama met Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on the second leg of his Africa tour on Monday.

Obama is the first serving U.S. president to visit the east African nation that is one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa.

Ethiopia, sandwiched between volatile Somalia and Sudan, is seen as a key security ally for the U.S.

Talks with Desalegn are expected to focus on security and the threat of the Islamist militant group al Shabaab in Somalia.

Brought to its knees by "Red Terror" communist purges in the 1970s and famine in the 1980s, Ethiopia has been transformed in the last quarter of a century, becoming one of Africa's fastest-growing economies.

However, rights groups say economic achievements are at the expense of political freedoms.

Ethiopia's ruling party swept a parliamentary election in which the opposition complained of harassment. The government denied the claim.

National Security Adviser Susan Rice said last week the United States had concerns about Ethiopia's human rights record and the electoral process.