The Yemeni foreign minister, Abdel Kadr Bajammal, has travelled to Egypt to thank President Hosni Mubarak for his help in resolving a territorial dispute with Eritrea over the Hanish Islands in the Red Sea.

Egypt offered to mediate following armed clashes in 1995 and, with France, helped bring the case to an arbitration panel which earlier this month awarded Yemen control of the three main islands.

Yemen is planning celebrations on the islands for Sunday, when Eritrea has agreed to hand them back, and says it wants to restore full diplomatic relations with Eritrea.