ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders formally restored relations Monday, ending 20 years of enmity, and citizens from both counties immediately began phoning each other to get back in touch.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 42, and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, 72, also signed agreements to open embassies in their respective capitals, restore flight services and use port facilities in Eritrea. The signing took place in Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, before Abiy flew back to Ethiopia.

Many Ethiopians expressed their exhilaration on social media and changed their profile pictures to a photo of the Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders embracing, taken on Sunday.

Ethiopia’s reformist prime minister flew to Eritrea on Sunday was welcomed with hugs and laughter by Afwerki, a joyous scene unthinkable just months ago. </s> ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders formally restored relations Monday, ending 20 years of enmity, and citizens from both counties immediately began phoning each other to get back in touch.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 42, and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, 72, also signed agreements to open embassies in their respective capitals, restore flight services and use port facilities in Eritrea. The signing took place in Eritrea's capital, Asmara, before Abiy flew back to Ethiopia.

Many Ethiopians expressed their exhilaration on social media and changed their profile pictures to a photo of the Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders embracing, taken on Sunday.

Ethiopia's reformist prime minister flew to Eritrea on Sunday was welcomed with hugs and laughter by Afwerki, a joyous scene unthinkable just months ago. </s> Ethiopia reopened its embassy in the Eritrean capital on Thursday, state media reported, the latest step in restoring ties after the two nations ended decades of conflict.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a peace pact in July, ending the hostilities that began with a two-year border war in 1998 and degenerated into 18 years of stalemated relations.

Abiy had arrived in Eritrea on Wednesday for his second visit since taking office, inspecting the Red Sea nation’s two main ports before travelling to the capital Asmara.

“Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki reopened the embassy in a brief ceremony,” Ethiopia’s state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate reported on Thursday.

Abiy, Isaias and Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who joined the leaders in Asmara, had on Wednesday signed an agreement to “build close political, economic, social, cultural and security ties”, according to Eritrea’s information ministry. — AFP </s> ADDIS ABABA : Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in the Eritrean capital Asmara on Sunday, the first visit by an Ethiopian leader to Eritrea in 20 years.

The visit comes after the two countries started tentative steps to end a two decades old bitter border dispute that led to a bloody two-year war from 1998-2000, that left an estimated 70,000 people dead from both sides.

Ahmed was greeted at the Asmara International Airport by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and is expected to hold discussions on efforts to bring lasting peace between the two nations. In a press statement, earlier on Sunday, Fitsum Arega, Chief of Staff of the Office of Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, said discussions will be held with the Eritrean president on ways to revive the common history and bond between the two nations interrupted by two decades of mistrust. Earlier this month Ethiopia received a high-level Eritrean delegation led by Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Salah, the first high level Eritrean delegation to visit Ethiopia in 20 years.

The Eritrean delegation came to Ethiopia after Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki declared that his country would send a team to Ethiopia to assess a recent Ethiopia peace offer.

On June 5, the Executive Committee of the ruling party, the Ethiopian People Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) passed decision expressing Ethiopia's commitment to an unconditional implementation of Algiers peace agreement with Eritrea.

The peace agreement ended the two-year border war, but a tense armed standoff continued, with the two countries engaging in skirmishes occasionally.

Ethiopia until this month had declined to endorse the results of the peace agreement fully, including the symbolically important town of Badme which Ethiopia currently controls but which was awarded to Eritrea.

Eritrea for its part had until recently insisted the border demarcation must be done first before any talks on normalizing ties. </s> Leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea were present at the official reopening of the Ethiopian embassy in Asmara on Thursday. The latest development is a significant leg of a peace deal reached in July 2018.

After Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Isaias Afwerki signed the July 9 deal, Afwerki visited Addis Ababa for a three-day visit during which period the Eritrean embassy in Ethiopia was officially reopened. Both countries have also named ambassadors.

The leaders jointly raised the Ethiopian flag in front of the embassy as a military band played the Ethiopian anthem. A cultural display was also on the side according to photos shared on social media.

PM Abiy Ahmed stopped in Eritrea on his way back from Beijing where he attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

He has since held talks with his host and signed a tripartite agreement between Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea to strengthen multilateral ties. The Somali president arrived in Asmara for the event which took place on Wednesday evening.

Eritrea formally seceded from Ethiopia in 1993 after a long battle for independence, but the two fought a border war in 1998 that claimed lives of at least 80,000.

A peace deal was signed two years later but Ethiopia refused to implement it, saying it wanted more talks.

The armies of both nations have both been facing off across their border since the war ended and security dominates both countries concerns.

The rapprochement was set in motion after Abiy in April became Ethiopia’s prime minister. Abiy said he would accept and implement a boundary commission’s ruling on the Eritrea border and implement sweeping political and economic reforms.

Abiy’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said in a tweet at the time that better ties “will create the ideal conditions to address remaining strategic issues in the shared interest of the two nations.” </s> Ethiopia's prime minister Abiy Ahmed's chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, tweeted photographs of Ahmed and Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki in the capital Asmara. Photo: Twitter / @fitsumregaa

ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopia's prime minister Abiy Ahmed was warmly greeted by Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki in the capital Asmara on Sunday at the start of a meeting to repair relations between the neighbours.

Eritrean state television showed footage of the two men embracing while Abiy's chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, tweeted photographs saying, "The visit offers a spectacular opportunity to decidedly move forward peace for the good of our people."

In a scene unimaginable just weeks ago, Abiy stepped from an Ethiopian Airlines plane at the airport in Asmara, greeting Isaias and hugging him before the pair strode off along a red carpet.

They made no comment before heading to a meeting.

"The visit is part of efforts to normalise relations with Eritrea. [Abiy] is expected to talk with the Eritrean leadership [about] how to mend fences," Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Meles Alem told AFP.

The historic meeting came after Abiy's announcement last month that Ethiopia would cede to Eritrea land along the countries' border it occupies in violation of a 2002 United Nations-backed boundary demarcation.

Ethiopia's refusal to implement the demarcation deadlocked relations between the two even after the end of a 1998-2000 boundary war that killed 80,000 people.

Once a province of Ethiopia that comprised its entire coastline, Eritrea voted to leave in 1993 after a bloody independence struggle.

The break rendered Ethiopia landlocked, and ties deteriorated five years later when a dispute over their shared frontier descended into war.

In office since April, Abiy has pursued an ambitious reform agenda including reversing years of policy and announcing Ethiopia would abide by the 2002 boundary ruling.

The move paved the way for two top Eritrean officials to visit Addis Ababa last month, after which the meeting between the two leaders was announced.

But Ethiopia has yet to withdraw from disputed territory along the border including the town of Badme, which it controls in violation of the UN ruling. </s> NAIROBI, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders reopened Ethiopia's embassy in the Eritrean capital Asmara on Thursday, state affiliated Ethiopian Fana Broadcasting said.

Fana Broadcasting said Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki re-opened the embassy in a brief ceremony.

Since signing an agreement in Asmara on July 9 to restore ties, Eritrean and Ethiopian leaders have moved swiftly to sweep away two decades of hostility since conflict erupted between the two neighbours in the Horn of Africa in 1998. (Writing by George Obulutsa Editing by Ingrid Melander) </s> (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, Sunday for talks with President Isaias Afwerki aimed at ending almost two decades of strife.

“This historic official visit and the summit that will take place between the two leaders of both countries, is the first of its kind for 20 years,” Yemane Gebremeskel, Eritrea’s information minister, said on his Twitter account. “It heralds a new era of peace and cooperation.”

A meeting between Isaias and Abiy, whose nations have been at odds since a 1998-2000 border war, will cap landmark talks that began last month between officials from both countries. Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia in 1993 after decades of conflict. A rapprochement began after Abiy became premier in April and the ruling party’s politburo pledged to implement a long-delayed peace deal.

Ethiopia announced on June 5 it would fully implement the so-called Algiers Agreement signed in 2000 to formally end a two-year war between the Horn of Africa neighbors that killed about 100,000 people. The deal was never enacted, with Ethiopia refusing to recognize a monitor’s findings on ownership of the disputed border town of Badme.

Isaias sent a delegation, including Foreign Minister Osman Saleh, for talks in Ethiopia after Abiy said he was keen on normalizing relations.

Abiy arrived in Asmara on an Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise plane. The national carrier is resume flights to neighboring Eritrea by September after a two-decade absence.

“Our two nations share a history and bond like no other,” the Ethiopian prime minister’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said on his Twitter account. “We can now overcome two decades of mistrust and move in a new direction.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Helen Nyambura in Nairobi at hnyambura@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Steve Geimann </s> The leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea are celebrating their recent diplomatic thaw by marking the new year at their border.

The chief of staff for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says in a post that Abiy and longtime Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki are visiting the Bure Front along with members of their militaries.

The former bitter rivals have made a dramatic reconciliation since Abiy shortly after taking office announced that Ethiopia would fully embrace a peace deal that ended a bloody 1998-2000 border war.

Embassies have reopened, telephone lines have been restored and commercial flights between the capitals have resumed.

Abiy on Monday said that "as of today, Ethiopian and Eritrean people will prosper together and march in unison. ... The last five months have brought hope and reconciliation."
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed meets with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in Asmara and they pledge to restore diplomatic relations.