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The president of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, warmly welcomed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when he landed at Asmara airport.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Photo: Twitter / @ Dr_abiy
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders met Sunday morning in the capital of Eritrea, public broadcasters of formerly belligerent nations reported, at a historic summit which could announce the end of twenty years or so.
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki warmly welcomed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when he landed at Asmara airport before the leaders went to the presidential palace.
The two men hugged and smiled, then Eritrean women rushed to kiss Abiy, showed images of the two state broadcasters.
The Sunday meeting is the first of its kind in two decades between the leaders of two neighbors and bitter rivals in the Horn of Africa.
In the late 1990s, about 80,000 people died.
Unexpected rapprochement with Eritrea earned international acclaim for Abiy, who took office in April and announced last month that he would honor the mandate. s of a peace agreement after the war of 1998-2000
The 41-year-old man is pushing other bold reforms to open Ethiopia to the outside world after decades of Isolation obsessed with security.
Before the arrival of Abiy, Eritrea's Minister of Information, Yemane Gebrmeskel, wrote on Twitter: "This historic official visit and the summit that will take place. .. announce a new era of peace and cooperation. "
Our two nations share a story and a connection like no other. We can now overcome two decades of mistrust and take a new direction.
Last month, a high-level delegation from Asmara traveled to Addis Ababa for the first time since 1998, when the conflict erupted. Until last month, the neighbors had no diplomatic relations.
Abiy also pardoned dissidents, lifted the state of emergency and promised to privatize some of the key public enterprises.
In unprecedented actions, thousands of Eritreans go down the street to greet Abiy, images of Eritrean public television showed, and the streets of the capital of one of the nations most isolated from the world were lined up with Ethiopian flags
The US chief of mission in Asmara tweeted the procession carrying the two chiefs. Young people took photos on their mobile phone
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