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| Africa Horn |
| Ethiopia, Eritrea agree to normalize relations |
| 2018-07-09 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Æthiopia and Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... have agreed to reopen embassies and borders, Æthiopia’s prime minister said during a visit to Asmara on Sunday, signaling an end to two decades of conflict between the neighbors. "We agreed that the airlines will start operating, the ports will be accessible, people can move between the two countries and the embassies will be opened," Abiy Ahmed said at a dinner attended by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki following talks earlier in the day. Æthiopia and Eritrea broke off relations at the start of a 1998-2000 border conflict that claimed 80,000 lives. Æthiopia then refused to honor a 2002 ruling by a United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... -backed boundary commission meant to settle the frontier dispute, leading to years of cold war between the two neighbors. In office since April, Abiy announced last month that Æthiopia would cede territory to Eritrea including the flashpoint town of Badme that it is occupying in violation of the border ruling. Africa’s second most populous country, Æthiopia was rendered landlocked in 1993 when Eritrea, then a province, voted for independence after years of bloodshed. |
| Posted by:Fred |