Monday July 9, 2018
The Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD) hailed on Sunday the historic meeting of
Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders after 20 years of hostility.
On Sunday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed became the first Ethiopian leader to visit Eritrea in more than 20 years.
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.
The visit comes after the two countries started tentative steps to
end a two-decades-old bitter border dispute that led to a bloody war
from 1998 to 2000 which left an estimated 70,000 people dead from both
sides.
In a press statement, IGAD Executive Secretary Mahboub Maalim said
the normalization of bilateral ties would benefit the peoples of the two
countries and would contribute to the realization of the shared
aspiration of peace and integration in the East African region and the
African continent.
Ethiopia and Eritrea are members of the eight-country trade bloc
whose mission is to economically integrate the East African region.