Monday July 9, 2018
Former bitter rivals Ethiopia and Eritrea are to
establish national committees in economic, political, security and
military fields, Ethiopia's foreign minister said on Monday.
Speaking to media in Addis Ababa shortly after his return from
Eritrean capital Asmara, Workneh Gebeyehu said the economic, diplomatic,
political and human relations, which have been cut for 20 years, will
be restored soon.
A delegation led by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Eritrea on
Monday morning signed a peace declaration with their Eritrean
counterparts to end mutual hostilities, settle border disputes and
resume economic, political and diplomatic ties.
"The national committees ... will work out the exact time and date of
the implementation plan ... We've already established two commissions
headed by the respective foreign ministers of both countries," said
Gebeyehu.
"We're going to have sub-committees that will work out in detail when
and how each and every issue will be implemented," he further said.
The minister also said as soon as next week, flights between Eritrean
capital Asmara and Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa will resume as well as
Eritrean ports servicing landlocked Ethiopia's rising economic needs.
"With this peace declaration the two countries' hostilities have been
resolved. Our people's efforts have made it possible for the conflict
to be stopped peacefully, with flights between the two capitals expected
to start later this month it will enable peoples from both countries to
meet with each other after 20 years of separation," said Gebeyehu.
He further said there will be a technical committee to resolve the
two countries' bitter border dispute and help implement the Algiers
peace agreement signed in 2000.
On June 5, the executive committee of the ruling party, the Ethiopian
People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) passed a decision
expressing commitment to an unconditional implementation of Algiers
peace agreement with Eritrea.
The peace agreement ended a two-year border war from 1998-2000 that
killed an estimated 70,000 people from both sides, but a tense armed
standoff continued, with the two countries engaging in skirmishes
occasionally.