Ethiopia has reopened its embassy in Eritrea after a 20-year hiatus, in a further sign of improving relations between the neighbours who signed a peace accord earlier this year.

A brief reopening ceremony in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, on Thursday was attended by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki and senior officials of both countries, according to state-affiliated Ethiopian Fana Broadcasting.

Redwan Hussein was named the new Ethiopian ambassador.

Since signing an agreement in Asmara to restore ties on July 9, leaders from both countries have moved swiftly to sweep away two decades of hostility that followed the conflict in 1998.

In July, Eritrea reopened its embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and named an ambassador to represent it.

Air links were also re-established with Ethiopian Airlines commencing direct passenger flights between Addis Ababa and Asmara.

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Once a province of Ethiopia, Eritrea seceded in 1993 after a long independence struggle. A dispute over the demarcation of their shared border triggered the conflict.

The Horn of Africa nations remained at loggerheads since Ethiopia rejected a United Nations ruling and refused to cede to Eritrea land along the countries' border following the 1998-2000 war.

Elevated to the premiership in April, Abiy announced in June that Ethiopia would give up its claim to the disputed border territories that triggered the fighting.

The new Ethiopian prime minister said Addis Ababa will fully implement the UN-backed peace agreement which awarded the territories to Asmara.</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 has reopened its embassy in Eritrea, the latest step in rapidly improving bilateral ties that have reversed two-decades of conflict between the two countries.

Ethiopia's state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting company said Thursday that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reopened the embassy in the Eritrean capital of Asmara during a brief ceremony with President Isaias Afwerki. The two men will hold a three-way summit with Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed later in the day.

Relations between the Horn of Africa neighbors have improved since Prime Minister Abiy announced in June that Addis Ababa would finally honor a U.N.-brokered deal signed in 2000 to end a two-year border war that killed an estimated 70,000 people. The war was followed by nearly two decades of cold war, proxy conflicts and, at times, open hostilities.

The announcement led to a historic peace deal signed last month by Abiy and Afwerki that formally ended one of Africa’s longest, most intractable conflicts.

Eritrea, a former province of Ethiopia, broke away from its much larger neighbor in 1993.</s>NAIROBI (Reuters) - Ethiopia reopened its embassy in the Eritrean capital Asmara on Thursday, the state-affiliated Ethiopian Fana Broadcasting said, a further sign of improving ties after the Horn of Africa neighbours signed a peace accord on July 9.

Eritrean and Ethiopian leaders have moved swiftly in the past two months to end two decades of hostility since conflict erupted in 1998.

Fana Broadcasting said Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki had reopened the embassy in Asmara in a brief ceremony and it named Redwan Hussein as the new Ethiopian ambassador.

In July, Eritrea reopened its embassy in Ethiopia and named an ambassador to represent it.

Abiy held his second face-to-face meeting with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Wednesday since the July accord.

The two are due to hold a summit meeting later on Thursday with Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi.

It is Abdullahi’s second visit to Eritrea since July 30 and the latest sign of thawing relations across the Horn of Africa following Eritrea’s rapprochement with Ethiopia.</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>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.

Also on Wednesday, an Ethiopian cargo ship arrived in Eritrea's Massawa port to transport zinc to China, marking the formal reopening of Eritrean ports to Ethiopian trade.

Eritrea was once a province of its larger southern neighbour and comprised its entire coastline.

After a bloody, decades-long independence struggle, Eritrea voted in 1993 to separate, rendering Ethiopia landlocked.

The two countries then went to war from 1998 to 2000 after a border dispute turned violent.

A 2002 UN-backed boundary demarcation was meant to settle the dispute for good, but Ethiopia refused to abide by it and held on to disputed territory meant to be under Eritrean control.

Elevated to the premiership in April, Abiy announced in June that Ethiopia would hand back the disputed areas including the flashpoint town of Badme where the first shots of the border war were fired.

During his visit this week, Abiy also inspected the road leading from Assab, the other major Eritrean port, to the Ethiopian border, his chief of staff Fitsum Arega tweeted.

However it remains unclear when the heavily militarised Ethiopia-Eritrea border will formally open or when Ethiopian forces will withdraw from the disputed areas.</s>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.

NAN reports that the two countries resumed transport, trade and telecommunication ties.

The regional bloc known for mediating South Sudan’s ongoing peace talks, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), lauded the dramatic diplomatic breakthrough between Ethiopia and Eritrea and praised Abiy for “wise and courageous leadership in … normalizing relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea.”

IGAD also said it looks forward to Eritrea rejoining the regional bloc and “taking its rightful place of collectively advancing peace and development in our region.”

Eritrea left the regional group a decade ago when accused the bloc of serving Ethiopia’s interests.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also endorsed the resumption of relations between the once warring countries, hailing the developments as “an amazing success! These kinds of developments give us hope.</s>The embassy reopening follows a recent diplomatic thaw between the East African neighbours, on the impetus of Ethiopia's new reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

"Re-opening of the Ethiopian Embassy in Asmara today: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Isaias Afwerki hoist Ethiopian Flag," Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel tweeted.

Eritrea opened its embassy in Addis Ababa on July 16.

The two countries cut all diplomatic ties after the 1998-2000 border war that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people.

Earlier this year, Abiy accepted a border agreement Ethiopia had previously rejected, and the two countries officially declared peace.

Ethiopian, Eritrean and Somalian officials are currently in Asmara for a tripartite meeting.

Eritrea's information minister said the meeting "invokes the close ties of geography, history, culture, religion and vital common interests of the peoples of the three countries."</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>Samson Berhane, an Ethiopian journalist who recently found his father in the Eritrean capital Asmara after 21 years granted Africanews an interview in which he shares his story about how he found his long lost father.

The editor-in-chief of Ethiopian Business Review also shares his views on a peace that he never thought was possible and had been reduced to political rhetoric, disclosing what triggered his belief that peace had indeed arrived.

He speaks of Asmara – a potential tourist destination in his view plus the role the media must play in the new found peace and how the peoples of both nations had inextricably belonged to each other.

Below is a full transcript of his views on a wide range of subjects:

Where were you born? What’s the nationality of your parents?

I was born in Addis Ababa in February in the early 1990s. My mother is Ethiopian, whereas my father, who grew up in Addis Ababa, is of Eritrean origin.

When and how were you separated from your family and at what age?

Until the age of four (1997), I used to live with both of my dad and mother. But, while my father was on national service in Eritrea in 1998, the war between the two countries broke out. Since then, he was not able to come back.

I was raised by my mothers’ siblings ever since he left. Before being locked in Eritrea, my father used to be a teacher at African Union School, where he served for over a decade, in Addis Ababa. Luckily, he was not among people who were deported unfairly back then.

At the time of the separation did you understand the real reasons?

Honestly speaking, I don’t really remember what I felt back then as I was only five years old when he left. But when I grew up, my mom and her siblings told me where he was. They were even thinking that he died in the war back then. No one was sure about his whereabouts.

How difficult were the years you lived away from your father?

I wish I could answer this question by recounting what he told me when he left Ethiopia for national service. Actually this is the only thing I could remember about him as a child.

I remember I asked him to buy me a bicycle and he promised to do that when he gets back from the national service. That hope, which failed to achieve, was always on my dream when I remember about my dad.

No doubt, it is not easy to live without a father. But it was harder for my mom, who was single until I became 17 years old just to raise me.

Did you ever try other means of traveling to Eritrea, how did you keep in touch over the period?

There was no information about him for the first five years after he left. It was in 2001 that we heard that my dad was alive from his sister who was deported from Ethiopia and living in the US.

He sent me a letter back then. We have not heard anything about him for four years again. And, in 2005, his sister informed us that he was alive again, but she could not do anything beyond the information.

Since then, I have not heard about him. Even after I grew up, even though I was eager to find him, I never tried to travel to Eritrea as the border between the two countries was closed.

Did you ever envisage a day of peace between the two nations?

Despite the promises of the leaders of Ethiopian government at various times, I never believed that peace will prevail between the two countries. The long serving late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and former Premier Hailemariam Desalegn pledged to normalize the relation between the two countries, but no to avail.

Even when Abiy Ahmed, while swearing-in before the parliament, promised to normalize the relation between the two nations, I thought it is nothing but rhetoric. If there is a day I felt optimist about the peace, it was when the telephone service between the two countries resumed.

Which Ethiopian flight did you take to Asmara and how was the experience?

I was on the plane (Ethiopian Airlines) that flew on July 22, 2018. The experience was amazing as well as saddening. There were people who were crying and singing on the plane.

Describe your first impressions of Asmara with three words.

How different is Addis Ababa, your base, compared with Asmara?

Until I found my dad on July 23, 2018, I had never been to Asmara. I was thinking of renting a room while looking for him. But as I found him earlier than I expected, I stayed at his house with my five sisters and two brothers as well as my step mom.

And, with regards to the features of the two cities, both have a unique feature. But I believe Asmara has more potential for tourism as it is a city where you see the legacy of Italy and other modern European architectures.

Did you know acquaintances who were also separated from family over the years?

I have a friend born from an Eritrean father. Although his father died while being separated in Eritrea, he is still looking for his brother in Assab, Eritrea.

How did you react on seeing your dad after decades?

I never felt like that before. It is very difficult to explain here. But there is nothing that can make me happier than meeting my father after 21 years. Not only him, it was also a fantastic moment when I realized that I have siblings and met them.

What is the role of the media in reporting on events in the Horn of Africa region?

It is hard to say the media has a big role in Horn of Africa as there is very few media outlets in the region. Except for Kenya that has a vibrant media industry, all of the media in the Horn of African countries are either controlled by the state or affiliated with the government.

If you take Ethiopia, there are only five newspapers and four TV stations that are private, adding to three TV stations and two newspapers that are state affiliated.

This is not enough for a country that has more than 100 million population. From these, anyone can understand that the role of media in reporting on events is very minimal.

How do you plan to recover all those lost years?

I don’t want to regret about the past. But I really want to connect with my family. I also want to help my brothers and sisters in the future.

What are the three most crucial elements that unite people on both sides?

Both eat the same foods. Both have the same cultures. Both have similar life style.

Would you agree the impasse did not have backing of the peoples of both nations, why?

Nothing could stop the two people from being united. It is a people that had been living together for centuries. Even now, the people have respect for Eritrea on its territory, unlike what has been two or three decades ago.

People, who don’t have any relatives there, are even eager to go to Eritrea and find their old friends.

How can the new order be consolidated in your view?

I believe both countries should be transparent on procedures that will be undertaken to normalize the relation between the two countries. That will have an impact on the further implementation of the peace accord.

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Ethiopia reopens its embassy in the Eritrean capital Asmara. After the 1998-2018 Eritrean–Ethiopian War, both countries signed a peace accord in July 2018. Also in July, Eritrea reopened its embassy in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.