Abey Ahmed arrives in Asmara .

[Khadafi]

Sunday July 8, 2018

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethio­pian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed traveled Sunday to Eritrea, once a bitter rival, for an unprecedented summit with its longtime leader, Isaias Afwerki.

State Eritrean television showed an Ethio­pian Airlines plane landing at the sparse airport in the Eritrean capital of Asmara, where a brass band was drawn up to greet the prime minister for the first such visit in two decades.

The two Horn of Africa neighbors have been sworn enemies for the past 20 years since fighting a brutal ground war from 1998 to 2000 that saw at least 70,000 killed. In the intervening years, the two sides have clashed repeatedly and supported rival rebel movements.

Abiy was greeted by Isaias himself at the airport and they strode past the uniformed band and honor guard, occasionally smiling and laughing together — a marked contrast to the Eritrean president’s normally stone faced public appearances.

The two men were welcomed by women in traditional dress waving palm fronds as well as rows of officials before they retired to the airport VIP lounge and sat beneath portraits of themselves sipping juice.

Before departing from the airport, Abiy waded into the crowd of welcoming women and exchanged hugs.

As the convoy of vehicles carrying Abiy passed through downtown Asmara, crowds lined the street and cheered loudly, spilling into the road and slowing the cars to a crawl.

The change in relations between the two countries has stunned observers. For the first time in decades, Ethio­pian flags adorned the streets of Asmara and other cities in preparation for Abiy’s visit, according to photos tweeted by Natalie Brown, the U.S. chief of mission in Asmara.

The rumored visit was confirmed by Abiy’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, on Sunday morning.

“Abiy Ahmed has left to Eritrea, Asmara today to further deepen efforts to bring about lasting peace between the people of Ethiopia & Eritrea,” he tweeted. “Our two nations share a history & bond like no other. We can now overcome two decades of mistrust and move in a new direction.”

Nearly 30 years ago, the future leaders of the two countries were comrades in the struggle against Ethiopia’s communist dictatorship. But after its overthrow and Eritrea’s declaration of independence, relations soured despite close cultural and linguistic ties.

Ethi­o­pia’s new reformist prime minister, Abiy, broke the deadlock between the two countries on June 5 by accepting the 2000 peace agreement that ended the war, which would involve ceding territory still held by Ethi­o­pia.

Events moved quickly after that, with Isaias accepting the overtures as a “positive” move and sending a delegation led by his foreign minister to Addis Ababa a week later. Now there has been talk of reopening long-closed air links between the two countries this year.

The summit will probably involve negotiations on how to begin the complex process of returning territories to each other and separating populations as well as restoring ties.

Under Abiy, Ethi­o­pia appears to be embarking on a new path of reform, but Eritrea has been characterized as one of the most authoritarian states in Africa.

For much of the last 20 years, Eritrea has been focused on its conflict with Ethi­o­pia with substantial spending on its military and indefinite mandtory military service that has sent hundreds of thousands Eritreans seeking to immigrate to Europe.

The meeting “heralds a new era of peace & cooperation,” Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel tweeted Sunday.

In interviews broadcast live on Eritrean state television interviewed, people praised the visit and welcomed peace between the two countries.

“Peace is everything,” said an elderly man wearing a turban and sunglasses.

[maakhiri1]

Game-changing stuff, it is good,finally peace in East Africa

[Khadafi]

I had my doubts but the political turmoil in Ethiopia seem to have swayed the EPRDF to the bossoms of Afwerki. Maakhiri remember that this guy Abiey Ahmed belongs to the deep state. He was the one who was behind the  jailing of the Nadwatul Ulama, the muslim community in Ethiopia. His origins within the murky state security of Ethiopia is well known. It is not a coincidence that the Tigrayan TPLF   reached the conclusion that they need their kindren Eritrea when they are now today in their weakest point.  History repeats itself. It was the EPLF of Eritrea that armed and galvanized the TPLF in the beginning. Kolley Waxaan rajaynaa in dadka la mid ah Jawaad Ahmed iyo oromo kale in ey culeys saaran Abiey Ahmed. 

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Eritrea and Ethiopia conflict Coming to an end tigrinya tigrai conflict ending. Asmara and makelle finally got their things together.

What does this mean for the horn.  No Ethiopian opposition hiding in asmara

It's means Eritrea can demiliitarize . Tigre ethnic in east Sudan can return.

What did the tigrinya say hade hizbhadelibi.

 

 

 

[maakhiri1]

1 hour ago, Khadafi said:

I had my doubts but the political turmoil in Ethiopia seem to have swayed the EPRDF to the bossoms of Afwerki. Maakhiri remember that this guy Abiey Ahmed belongs to the deep state. He was the one who was behind the  jailing of the Nadwatul Ulama, the muslim community in Ethiopia. His origins within the murky state security of Ethiopia is well known. It is not a coincidence that the Tigrayan TPLF   reached the conclusion that they need their kindren Eritrea when they are now today in their weakest point.  History repeats itself. It was the EPLF of Eritrea that armed and galvanized the TPLF in the beginning. Kolley Waxaan rajaynaa in dadka la mid ah Jawaad Ahmed iyo oromo kale in ey culeys saaran Abiey Ahmed. 

it has alot to do with UAE and KSA,who were already in Eritrea. Djibouti must watch this change.

[maakhiri1]

 

[maakhiri1]

is  the girl with hijab Abiy wife?

[maakhiri1]

 

[Holac]

The UAE has finally taken over Ethiopian foreign policy. Usually, the restoration of bilateral relations take time, but the speed this guy is going on the Eritrea issue is telling us that he is a puppet of some powers behind the scenes.

What does @Old_Observer think about this?

 

[Old_Observer]

6 hours ago, maakhiri1 said:

it has alot to do with UAE and KSA,who were already in Eritrea. Djibouti must watch this change.

Actually that is the whole thing. Would you put on a table 1 billion dollars no prior explanation no prior warm diplomacy? I don't think so. Such coming together of foreign interest is never seen before. America will remove China, will punish Djibouti.

1 hour ago, Holac said:

The UAE has finally taken over Ethiopian foreign policy. Usually, the restoration of bilateral relations take time, but the speed this guy is going on the Eritrea issue is telling us that he is a puppet of some powers behind the scenes.

What does @Old_Observer think about this?

 

Absolutely. Well what can you do? Hopefully Ghelleh will stay under radar and weather the storm without any death and destruction in the horn of Africa. Hopefully also the Afar and Somali groups in Djibouti will see this fake artificial propaganda and stay calm and not be tools trying to address their grievance on Ghelleh, trying to take advantage of somebody's aim and interest which is opposite to what the people's interest is

[Ifiye]

Two long time CIA agents meet in Asmara as head of states.

Both nations agree to develope Eritrean ports.  Tigray elites who were against peace with Eritrea finally come on board.

Ethiopia is sending strong message to the competing tiny Somali clan enclaves with access to sea you better accept Ethiopia terms or else you will pay the price.

With this agreement and the demilitarizion of the border with Eritrea Ethiopia will have resources and military muscle available to deal with local issues and continue their aggression on neighboring countries specially Somalia.   Ethiopian opposition groups are making peace with their new Oromo leader and it will be hard for the Egyptian dictator to interfere or distabilize resurgent  Abassynia .

 

[Xaaji Xunjuf]

Whats interesting is what will  isias afewerki opposition do the one hiding in Addis Ababa  And in the west.  Allot of reform  has to happen with in Eritrea  the no war no peace has ended.. also the implementation of the border deal. It's gonna take a while  for things to be normal.the Emirates are the policy makers of Saudi Arabia  and they need .asmara and addis ababa to be on the same page. Because the Arabs are losing the war in Yemen and bashar al Assad has defeated waahabi zionist proxy such as daceesh al nusra front Iran and  hezobollah are winning the war and there is little uncle Sam can do 

[Ifiye]

Eritrea and Ethiopia have made peace. How it happened and what next

July 10, 2018 4.34am EDT

 Martin Plaut

 

This week Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed visited neighbouring Eritrea, to be greeted by President Isaias Afwerki. The vast crowds that thronged the normally quiet streets of Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, were simply overjoyed. They sang and they danced as Abiy’s car drove past. Few believed they would ever see such an extraordinarily rapid end to two decades of vituperation and hostility between their countries.

After talks the president and prime minister signed a declaration, ending 20 years of hostility and restoring diplomatic relations and normal ties between the countries.

The first indication that these historic events might be possible came on June 4th. Abiy declared that he would accept the outcome of an international commission’s finding over the disputed border. It was the border conflict of 1998-2000, and Ethiopia’s refusal to accept the commission’s ruling, that was behind two decades of armed confrontation. With this out of the way, everything began to fall into place.

The two countries are now formally at peace. Airlines will connect their capitals once more, Ethiopia will use Eritrea’s ports again – its natural outlet to the sea – and diplomatic relations will be resumed.

Perhaps most important of all, the border will be demarcated. This won’t be an easy task. Populations who thought themselves citizens of one country could find themselves in another. This could provoke strong reactions, unless both sides show flexibility and compassion.

For Eritrea there are real benefits - not only the revenues from Ethiopian trade through its ports, but also the potential of very substantial potash developments on the Ethiopia-Eritrea border that could be very lucrative.

For Ethiopia, there would be the end to Eritrean subversion, with rebel movements deprived of a rear base from which to attack the government in Addis Ababa. In return, there is every chance that Ethiopia will now push for an end to the UN arms embargoagainst the Eritrean government.

This breakthrough didn’t just happen. It has been months in the making.

The deal

Some of the first moves came quietly from religious groups. In September last year the World Council of Churches sent a team to see what common ground there was on both sides. Donald Yamamoto, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, and one of America’s most experienced Africa hands, played a major role.

Diplomatic sources suggest he held talks in Washington at which both sides were represented. The Eritrean minister of foreign affairs, Osman Saleh, is said to have been present, accompanied by Yemane Gebreab, President Isaias’s long-standing adviser. They are said to have met the former Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, laying the groundwork for the deal. Yamamoto visited both Eritrea and Ethiopia in April.

Although next to nothing was announced following the visits, they are said to have been important in firming up the dialogue.

But achieving reconciliation after so many years took more than American diplomatic muscle.

Eritrea’s Arab allies also played a key role. Shortly after the Yamamoto visit, President Isaias paid a visit to Saudi Arabia. Ethiopia – aware of the trip – encouraged the Saudi crown prince to get the Eritrean president to pick up the phone and talk to him. President Isaias declined, but – as Abiy Ahmed later explained – he was “hopeful with Saudi and US help the issue will be resolved soon.”

So it was, but one other actor played a part: the UAE. Earlier this month President Isaias visited the Emirates. There are suggestions that large sums of money were offered to help Eritrea develop its economy and infrastructure.

Finally, behind the scenes, the UN and the African Union have been encouraging both sides to resolve their differences. This culminated in the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, flying to Addis Ababa for a meeting on Monday – just hours after the joint declaration. Guterres told reporters that in his view the sanctions against Eritrea could soon be lifted since they would soon likely become “obsolete.”

It has been an impressive combined effort by the international community, who have for once acted in unison to try to resolve a regional issue that has festered for years.

Risks and dividends

For Isaias these developments also bring some element of risk. Peace would mean no longer having the excuse of a national security threat to postpone the implementation of basic freedoms. If the tens of thousands of conscripts, trapped in indefinite national service are allowed to go home, what jobs await them? When will the country have a working constitution, free elections, an independent media and judiciary? Many political prisoners have been jailed for years without trail. Will they now be released?

For Ethiopia, the dividends of peace would be a relaxation of tension along its northern border and an alternative route to the sea. Families on both sides of the border would be reunited and social life and religious ceremonies, many of which go back for centuries, could resume.

But the Tigrayan movement – the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) - that was dominant force in Ethiopian politics until the election of Prime Minister Aiby in February, has been side-lined. It was their quarrel with the Eritrean government that led to the 1998–2000 border war.

The Eritrean authorities have rejoiced in their demise. “From this day forward, TPLF as a political entity is dead,” declared a semi-official website, describing the movement as a ‘zombie’ whose “soul has been bound in hell”. Such crowing is hardly appropriate if differences are to be resolved. The front is still a significant force in Ethiopia and could attempt to frustrate the peace deal.

These are just some of the problems that lie ahead. There is no guarantee that the whole edifice won’t collapse, as the complex details of the relationship are worked out. There are many issues that have to be resolved before relations between the two countries can be returned to normal. But with goodwill these can be overcome, ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity from which the entire region would benefit

[Ifiye]

Yamamoto and Isaias

UAE crown prince and Abiy 

[Ifiye]

Soomaalida miiska qaliinka ayeey wadasaaranyihiin mana oga.