APS : Thursday, 21 June 2018
ADDIS ABABA- Chairman of the Commission of the African Union (AU) Moussa Faki Mahamet welcomed Thursday the recent decisions announced by Ethiopia and Eritrea to open a “new chapter” in their relations,
expressing his “commitment to the full implementation of Algiers agreement.”
The two States have announced recently their readiness to start peace negotiations to put an end to this two decades-old border conflict between the two countries and fully implement the provisions of the peace agreement signed in December 2000 in Algiers.
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki announced the sending of a delegation to Addis Ababa while the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his willingness to implement the peace agreement concluded with Eritrea without prerequisites.
Chairman of AU Commission welcomed, in a communiqué of AU, published on Thursday, “Ethiopia and Eritrea, as well as their leaders, for these bold and courageous measures.”
In this regard, Faki encouraged “the two sides to persevere in this direction to open a new chapter of cooperation and good neighborliness between the two countries,” added the source.
He also pointed out that “a sustainable peace will have an extremely positive impact on the security, development and integration in the Horn of Africa region and in all Africa.”
“It will also significantly contribute to the objective of ending all the conflicts and wars in the continent by 2020, as committed by the African heads of State and government in May 2013,” added former Prime minister of Chad.
The decision made Wednesday by Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to send a delegation to Addis Ababa was welcomed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
On June 5, the executive committee of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front expressed its hope to implement “unconditionally” this peace agreement, concluded in Algiers with Eritrea.
In a response to this call, Eritrean President M. Afwerki suggested to implement “unconditionally” the decisions of the peace agreement signed in Algiers.
This agreement had put an end to the two-year war (1998-2000) during which more than 70,000 people lost their lives in the two countries.
