Ethiopia appoints an ambassador to Eritrea

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia has appointed its first ambassador to Eritrea in two decades in the latest sign of rapprochement after a border war, the state-affiliated Fana news agency said on Thursday.

An online report from Fana said Redwan Hussien, formerly Ethiopian ambassador to Ireland, had become Addis Ababa’s representative in Asmara.

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.

The rapprochement was triggered by the coming into office of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in April who announced he wanted to implement a peace deal that ended the war.

Both leaders have visited each other and Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki this week reopened his country’s embassy in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia’s national carrier Ethiopia Airlines on Wednesday made its first flight to Asmara in two decades and was greeted by dancers waving flags and flowers as families separated by the war and the ensuing hostilities made an emotional reunion.