Eithopean PM welcomed by Eritrean counterpart for historic peace summit

Reuters - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was welcomed by his Eritrean counterpart Isaias Afwerki on Sunday (8 July) for a historic peace summit in Asmara that could mark the official end of a near 20-year military stand-off. The meeting is the first of its kind between the leaders of the two Horn of Africa countries, who have been rivals since they fought a war in the late 1990s in which around 80,000 people died. In early June, Ethiopia announced it would honour all the terms of a peace deal, suggesting the government might be ready to settle a border dispute. Eritrea responded positively. Abiy, who took office in April, said during that meeting that Ethiopian Airlines would restart flights to Eritrea for the first time since the war, when the nations who share a common history severed diplomatic relations.