Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed possible contender for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
Record ID:
1434168
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed possible contender for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
- Title: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed possible contender for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
- Date: 28th September 2019
- Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (FILE - JULY 15, 2018) (REUTERS) (AUDIO DISTORTED) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE GATHERED ON STREETS CHEERING AND WAVING ERITREAN AND ETHIOPIAN FLAGS PEOPLE WEARING T-SHIRTS WITH IMAGES OF BOTH LEADERS ON THE FRONT ABIY AND AFWERKI WAVING FROM PODIUM AT CONCERT WHERE THE LEADERS WERE PREACHING UNITY MAN WITH CHILD ON HIS SHOULDERS CHANTING "ABIY, ABIY" ERITREAN AND ETHIOPIAN FLAGS BEING WAVED ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (FILE - JULY 24, 2018) (REUTERS) AERIAL VIEW OF ADDIS ABABA CITY AREA WHERE RESIDENTS VIEW OF STREET PEOPLE CROSSING A ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) ADDIS ABABA RESIDENT, BEMINET (SURNAME NOT GIVEN), GIVING HER VIEW ABOUT ABIY WHO HAS BEEN PRIME MINISTER FOR THREE MONTHS: "Our new Prime Minister Abiy is a good guy. He enabled us to move by bringing democracy and stabilised the country. He has created a lot of opportunities for us to do whatever we want. We expect many things will change in the future. He knows how to guide the intellectuals and the society and show them how they can solve their problems by engaging them face to face. He is humble enough to talk with people and tries to find solutions so we hope the best is yet to come." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADDIS ABABA RESIDENT, ABEL (SURNAME NOT GIVEN), GIVING HIS VIEW ABOUT ABIY WHO HAS BEEN PRIME MINISTER FOR THREE MONTHS: "He is very charismatic and outgoing unlike the previous officials, so that is exciting.'' (SOUNDBITE) (English) ADDIS ABABA RESIDENT, LEYAT (SURNAME NOT GIVEN), GIVING HER VIEW ABOUT ABIY WHO HAS BEEN PRIME MINISTER FOR THREE MONTHS: "He believes that we are all one, all Ethiopians are one and unless we are all brought together and we have that mentality that we all want the same thing in our country, we cannot bring the change that we want and he has that mentality, that positivity, that mindset that says nobody is left out and that we are all together." PUBLIC TRANSPORT STATION TAXI VAN WITH PICTURE OF ABIY ON BACK WINDOW INTERSECTION DAVOS, SWITZERLAND (FILE - JANUARY 23, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ABIY WALKING WITH OTHER DELEGATES AT THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM KHARTOUM, SUDAN (FILE - AUGUST 17, 2019) (PART MUTE) (REUTERS) ABIY WALKING TO PODIUM WHERE SUDAN'S MAIN OPPOSITION COALITION AND RULING MILITARY COUNCIL SIGN POWER SHARING AGREEMENT VARIOUS OF DEPUTY HEAD OF SUDAN'S TRANSITIONAL MILITARY COUNCIL, MOHAMED HAMDAN DAGALO AND OPPOSITION ALLIANCE REPRESENTATIVE AHMAD AL-RABIE SIGNING POWER-SHARING DEAL HANDS OF OFFICIALS SIGNING DEAL AL-RABIE, DAGALO AND HEAD OF TRANSITIONAL MILITARY COUNCIL ABDEL FATTAH AL-BURHAN RAISING DOCUMENT AND FLASHING VICTORY SIGN (ABIY CLAPPING BESIDE THEM ON THE RIGHT) ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (FILE - SEPTEMBER 6, 2019) (REUTERS) PEOPLE QUEUING OUTSIDE FORMER MAEYKELAWI PRISON WHICH ONCE IMPRISONED POLITICAL PRISONERS AND NOW OPENED TO PUBLIC VIEWING AS PART OF PUSH TOWARDS NEW DEMOCRATIC FREEDOMS PEOPLE GOING THROUGH SECURITY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING AROUND TO VIEW THE PRISON PEOPLE WALKING AROUND THE PRISON COMPOUND POLICE OFFICERS IN WATCH TOWER WITH PEOPLE WALKING BELOW
- Embargoed: 12th October 2019 15:25
- Keywords: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Nobel Peace Prize Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki Eritrean independance two-year war 2000 peace accord peace deal
- Location: ERITREAN-ETHIOPIAN BORDER, ASMARA, ERITREA / ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA / KHARTOUM, SUDAN / DAVOS, SWITZERLAND
- City: ERITREAN-ETHIOPIAN BORDER, ASMARA, ERITREA / ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA / KHARTOUM, SUDAN / DAVOS, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Various
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA006AYGCCW7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:QUALITY AS INCOMING
EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL
It was a day that many people in Ethiopia and Eritrea did not think they would live to see.
The two Horn of Africa countries had been bitter rivals for decades and fought a war in the late 1990s in which around 80,000 people died.
But on July 8, 2018, Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki warmly welcomed Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to the Eritrean capital Asmara.
The meeting was the first of its kind in the 20-year military stand-off between the leaders of the two neighbours
The unexpected rapprochement with Eritrea has won international plaudits and possible a Nobel Peace Prize for Abiy, who took office in April 2018 and announced two months later that he would honour the terms of a peace deal after the 1998-2000 war.
The 42-year-old is pushing to open Ethiopia up to the outside world after decades of security-obsessed isolation.
Abiy has ended a state of emergency, freed political prisoners, got parliament to lift a "terrorist" ban on opposition groups, and pledged to facilitate foreign investment in key sectors of the economy.
As a result of these sweeping changes Abiy is hugely popular with young people. Ethiopia has a population of more than 100 million people. It is Africa's second most populous nation after Nigeria - with more than 40 percent of the population under the age of 15.
Abiy has also won additional praise for using his diplomatic skills to ease the political crisis that followed the overthrow of Sudan former president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
(Production: Kumerra Gemechu, Angela Ukomadu, Okwi Okoh) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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