Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed possible contender for 2019 Nobel Peace Prize
Record ID:
1434169
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: VARIOUS OF DEAD ETHIOPIAN SOLDIERS IN TRENCHES
- 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: LVA002AYGCCW7
- 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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- Usage Terms/Restrictions: WARNING: Editors please note, this clip contains graphic material