- Title: Ethiopia's Abiy deserves Nobel Peace Prize - Eritrean Journalist
- Date: 12th October 2019
- Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (OCTOBER 12, 2019) (REUTERS) SAMSON BERHANE PICKING UP A MAGAZINE WITH ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINSTER ABIY AHMED ON FRONT COVER VARIOUS OF BERHANE READING MAGAZINE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ERITREAN JOURNALIST, SAMSON BERHANE, SAYING: "When he (Abiy) first appeared before the parliament and promised to make peace with Eritrea, I thought that it was just rhetoric but like after he went to Asmara like the unexpected visit, I said like, keeping in mind what he had achieved so far, I believe he deserves the Nobel Prize. He made history by making peace with like 'historic enemies' of Ethiopia." BERHANE TAKING SEAT AT DESK VARIOUS OF BERHANE LOOKING AT HIS COMPUTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ERITREAN JOURNALIST, SAMSON BERHANE, SPEAKING ON PERSONAL EFFECTS OF ETHIOPIAN PEACE WITH ERITREA: "It is very hard to explain but I was so happy and excited. I never thought that I would meet my father and that was also the first time I met my siblings. I have five sisters and two brothers in Asmara, the feeling was so, I was so happy and excited." VARIOUS OF BERHANE FLIPPING THROUGH BOOK (SOUNDBITE) (English) ERITREAN JOURNALIST, SAMSON BERHANE, SAYING: "For 20 something years, we didn't even think that he (his father) was alive, the only time that we heard he was alive was when I was 9 or 8. He sent me a letter via our relatives who live in the U.S., but afterwards we haven't heard anything from him, so we thought he had died." VARIOUS OF BOOK ABOUT ERITREA ON BERHANE'S DESK
- Embargoed: 26th October 2019 12:01
- Keywords: Abiy Ahmed Nobel Peace Prize Eritrea
- Location: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
- City: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
- Country: Ethiopia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,International/National Security
- Reuters ID: LVA001B0SIGJR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Samson Berhane, a 27-year old Eritrean journalist based in Ethiopia, is celebrating the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the country's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Berhane, who has spent most of his life in Ethiopia, was able to travel to his family home of Eritrea for the first time in 21 years thanks to the peace deal brokered by Abiy. It was the first time he had seen his father in over two decades and the very first time meeting some of his siblings in Asmara.
Speaking during an interview in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Abba on Saturday (October 12), Berhane said the effect of the peace deal for him personally was hard to explain and he was just so ''happy and excited.''
Berhane says the first time he travelled to Eritrea's capital he didn't even know if his father was still alive.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday (October 11) for his peacemaking efforts which ended two decades of hostility with longtime enemy Eritrea.
Abiy, now 43, took office in April 2018 after the resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn following three years of violent anti-government protests. The ruling coalition had already begun making conciliatory measures, including releasing many political prisoners, but Abiy speeded up the reforms.
(Production: Kumerra Gemechu, Jackson Njehia) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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