An Eritrean delegation will arrive in Addis Ababa this week as Ethiopia’s prime minister appears ready to resolve one of Africa’s most intractable military stand-offs.
Eritrea fought a border war with its larger neighbour in 1998-2000 that killed about 70,000 people and disputes remain over the still-militarised frontier, in particular the town Badme.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who outlined a series of radical reforms since taking office in April, made a surprising pledge this month to honour all terms of a peace deal that ended the conflict.
Abiy, hit by a grenade attack during a rally on Saturday, said earlier he was prepared to honour international rulings putting Badme, which Ethiopia has refused to cede, in Eritrea.
On Monday, an Ethiopian Foreign Affairs ministry spokesman said representatives from the neighbouring Horn of Africa nation would arrive in Addis Ababa this week.
Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki raised hopes of a breakthrough describing peace overtures from Abiy as “positive signals”.
Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1991 after decades of guerrilla struggle.