Former bitter east African rivals celebrate official border opening

Описание: (12 Sep 2018) Celebrating their dramatic diplomatic thaw, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea have officially opened the border where a bloody war and ensuing tensions had divided them for decades, with emotional residents embracing after years of separation.
Ethiopia's reformist new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and longtime Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki visited the Bure Front on Tuesday along with members of their militaries to mark the Ethiopian new year, Abiy's chief of staff Fitsum Arega said in a Twitter post.
The two opened the border post at the Serha-Zalambesa crossing, after visiting the Bure Front.
Footage showed  Abiy in camouflage alongside Isaias in olive drab, while hundreds of civilians lined a road with the countries' flags in hand.
People of the countries' Tigray region, who share close cultural ties, danced while flag-draped camels wandered by.
The former bitter rivals have made a stunning reconciliation since Abiy, weeks after taking office in April announced that Ethiopia would fully embrace a peace deal that ended a 1998-2000 border war that killed tens of thousands.
At the time, he said the countries would celebrate the Ethiopian new year together: "We want our brothers and sisters to come here and visit us as soon as possible."
Embassies have reopened, telephone lines have been restored and commercial flights between the capitals have resumed as some long-separated families have held tearful reunions.
Landlocked Ethiopia, one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, and Eritrea, one of the world's most closed-off nations, also plan development cooperation around Eritrea's Red Sea ports in particular

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