ADDIS ABABA: Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki reopened his country’s embassy in Ethiopia on Monday, the latest in a series of dizzying peace moves after two decades of war between the neighbours.

The embassy inauguration caps Isaias’s historic visit to the Ethiopian capital aimed at cementing peace less than a week after the former enemies declared an end to the conflict.

State-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) showed Isaias raising the Eritrean flag at the embassy in downtown Addis Ababa and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed handing him keys to the building, filled with dusty furniture that appeared untouched for years.

The embassy visit marked the end of Isaias’s three-day stay in Ethiopia which also saw him visiting an industrial park and attending dinner and a concert on Sunday evening.

Thousands of Ethiopians packed an exhibition hall, waving Eritrean flags and chanting Isaias’s name as both leaders pledged commitment to their newfound unity.

“Both nations have chosen peace as opposed to war,” said Abiy, as Isaias also voiced his support, saying: “We won’t allow anyone to stop this from happening.” The 71-year-old Eritrean strongman left Addis shortly after the embassy opening, EBC reported.

Writing on Twitter, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said the trip had “inexorably elevated bilateral ties of both countries to new, promising, heights.”

He described the embassy opening as “yet another milestone in the robust (and) special ties of peace and friendship both countries are cultivating with earnestness in these momentous times.”

Once a province of Ethiopia, Eritrea voted to leave in 1993 after a bloody, decades-long independence struggle.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2018