Ethiopia and Eritrea want to sign a peace agreement on Sunday according to UN statements. At a summit in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, both sides wanted to seal their reconciliation agreed in July, UN spokesman Farhan Aziz Haq said today in New York. The Saudi Arabian king Salman had invited to the ceremony. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and AU Commission President Moussa Faki Mahamat would be present at the signing of the agreement.

Reconciliation initiated

Following the inauguration of Ethiopia's new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in April, the former war opponents had begun their reconciliation. In July, Eritrea visited President Issaias Afewerki Ethiopia. Both sides declared their intention to make peace. They opened embassies in the other country and set up again a direct flight connection and a telephone connection. On Tuesday, two border crossings were opened. An official peace agreement was pending.

Eritrea split from Ethiopia in the early 1990s following a three-decade-long war and declared independence in 1993. As a result, the much larger Ethiopia lost direct access to the Red Sea. Because of a border conflict, the two countries again fought each other in the Horn of Africa from 1998 to 2000. Around 80,000 people died. Since then, relations have been frozen.