Eritrea to send delegation to Ethiopia for peace talks

Eritrea will send its delegation to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa for a "constructive engagement with Ethiopia," Eritrea president said on Wednesday.

In April this year, Ethiopia extended a hand of peace after 18 years hiatus in diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The ruling party of Ethiopia on June 5 announced that it would accept the Dec. 12, 2000 Algiers agreement, which had effectively ended the 1998-2000 war between the two neighboring countries.

In 2001, the International Boundary Commission -- set up under Algiers agreement -- ruled to give the territory called Badme, a flashpoint of a war that claimed tens of thousands of lives, to Eritrea.

Appearing on national television, President Issaias Afeworki said: "We will send a delegation to Addis Ababa to gauge current developments directly and in depth and to chart out a plan for continuous future action."

"The events and developments that have unfolded in our region in general and in Ethiopia in particular in the recent period warrant appropriate attention," he said.