(Bloomberg) -- Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki will make an historic visit to Ethiopia on Saturday, according to the Ethiopian prime minister’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, days after the once-bitter foes declared peace and agreed to reestablish economic links.

A visit by Isaias to the capital, Addis Ababa, would mirror Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s groundbreaking trip to neighboring Eritrea last weekend. The two countries -- at odds since a 1998-2000 border war that claimed as many as 100,000 lives -- sealed a swathe of agreements, restoring diplomatic relations, flights and telecommunications, as well as securing Ethiopia’s use of Red Sea ports.

Foreign observers described the peace declaration as a boost for regional stability, and there were signs that United Nations sanctions, imposed on Eritrea in 2009, may be lifted. Eritrea seceded from Ethiopia in 1993 after decades of conflict.

Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nizar Manek in Nairobi at nmanek2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Michael Gunn, Helen Nyambura

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