Envoy leads Ethiopian Flag Day event

RIYADH: The Ethiopian Embassy in the Saudi capital celebrated Flag Day recently to “shore up national pride and dignity,” with prominent Ethiopians — some of whom had been living in the Kingdom for 50 years — in attendance.
Ambassador Amin Abdulkadir led the celebration held for the ninth time in the Saudi capital, and expressed his gratitude to the Ethiopian nationals for attending the event to engender love of country.
"Celebrating ‘Flag Day’ is a time to stand together and unfurl our flag which is a symbol of our national identity, particularly for the some 500,000 Ethiopian nationals in the Kingdom,” he said. He noted that of the number, there are 200,000 Ethiopians living in Riyadh.
He said that the Ethiopian flag is “coexistent with the country’s ancient history and hence plays a significant role in the cultural life of more than 100 million people in Ethiopia.”
“It is for this reason that today, we’re gathered at your embassy grounds to pay kudos to it and salute it as our way of paying respect to the only flag we have,” he said.
He also urged them to represent all Ethiopians back home and in other parts of the world by projecting a good image in the Kingdom.
“By doing so, we show our gratitude to the Kingdom for being a good host to us by providing us security as well as livelihood so that we could have the wherewithal of life,” he said.
He added that “in this connection, let’s respect the customs and traditions of the Kingdom and adhere to a peaceful way of life.”