The rebels of this region of the north of the country say they are ready for discussions with the Ethiopian government under the aegis of the African Union, as well as an “cessation of immediate hostilities”.
Le Monde with AFP
A glimmer of hope appears after two years of armed conflict in the tiger, in Ethiopia. “The Tiger Government is ready to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union,” the Ethiopian rebels of the Popular Liberation Liberation (TPLF) said in a statement on Sunday September 11. “In addition, we are ready to respect an immediate and mutually accepted hostilities, in order to create a conducive atmosphere,” added the rebels of this region in the north of the country.
This announcement comes as diplomatic efforts are multiplying to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, after the resumption of fights last month broke a truce established in March.
The Ethiopian government has long insisted on the fact that any peace process was to be negotiated under the aegis of the AU, whose siege is in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. But the TPLF had until then rejected the mediation of the Special Envoy of the AU in the Horn of Africa, the former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, by denouncing his “proximity” with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
“unique opportunity”
The chairman of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat welcomed a “unique opportunity” to end almost two years of war, and called “the two parties to work urgently to the establishment of A ceasefire, to engage in direct negotiations, within the framework of a process under the aegis of the AU, including mutually approved international partners “.
The Ethiopian Minister of State for Peace, Taye Dendea, described on Twitter the announcement of the TPLF “positive evolution”, while insisting that “the so-called TDF [Defense Forces of the Defense Forces Tiger] must be disarmed before the start of peace talks. Clear position! “.
The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres, called in a press release “the parties to seize this peace opportunity and to take measures to definitively end violence and opt for dialogue”. He assured that the UN was ready to support the peace process led by the AU.
The announcement of the TPLF, which coincides with the Ethiopian New Year, does not mention a prerequisite, but the Tigrean rebels say they want a “credible” peace process, with acceptable mediators by the two parties, as that international observers.
At the beginning of the month, the head of the TPLF, Debretsion Gebremichael, had proposed a truce under condition providing for “unhindered humanitarian access” and the restoration of essential services in the tiger, which suffers from food shortages and a lack of ‘Electricity, communications and banking services. In a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the United Nations, he also asked for the withdrawal of the Eritrean forces from the whole Ethiopia and the Tiger.
The Declaration of Sunday specifies that a negotiation team including Getachew Reda, the spokesperson for the TPLF, and General Tsadkan Gebretensae, former chief of staff of the Ethiopian army today in central military command of the tiger, is “ready to be deployed without delay”.
Last month, Mr. Debretsion revealed that two series of confidential meetings in-head had taken place between senior civil and military officials, the first recognition by one or the other of the belligerent parties of Direct contacts.
The fights have raged on several fronts in northern Ethiopia since the resumption of hostilities on August 24, the two parties accusing each other of having broken a truce concluded in March.
Abiy Ahmed, Nobel Peace Prize, had sent troops to the tiger in November 2020 to overthrow the TPLF, after what he had considered attacks on the Federal Army camps. But the rebels had succeeded in June 2021 in resuming most of the tiger, before the fights ended up a dead end.