(Addis Ababa) Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed spoke for the first time on Tuesday of possible future peace negotiations with the rebels in the Tigray region, revealing the establishment of a “committee” on the subject.
Posted at 2:13 p.m.
At the same time, he denied that secret discussions were already underway with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TLPF), which an armed conflict opposed to the federal government between November 2020 and a truce signed last March, respected since.
“It is not so easy to conduct negotiations. There is a lot of work to be done (previously) and a committee has been set up” for this, Abiy Ahmed told Ethiopian MPs.
This committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen, also Minister of Foreign Affairs, will write a report detailing the preconditions for negotiations, he said, then, “this committee will be the negotiation committee”.
He assured that no “secret negotiations” are underway with the TPLF, as asserted and feared by officials in the Amhara region – neighboring Tigray – whose forces supported the federal army in the fighting against Tigrayan rebels.
“We say we want peace, that doesn’t mean we’re going to conduct secret negotiations. These (alleged) secret negotiations have no reality,” he said. “Peace is not something you hide. There is no reason to fret over nothing. When the time is right, we will speak out.”
Territorial claims oppose Amhara and Tigrayans, particularly in the area of western Tigray, currently under the control of Amhara militias and the army of neighboring Eritrea.
The Tigrayan rebels have in recent days made it known that “Western Tigray is part of Tigray in a non-negotiable way” and that “any lasting solution” to the conflict requires a return to previous administrative lines, which integrated the disputed areas within Tigray. .
Negotiations in Kenya?
In an open letter published Tuesday evening, but dated Monday, they say they are ready to “participate in a credible, impartial and honorable peace process”.
But they severely criticize the mediation led by the representative of the African Union (AU), Olusegun Obasanjo, and report for the first time publicly on an “existing agreement” to begin negotiations under the aegis of the Kenyan presidency, very active in peace efforts in Ethiopia.
“The closeness of the High Representative (of the AU) to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia has not gone unnoticed”, writes the head of the TPLF, Debretsion Gebremichael, who denounces “the silence of the African Union on the war and the atrocities perpetrated by the forces” fighting the TPLF.
“We remain firmly committed to the existing agreement between the parties to meet in Nairobi for negotiations hosted and facilitated by the President of Kenya,” Uhuru Kenyatta continued.
The conflict in Tigray began in November 2020 when Abiy Ahmed sent the federal army there – backed by Amhara forces and Eritrean troops – to dislodge TPLF officials who governed the region, accusing them of attacking military bases. the federal army on the spot.
Initially defeated in a month, the TPLF forces recaptured almost all of Tigray in 2021, even pushing their counter-offensive into the neighboring regions of Amhara – of which they still occupy certain areas – and Afar.
The fighting has ceased since the end of March, thanks to a “humanitarian” truce.
But the humanitarian situation in Tigray, deprived of essential services – telecommunications, internet, banking – is catastrophic, according to humanitarian actors.
The Ethiopian government re-authorized road shipments of aid to Tigray after a three-month hiatus, and convoys resumed on 1er april.
But the aid sent since April is struggling “to meet the growing needs” of the region, according to Ocha, the UN humanitarian agency.