(Nairobi) Ethiopian rebels in Tigray announced on Sunday that they were ready to participate in peace talks under the aegis of the African Union (AU), aimed at ending nearly two years of armed conflict in this northern region of Ethiopia.
Updated yesterday at 7:53 p.m.
This announcement was hailed by the AU as a “unique opportunity”.
“The government of Tigray is ready to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union,” said a statement from authorities in the rebel region.
“Furthermore, we are prepared to respect an immediate and mutually agreed cessation of hostilities, in order to create a conducive atmosphere,” they added.
The move comes as diplomatic efforts intensify to find a peaceful solution to the conflict, after renewed fighting last month shattered a truce established in March.
The Ethiopian government has long insisted that any peace process must be negotiated under the aegis of the AU, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
But the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had until then always rejected the mediation of the AU’s special envoy to the Horn of Africa, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, denouncing its “closeness” to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat hailed a “unique opportunity” to end nearly two years of war, and called on “both sides to work urgently towards a ceasefire.” fire, to engage in direct negotiations, within the framework of a process under the aegis of the AU, including mutually agreed international partners”.
Ethiopia’s Minister of State for Peace, Taye Dendea, on Twitter called the TPLF announcement a “positive development”, while insisting that “the so-called TDF (Tigray Defense Forces) must be disarmed before the start of the peace talks. Clear position! “.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called in a statement for “the parties to seize this opportunity for peace and take steps to end the violence once and for all and opt for dialogue”. He assured that the United Nations was ready to support the AU-led peace process.
“Credible” peace process
TPLF announcement, which coincides with Ethiopian New Year, does not mention preconditions, but Tigrayan rebels say they want a ‘credible’ peace process, with mediators ‘acceptable’ to both sides, plus observers international.
Earlier this month, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael offered a conditional truce providing for “unhindered humanitarian access” and the restoration of essential services in Tigray, which is suffering from food shortages and a lack of electricity, communications and banking services.
In a letter to the UN Secretary General, he also called for the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from all of Ethiopia and Tigray.
Sunday’s statement said a negotiating team including Getachew Reda, the TPLF spokesperson, and General Tsadkan Gebretensae, former Ethiopian army chief of staff now at the Tigray Central Military Command, is “ready to deploy without delay”.
Last month, Mr Debretsion revealed that two rounds of confidential one-on-one meetings had taken place between senior civilian and military officials, the first acknowledgment by either warring side of direct contact.
Fighting has raged on several fronts in northern Ethiopia since hostilities resumed on August 24, with both sides accusing each other of breaking a truce agreed in March.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed had sent troops to Tigray in November 2020 to overthrow the TPLF, after what he saw as attacks on federal army camps.
But the rebels had succeeded in June 2021 in retaking most of Tigray, before the fighting reached a stalemate.