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Ahram Online
On Thursday, Ethiopia outlined conditions for possible negotiations with rebels from the country’s war-hit Tigray region. The decision came after days of frantic diplomatic efforts by international envoys to stem in fighting.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has been locked in a year-long war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The latter has been pushing South in recent months and did not rule out possible march on the capital Addis Ababa.
“One of the conditions for possible talks, which have yet to be agreed, would be for the TPLF to withdraw from the Amhara and Afar regions which border Tigray. For a peaceful solution, they say, it takes two to tango”, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Dina Mufti, told reporters on Thursday.
“There are conditions: First, stop your attacks. Second, leave the areas you have entered (Amhara and Afar). Third, recognise the legitimacy of this government”, he added.
TPLF spokesman, Getachew Reda, said last week; “pulling out from Amhara and Afar before talks begin is an absolute non-starter”. The TPLF is demanding an end to what the UN describe as a de facto humanitarian blockade on Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people are believed to be living in famine-like conditions.
International envoys have stepped up efforts, in recent days, to broker a cessation of hostilities.
Jeffrey Feltman, US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, left Ethiopia on Wednesday following several days of meetings there and in neighbouring Kenya.
“Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the AU’s special envoy for the region, was due to leave on Thursday, after a final meeting with Abiy. He has recently travelled to the Tigray capital Mekele to meet TPLF leaders”, Ethiopian officials said.
“US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Obasanjo and exprssed strong support for his mediation efforts”, the US State Department said on Wednesday.
