ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s Prime Minister
Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday spoke for the first time
about the possibility of peace negotiations with Tigrayan rebels, who have been
locked in a 19-month war with federal forces.
اضافة اعلان
Dispelling
speculation that secret talks were already under way with the
Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), Abiy said the government had instituted a committee to
examine the possibility of holding negotiations.
“It is not so
simple to conduct negotiations. There is a lot of work to be done (before) and
a committee has been set up” to look into the issue, Abiy told Ethiopian MPs.
The committee will
be headed by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonen, who also serves as foreign
minister, and will draft a report detailing the preconditions for negotiations,
he said.
The comments
follow the government’s declaration of an “indefinite humanitarian truce” in
March, paving the way for humanitarian aid to reach the northernmost region of
Tigray for the first time since mid-December.
The conflict has
driven hundreds of thousands of people to the brink of famine, displaced more
than 2 million and left more than 9 million in need of food aid, according to
the
UN.
“Peace isn’t
something you hide,” Abiy told lawmakers in response to rumored talks with the
rebels.
“We are saying we
want peace; doesn’t mean we are going to do secret negotiations. Secret
negotiations have no substance,” he added.
‘Non-negotiable’
The thorny question of western Tigray — a contested region claimed by
both Amharas and
Tigrayans — is among the issues expected to come up in any
negotiations.
The TPLF has
repeatedly said that western Tigray, which has been occupied by Amhara forces
since the war erupted in November 2020, is a “non-negotiable” part of Tigray.
“Any lasting
solution of the current crisis must be predicated on the re-establishment of
the prewar status quo ante,” the TPLF said last week, calling for “the complete
and verified withdrawal of all invading forces from every square inch of
Tigrayan territory”.
The TPLF has
already asked the
UN Security Council to ensure the withdrawal of Amhara forces
and Eritrean troops from the region.
The conflict began
in November 2020 when the government sent federal troops into Tigray to topple
the TPLF, the region’s former ruling party, saying it was in response to rebel
attacks on army camps.
After the TPLF
mounted a shock comeback in June, retaking Tigray and then expanding into the
neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara, fighting intensified in the second half
of 2021, before reaching a stalemate.
Accounts have
emerged of mass rapes and massacres during the conflict, with both sides
accused of human rights violations.
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