As hostilities between Tigrayan rebels and Ethiopian government forces have resumed in earnest since August 24, the Tigrayan government has announced that it is ready for the African Union-led peace talks. It is through a statement dated last Sunday, September 11.
After nearly two years of conflict between the federal Ethiopian army and the Tigrayan rebels, there is a ray of hope on the horizon. Indeed, on Sunday, September 11, the Tigrayan rebels agreed to take part in future peace talks with the government of Abiy Ahmed, under the auspices of the regional organization. “The government of Tigray is ready to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union,” the statement from the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front said. “In addition, we are ready to respect an immediate and mutually agreed cessation of hostilities in order to create an enabling atmosphere,” they added.
These same authorities have previously opposed any proposal for an AU-led peace process on the grounds that its special envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, was too close to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Last March, a humanitarian agreement was signed between the two parties, but it will only be respected for five months, because on August 24, clashes resumed, breaking the peace agreement in force between the two sides.
Unique opportunity
For Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, this announcement is a “unique opportunity” that the parties involved must seize in order to put an end to a rebellion that has been underway for nearly two years in the country. He took the opportunity to call on “both parties to work urgently to establish a ceasefire, to engage in direct negotiations, within the framework of a process under the auspices of the AU, including mutually agreed international partners. Ethiopia’s Minister of State for Peace, Taye Dendea, called the statement by the People’s Liberation Front for Tigray a “positive development. But he did say that the Tigrayan rebels must be disarmed before the peace talks can begin.
Since the beginning of hostilities, the Tigray region has been cut off from the world. The population suffers from a lack of essential services such as food shortages, electricity, communications and banking services.
