CGTN
Sunday July 1, 2018
Ethiopia’s newly elected Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed addresses the members of parliament inside the House of Peoples’ Representatives in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 19, 2018. REUTERS
Ethiopia’s cabinet has passed a resolution to remove three armed
groups from a terror list as part of sweeping reforms under a new prime
minister. The groups, operating mainly from neighboring Eritrea, had
opposed the government that ruled Ethiopia for close to three decades.
The resolution delisting the Ogaden National Liberation Front, the
Oromo Liberation Front and Ginbot 7 now goes to Parliament, the prime
minister’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said Saturday on Twitter: “The
decision will encourage groups to use peaceful political discourse to
achieve political ends.”
Senior figures with the groups, including British national
Andargachew Tsige, were released from prison in the weeks after Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April.
Al-Qaida and the Somalia-based al-Shabab remain on Ethiopia’s terror
list. The five groups were listed in 2011 under Ethiopia’s
anti-terrorism proclamation, which the government at the time said was
aimed at undercutting terror threats at home and in the region.
The cabinet also approved a law to be sent to Parliament that grants
amnesty for individuals and groups either under investigation or
convicted for treason, crime against the constitutional order and armed
struggle.
Ethiopia’s ruling coalition and affiliated parties hold all seats in Parliament.