Tuesday June 14, 2022
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Tuesday the
federal government had formed a committee to negotiate with forces from the
rebellious northern region of Tigray, in the first public confirmation of akey
step towards peace negotations.
The nearly two-year conflict in Ethiopia, Africa's
second-most populous nation, has displaced more than 9 million people, plunged
parts of Tigray into famine conditions and killed thousands of civilians.
"Regarding the peace ... a committee has been
established and it will study how we will conduct talks," Abiy told parliament,
the first time he has publicly referred to the body.
The committee, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke
Mekonnen, has 10 to 15 days to hammer out details of negotiations.
Getachew Reda, spokesperson for the Tigray People's
Liberation Front (TPLF), was unavailable for comment.
The TPLF - a former rebel army turned political party -
dominated national politics for nearly three decades until Abiy's appointment
in 2018 reduced their rule to Tigray.
The TPLF accused Abiy of wanting to centralise power at the
expense of the regions, while he said they were seeking to regain national
power.
CONFLICT
Fighting erupted in Tigray in November 2020 and spilled over
into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara last year.
Troops from neighbouring Eritrea also entered the conflict
in support of Abiy's force. Eritrean and Ethiopian forces withdrew from most of
Tigray in mid-2021 and the Abiy government declared a unilateral ceasefire in
March. read more
Legislator Desalegn Chane said on Tuesday that negotiations
should not exclude Amhara and Eritrean forces. Both fought on the side of the
Ethiopian military, but faced mounting accusations of abuses, which they
denied.
Last month, regional state media reported 4,000 people had
been arrested in Amhara - including a prominent general, militia members and
journalists. Analysts said it appeared that the central government was trying
to reassert its authority over some Amhara factions; the government said the
arrests were related to "illegal activities" and possible killings.
The war between the national government forces and its
allies and the Tigrayan forces has upset Abiy's plans to modernise Ethiopia's
sclerotic state-run economy.
Widespread reports of mass killings of civilians and sexual
violence and allegations of ethnic cleansing also triggered Ethiopia's
suspension from a major trade agreement that gave Ethiopia preferential access
to U.S. markets - a move the government said could cost the nation 1 million
jobs.
The government has said the reports of rights abuses are
exaggerated.
A U.N. investigation found all sides had committed abuses,
but although the national rights body has released reports on abuses in Amhara
and Afar, the full extent of killings and rapes in Tigray has yet to be
documented.
Reporting by Addis Ababa Newsroom; Writing by George
Obulutsa; Editing by Gareth Jones