Ethiopian Tigray rebels have agreed they would accept a peace process with the federal authorities led by the African Union.
The rebels criticised the “closeness” of the AU mediator, Nigerian Olusegun Obasanjo, to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The Ethiopian government had previously said it was ready for unconditional talks “anytime, anywhere,” brokered by the Addis Ababa-headquartered AU and set up a 7-member peace committee which drew a “proposal” to start ceasefire talks with the Tigray rebels and end the war in the northern region.
The A.U and the Ethiopian minister for peace, Taye Dendea, welcomed the development. The statesman however insisted on Twitter Sunday : the TPLF troops ” must be disarmed before peace talks start”.
After almost two years of war in the northern region, millions of people have been displaced and thousands killed.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who himself is from the restive region, on Wednesday described the “man-made catastrophe” there as the “worst disaster on Earth” and slammed global leaders for overlooking the humanitarian crisis.