Ethiopia rivals urged to seize moment for peace

NAIROBI: The international community on Monday urged warring sides in Ethiopia to seize the moment for peace ater Tigrayan rebels said they were ready for talks led by the African Union to end almost two years of brutal warfare.

There has been a flurry of diplomatic efforts to push for negotiations ater fighting flared in northern Ethiopia in late August for the first time in several months, torpedoing a humanitarian truce and cuting off aid deliveries to war-stricken Tigray.

Tigrayan authorities said Sunday they were “prepared to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union,” ater previously rejecting AU mediation and saying they wanted Kenya to lead any talks.

“We are ready to abide by an immediate and mutually agreed cessation of hostilities,” Tigray’s regional government said in a statement coinciding with Ethiopia’s new year.

The government has not formally commented on the Tigrayan stance but has previously said it was ready for unconditional talks “anytime, anywhere,” brokered by the AU, which is headquartered in Addis Ababa.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had until now vehemently opposed the role of the AU’S Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, protesting his “proximity” to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Untold numbers of civilians have been killed since the war erupted in Africa’s second most populous country in November 2020, and the fighting has let millions of people across northern Ethiopia in need of emergency aid.

UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres urged “the parties to seize this opportunity for peace and to take steps to end the violence definitively and opt for dialogue.”

AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat also welcomed the development as a “unique opportunity towards the restoration of peace” and urged “both parties to urgently work towards an immediate ceasefire, engage in direct talks.”

Similar messages were issued by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“We call on the country’s leaders to put Ethiopia on a path that ends the suffering and achieves a lasting peace,” Blinken said in a statement.

Ethiopia’s international partners were ready to support the peace process, he said, but added: “Eritrea and others should cease fuelling the conflict.”

Fighting has raged on several fronts in northern Ethiopia since hostilities resumed on Aug.24, with both sides accusing the other of firing first and breaking a March truce.