Ethiopian crisis: AU-led peace talks set for Monday in South Africa
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (PANA) - The African Union (AU)-led peace talks to end the bloody fighting between the Ethiopian government and separatist Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) is scheduled for Monday, 24 October in South Africa, the Ethiopian government announced on Thursday.
The National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, Redwan Hussein, is quoted by the state-owned Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) as saying the African Union Commission (AUC) had informed the government of the date for the talks.
“AUC has informed the government of Ethiopia that the Peace Talks (is) set for 24 Oct, 2022 in South Africa. We have reconfirmed our commitment to participate,” he tweeted.
"However, we are dismayed that some are bent on preempting the peace talks & spreading false allegations against the defensive measures," he added.
AU-led peace talks were postponed for logistical reasons. The peace talks would be conducted through a high level panel of eminent Africans, established purposefully for the Ethiopian peace process.
The panel is led by Olusegun Obasanjo, AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa and former President of Nigeria, along with Uhuru Kenyatta, former President of Kenya, and Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former Deputy President of South Africa and Member of the AU Panel of the Wise.
The AU, UN, many countries and humanitarian organisations have expressed deep concern about the fighting and called for a ceasefire.
The Ethiopian government troops and the TPLF forces have been locked in the conflict since November 2020. There was a five-month lull in the fighting, but hostilities resumed in August.
The state-run Ethiopian Government Communication Service (GCS) said the current round of the conflict started on 24 August when the TPLF carried out "a full-fledged attack" thus breaking the humanitarian truce that the Government of Ethiopia declared in March 2022.
The Government last Monday announced "defensive measures", which, it said, are to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country because of the crisis.
The measures announced in a statement by the GCS said the Government has assumed "immediate control of all airports, other federal facilities, and installations in the (Tigray) region".
It said this is necessary to protect Ethiopia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, in particular as it relates to its airspace and to enable the Government to expedite humanitarian aid to people in need.
The statement asked civilians to stay away from TPLF military assets.
The Tigray External Affairs Office of the TPLF said in a statement on Monday that it welcomes the AU's call for a ceasefire saying that it is "ready to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities".
The TPLF also called on the international community to compel the "Eritrean army to withdraw from Tigray, take practical steps towards an immediate cessation of hostilities, and press the Ethiopian Government to come to the negotiating table".
It said: "The war that we have been forced to take part in to save our people from extermination has, due to our adversaries' flagrant disregard for basic rules and norms and genocidal intent, created a ghastly humanitarian crisis.
"The (international community) has a choice to make: either ensure an immediate cessation of hostilities or help the people of Tigray defend themselves against (a) genocidal onslaught. If neither path is followed, the people of Tigray will continue to fight to ensure their survival," it said.
-0- PANA MA 20Oct2022
