Ethiopia: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the front line, state media say

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

EDUARDO SOTERAS AFP / File

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

The head of government had announced that he would go to the battlefield at the beginning of the week to stop the advance of the Tigrayan and Oromo rebels.

But since then, Abiy Ahmed has disappeared from radar screens, leaving the responsibility of governing to his deputy prime minister.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Addis Ababa,

Abiy Ahmed left for the front, it is Demeke Mekonnen who takes the reins of the government on a temporary basis.

Current affairs will therefore be managed by number two in the government, the one who is both Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

How long will this interim last?

No one knows yet.

Especially because the movements of Abiy Ahmed are still unknown.

Is he on the battlefield?

If yes which ?

No image has yet filtered through Ethiopian media.

Public television simply said that he had been leading operations on the front lines since Tuesday.

►

Fighting continues, with the rebels still located 180 km north of Addis Ababa. The federal army claims to have pushed back the rebels on the eastern front, in the Afar region and to have killed a dozen of their commander, without their names being communicated.

On Wednesday evening, the UN Secretary General called for a " 

" from Colombia where he is visiting, five years after the signing of the peace agreements.

" 

 ", pleaded Antonio Guterres during a speech. press conference.

This ceasefire should " 

 " he added.

Olympic champion Haile Gebreselassie also on the war footing

The announcement of the chief executive's departure to the front particularly found an echo in the Ethiopian sports community.

Long-distance running superstar Haile Gebreselassie was among those who responded to the Prime Minister's invitation.

The double Olympic champion, converted into a businessman, is close to Abiy Ahmed.

In the past, he has repeatedly spoken out against what he considers to be unfair pressure from the West on the Prime Minister.

Now he is ready to support the war effort.

Haile Gebreselassie already participates financially in the military operations of the government.

He now implies that he could physically join the front and the Prime Minister therefore, although we still do not really know if Abiy Ahmed is near the battlefield.

Another major athlete to take the plunge, Feyisa Lilesa, whose photo had toured the world after his silver medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016. The runner had crossed his fists above his head in support of the opposition of the time.

Today, he says he is heading for the front, probably in the Amhara region.

" 

 ", in reference to the victory of the Ethiopian army against the Italians in the 19th century.

■

After the United Kingdom and the United States, it was the turn of France this Tuesday, November 23 to call on its nationals to leave Ethiopia "

", as well as Germany and the UN, which has decided to evacuate the families of its international staff in the coming days.

With regard to French nationals, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on them to report to the embassy to organize their departure, as explained by Anne-Claire Legendre, spokesperson for the Quai d'Orsay.

Anne-Claire Legendre

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

• Ethiopia

• Abiy Ahmed