Ethiopia: window of opportunity for peace negotiations has opened

A destroyed tank at the side of a road, in the Tigray region.

© RFI / Sébastien Nemeth

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

In Ethiopia, as the war has entered a new phase with the retreat of the Tigrayan rebels to the borders of their province, the government has officially launched a political initiative in recent days.

It is a “National Dialogue Commission”, extensively praised by the authorities as “a space” where discontent can be expressed.

A space to which their Tigrayan enemies will not however have access.

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It is a "small sentence", as they say, slipped Thursday at the end of the press briefing of the Minister of Communication Services of the government, Legesse Tulu. A short sentence that all observers of Ethiopia have been waiting for since the announcement by the Tigrayan rebellion of its withdrawal within its borders " 

", according to its leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, in a letter at the UN Security Council on Monday.

This little sentence is laconic: "

said the minister,

". According to the latest information from the front, federal forces and the Amhara militiamen supporting them were this week in Alamata, the first town on the road to Mekele in southern Tigray.

Immediately, American diplomacy welcomed this announcement.

The African Affairs Office of the State Department also took the opportunity to call on Ethiopia to " 

" and " 

" its call for Eritrea " 

 ".

He finally called on the belligerents to " 

" and concluded by repeating: " 

"

That said, the White House also announced on Friday that it had effectively withdrawn Ethiopia from the beneficiary countries of the AGOA trade agreement.

A withdrawal which will have a severe impact on the Ethiopian economy and in particular its manufacturing industry.

►Read again: In Ethiopia, the authorities are announcing the establishment of a "space" for dialogue

A window of opportunity for peace negotiations has opened, says the International Crisis Group.

And among them, first of all, the renunciation by the Tigrayan rebellion of its demand for the withdrawal of pro-government forces from the territories lost in western Tigray as a precondition for talks.

And second, what is called a " 

 " from sources within Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party.

There remains, according to the think tank, one uncertainty: divisions within the ruling elite in Addis Ababa.

But the announcement that the federal forces did not intend to continue their offensive in Tigray is read as a victory for those in favor of the negotiations.

Today, priority should be given to concluding a ceasefire first and enabling humanitarian supplies, the report continues.

Belligerents should " 

 " and an amnesty should be granted to political prisoners.

Finally, the African Union mediation process should be reactivated, with the support of all international actors.

And those who have armed Ethiopia with drones, for example, says the ICG, should " 

."

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