Ethiopia accepts African Union's invitation to peace talks
The Ethiopian government said on Wednesday that it had accepted an invitation from the African Union to hold peace talks with the Tigray rebels, after nearly two years of fierce war in the north of the country.
The National Security Adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Radwan Hussein, said via Twitter that the government "accepted this invitation, which is in line with our principled position regarding a peaceful solution to the conflict and the need to hold talks without preconditions."
The two sides have been invited to talks in South Africa this weekend, according to a letter written by African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat and sent to AFP by the Foreign Ministry in Pretoria.
The letter talks about "discussions between the two parties", the Ethiopian government and the rebels, indicating that neighboring Eritrea, one of the most closed and authoritarian countries in the world, whose army supports the Ethiopian government forces, is not invited to talks aimed at ending the two-year-old battles. It is the second most populous country in Africa.
The recent escalation of violence prompted the Eritrean forces to re-engage in the conflict in support of the Ethiopian forces, which are engaged in confrontations against the Tigray People's Liberation Front on several axes in the north of the country.
African Union spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo refused to provide information on the date and location of the talks. "We will announce the details in the appropriate form and time," she told AFP.
She added that the operation was "on the right track".
In the evening, the rebel authorities in Tigray issued a statement expressing their willingness to send a "team of negotiators to South Africa", asking for "clarifications related to some issues."
And the statement asked, "Will there be other parties invited as participants, observers or guarantors? And what role do you expect from the international community?"
A diplomatic source told AFP that the AU-led talks will be mediated by a "troika of negotiators" that includes the AU's High Representative for the Horn of Africa Olusegun Obasanjo and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Another diplomatic source told AFP that former South African Vice President Phumzile Mlambo Ngoka would be the third negotiator.
The warring parties have previously been at odds over who should mediate the negotiations, with the Abyei government lobbying for Obasanjo and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) wanting Kenyatta to mediate in the negotiations.
They also disputed the restoration of basic services such as electricity, telecommunications and banking in Tigray, which is a key precondition for dialogue according to the Tigray People's Liberation Front.
The region of six million people faces acute shortages of food, fuel, medicine and other emergency supplies, as the United Nations World Food Program has warned of rising rates of malnutrition.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news