17 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the Ethiopian region of OromÃa, Shimelis Abdisa, has called this Friday for “reconciliation” with the rebel group Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and has stressed that security operations will continue “against those who do not want to solve the problem peacefully”.
Shimelis has indicated during a session of the regional parliament that his appeal includes the OLA and the “armed groups that operate in the region”, about a week after emphasizing the need to end the conflict “through a peaceful way “.
“There is nothing that cannot be resolved through peaceful means. No force should pay unnecessary sacrifices,” he said last week, reiterating that the rebel group should “enter a peaceful path,” the Ethiopian daily reported. ‘Addis Standard’.
“That’s enough. Let them come to the path of peace,” stressed Shimelis, who explained that the current fighting “does not help anyone.” “It does not help Ethiopia. More than anyone else, it harms the Oromo people. It opens the door to others and is causing humiliation,” he concluded.
The OLA published a letter on February 9 betting on “a peaceful settlement to the conflict” and asked to “seize the moment as an opportunity to find a negotiated and peaceful solution to a conflict that has shaken Oromia for the last four years.”
The group, which splintered from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) after the 2018 peace deal and is an ally of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) in the war in Tigray, has claimed responsibility for several attacks — especially in Oromia– during the last few months.
The OLF fought for decades for the secession of the Oromia region, but in 2018 it announced that it was giving up the armed struggle, accepting the amnesty offer from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the first Oromo to hold office in the African country.
