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The Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray, a faction that governs the Tigray region in Ethiopia, expressed its willingness to lead a peace process under the auspices of the continental community club, changing its position until now reluctant. Meanwhile, they also asked for “international experts” to intervene. The AU and the United States welcomed the decision.
A loophole was opened for an end to the hostilities that the Ethiopian government maintains with the Tigray rebels in the region after they said they were “ready” to get involved in a peace process sponsored by the African Union (AU).
On Sunday, September 11, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (PFLT) said in a statement that it is “ready to adhere to a mutually agreed ceasefire to create a conducive atmosphere.”
In addition, to make it “credible,” they asked that international experts and “mutually acceptable mediators” be included to “build trust between the parties, and bring that trust to the peace process and support and monitor the implementation of commitments.”
The rebel group stressed that they are “convinced” that a “lasting solution to this tragic conflict” will only be achieved through peaceful dialogue. In the allusive letter for the celebration of the Ethiopian New Year, they ratified that they have already formed a negotiation team ready to deploy “without delay.”
Until now, Tigray’s leaders have been reluctant to be part of an AU-sponsored peace process as they see the high representative for the Horn of Africa – former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo – as a man close to the prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed.
This announcement comes at a time when the international community is insisting on a rapprochement between the parties to end a conflict that resumed on August 24 – the calm barely lasted five months – and that has left a balance of thousands dead and around two million displaced by violence.
For its part, the AU welcomed the declaration of the Tigray rebels and said that “this positive development is a unique opportunity for the restoration of peace.”
The president of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, in a statement encouraged the parties to “work urgently” to achieve an immediate ceasefire. The Ethiopian government has not yet reacted, but had previously expressed itself in favor of talks without preconditions.
The United Nations and the United States were also in favor of the action of the Tigray rebels. The UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said that António Guterres – secretary general – made “a call to the parties to take advantage of this opportunity for peace and take measures to definitively end the violence and opt for dialogue.
Meanwhile, the White House said on Monday that it “welcomed” the TPLF’s statement. “It is time for both sides to stop fighting and turn to dialogue to resolve their differences,” said spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
With EFE and Reuters
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