Ethiopian government delegation on Tuesday began peace talks with rival Tigray forces in South Africa on Tuesday, a spokesperson for South Africa’s presidency confirmed, reported The CGTN Africa.
The African Union (AU)-led peace talks, which is scheduled to end on Sunday, in Pretoria follow a surge in fighting in recent weeks that has alarmed the international community.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesman Vincent Magwenya told reporters that the Ethiopian rival factions have been convened to find a peaceful and sustainable solution to the devastating conflict. He added that the talks would run until October 30.
Ramaphosa said the South African government is hoping that the talks will proceed constructively and result in a successful outcome that leads to peace for all Ethiopians.
The peace talks are the first official ones since war broke out two years ago. They are being mediated by an African Union team, led by Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo, supported by Kenya’s former leader Uhuru Kenyatta and South Africa’s ex-Vice President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
The conflict began in November 2020 when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray after accusing the region’s ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of attacking army camps. The war has so far killed thousands of people, displaced millions and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine.
The international community has been calling for an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian access to Tigray where many face hunger, and a withdrawal of Eritrean forces, whose return to the conflict has raised fears of renewed atrocities against civilians.
Last week, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his rapprochement with Eritrea, said the war “would end and peace will prevail“.
He made an appeal to the people to come together and work for the prosperity of the country and not to be divided along ethnic and religious lines.
