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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Conflict & Security

Tigray rebels criticize African Union mediator in crisis with Ethiopia’s government

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Ongoing story
  • Tigray’s People’s Liberation Front questioned the impartiality of African Union mediator Olusegun Obasanjo in talks aimed at easing tensions with Ethiopia’s federal government.
  • The group said Obasanjo delayed a return visit, made no visible mediation initiative and arrived without concrete proposals or a clear agenda.
  • The accusations come amid renewed fears of conflict after a war that killed about 600,000 people and displaced millions, according to Obasanjo.

Tigray’s People’s Liberation Front has challenged the impartiality of African Union mediator Olusegun Obasanjo as tensions rise again between the region and Ethiopia’s federal government.

“We remain firmly committed to peace and credible dialogue, but we have not found in him the impartial and proactive mediator demanded by the gravity of the current crisis,” the group said in a statement late Sunday.

We remain firmly committed to peace and credible dialogue, but we have not found in him the impartial and proactive mediator demanded by the gravity of the current crisis.

· Tigray People’s Liberation FrontThe group criticized Olusegun Obasanjo’s role in mediation with Ethiopia’s federal government.

The organization said Obasanjo’s recent conduct had raised growing doubts about whether he was acting independently or at the direction of the federal government. It pointed to his visit to Tigray in June, when he held extensive talks with regional authorities about restarting dialogue. Although he promised to return within two weeks, nearly two months passed before his next visit.

According to the TPLF, Obasanjo attributed the delay to a request from Addis Ababa to wait until the national dialogue convened by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had ended. That dialogue ran from July 15 to Aug. 22 and did not include major armed actors in Ethiopia’s conflicts, including the TPLF, either because they were not invited or because they declined to participate.

The conduct of the former Nigerian leader has generated growing doubts about whether he is acting independently or at the direction of the federal government.

· Tigray People’s Liberation FrontThe TPLF questioned Obasanjo’s independence after delays in the mediation process.

The TPLF said that, despite the rapid deterioration in the situation, Obasanjo accepted the instruction and took no visible initiative to advance mediation. It said he later returned to the northern region without prior notice, concrete proposals or a clearly defined agenda.

The group also accused the African Union and international partners of abandoning implementation of the Pretoria Agreement, signed on Nov. 2, 2022, to end the war. The federal government and the TPLF have accused each other for months of actions that could trigger another conflict. The earlier war, which lasted from November 2020 to November 2022, caused about 600,000 deaths and millions of displacements, according to Obasanjo, who mediated that conflict.

Despite the rapid deterioration in the situation, he accepted this instruction and took no visible initiative to advance the mediation process.

· Tigray People’s Liberation FrontThe group criticized Obasanjo’s response to Addis Ababa’s request to delay his return.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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