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The Ethiopian government on Thursday accused Tigrayan rebels of lacking any interest in peace talks to try to end the devastating 21-month war in the north of the country.
Both Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have in recent weeks raised the prospect of negotiations but key hurdles remain, with both sides blaming each other for the impasse.
Abiy's spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said Thursday the government was continuing to call for a peaceful resolution of the conflict "despite there being not a shred of interest for peace by TPLF".
"If TPLF genuinely care for the wellbeing of Ethiopians in the Tigray region they should... sit for talks instead of looking for excuses to avoid peace," she told reporters in English.
The warring sides are at loggerheads over who should lead any negotiations, and the TPLF also insists basic services must be restored to the region of six million people before dialogue can begin.
But Billene retorted: "The issue of restoration of services comes up again and again as if there is an on and off switch."
The war which erupted in November 2020 has left Tigray facing desperate food shortages and without access to basic services such as electricity, communications and banking.
Untold numbers of people have been killed and millions are in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray and the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara.
On Wednesday, a government committee had called for a formal ceasefire to enable the resumption of services as part of a peace proposal it planned to submit to the African Union (AU).
Billene said however that the ceasefire and the issue of essential services were "two separate items", adding that there needed to be a "secure environment" for federal service providers to work inside Tigray.
"At the moment with a vocally belligerent and illegally armed group operating at its own whim and refusing to accept peace talks, the required enabling and secure environment is lacking," she said.
Responding to the ceasefire call, TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda on Wednesday accused the government of "obfuscation" and said its troops were "actively provoking our forces in various fronts".
Fighting has eased in northern Ethiopia since a truce was declared at the end of March, allowing the resumption of desperately needed international aid convoys to Tigray after a break of three months.
Abiy's government says any negotiations must be led by the AU's Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo who is leading the international push for peace, but the rebels want outgoing Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to mediate.
Ethiopia’s government is criticizing as “unethical” the statement by the World Health Organization’s director-general that the crisis in the country’s Tigray region is “the worst disaster on Earth” and his assertion that the lack of attention from global leaders may be due to Tigrayans’ skin color.
The spokeswoman for Ethiopia’s prime minister on Thursday told journalists that the comments by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were “unbecoming of such a high-profile position.” Billene Seyoum suggested that Tedros, himself an ethnic Tigrayan, should recuse himself from his post if he wants to talk that way.
She spoke a day after the WHO chief in an emotional statement at a press briefing asserted that the 6 million people in Tigray have been “under siege” for the last 21 months because of the conflict that erupted there in late 2020 between Ethiopian and Tigray forces.
“I haven’t heard in the last few months any head of state talking about the Tigray situation anywhere in the developed world. Anywhere. Why?” Tedros asked. “Maybe the reason is the color of the skin of the people in Tigray.” Earlier this year, he asked whether the world’s overwhelming focus on Russia’s war in Ukraine was due to racism, although he acknowledged the conflict there had global consequences.
Ethiopia’s conflict has serious regional implications, with the potential to destabilize the strategic and sometimes turbulent Horn of Africa region.
Very little humanitarian aid was allowed into Tigray after Tigray forces retook much of the region in June 2021, and humanitarian workers and local health workers described people starving to death and basic medical supplies running out.
Aid has started flowing more substantially in the past few months amid international mediation efforts, but the deliveries are widely described as inadequate to meet the needs of the millions of people essentially trapped there. Aid groups say major shortages of fuel to deliver supplies remain.
The resumption of basic services and banking remains a key demand of the Tigray leaders. On Thursday, the prime minister’s spokeswoman said “an operable environment needs to happen” for the return of those services, including safety guarantees for service workers in the region.
She also noted a government proposal for “peace talks in the coming weeks” and stressed they must be without preconditions. She accused the Tigray leaders of “looking for excuses to avoid these peace talks."
She dismissed Tigray forces' allegations of new attacks by Ethiopian forces as “a mechanism to deflect” discussions on the peace process.
Ethiopia’s government has said it is willing to hold talks “any time, any place” but led by its preferred mediator, the African Union special envoy.
In a sign of its rejection of other mediation efforts attempted by neighboring Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta with backing from the United States, Ethiopia’s government offered its congratulations to Kenyan president-elect William Ruto within minutes of Monday’s declaration of his election win.
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Both Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) have in recent weeks raised the prospect of negotiations but key hurdles remain, with both sides blaming each other for the impasse.
Abiy's spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said Thursday the government was continuing to call for a peaceful resolution of the conflict "despite there being not a shred of interest for peace by TPLF".
"If TPLF genuinely care for the wellbeing of Ethiopians in the Tigray region they should... sit for talks instead of looking for excuses to avoid peace," she told reporters in English.
The warring sides are at loggerheads over who should lead any negotiations, and the TPLF also insists basic services must be restored to the region of six million people before dialogue can begin.
But Billene retorted: "The issue of restoration of services comes up again and again as if there is an on and off switch."
The war which erupted in November 2020 has left Tigray facing desperate food shortages and without access to basic services such as electricity, communications and banking.
Untold numbers of people have been killed and millions are in need of humanitarian assistance in Tigray and the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara.
On Wednesday, a government committee had called for a formal ceasefire to enable the resumption of services as part of a peace proposal it planned to submit to the African Union (AU).
Billene said however that the ceasefire and the issue of essential services were "two separate items", adding that there needed to be a "secure environment" for federal service providers to work inside Tigray.
"At the moment with a vocally belligerent and illegally armed group operating at its own whim and refusing to accept peace talks, the required enabling and secure environment is lacking," she said.
Responding to the ceasefire call, TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda on Wednesday accused the government of "obfuscation" and said its troops were "actively provoking our forces in various fronts".
Fighting has eased in northern Ethiopia since a truce was declared at the end of March, allowing the resumption of desperately needed international aid convoys to Tigray after a break of three months.
Abiy's government says any negotiations must be led by the AU's Horn of Africa envoy Olusegun Obasanjo who is leading the international push for peace, but the rebels want outgoing Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to mediate.
Ethiopia calls WHO chief's comments on Tigray "unethical"
WHO Tigray (ASSOCIATED PRESS)Ethiopia’s government is criticizing as “unethical” the statement by the World Health Organization’s director-general that the crisis in the country’s Tigray region is “the worst disaster on Earth” and his assertion that the lack of attention from global leaders may be due to Tigrayans’ skin color.
The spokeswoman for Ethiopia’s prime minister on Thursday told journalists that the comments by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were “unbecoming of such a high-profile position.” Billene Seyoum suggested that Tedros, himself an ethnic Tigrayan, should recuse himself from his post if he wants to talk that way.
She spoke a day after the WHO chief in an emotional statement at a press briefing asserted that the 6 million people in Tigray have been “under siege” for the last 21 months because of the conflict that erupted there in late 2020 between Ethiopian and Tigray forces.
“I haven’t heard in the last few months any head of state talking about the Tigray situation anywhere in the developed world. Anywhere. Why?” Tedros asked. “Maybe the reason is the color of the skin of the people in Tigray.” Earlier this year, he asked whether the world’s overwhelming focus on Russia’s war in Ukraine was due to racism, although he acknowledged the conflict there had global consequences.
Ethiopia’s conflict has serious regional implications, with the potential to destabilize the strategic and sometimes turbulent Horn of Africa region.
Very little humanitarian aid was allowed into Tigray after Tigray forces retook much of the region in June 2021, and humanitarian workers and local health workers described people starving to death and basic medical supplies running out.
Aid has started flowing more substantially in the past few months amid international mediation efforts, but the deliveries are widely described as inadequate to meet the needs of the millions of people essentially trapped there. Aid groups say major shortages of fuel to deliver supplies remain.
The resumption of basic services and banking remains a key demand of the Tigray leaders. On Thursday, the prime minister’s spokeswoman said “an operable environment needs to happen” for the return of those services, including safety guarantees for service workers in the region.
She also noted a government proposal for “peace talks in the coming weeks” and stressed they must be without preconditions. She accused the Tigray leaders of “looking for excuses to avoid these peace talks."
She dismissed Tigray forces' allegations of new attacks by Ethiopian forces as “a mechanism to deflect” discussions on the peace process.
Ethiopia’s government has said it is willing to hold talks “any time, any place” but led by its preferred mediator, the African Union special envoy.
In a sign of its rejection of other mediation efforts attempted by neighboring Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta with backing from the United States, Ethiopia’s government offered its congratulations to Kenyan president-elect William Ruto within minutes of Monday’s declaration of his election win.
ARTICLE SOURCES FROM YAHOO:
WHO slams 'unimaginable cruelty' inflicted on Tigray
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday branded the "man-made catastrophe" in Ethiopia's Tigray region the "worst disaster on Earth" -- and slammed global leaders for overlooking the humanitarian crisis.
Ethiopia accuses Tigray rebels of refusing to talk peace
The Ethiopian government on Thursday accused Tigrayan rebels of lacking any interest in peace talks to try to end the devastating 21-month war in the north of the country.
Ethiopia calls WHO chief's comments on Tigray "unethical"
Ethiopia’s government is criticizing as “unethical” the statement by the World Health Organization’s director-general that the crisis in the country’s Tigray region is “the worst disaster on Earth” and his assertion that the lack of global attention is due to Tigrayans’ “color of the skin.”
