Ethiopian government and Tigray rebels agree cessation of hostilities

The Ethiopian government and rebels in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, at war since 2020, have agreed to end hostilities, the African Union (AU) High Representative for the Horn of Africa, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, said today.

"The two parties to the Ethiopian conflict have formally agreed to a cessation of hostilities," Obasanjo announced at an appearance in Pretoria, where the AU-sponsored peace talks between the two sides began on 25 October.

At an event held at the conference centre of the South African Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation, the high representative noted that the two sides have reached a peace agreement that also involves "systematic, orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament".

The Ethiopian government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) also committed themselves to the "restoration of services, unimpeded access to humanitarian supplies" as well as the "protection of civilians, especially women and children" in Tigray.

"Today is the beginning of a new dawn for Ethiopia," Obasanjo stressed. The former Nigerian leader said the AU would "monitor, supervise and verify the implementation" of the agreement.

"This is not the end of the peace process, it is the beginning," warned Obasanjo, flanked by the other two members of the AU mediation team: former South African Vice-President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Following the high representative's remarks, Ethiopian Deputy Foreign Minister Redwan Hussien, National Security Advisor to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and LTTE representative Getachew Reda signed the peace agreement.

Redwan and Getachew greeted the signing with a handshake followed by applause in the hall. "The level of destruction is massive. We thank our brothers on the other side for putting this period behind us. The people of Ethiopia demand peace and harmony, they want development," said the Ethiopian deputy minister.

"We have now signed an agreement. We will put the past behind us. Achieving peace has been difficult. Hundreds of thousands have died," Getachew said, expressing hope that "both sides will respect this agreement". In an interview with Chinese state media published on Monday, Abiy Ahmed expressed hope for peace, without making any direct reference to the Pretoria talks.

"We are working for peace, we are trying to convince the LTTE to respect the law of the land, to respect the constitution and to act as a state in Ethiopia," Abiy told Chinese CGTN television. The Ethiopian executive and the LPTF, which ruled the region before the war broke out, accepted an AU invitation in early October to a peace talks scheduled for 8 October in South Africa, which were postponed for logistical reasons.

Until then, the rebels had been reluctant to an AU-sponsored process because of their distrust of Obasanjo, whom they considered close to Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize. Despite the willingness of both sides to negotiate, the situation on the ground has been marked in recent weeks by an escalation of the conflict, with Ethiopia, backed by Eritrean troops, taking control of several towns in Tigray. The Ethiopian government had blamed the rebels for the escalation of the conflict since 24 August. On that day, both sides blamed each other for resuming hostilities and breaking the "indefinite humanitarian truce" that had been in place since last March.

Since the end of the truce, the UN, the AU, the European Union and the United States have warned of increased fighting in the region, which has resulted in the deaths of civilians and aid workers, and have called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. The war began on 4 November 2020, when Abiy ordered an offensive against the TPLF in response to an attack on a federal military base and following an escalation of political tensions. Thousands of people have been killed and some two million displaced by the conflict.