Ethiopia’s government and Tigray forces said on Wednesday that they accepted the African Union’s invitation to talks in South Africa, which would be the first formal talks between the two sides since the conflict began in November 2020. The conflict in Africa’s second most populous country pits the federal government against regional forces led by a party that used to dominate national politics.
The African Union-led peace talks scheduled for this weekend in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region to try to end a two-year conflict have been postponed due to logistical issues, Tigray regional forces and two diplomatic sources said on Friday. Ethiopia’s government and Tigray forces said on Wednesday that they had accepted the African Union’s invitation to talks in South Africa, which would be the first formal talks between the two sides since the conflict began in November 2020.
In Africa’s second most populous country, the federal government is pitted against regional forces led by a party that used to dominate national politics. Thousands of civilians have been killed, and millions have been displaced as a result of the violence. The diplomatic sources, who did not want to be identified, said the postponement was due to logistics issues and that no new date had been set.
Getachew Reda, a spokesperson for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the regional government’s ruling party, claimed that the AU did not consult Tigrayan leaders before issuing the invitations. “You don’t just expect people to show up on a specific date as if this were some kind of get-together,” he wrote in a text message.
Legesse Tulu, an Ethiopian government spokesperson, and Ebba Kalondo, an AU spokesperson, did not respond immediately to requests for comment. According to one of the AU’s invitation letters obtained by Reuters, the negotiations will be led by Olusegun Obasanjo, the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa.
Despite the agreement to hold talks, a number of parties have expressed reservations. Some activists in Amhara, a border region with Tigray that fought alongside the federal government during the war, are opposed to the talks.
“The current AU-led peace talk’s process excludes Amharas – the largest affected group in the war,” the Amhara Association of America, a lobby group, said in a statement. Even in its letter accepting the AU invitation, the TPLF suggested it had reservations, asking for clarification on who had been invited as participants, observers and guarantors.
“There are a number of issues that need to be resolved before (talks) occurs, and mediators will then face a major challenge … to get the two parties to commit to a new truce,” said William Davison, senior analyst for Ethiopia at the International Crisis Group think-tank.
Meanwhile, the government of neighboring Eritrea, which has fought alongside Ethiopia’s federal government in the war, has been excluded from the talks, according to the two diplomats.
