Ethiopia PM meets TPLF in first since peace deal

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
3 Feb 2023 22:47
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The two parties to the Ethiopian conflict meet for the first time since they reached a peace deal last year.

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, left, accompanied by House speaker Tagesse Chafo, right, addresses the parliament in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022 (AP Photo)

Following a peace agreement in November, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and other government representatives met with Tigrayan leaders for the first time on Friday, according to officials and state media.

According to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, the two parties reviewed "actions carried out on the implementation of the Pretoria and Nairobi peace agreements so far".

According to the report, the meeting was held in a resort in southern Ethiopia.

The weapons in northern Ethiopia were subdued by a peace agreement struck in November last year in Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, between Abiy's administration and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

In accordance with the provisions of the agreement, the TPLF consented to disarm and reinstate the federal government's authority in exchange for the opening of Tigray's access to the outside world, which had been mostly closed off throughout the two-year battle.

"PM Abiy passed decisions about increasing Flights, Banking & other issues that would boost trust & ease lives of civilians" Abiy's national security adviser Redwan Hussein tweeted.

Since the agreement was reached, relief deliveries to Tigray, which has long suffered from severe shortages of food, fuel, money, and medicines, have partially resumed.

The six million-person area is slowly regaining access to essential services like banking, electricity, and communications after Ethiopian Airlines resumed regular service between Addis Abeba and Mekele, the capital of Tigray, last month.

While the TPLF announced it had started disarming its militias, locals and humanitarian workers accuse Eritrean and Amharan forces of murder, rape, and looting.

Tigray is off-limits, so it is hard to objectively confirm the situation there.