Ethiopia's Tigray rebels say ready for AU-led peace talks

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Ethiopia's Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) said Sunday they were ready for a truce and would accept an African Union-led peace process, removing a roadblock to talks with the government to end nearly two years of savage combat.

The statement came amid a flurry of foreign diplomacy after the fighting was resumed last month in northern Ethiopia for the first time in recent months, destabilizing a humanitarian truce. "The government of Tigray is prepared to participate in a robust peace process under the auspices of the African Union," said a statement by the Tigrayan authorities.

"Furthermore, we are ready to abide by an immediate and mutually agreed cessation of hostilities in order to create a conducive atmosphere." The government revealed readiness for unconditional talks "anytime, anywhere," brokered by the Addis-Ababa-headquartered AU. 

The TPLF had previously protested the AU's Horn of Africa Ambassador Olusegun Obasanjo's "proximity" to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

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AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat issued a statement welcoming the development as a "unique opportunity towards the restoration of peace" and urged "both parties to urgently work towards an immediate ceasefire, engage in direct talks."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged in a statement for "the parties to seize this opportunity for peace and to take steps to end the violence definitively and opt for dialogue." He stressed that the United Nations is ready to support the AU-led peace process.

Ethiopia's state minister for peace, Taye Dendea, described the TPLF announcement as a "nice development" on Twitter but insisted the "so-called TDF (Tigray Defence Forces) must be disarmed before peace talks start. Clear stand!"

I hear that TPLF is ready for peace talks led by the AU. Nice development. But there should be no mistakes. In a nation there is only one defense force. It is an international principle. We can't bypass it! The so called TDF must be disarmed before peace talks start. Clear stand!

— Taye Dendea (@DendeaTaye) September 11, 2022

'Credible' peace process 

The TPLF statement didn't mention preconditions, although it said the Tigrayans expected a "credible" peace process with "mutually acceptable" mediators, as well as international observers.

TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael earlier this month proposed a conditional truce calling for "unfettered humanitarian access" and the restoration of essential services in Tigray, which is suffering from food shortages and a lack of electricity, communications, and banking.

He also demanded the evacuation of the Eritrean military from Ethiopia, as well as the withdrawal of troops from western Tigray, a contested territory claimed by both Tigrayans and Amharas, the country's second-largest ethnic group.

Read next: Tigray rebels accused by Ethiopia of refusing to engage in peace talks

Sunday's statement revealed that the negotiating team, including TPLF Spokesperson Getachew Reda and General Tsadkan Gebretensae, a former Ethiopian army chief, now in Tigray's central military command, was "ready to be deployed without delay."

Debretsion said last month that two rounds of classified face-to-face discussions had taken place between top civilian and military officials, the first acknowledgment of direct contacts by either warring side.

'Talks over fighting' 

The AU's Faki met with both Obasanjo, the former Nigerian President, and Mike Hammer, the visiting US Ambassador for the Horn of Africa.

"May the parties in the conflict have the courage to choose talks over fighting, and participate in an African Union-led process that produces a lasting peace," Hammer said in a new year's message for Ethiopians on Sunday.

Since August 24, fighting has raged on multiple fronts in northern Ethiopia, with both sides blaming the other for firing first and violating a March truce.

The recent fighting began near Tigray's southern border but has now moved to areas west and north of the initial confrontations, with the TPLF accusing Ethiopian and Eritrean forces of launching a large coordinated onslaught on Tigray on September 1.

On Thursday, the United Nations said that the renewal of fights had forced a halt to necessary aid deliveries to Tigray.