As the sixth of seven days of Ethiopia peace talks in South Africa begin, very little is being said about what, if anything, will come out of the negotiations between the Government of Ethiopia and representatives from the TPLF, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, an armed rebel group that was a part of a brutal 27-year regime in Ethiopia that ended in 2018.
The negotiations which are said to be led by the African Union are mediated by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, and former Deputy President of South Africa Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
The United States and the United Nations are said to observing but US State Department Ned Price said this week that Special Envoy for the Horn Ambassador Mike Hammer would also be “participating. Ambassador Hammer escorted the TPLF rebel leadership out of Tigray on US military planes.
Many western media outlets continue levying pressure on the Ethiopian Government to stop its military operations against the TPLF, rebels which began the war in November 2020 by attacking the largest National Army base in the country, which is located in Ethiopia’s northernmost Tigray region. The TPLF broke two ceasefires since, including one in late August which began the latest round of war. That ceasefire was five months long and is said to have been negotiated by the U.S.
The Ethiopian Government is also striking back at western media outlets, think tanks and other organizations that continue to levy uncorroborated allegations against the Government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
In a statement, the state’s communication service said in part, “The Government of Ethiopia can no longer tolerate the defamatory falsehood being spread against Ethiopia by various western entities. It is shameful that they parrot TPLF’s irresponsible propaganda… some are jumping to rescue the group no matter what… The bandwagon of accusations and slander does not change the facts on the ground.”
On the ground, the federal army is holding several cities in Tigray with sources saying fighting continues around the region’s capital city of Mekelle. And new from Ethiopia’s Minister of Defense Dr. Abraham Belay who himself is from Tigray. Belay released a statement in three languages, calling on “collective calm” and a “new mindset” from Ethiopians from Tigray. He said, “Outdated political party or ideology will not insure peace, security and stability for the people of Tigray.”
Twitter Shake Up
Elon Musk is already shaking things up after buying Twitter for $44 billion dollars. Musk has already fired three top executives and it’s unclear how issues of censorship will be addressed under his ownership.
Nebiyu Asfaw, Dr. Simon Tesfamariam and Eyerusalem Kebert have been permanently suspended from Twitter for reasons they say they do not understand. Tesfamariam is an Eritrean American organizer, while Asfaw and Kebert are Ethiopian American organizers in Colorado. We spoke with them on what they hope may change under new ownership at Twitter.
We also talk to Mesfin Tegenu, Executive Director of the American Ethiopian Public Action Committe(AEPAC) and AEPAC organizer Yabsera Zewdie about what Ethiopian and Eritrean Americans need to know ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. You can watch those conversations and more in the above video.
