The rebels in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, said on Sunday that they would accept a peace process under the supervision of the African Union.
In August, the fighting resumed after a five-month truce. African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat welcomed the rebels’ willingness to participate in peace negotiations on Sunday evening.
The Ethiopian government has long supported negotiations under the auspices of the African Union but the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has so far rejected it because the African Union envoy, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, was said to be too close with Ethiopian President Abiy Ahmed.
The fact that the Ethiopian rebels now want to sit down at the table, Moussa Faki Mahamat calls a “unique opportunity” to end almost two years of war. In a statement, he called on both sides "to move urgently towards a ceasefire and to engage in direct negotiations as part of a process under the auspices of the AU, including mutually agreed international partners."
