The new apartheid president
The new apartheid Prime Minister of Ethiopia
The first phase of talks between Ethiopia’s government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) began in Tanzania on Tuesday, a spokesman for the rebel group told AFP.
The foes kicked off preliminary negotiations in the semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, said the spokesman Odaa Tarbii.
“These initial talks are intended to establish a foundation for more extensive discussions in the very near future,” he said, adding that Kenya and Norway were mediating.
“The focus at this point is confidence building and clarifying positions.”
Ethiopia’s government in Addis Ababa could not be reached for comment.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had announced last week that talks with the OLA would begin on Tuesday, but gave no further details.
Tanzania’s Foreign Minister Stergomena Tax told reporters on Tuesday that they had accepted a request to host the talks and some delegates had begun arriving.
The OLA, an armed insurgent movement from the country’s Oromia region, has been fighting Addis Ababa since it split in 2018 with the historic Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) when it renounced armed struggle.
Since the OLA broke off and started fighting, a string of armed groups in Oromia have risen up claiming to be part of its cause, though are only loosely tied.
The OLA’s strength, estimated at a few thousand men in 2018, has increased significantly in recent years, though observers believe it is insufficiently organized or well-armed to pose a real threat to the federal government.
Oromia surrounds Addis Ababa and is Ethiopia’s largest and most populous region, and has suffered ethnic massacres in recent years carried out by unknown groups.
The OLA has been repeatedly accused by Abiy’s government of being responsible for these massacres, which it denies.
The government is accused of waging an indiscriminate crackdow that has fueled Oromo resentment against the central government.
AFP.
There have been, better yet, there must have been developments lately that led to the agreement for a meeting at a third country in the presence of third parties. Norway and Sweden are reported to be members of the third party as observers. USA is also in the mix. I am not surprised by the inclusion of Norway and Sweden for obvious reasons. For me it does not matter who will be there or not as long as the meeting in Tanzania will lead to permanent peace in the small pockets of Oromia. The citizens of that part of the country do not deserve war and destruction. They deserve peace and stability and must not be denied such entitlements but must be given not by spoonful but by the shovels. This stupid bloodshed started by stupid individuals should be brought to an abrupt end and must end now! All those innocent poor farmers who were savagely driven out from places they had lived for decades must be welcome back. If this stupid war is allowed to go on leaders of both sides must be held responsible for any young man/woman who loses his/her Allah blessed life. The leaders must be held accountable at The Hague.
It would be very fascinating to observe this farcical self-talk between OLF and its alter-ego, OPDO. Why they need to go all the way to Tanzania for this self-talk is curious. It is also interesting to see that Kenya is involved in this. Maybe it wants to follow closely the force that promises to swallow Kenya as part of the Greater Oromia project. What makes it obvious for Sweden and Norway to get involved? I thought it was Germany that eyes and grooms Oromia as a prospective colonial possession. Of course the debate whether it was German influence that inserted the old flag of Germany (the Nazi banner as Oromia Flag) or if it was radical Islam that infused Oromia with its Red, White and Black, is still under debate. Now that you mention it, Norway and Sweden have been very active in disintegrate-Ethiopia projects for quite a while. Maybe for their own good, they should refrain from meddling in the affairs of this nation.
The peace talks that the OLFite movement needs is with its ideological mindset. The people that the OLFite movment needs to make peace with is the innocent Ethiopians (both Oromo and non-Oromo) that it has been massacring for 50 years.