Warring parties in Ethiopia agree on cessation of hostilities
Geshe Gebre-Somo, Tsehle, and Afameli were not involved in the war
Abiy, who has been elected as Ethiopia’s president by an overwhelming majority, pledged Saturday to end hostilities in Darfur after signing an agreement for a ceasefire. The agreement, put forward by two rebel leaders and approved by a three-member peace council, calls for an immediate end of the violence which has killed nearly 300,000 people since the war began in 2003.
Abiy said he had asked the Ethiopian authorities to bring the two-year conflict, which began with a rebellion by ethnic Nuer against the Shilluk people of Darfur, to an end through peace talks. “It was not a surprise to us because all the political parties, government and opposition, were calling for peace,” the president said.
He did not say whether he would accept an interim deal with warring parties in Darfur, which could be months away. The parties themselves have not announced an agreement.
One rebel leader, Fikre Adamu, said they would meet with the peace council for further discussions and would seek an agreement with him.
Three members of the rebel Darfur peace council – Afameli, former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Tsehle – accepted the agreement, ending an impasse in seven years of violence that has killed more than 300,000 people. A fourth, Abiy Ahmed, the man Abiy promised to be the last president of a nation that was taken over by the military a year ago, has yet to sign their agreement.
“These gentlemen have put themselves in the hands of the international community and have asked for this ceasefire to avoid the risk of an all-out war in Darfur,” Afameli said. “We are pleased that this agreement has been reached.”
The rebel leader, who has been a figurehead in the battle against the current regime since the war began, said he did not believe the agreement would prevent a full-scale civil war in Darfur. He said: “The Darfur issue is not just about one region but about the whole African continent. It must not be that Africa becomes a powder keg.”
“Any war in Darfur has no solution or ending and no peace and that
