Ethiopia: Ethiopia’s government has stated that the second round of peace talks with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a rebel group from the country’s most populous region, Oromia, ended without a deal.
The negotiations in Tanzania between the government and the OLA followed talks in April and May that also failed to produce an agreement.
This was the latest attempt by the Ethiopian government and the OLA to end a five-year-long insurgency in the Oromia region.
As per the statement, the OLA is an outlawed splinter group of a formerly banned opposition party that returned from exile in 2018.
The violence in Oromia has killed hundreds of people in the past few years. This was Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr. Abiy Ahmed’s, main security headache since the end of a two-year civil war in the northern Tigray region last year.
“Due to the intransigence of the other party, the talks have come to an end without an agreement. The obstructive approach and unrealistic demands of the other party are the principal reasons why these talks could not succeed,” Mr. Redwan Hussien, Mr. Abiy’s national security adviser, stated in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a statement, OLA accused the government of failing to address the “fundamental problems that underlie the county´s seemingly insurmountable security and political challenges.”
The East African trade bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) noted that it was “optimistic” about further talks.
“IGAD will continue to remain seized of the situation and stands ready to provide unwavering support to both sides in their pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the situation,” the statement added.
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