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By agencies
An Ethiopian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen has met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni as they seek to end the Tigray crisis.
“Our discussion focused on the peace and security issues that affect Ethiopia today. Being one of the oldest countries that was not colonized in Africa, Ethiopia is the pride of the continent. Africa’s problem is that we never speak ideology, focusing so much on diplomacy. I totally disagree with policies that focus on ethnic federalism. We must emphasize the issue of unity and common interests because it is the only way we can prosper, “Museveni published in his social media platforms.
The meeting comes after reports that former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo traveled to Ethiopia on Monday to mediate the conflict between the government and the northern region of Tigray.
“He is on his way to Addis Ababa to talk,” Kehinde Akinyemi said of the former Nigerian leader’s visit to the Ethiopian capital.
“He goes there for mediation,” Akinyemi said, without elaborating.
Both the Ethiopian government and the African Union said they had no information on any visit by Obasanjo, who previously served as the United Nations peace envoy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ethiopia’s central government announced a military operation in the northern Tigray region on November 4 in a dramatic escalation of a long-running dispute with the region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
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The fighting, which has sent thousands of people across the border into Sudan, has sparked fears of a civil war and concerns that it could spread through the region after rockets were fired at an airport in neighboring Eritrea.
Saturday’s attack was claimed by the TPLF, which accused Eritrea of backing the government.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office on Monday dismissed claims by Ugandan officials that President Museveni would meet with representatives from both sides in an effort to facilitate talks.
Ugandan officials said over the weekend that those meetings would begin in Uganda on Monday and involve Demeke Mekonnen, Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
“Assertions by various media outlets that Ethiopian officials are expected to participate in mediation talks with TPLF in Uganda are inaccurate and unsubstantiated,” a government statement said.
Abiy has previously said that talks cannot begin until the TPLF is completely disarmed, resisting calls from world leaders for an immediate end to hostilities.
