Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday that he had obtained “100%” of what his government was demanding in the agreement signed on Wednesday with the rebel authorities of the Tigray region to end the two-year conflict in northern Ethiopia.
The agreement, reached in Pretoria where the two parties had been discussing since October 25 under the aegis of the African Union, provides for an immediate cessation of hostilities, disarmament of rebel forces and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“In the negotiations in South Africa, 100% of the ideas proposed by Ethiopia have been accepted,” Abiy Ahmed boasted on Thursday before a crowd of supporters in Arba Minch, in the south of the country.
“Among the victories obtained (in the agreement), the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ethiopia have been accepted by both parties,” he stressed, as well as the principle of “a single armed force in a given country.
The agreement has not been published, but a joint statement read publicly by the delegations outlines the agreement. Among other things, the agreement provides for the disarmament of the forces of the rebel authorities in Tigray.
But it does not specify the terms and conditions and does not address the future of the forces of the country’s regional states, or the presence on Ethiopian soil of the army of neighboring Eritrea, which has provided crucial assistance to the Ethiopian army in Tigray.
The press does not have access to northern Ethiopia and communications are haphazard, making it impossible to know whether the cease-fire is being respected.