Ethiopia, Oromo rebels' talks end without deal
Wednesday November 22 2023
Members of the Oromo Ethiopian community in Lebanon protest on July 5, 2020. PHOTO | ANWAR AMRO | AFP
Peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Army (Ola) rebel group have ended without an agreement, an Ethiopian official said on Tuesday.
Redwan Hussein, national security advisor to Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, attributed the failure to the "intransigence" of the Ola negotiators.
"The obstructive approach and unrealistic demands of the other party are the principal reasons why these talks could not succeed," said Hussein on X, formerly Twitter.
5/5 However, 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.
— Redwan Hussien (@RedwanHussien) November 21, 2023
The second round of closed-door peace talks between the two sides in Tanzania lasted for more than a week to find a peaceful solution to a long-running low-level insurgency in Oromia, Ethiopia's most populous region.
Read: No peace for Abiy as rebels march on Addis
In April, the two sides met for the first time in Tanzania for peace talks which ended without an agreement.
Read: Ethiopia, Oromo rebels first talks end without deal
The Ola is a breakaway faction of ex-rebel group Oromo Liberation Front, an opposition political party claiming to fight for the rights of Oromos, an ethnic group making up about 35 percent of Ethiopia's population.
The Ola, with an estimated 3,000 fighters, operates mainly in the western and southern parts of the Oromia Region, the principal homeland of ethnic Oromos.
In May 2021, the Ethiopian parliament voted to designate the Ola as a terrorist group, a designation still in effect now.