The African Union finally negotiated a cease-fire in Johannesburg on Wednesday which saw Ethiopia’s warring parties agreeing to a truce deal.
A sigh of relief as parties to Ethiopia’s devastating conflict have agreed on a truce, the African Union’s mediator announced on Wednesday following African-led talks in South Africa.
The surprise deal was unveiled almost two years after a war that claimed many thousands of lives and created a desperate humanitarian crisis.
“Today is the beginning of a new dawn for Ethiopia, for the Horn of Africa, and indeed for Africa as a whole,” the AU’s broker, former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, declared.
“The two parties in the Ethiopian conflict have formally agreed to the cessation of hostilities as well as the systematic, orderly, smooth, and coordinated disarmament,” Obasanjo said at a briefing in Pretoria.
They also agreed on “restoration of law and order, restoration of services, unhindered access to humanitarian supplies, protection of civilians… among other areas of agreement.”
