Ethiopia In Open Discussion With State Dept. On Tigray Crisis - Ambassador To US

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th November, 2021) Ethiopian officials are in open discussion with the State Department on the crisis in the northern Tigray region, and are hopeful that Washington will understand the situation on the ground and not equate the two parties in the conflict, Ambassador to the United States Fitsum Arega told Sputnik.

"We have an open discussion with officials in the State Department. We also communicate with special envoy Ambassador (Jeffrey) Feltman. We update the U.S. on current events regularly," Arega said. "There is a mistaken perception that the Ethiopian government and the TPLF are equal political entities to engage in negotiations. That is a mistake. The Ethiopian government is freely elected by the people of Ethiopia. The TPLF is an organization that has vowed to destroy the elected government of Ethiopia."

Arega stressed the need to identify why the conflict started.

"The most fundamental fact is who is responsible for causing the conflict. The tendency to claim both sides are wrong is itself wrong. The TPLF is responsible and must be condemned for its actions in causing the conflict and in extending it into neighboring regions," he argued.

The ambassador noted that some US lawmakers have already stated that they do not support the TPLF.

He had recently met with three members of Congress, including House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks, as well as California Representatives Karen Bass and Barbara Lee.

"I explained to them there is a perception by so many Ethiopians in Ethiopia and in the Diaspora that the US is equating their government with the terrorist TPLF and that is feeding the belief that the US is in support of the TPLF and against Ethiopia," he said.

When asked whether there has been any sign that the US will support the Ethiopian government and designate the TPLF as a terrorist organization, Arega said that "there was no hint except the strong public statement by Representative Karen Bass exposing TPLF's terrorist acts after her visit to Ethiopia."

"The good thing is that we have still an open discussion and that will continue," Arega said.

In early November, Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency nationwide as TPLF rebels threatened to advance on the capital of Addis Ababa. Northern Ethiopia has been engulfed by an internal conflict since November of last year, when the central government accused the TPLF of attacking a military base and launched a counter-operation in Tigray.