U.S Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman visits Ethiopia to underscore the United States’ concern with the escalation of the conflict and the risk of intercommunal violence, and to encourage all parties to engage in a dialogue on a cessation of hostilities.
Feltman’s visit came amid a crisis viewed as spiraling into a civil war.
Feltman traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hasan, Minister of Defense Abraham Belay, and Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide. He also met with AU High Representative Olusegun Obasanjo, AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, UN Undersecretary General Martin Griffiths, and other international partners and government leaders.
Diplomats were scrambling on Tuesday for a peaceful resolution to the conflict putting hundreds of thousands of civilian lives at risk in Ethiopia. The war between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and rebels that started a year ago has escalated and is now threatening his hold on power, with a coalition of opposition groups advancing on the capital, Addis Ababa.
It’s Feltman’s second visit within just a few days, and it comes as the United Nations warns that the risk of Ethiopia’s conflict spiraling out of control into a full-blown civil war was “only too real.”
Feltman also traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, where he consulted with President Kenyatta and other political leaders on the conflict in Ethiopia as well as other key key issues bordering on the region. The U.S Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa said the United States will continue to work with international partners to address the crisis in Ethiopia, including through action with the United Nations, the African Union, and other relevant partners and institutions.
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