Washington, Dec 20 (AFP/APP):The United States said Monday that it hopes the retreat of Tigrayan rebels in Ethiopia to their northern stronghold “opens the door to broader diplomacy.”
“If we do see a movement of the Tigrayan forces back into Tigray, that is something we would welcome,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said, after the group announced their retreat. “It’s something we’d call for, and we hope it opens the door to broader diplomacy.”
The State Department was unable to confirm the withdrawal by the TPLF, which had advanced in recent months to the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar.
Price saying only: “We’re aware of reports of Tigrayan withdrawal from some regions of northern Ethiopia.”
“We have long, as you know, urged the cessation of hostilities including the return of TPLF forces to Tigray,” he said, adding that the United States also urged “a negotiated resolution to the conflict.”
The pullout could raise hope for possible dialogue to silence the guns in a conflict that has killed thousands of people and created a severe humanitarian crisis in the north of the Horn of Africa nation.
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