ADDIS ABABA \u2014 The African Union’s Peace and Security Council is meeting Friday to discuss the escalating war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.<\/p>\n
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The conflict-resolution body is to receive a briefing from AU special envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been leading efforts to mediate talks between the Tigray rebels and Ethiopia\u2019s federal government.<\/p>\n
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The United Nations Security Council was also set Friday to discuss the conflict in Ethiopia at a private meeting requested by Gabon, Ghana and Kenya this week.<\/p>\n
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Both meetings are being held a day after Ethiopia announced it will send representatives to AU-sponsored peace talks on October 24. Leaders of the rebel Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front have not confirmed their attendance at the talks, to take place in South Africa.<\/p>\n
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AU-mediated peace talks were slated to begin earlier this month but were postponed for logistical reasons.<\/p>\n
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In recent days diplomats have stepped up their calls for a cease-fire in Tigray.<\/p>\n
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Ethiopia said last week it plans to seize Tigray\u2019s airports and other strategic facilities. On Monday it announced the capture of three towns in Tigray.<\/p>\n
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U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said Thursday that the U.N. and AU meetings “demonstrate the international community’s great concern about the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
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He also renewed the U.S. call for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray, where they are supporting the Ethiopian government\u2019s offensive.<\/p>\n
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The AU\u2019s Peace and Security Council last discussed Ethiopia August 4, roughly three weeks before a five-month ceasefire in Tigray ended.<\/p>\n
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Since then, \u201cthe situation in the conflict has dramatically changed for the worse,\u201d said the Amani Africa think tank in a briefing note Friday.<\/p>\n
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Source: Voice of America<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ADDIS ABABA \u2014 The African Union’s Peace and Security Council is meeting Friday to discuss the escalating war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. The conflict-resolution body is to receive a briefing from AU special envoy Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been leading efforts to mediate talks between the Tigray rebels and Ethiopia\u2019s federal government. … <\/p>\n