ASMARA (Halbeeg News) – Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) on Tuesday accepted to lay down arms after it inked an agreement with the Ethiopian government.
The government of Ethiopia previously designated OLF which had its bases in Eriteria, as a terrorist organisation.
Ethiopian state television reported that the sides signed historic agreement to bury hatchets.
“The government of Ethiopia and leaders of Oromo Liberation Front penned agreement in Asmara, the capital city of Eritrea,” the TV stated.
Eritrea’s Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel who also confirmed the pact said Ethiopian government signed a reconciliation agreement to end hostilities with the OLF’s exiled leader Dawud Ibsa, who lives in exile in Asmara.
“The agreement further states that … the OLF will conduct its political activities in Ethiopia through peaceful means,” he said on Twitter.
The Agreement further states that ii) the OLF will conduct its political activities in Ethiopia through peaceful means. The two sides also agreed: (iii) to establish a Joint Committee to implement the agreement. Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu participated in the meeting pic.twitter.com/61CcGzpEum
— Yemane G. Meskel 🇪🇷 (@hawelti) August 7, 2018
A Joint Committee will also be created to implement the agreement and verify its rigorous compliance in the future.
Since the 1970s, the rebels have fought a low-level insurgency for self-determination for the Oromiya region, which is Ethiopia’s largest and home to the Oromo ethnic group.
The OLF was initially part of a transitional government set up in 1991 by rebels from the EPRDF coalition who had driven Mengistu Haile Mariam from power, but they soon fell out with the coalition.
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