African Union calls for "political dialogue" in Tigray

The African Union (AU) has called on Saturday for a "political dialogue" between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan officials, more than three months after a peace agreement that ended a bloody conflict in the north of the country.

The statement issued on Saturday in Addis Ababa was the outcome from a meeting of the monitoring committee for the peace agreement on Friday that included representatives of the Ethiopian government, Tigrayan leaders and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

A peace agreement was signed in November 2022 in Pretoria between the Ethiopian government and the rebels of this northern region of Ethiopia after two years of conflict.

Since the Pretoria agreement, the fighting has stopped and aid deliveries have resumed. 

Flights between the capital of the Tigray region, Mekele, and Addis Ababa restarted in early January after an 18-month interruption.

Access to Tigray is restricted, making it impossible to independently verify the situation on the ground.