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In Ethiopia, the application of the peace agreement between the federal government and the Tigray authorities is progressing day by day. Humanitarian aid, basic services, transport resume. One question, however, remains unresolved: that of the withdrawal of the Eritrean army from Tigray. A withdrawal that Eritrea does not envisage without solid guarantees for its security.
The Joint Committee made up of federal military leaders and Tigrayans first met in the town of Shire in northwestern Tigray on December 1. However, this would not have been possible without the Eritrean army, which recently occupied the city, withdrawing from it, explains a good connoisseur of the army of Asmara.
« So this is a sign that Eritrea is not totally deaf calls to withdraw troops from Tigray “, in accordance with the pretoria peace accord, says this source. That said, according to her, the Eritreans would only have moved closer to the border territories, in the current state, and would not have received the order to go further.
An opportunity for Asmara to establish itself well in Ethiopia
« For President Issayas Afewerki, the military commitment in Tigray is an investment he will not give up “Explains former Eritrean diplomat Fathi Osman, now a journalist. Because the rapprochement with Ethiopia not only brought him out of his diplomatic isolation, but it also allowed him to establish himself militarily in Ethiopia, confirms this good connoisseur of the army.
On the one hand in Tigray, but also in intelligence, in the Amhara city of Gondar – where the Eritreans train the special forces – as well as in terms of political influence.
According to Radio Director Erena Biniam Simon, Eritrean President Issayas Afewerki wants above all guarantees that the Tigrayans do not threaten him “. Because when the Tigrayan troops were getting dangerously close to Addis Ababa, during the summer of 2021, the political leadership of the rebels suggested that the next step would be to “ walk on Asmara », the Eritrean capital.
« The Tigrayans remain a scarecrow serving to maintain “Eritreans” under siege »
The Eritrean head of state therefore intends to keep the border territories around Badmé and Zalambessa, which were occupied by the Tigrayans before the war and this in violation of the Algiers peace agreement, signed in 2000. The intentions of the authorities of Mekelle are still not clear regarding these two border zones.
« Eritrea therefore seeks to maintain this situation of neither war nor peace.adds Biniam Simon. Thus, the Tigrayans remain for Issayas Afewerki a life insurance and a scarecrow serving to maintain its population in a state of siege. »
The two journalists finally agree on another point. The original Eritrean war aim of ” destroy the TPLF was not reached. But at least the Pretoria agreement formalizes the significant military weakening of the Tigrayan party, which also governed Ethiopia until 2018. This removes its power of nuisance over Asmara: “ Failing to get what we wanted, summarizes Fathi Osman, you have to take what you got. »
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