African and European nations attempted on Monday to initiate mediation in Ethiopia's escalating internal conflict, two days after rocket strikes on Eritrea's capital highlighted risks that fighting could spread.
Hundreds have died, 25,000 refugees have fled to Sudan and there have been reports of atrocities since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered air strikes and a ground offensive on November 4 against Tigray's rulers after he accused them of attacking a federal military base.
The war has spilled into neighbouring Eritrea and rocked the wider Horn of Africa, diplomats said. But Africa's youngest leader, who won a Nobel Peace Prize last year, has so far resisted pressure for talks.
His government denied Uganda was shaping up as a mediator even though President Yoweri Museveni met Ethiopia's foreign minister and appealed for negotiations.
"The claim of mediation in Uganda is NOT true," Mr Abiy's special task force for Tigray said on Twitter.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni later deleted a tweet calling for negotiations to stop the conflict “lest it leads to unnecessary loss of lives and cripples the economy".
An Ethiopian official said Mr Demeke made clear negotiations weren't an immediate possibility.
"We don't need mediation until we bring ringleaders to court," Redwan Hussein, spokesman for a crisis committee set up to respond to hostilities in Tigray, told reporters in Addis Ababa.
"Any mediation would incentivise impunity and unruliness."
The Tigray flare-up could jeopardise the recent opening up of Ethiopia's economy, stir ethnic bloodshed elsewhere around Africa's second most populous nation, and tarnish the reputation of Mr Abiy, 44, who won his Nobel for peace with Eritrea.
The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs the region of 5 million people, has accused Eritrea of sending tanks and soldiers over the border against it.
Asmara denies that.
Tigray forces fired rockets into Eritrea at the weekend.
Ethiopia's task force said federal troops had "liberated" the town of Alamata from the TPLF in south Tigray after saying last week they had seized the West.
Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo travelled to Addis Ababa on Monday in an attempt to push for talks.
"The door is closed but we have to keep being vocal. Just because he (Abiy) doesn't want it (mediation), we are not going to keep quiet," the diplomat told Reuters.
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Company profile
Company: Eighty6
Date started: October 2021
Founders: Abdul Kader Saadi and Anwar Nusseibeh
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Hospitality
Size: 25 employees
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investment: $1 million
Investors: Seed funding, angel investors
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 4
Osasuna: García (14')
Real Madrid: Isco (33'), Ramos (38'), Vázquez (84'), Jovic (90' 2)
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Why are you, you?
Why are you, you?
From this question, a new beginning.
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Our dream is to unite that which has been
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And the music of the heart.
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with the unique light of art.
Ben Okri,
The five pillars of Islam
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
