Page 53 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 19

Leadership

to Libya and the Sahel, ten years
ago.

Below are excerpts from Pearce’s
article.

The West’s Horn of Africa experts
have been meeting with a TPLF
leader and TPLF/OLF supporters
in secret, even as its governments
claim to be impartial — TPLF’s
Berhane Gebre-Christos speaks as
TPLF member, proposed head of
“transitional government.” Ethiopians protest against western media propaganda

Donald Yamamoto, recently the U.S.
Ambassador to Somalia who just ad interim in Ethiopia during years that they have not taken sides in the
retired this year, to TPLF official the TPLF were in power. conflict and are pushing negotia-
Berhane Gebre-Christos: tions only in the interests of peace.
France’s retired diplomat and writer But the Zoom talk rips away the

“Abiy is not listening… Obasanjo Stéphane Gompertz openly spec- façade, revealing a chummy circle
has not been extraordinary helpful ulated on the potential for Abiy of foreign policy elite, both retired
or very active, and so are there any to be forced from power. “Even and still active who mostly know
other opportunities that you see?” if Abiy sticks to his guns, which each other and are in sympathy
unfortunately he seems to be doing, with TPLF objectives. They include
Vicki Huddleston, former U.S. Dep- you either hope that people around Donald Yamamoto, one of the U.S.
uty Assistant Secretary of Defense him either in government or in the government’s most senior Africa
for African Affairs and US Assistant military realize that this is going no- experts who just retired this year as
Secretary of State for Africa, speak- where and might force him to, well, the American ambassador to Soma-
ing to Berhane Gebre-Christos: accept the cessation of hostilities or lia, and Spain’s diplomat Carmen de
force him to step down?” la Peña.

“I couldn’t agree more that you
know, Abiy should step down, there The Western powers — Britain, the Read the complete article: Ethiopia:
should be an all-inclusive transition EU and especially the United States Western Diplomats Meet in Secret
government.” — have been posturing for months to Decide How to Help the TPLF

Former ambassadors and current
diplomats for the United States,
Britain and EU had a Zoom meet-
ing this past Sunday with an official
for the TPLF in what amounts to
a green light from the West for the
terrorist group’s attempts to over-
throw the democratically elected
Ethiopian government. And there’s
evidence to prove it: a phone-cam
video of the two-hour meeting.

“I hope that you’ll have military
success fairly soon, because it seems
as if the situation is only becoming
more drastic,” said Vicki Hud-
dleston, who was Chargé d’Affairs

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