KT
Teferi Melesse Desta –the Ethiopian ambassador to Britain – told the BBC’s World Tonight that his country had accepted the appointment of the three envoys to mediate in the crisis.
The AU Special Envoys will be three former presidents: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia; Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique and South Africa’s Kgalema Motlanthe.
The mandate of the AU envoys is spelled out in the document below.
Ambassador Teferi could not say whether the Ethiopian government would accept the UN Secretary General’s call for an immediate ceasefire to allow aid to be delivered. He denied that there was no access to Tigray.
Earlier UN chief Antonio Guterres called for the opening of humanitarian corridors to assist civilians caught in fighting in Tigray region
“We are very worried about the situation in Ethiopia,” the secretary general told reporters in New York, warning of a “dramatic humanitarian impact” including in neighboring Sudan.
“We have been asking for the full respect of international humanitarian law and also for the opening of humanitarian corridors and the truces that might be necessary for humanitarian aid to be delivered in the areas of conflict,” he said, without specifying where such corridors could be located.
“This is a matter of enormous concern to us, and I hope that these appeals will be heard,” he said. “I hope that this will end soon and that Ethiopia will be able to find the peace it needs for its development and the well‑being of its people.
