Inside Story

Can peace talks end the conflict in Ethiopia?

The first talks aimed at ending the war in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region are under way in South Africa. 

Ethiopia’s government and rebels from the Tigray region are holding their most high-level talks yet aimed at ending two years of war.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, which has intensified since renewed fighting in August ended a five-month truce.

The African Union is leading the negotiations in South Africa with Nigeria’s former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta acting as brokers.

What are the chances of bringing the conflict to an end? And what does each side hope to gain?

Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault

Guests:

Andualem Sisay – journalist and political commentator

Teklay Gebremichael – associate editor at Tghat, a website archiving possible war crimes in Tigray

William Davison – senior Ethiopia analyst at the International Crisis Group