A Russian Media network sputniknews.com has reported that an unnamed participant has given a recorded zoom meeting recorded on a phone camera showing former U.S diplomat and former Chargé d’Affaires ad interim to Ethiopia Vicki Huddleston and other western diplomats holding an unofficial virtual discussion with Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) representatives.
The recorded video which was allegedly handed to an investigative journalist named Jeff Pearce showed a Chief TPLF representative Berhane Gebre-Christos, who served as Ethiopia’s ambassador to the U.S. and other countries saying his group enjoys wide support and is not interested in “dominating” the Ethiopian government, which has long been ruled by coalitions made up of the country’s diverse ethnic groups.
Gebre-Christos in the video claimed that Abiy has been trying to amass personal power ever since the 2018 election that saw him become prime minister, and the Tigrayan people have been used as a tool for him to advance his agenda.
Huddleston was also heard in the video telling the TPLF representatives that “I hope that you’ll have military success fairly soon because it seems as if the situation is only becoming more drastic,” adding that “Abiy should step down. There should be an all-inclusive transition government” he said.
He however expressed concerns about the TPLF’s role in government if it takes over Addis Ababa.
Berkane was also said to have told the unofficial virtual meeting that “Abiy is not listening, he’s not listening at all right now,” “And how are you going to reach him? A person who’s really in a corner. And that the African Union envoy Olusegun Obasanjo has not been extraordinarily helpful or very active, and so are there any other opportunities that you see? He asked”
Others seen present in the video conference according to www.sputniknews.com included retired UK and European Union officials who had top diplomatic duties in Ethiopia when it was under TPLF rule – former UK ambassador to Ethiopia Robert Dewar, former EU ambassador to Ethiopia Tim Clarke, former French ambassador to Ethiopia Stephane Gomper, former Spanish ambassador to Ethiopia Carmen de la Pena, and former Finnish ambassador to Ethiopia Kirsti Aarnio.
Former French ambassador to Ethiopia, Gomper, during the meeting which was held virtually also said “Even if Abiy sticks to his guns, which unfortunately he seems to be doing, you either hope that people around him either in government or in the military realize that this is going nowhere and might force him to, well, accept the cessation of hostilities or force him to step down,” he said.
The Zoom meeting, according to Sputnik, was hosted by the Peace and Development Center International, which lists the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as one of its partners and donors on its website.
The USAID “is part of the U.S. State Department, and the National Endowment for Democracy, a well-known and self-admitted CIA front, both of which have AstroTurf opposition parties and funneled funds to pro-U.S. groups from Hong Kong to Nicaragua and beyond,” Sputnik said.
Although, Washington and Brussels have not declared official support for either the TPLF or the Ethiopian government but said they are prepared to impose sanctions on those responsible for prolonging the conflict.
