On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Ethiopia’s foreign minister in Addis Ababa to rebuild relations after the two-year Tigray civil conflict.
Blinken was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen, and Tigrayan warlords.
On Thursday, he will visit Niger, facing an Islamic insurgency.
“Much remains. Deepening the northern peace is perhaps the most crucial thing “Reported Blinken.
“We have historical contacts and it is time to revive and go forward,” Demeke added.
Blinken’s travel is the latest in a string of high-level U.S. visits to Africa as the Biden administration seeks to strengthen ties with a continent where China is establishing diplomatic and commercial contacts.
The U.S. condemned Ethiopian soldiers and allied rebels from Eritrea and the Amhara area for alleged crimes during the Tigray conflict, which killed tens of thousands until a peace settlement was struck last November.
Ethiopia’s textile industry lost access to the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act, a duty-free trading program.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation and a longtime U.S. partner in East Africa accused Washington of meddling in its domestic affairs and warned to reevaluate the alliance.
It denied the worst wartime human rights abuses.
In a news briefing last week, Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Molly Phee said Ethiopia must “end the cycle of ethnic political violence” to restore U.S.-Ethiopia ties.
Last year, the state finance minister claimed that the Tigray conflict was delaying Ethiopia’s debt restructuring and IMF funding.
Because the violence left hundreds of people starving, Tigray needs humanitarian help despite the peace pact.
Rights groups and humanitarian workers say atrocities, notably sexual assault, have continued following the settlement.
Humanitarian workers said that Eritrean forces remain in many border locations, and Amhara militia control significant swaths of western and southern Tigray.
Eritrea’s official spokeswoman hasn’t replied to inquiries. However, the Amhara regional government and its people are “always willing to co-operate with peace deal process and operations,” according to a spokeswoman.
