The United States and Kenya on Wednesday pressed for a ceasefire in Ethiopia, holding out hope for a negotiated solution between the government and rebels as diplomacy intensifies over the year-long war.<\/p>\n
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a three-nation tour of Africa that will take him to Nigeria and Senegal, also sounded a warning about a global retreat in democracy as he encouraged close ally Kenya to ensure free elections next year.<\/p>\n
The top US diplomat spoke for an hour and a half with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at a meeting that was originally scheduled for 10 minutes.
\nKenyatta paid a surprise visit to Addis Ababa and met Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday amid mounting alarm as Tigrayan rebels threaten to march on Ethiopia’s capital.<\/p>\n
“We believe in the potential of Ethiopia to find a resolution to this crisis. We believe that a ceasefire is possible,” Kenya’s Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo told a joint news conference after talks with Blinken.<\/p>\n
Blinken called for “concrete steps for peace” and a resumption of humanitarian assistance, with hundreds of thousands living in famine-like conditions as the war between Abiy’s government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) enters its second year.<\/p>\n
“I reiterate our call for all parties to urgently and seriously engage in negotiations on cessation of hostilities without preconditions,” said Blinken, who also renewed a call for US citizens to leave the country as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia has been a close US ally but the United States has been dismayed by curbs on aid delivery into the northern Tigray region which is facing a de facto humanitarian blockade according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n
President Joe Biden removed Ethiopia from a vital trade pact this month but has stopped short of sanctions, hoping to give diplomacy a chance.<\/p>\n
But in response to a question, Blinken did not rule out the United States eventually declaring that the “atrocities” in Tigray amount to genocide.<\/p>\n
“Regardless of what we call it, it needs to stop and there needs to be accountability,” he said.<\/p>\n
Competition with China
\nBiden has promised new attention to Africa, in the fight against climate change and Covid-19, as he tries to draw a distinction with rising rival China which has pushed infrastructure in the continent and makes no fuss about democracy.<\/p>\n
In symbolic signs of the challenges, Blinken’s motorcade travelled near a road being built with Chinese funding and he held his news conference in a hotel where a room was reserved for the Kenya China Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
Pointing to the 50 million Covid vaccine doses which the United States has donated so far to Africa, Blinken said: “We’ve done this with no political strings attached.”<\/p>\n
“This is about saving lives. That is the only metric that matters.”<\/p>\n
Blinken, who is on his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as the top US diplomat, also told Sudan’s military Wednesday that the country stood to regain access to much-needed international aid if it restored the “legitimacy” of the civilian government following last month’s coup.<\/p>\n
“It’s vital that the transition regain the legitimacy that it had,” Blinken said.<\/p>\n
“If the military puts this train back on its tracks and does what’s necessary, I think the support that has been very strong from the international community can resume.”<\/p>\n
The United States has suspended some $700 million in assistance to Sudan in response to the coup, which halted a democratic transition that followed the 2019 toppling of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir.<\/p>\n
– Concern over Kenya elections –
\nBlinken opened his trip by meeting civil society leaders and warning of “a democratic recession” in many nations.<\/p>\n
“We have seen the same challenges here that we see in many parts of the world — misinformation, political violence, voter intimidation, voter bribery.”<\/p>\n
Kenya’s last election in 2017 was marred by deadly violence, although Kenyatta and his former opponent Raila Odinga have made peace ahead of nationwide polls next year.<\/p>\n
Blinken later said: “It is critical that all parties — the ;government, opposition and civil society — work together to ensure safe and stable elections that reflect the will of the Kenyan people.”<\/p>\n
One participant in the civil society meeting, Amnesty International’s Kenya chief Irungu Houghton, warned that signs were not good for the August polls.<\/p>\n
Houghton said he saw “all the signs of a very contested and violent election” and urged America to remain vigilant and “not give Kenya a free pass” as it sought Kenyatta’s leadership on the Ethiopia crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States and Kenya on Wednesday pressed for a ceasefire in Ethiopia, holding out hope for a negotiated solution between the government and rebels as diplomacy intensifies over the year-long war. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a three-nation tour of Africa that will take him to Nigeria and Senegal, also sounded a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-228039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n