profiteers and talk with people experiencing the changing environment. the ice disappears earlier and it keeps retreating our future depends on what happens here . in northern lights in the. church december 21st d.w. . the ethiopian leader who won a nobel prize for ending one of africa's longest running conflicts has for the past month been waging a war of his own making in early november prime minister abu ahmed announced that he had ordered troops to respond to an allegedly deadly attack on a government military base in ethiopia's t. gray province leaders there say the to grant people are being blamed for tensions that surfaced as a hobby implemented reforms and postponed elections due to cove it can heal is divided country or will the fighting resume our title today ethiopia's. from nobel

peace laureate to amount of war. and here to answer that question r.'s 3 outstanding guests it is a great pleasure to welcome them starting with prince. he descends from the family of the ethiopian emperor and author and analyst he also works as an economic consultant on africa and he says the military operation of the ethiopian government in the region did not target the people who take away but the ruthless t p l f party. and its great to have been a common misgave with us once again he is head of migration and diversity at the hind they both foundations and he says the civil war and he. it's just the

beginning of a long conflict. and finally we're honored to have with us. she's ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the federal democratic republic of ethiopia and she says ethiopia's current situation is not a civil war nor an armed conflict it's a law enforcement operation aimed at restoring the constitutional order of the country. so let me start by asking you dear madam ambassador there's clearly some disagreement amongst you about the scope of the fighting in a province you say it was a law enforcement operation but the fact is ethiopian generals spoke of being at war the fighting did last over 3 weeks and i witness is reported both artillery duels and also shelling of the capital. so that doesn't really look

like lunch. actually when you say it's something like that if it is a different country or different. different people try to fight each other lose equal standing but these are criminals who deliberately attack the national the national defense forces which was there for more than 20 years keeping the country keeping magali and these people not only doing this. extraordinary very devastating. crime they have been doing the same for 20 years but government was very very patient and it's trying to solve the issues with with peace in the constellation where they rejected all the requests of coming to table to talk because they want the country to stay and listen it on the top because they need this country even for more than 27 years in their name was still to a liberation front we don't know what knows from whom and when to leave it to great they have believing it for 27 years and now what we are talking about is this is

a criminal is not a great people that the people suppressed suffering like any other people europeans the issue is resist this clique which they want to this one thing is a god thing with allies and bring so many crimean criminal act including causing killing planned financing designing so of the country for 2 years or this was to tolerated even though they deny the presence of the presence of the federal government they deny everything because of when the term is extended according to the law because of corbett taste of the word and then they say they don't accept the federal government they make illegal election which is not illegal and did it all unconstitutional or this was tolerated finally you know what they did and did you expect any any government to sit down in the sea when the country is dismantled as a country for vanity is become a question in the country will be dispersing this. isn't acceptable we want to dig

in a little deeper in just a moment about the background of the ethnic tensions in t.k. prague province but economists can know what's your response to what we've just heard would you also say that this is a law enforcement operation you're opening statement referred to a long running conflict ahead and well taking the historical background of the tensions between the central government and the region i'm now looking rather more into the region and less with the. leading force integrating but it was also part of the government in ethiopia so taking the story can speak that from this region they went a long standing war to the region was fighting 17 years against this interim government which was the military. decide tomorrow and which top of the and then came into the power so i'm very much aware but also

concerned that this tension between the federal government and the government of decry would lead to instability in the region such region of the great and also could never. tensions which has been there for a long time so not only on the government basis but also on the basis that's what i'm very much afraid of and again i do want to talk about that in a little more depth later but just on that one point law enforcement operation or military action what i would consider it is a military action because the dimension of. demeter actions taken it was more than a law enforcement which i think would have been more a police operation but this was a more complex and more. with more

armaments and even the number of people who are perspective and operation was a massive one it's us are at a let me get you to weigh in on this and also what you tell us a little bit about what you're hearing from friends and family in ethiopia if as your opening statement says this military operation didn't target the people why have tens of thousands of people fled the region. for the simple reason because they know that if some fighting breaks out in that part of the world. things might happen. that would be dangerous for their lives i think it was a precautionary measure by most of them who fled as we view there were already $20000.00 people in the suit out in the early days of the military operation.

but basically i find it whether what exactly what we call it i think is immaterial one thing that is true is a very tragic situation that has so many times now that. i take it here putin's and the theo pit blood is being shit but i think this is not the fault of the central government it is it's it is it is it is the right not only the right but it is obliged to maintain the territorial integrity and the national no and the national no sovereignty of the country and could not allow itself to just sit there while its troops were being massacred in the front of it read the province of tikrit so i think as far as who was responsible we don't need to question it at all there were many many times many ways and

many. the government did really take its time to want to negotiate with them prior to what had happened in the know the. due to the hip brace of the key p.l.m. they declined. with the central government before and that is why military measures to be take. we just heard princess are out to refer to bloodshed madam ambassador the prime minister has said that not a single life was lost but can we be sure of that the fact is that there were communications to a province were cut off there was no internet connection and independent media have not really been permitted to cover the fighting. explain the nation was what you say when these people. being the country's biggest station

of the national defense force and disease himself has announced that they have accused the have a condition of all the biggest i mean ition and announce exact they can do to destroy the whole country and. what have you and do expect the government to sit down while having all these i mean nation into type 2 to destroy the country and dismantle the country and we want our country need peace and obviously why the people of or others to the country into the neighboring countries that they know what they have been doing long ago and they were in the jungle they hide in this society themselves killed their own people and pretend as if it was done from the other side even last time they manufactured in europe and to put a uniform today and to be uniform and they are people wearing it to pretend to deceive the world that. the government is killing this is always a do this and the world knows these that the people know when they are coming to the should they want to make

a shield the people the people will be affected themselves might kill them they leave that's why they know how the in my car they see as a kid the civilians that's what they are afraid about and they have to live there why it's not because again the government you see now when the government does if they give orders i mean nation they gave them to fight they give it to the government nobody forces them that is the one who give information to the government they think them people know it your people in the think that have no problem you see live together in peace is only the it's getting a problem. what do we know about the fighting that was going on for the past 4 weeks as i said the prime minister says there was no blood spilt do we know that for sure apparently eye witnesses have have contended that there were deaths where we have a number of positions and counter-accusations and as we all know in war the truce is the 1st casualty so it's very hard to verify. many of the information and we

know that there are different versions we know that civilians has been harmed so far and we have heard that the regional group of human rights groups in ethiopia. tried to verify the situation and could also find some of the facts that probably people if militia may have been involved in that and a bit but there are also casualties from the gray side that. regional government accuse this interim government militia. it shouldn't be necessarily. the government's. deeds but you know in war situations militias take their own autonomous measures as well we have to know that and the 2nd thing is of course we have a number of. humanitarian crisis we have i.d.p.'s internally displaced displaced persons around 1000000 within the region we have something like 44000 refugees who

fled to sudan and you need to meeting that if. conflict is not going to stop immediately that maybe up to 200000 people may flee to sudan so we have a clear humanitarian crisis in this region and we need to immediately settle any conflict again we will come back to that shortly but i'd like to take a closer look at the role of the prime minister because in fact only a year ago the multi lingual abhi ahmed with his mixed christian muslim background was being compared to nelson mandela barack obama seen as the bright hope of a country that has long been torn by ethnic conflict so how did the nobel peace laureate come to be involved in military conflict. pictures from 1998 tens of thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands fled in the territorial dispute between ethiopia and eritrea. is also

a soldier in this war. when he became prime minister in 2018 the political scientist embarked upon an unprecedented course. he extended his hand to eritrea for reconciliation and return to territories. liberalized the economy removed old officials and met with leaders from partially divided ethnic groups. celebrated by his followers and internationally hailed as a beacon of hope. for the nobel peace prize for 2019 to its c.e.o. the prime minister out of it all the way to the tide turns just one year later. began a military offensive in tikrit in the northern part of the country. an ethnic minority and an important part of the political elite feel that they are being ousted by the new head of government whose family is descended from. ethnic groups.

continue his course of reform. it's a pretty abrupt shift at least that's what it looks like from outside that the prime minister has made ambassador this idea that the prime minister represented the bright hope of africa was it inflated expectations on the part of those of us looking from outside. no it was perfect even today it's the hope of africa and why and this is a person leading a country when he's unless he keeps the his country's integrity and safety peace and stability how can you talk of his neighbors and what he is still working to stabilize and keep the peace and make rule of law in order otherwise if you keep as a peace with your own country how can you be at peace on both side of peace laureate to what that's what the laureate peace laureate sheepy received is because

he make a peace in syria in order for the neighboring countries especially for italia and again today while his country is facing this challenge with those who want to rule of the country unless i own the country if the country be destroyed how can he see don't in the sea with dispersant itself as dismantled is impossible in the heat is his duty as a government as a leader to people that will flow into to keep the peace stability and or soul. of the country princess or at a would you agree with that assessment or would you say that he perhaps moved too far too fast with his reform process and thereby help to set in motion the tensions that erupted into gray i wouldn't say that at all he did not move too fast in some of the things he moved too slow there are many theo kids who

believe that what he did today against the t.p.a. left should have been done 2 years ago when the whole reformist movement started because what they have been doing in the past 2 years is to really to take care that his reformist agenda did not take place and they were involved with everything that was there to destabilize ethiopia whether it was the killing and massacring of so many people in this. south part of the hands were the fall whether it was the dismantling of ethiopian statutes in london believe you me the hand of the tea p.l.f. was old was that so i don't think it is a matter of having moved too far and i think oh so we can only come to rest if the ethiopian government will very soon declare the t. p.l.f.

a terrorist organization. otherwise things are not going to calm down. if you would give us a little bit of background on these of long running ethnic tensions in ethiopia with degrade but also elsewhere and also why did they explode particularly after this reform process began. how is the constitution of to appear is a multi-ethnic country and which has been living in different mottos. it has been living in a very peaceful manner as the neighboring if this is so the mother if the city is one of its resources actually of ethiopia and whatever happened whatever political system was raining in ethiopia the people managed to leave peacefully together but then you have also undemocratic political systems which were using them multi

ethnicity and the regional tensions there are always tensions when there are more if the cities which has been always ignited by by different the local leaders and so on and governments has been always trying either to rule by heart as a military dictatorship of minister tomorrow who is trying to keep you know the whole country you know by force and then came he was toppled by the 2 people if because the 2 guy region was actually also historically marginalized as many other regions and then they used this marginalization as a political resource to mobilize and top of the government and then and that was the 2nd other issue that the government created a constitution which is based on ethnic federalism so and this is one of the sources of conflict of course with you know with some exit options even to secede if he doesn't work within. the federal state and this was like an exit

option for too great as well if it walks it's fight if it doesn't work maybe and this is i think what what happened as. to who was actually the 1st who came peacefully to power which is you know very positive action and there was the reforms but then you know he came into a situation where you have some kind of apartheid. state within the ethiopian state there was a 2 great state which is a kind of parley situation and then you have to deal with this very complicated situation and that is also the historical. i think that mention we need to look when you deal differences with conflicts that you cannot simply solve militarily because of the historical complexity ambassador princess of hatay said if anything perhaps the prime minister should have acted sooner to crush as nick resentments

province in fact abby wanted to govern with a new style and when he came into office his motto was may damage which means something like harmony as i understand it was he perhaps naïve was the turbulence that we are now seeing to be expected should he have perhaps acted to be more at that with greater toughness in the beginning no no no he's not naive that done that is showing forgiveness and what he was trying is it's not like an evolutionary to kill and finish those leads a country with abuse of human rights and be corruption looting the country's money he said let us leave apart what they have done wrong. they have done good and go for a result any graduates out any conflict so that we keep everybody on board should anything go in the democratic election that's why people are against id because he was too patient he was too pushing on leaving for good. mess and keep them to use

and huff by trying to convince people regarding the federalism it's not is no saying anything that he knows that it is in europe as a multinational diverse country each and every things that could be managed with that we take. any type of for that isn't dependent on the discourse of the society each and every people each and every region when they go after this election what's willing to do is how the government goal $200.00 distinct would depend on the discourse of the people decision but the issues of fear if the if he's against the said the right is in that to go is going there why did he allow. the kids figure on sid he's not against him but we have to choose our society which is good for the people but they don't know what they need they need a list we need it to appear and this would really topia that actually didn't exist that's what's happening now. to

a report that we just saw concluded by asking what will become of the reform process what is your take on that do you think that the prime minister can and will return to a course of renewal and democratization or might we now be seeing the beginning of a pattern that's all too familiar where a leader comes into office with big promises and big games and then gradually moves down toward the road toward dictatorship to be honest for there to be a great disappointment for me if this would happen but this is not what i see. coming up for me the root of evil. is the theo pure constitution a constitution which calls itself which calls it an ethnic of the racial ethnic federation that means if yo pia is the only need state in the whole world with the system back that there is no other country in this world with an ethnic federation

and that is what true in the us if you have became the most racist country in the world where the only place in africa where in our knowledge identity cards you have the word to race written on it all all politics until 2 years ago was based upon ethnicity the parties ethnic parties bored with ethnic and you know we have seen in the world where you have ethnic borders ethnic cleansing is not very far away and in order to say no to this but ts to federalism the great federalist by so what we need is a democratic drop system where all 120 ethnic groups feel a part of what big country and still believe they are the boss does of their. need and enforce they were just about out of time. you did say you

think the conflict will continue so i really must ask about the effects on the region as a whole 40000 refugees already in the vulnerable country of sudan somalia also right next door equally vulnerable ethiopia used to be viewed as an anchor of stability in africa is that over. i do not think it's over but. probably the tension is so big that it's me also include eritrea because it's where is directly. to great. maybe involved in the one or the other way so i think we are on the verge of. the stability if we don't manage to quickly come to a table and negotiate the differences so i think militarily cannot be solved what we can do and what should be done is on the table thank you very much thanks to all

of you for being with us here today and thanks to all of you for tuning in to see you so. up. up a. little . clip.

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this is deed of lean years live from berlin a moment of reckoning at the united nations general assembly world leaders convene for a special session focusing on the coronavirus endemic as a global death toll surges above one and a half 1000000 think collectively caused a passed out of the pandemic also coming up. gemini's public health agency warns the country is still far from containing the 2nd wave of corona virus infections this week's daily death toll.