abiy ahmed isn't their leader, he's also your leader. you are an ethiopian.. he's not my leader. i didn't take part in the elections, and i would have... you do not live in a separate state called tigray. you live in ethiopia and tigray is one region within ethiopia. yes, i live in ethiopia, but i live in a territory which we, thanks to the struggle of our people, have liberated from the chokehold of abiy ahmed, except that he wants to extend his chokehold through other means because he happens to control the switch in addis. so that's your agenda, is it? it's separatism. what this is really all about... no, no. and it's important people around the world know this, is that you are seeking entire separation from ethiopia. you no longer regard addis ababa and prime minister abiy ahmed as legitimate rulers of your country. no, i don't consider abiy ahmed as a legitimate leader, not only of tigray but also of the oromos or even the amhara. so as far as we are concerned it's separatism to the extent that there is a tendency of separatism in tigray, it's imposed on

but i will say, this could be if end of abiy ahmed's government.his is going to lead to the intensity of the fighting, increasing devastation, not just for the people actively evaluate involved in the combat but also civilian and is the fact that there already are severe chinks in ethiopia's vulnerability -- vulnerability. >> how weak is suspect ethiopian army at this point? >> it's been a challenge, no doubt. but i have to disagree with that being the beginning of the ends of the prime minister. if that is an indication that it is the ends of his era, i think that's the wrong ajumps but in terms of the ethiopian army a, they did face challenges but they're one of the strongest armiles within east africa and the prime minister has called for young people to join. it's a challenge took. tigray remains a very challenging aspects of the new -- new program -- prime minister, who was just elected. you can disagree with the terms of the election and so on up but the determination is in. testify they have the numbers. they can really make a comeback but w

late last year, prime minister abiy ahmed's government seemed confident of crushing tigrayan rebel forces. that confidence was misplaced. the war has spread. both the addis government and the rebels stand accused of horrifying war crimes. my guest is ethiopia's attorney general, gedion timothewos. is his government leading the country to disaster? gedion timothewos in addis ababa, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for having me. it's a pleasure to have you, mr attorney general. now, when we last spoke to each other nearly nine months ago, you seemed very confident that your government was about to crush the forces of the tigray people's liberation front. are you now prepared to say that your government's strategy has gone disastrously wrong? mr sackur, as i have stated back then, we are in a position to retake mekelle and we are able to finalise the initial phase of the operation within a matter of three weeks. we took over mekelle. we established an interim administration. we invested on rehabilitating tigray and remember, it was a conflict that was forced upon us. it was not a conflict that w

i am just mindful of what abiy ahmed said when he won a nobel peace prize in 2019.of love, forgiveness and reconciliation in the hearts and minds of our citizens. very far from love, forgiveness and reconciliation. your government right now seems intent on crushing the tigray rebels, eliminating the so—called cancer and that does not sound like love, reconciliation and forgiveness. we have practised forgiveness, what we have is reconciliation. when the administration came to power the transgressions of the tplf were forgiven and they were given an opportunity to be part of the body politic of the ethiopian state, despite the gross and systematic human rights violations and misrule. there are repeated efforts on the part of this government to find any solution for the differences we had. it is the tplf who triggered the conflict. the tplf who dragged us into this conflict. you must remember that. this is not a conflict that we chose, it is a conflict that was imposed upon us when the tplf attacked in northern area. but there is no military solution, is there? in the

last year, president abiy ahmed's government seemed confident in shutting down two forces.that he has made. rebels stand accused of horrifying war crimes. my guest is ethiopia's attorney general, gedion timothewos. it is his government leading the country to disaster? gedion timothewos, in addis ababa, welcome to hardtalk. it is a pleasure to have you. when we last spoke to each other, about nearly nine months ago, you seemed very confident that your government was about to crush the forces of the tigray�*s people's liberation front. are you now prepared to say your government's strategy has gone disastrously wrong? we have issued a statement saying we can retake mekele and will finish the operation within three weeks. we established a new administration, we invested in rehab tigray. it was a conflict that was forced upon us. it was not a conflict we got into by our own volition and willingness. that is how we see the situation.— that is how we see the situation. ., ., �* ., , situation. you haven't answered my question. — situation. you haven't answered my question, becaus

would that include removing prime minister abiy ahmed from office, changing the government? t i would i would tell people again and again, if abiy is removed from office in the process of our forces advancing to wherever they are to advance to to achieve our objectives, that would be the icing on the cake. ethiopia would be better off without abiy. as this conflict has expanded, according to the un, there are about 250,000 people who've been displaced in amhara and afar regions. the united states, for example, has called for the tigrayan forces to pull back from these regions because of the humanitarian impact. why won't you act in the interest of civilians in these regions? the international community could be — the us would be anything to call on our forces to withdraw, but with tigray we will not relent on our struggle until the siege on tigray is lifted, and lifted forever. catherine byaru hanga reporting there. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... we speak to some of the uyghur population who've had to flee north west china. the big crowds became bigger as the time

late last year, president abiy ahmed's government seemed confident of crushing tigrayan forces.cused of horrifying war crimes. my guest is ethiopia's attorney—general, gedion timothewos. is his government leading the country to disaster? gedion timothewos in addis ababa, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for having me. it is a pleasure to have you, mr attorney—general. when we last spoke to each other, nearly nine months ago, you seemed very confident that your government was about to crush the forces of the tigray people's liberation front. are you now prepared to say that your government strategy has gone disastrously wrong? mr sackur, as i started back then we are in a position to retake mekele, and we're able to finalise the initial phase of the operation within a matter of three weeks. we took over mekele, we established an interim administration, we invested in rehabilitating tigray. and remember, it was a conflict that was forced upon us.

in addis ababa, prime minister abiy ahmed claimed he had withdrawn from tigray, for a humanitarianeasefire. >> his decision to pull out for humanitarian reasons may, in fact, have been a cover for military defeat ambassador johnny carson served as the top u.s. diplomat in numerous african countries and is now senior advisor at us institute of peace. >> the ethiopian military has, in fact, been seriously damaged, even decimated by the conflict in the north. [00:04:03] [12.1] -- the north. >> and so humanitarian groups say the federal government is now regrouping and turning to other ethnic militias to target tigray. tigray is fighting neighboring amhara; over territories both claim as their own. this video purportedly shows a priest blessing amhara fighter. tigray also created a new front in the eastern region of afar. where local fighters are being backed up by militias from oromia. >> the defense forces of tigray are duty bound to neutralize such forces so, yes, they were crossing borders from tigray, and attack these forces. >> but claiming to defend territory by expanding past its own b

this comes as ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed is urging eligible residents to join the armed forces as the government continues to fight rebels in tigray and surrounding regions. last week, the ethiopian government threatened to deploy its entire defensive capability against the tigray people's liberation front, which have now also entered the afar and amhara regions. in britain, challenging to halt the extradition of wikileaks founder julian assange. he faces up to 175 years in prison in the united states under the espionage act for publishing classified documents exposing u.s. war crimes. in algeria, at least 42 people have been killed as wildfires blaze through several rural areas, burning homes and forests to the ground. at least 25 soldiers who battled the inferno are among the dead. the interior ministry suggested arson was to blame for dozens of active fires as some survivors condemned the government for failing to respond to the unfolding disaster. >> as you see, there are fires everywhere. we have not seen the government here. we do not have a state. along with the members

abiy ahmed asked "all capable ethiopians" to "show their patriotism" byjoining the war, which is raging high after a cluster at a test site helped drive up numbers. the country has seen rising cases of the highly infectious delta variant. state media describes the current outbreak which has sparked local lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions as the most severe, since the virus first emerged in the central city of wuhan. amc, the us cinema chain that owns the 0deon in the uk, says it will allow customers in the us to pay for movie tickets and concessions in bitcoin by the end of the year. boss adam aron said it has been exploring the technology for some time. the firm, which is the largest us cinema chain, has not said whether it will apply to its cinemas in europe. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we'll talk to the black eyed peas will—i—am about a new 2a hour concert set to urge world leaders to donate 1 billion covid—19 vaccines to the world's poorest. the health secretary has warned that the impact of the pandemic means that more than 13 million people could be wait