Ethiopia: Parliament Removes Tigray Rebel Party From Terror List

The Ethiopian parliament on Wednesday removed the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a party of the rebel authorities in the northern Ethiopian region, from the list of terrorist entities, the lower house of the Ethiopian parliament announced.

"The House adopted the decision to remove the terrorist designation of the TPLF by a majority vote," the Ethiopian House of People's Representatives said in a statement. 

The TPLF, which had governed Ethiopia for three decades before being increasingly sidelined with the appointment of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018, was designated a terrorist organisation by Ethiopian authorities on May 6, 2021.

The federal government has been engaged in an armed confrontation against it since November 2020, therefore ending a peace accord made last November that calls for the removal of this terrorist designation.

"During the debates, it became clear that removing the terrorist designation from the TPLF was critical for the implementation of the Pretoria peace agreement between the federal government and the TPLF," the lower house said.

It did not indicate the number of votes cast in support, but it did state that 61 MPs voted against it and five abstained.

Fighting has ceased in compliance with the peace deal, basic services (electricity, telephones, banking, etc.) have begun to be restored in Tigray, and access to the region has been reopened.

The removal of the TPLF's terrorist designation clears the door for the formation of an interim government in Tigray led by the TPLF.