A rebel group in Ethiopia said it will demand a referendum on self-determination for the country\u2019s troubled, gas-rich Somali region during landmark peace talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
The plan by the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which has staged a low-level insurgency in Ethiopia\u2019s east for over three decades, comes as Abiy invites once-banned opponents to take part in elections. The demands may aggravate a scramble for the region\u2019s energy resources, including natural gas reserves the government estimates will eventually earn it $7 billion a year.<\/p>\n
At stake are an estimated 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Ogaden Basin, where exports are due to begin 2021 via a pipeline to neighboring Djibouti. A unit of China Poly Group Corp. has also started testing oil deposits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to achieve self-determination recognized by international law under the current Ethiopian constitution,\u201d Ahmed Yassin Abdi, the ONLF\u2019s foreign secretary, said by phone from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. \u201cWe want our people to have a right to decide.\u201d He said his group has no preconditions for the talks. The region\u2019s new president expressed support for greater autonomy.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia, Africa\u2019s second-most populous country after Nigeria, is a federation designed to give autonomy to its dozens of ethnic groups. The ONLF has long maintained that the Somali regional state, which it calls the Ogaden and borders war-torn Somalia, hasn\u2019t been properly represented by the federal government.<\/p>\n
Ethiopia\u2019s constitution enshrines the rights of people with \u201ca large measure\u201d of common culture, customs, language, identity and \u201cpsychological makeup\u201d in an \u201cidentifiable, predominantly contiguous territory\u201d to seek self-determination and even establish their own states.
\nSeeking Settlement<\/p>\n
The ONLF, which took up arms in 1984 and has been an intermittent threat to regional authorities, declared a cease-fire at a July meeting of its leaders in Eritrea, pending what Ahmed calls an unspecified \u201ccomprehensive political settlement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Its largest attack was in April 2007 on a site in the Somali region — operated by China\u2019s Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau — where it killed nine Chinese workers and 65 Ethiopians. Ahmed said that was justified because the then-government sought to produce gas \u201cwithout consent of our people.\u201d<\/p>\n
While he wouldn\u2019t disclose the number of armed fighters the ONLF has, the figure is thought to be significantly diminished from a decade ago.<\/p>\n
Click here for a story on Ethiopia\u2019s nascent oil and gas industry<\/p>\n
A special police force in the Somali region has been notorious for its alleged counter-insurgency tactics, with accusations it jailed and tortured people suspected of having ONLF sympathies. Since the regional president, based in the local city of Jijiga, was ousted by federal forces in August, authorities and the group haven\u2019t clashed, according both to Ahmed and the new state president, Mustafa Omer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some areas where we agree,\u201d Mustafa said in an interview in the national capital, Addis Ababa. \u201cYes, we want more autonomy for our region, genuine self-rule.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the cease-fire predates Mustafa\u2019s rule as a response to Ethiopia\u2019s recent sweeping reforms, the ONLF is supporting the new president because \u201che can make a difference in clearing the system and creating a new political environment,\u201d Ahmed said. \u201cWe have agreed to work together to seek more rights for the Somali people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mustafa said regional authorities are letting the ONLF mobilize grassroots support and he\u2019ll help arrange its formal talks with Abiy\u2019s government in the coming weeks. The president welcomed the possibility of the ONLF taking part in federal elections slated for 2020.<\/p>\n
Ahmed said the ONLF will discuss the possibility of its disarmament with the government, and, should the negotiations face difficulty, Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has offered support in the talks. Once a deal is reached, the ONLF may compete in elections, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to have a negotiation — agreement on a comprehensive political settlement, and peace in the Ogaden — then oil companies can come and explore,\u201d Ahmed said.<\/p>\n
Source: Bloomberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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