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Agence France-Presse

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the world’s highest-profile Tigrayan, has denied accusations by Ethiopia’s army chief that he was lobbying for and seeking to arm leaders in the conflict-torn dissident region.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed unleashed a military campaign in the northern region on November 4 with the declared aim of unseating its ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which he accuses of defying his government and seeking to destabilise it.
Army chief Berhanu Jula told a press conference that Tedros, who served as health minister under TPLF leader Meles Zenawi, was “a part of that team”, referring to the party.
“He has worked in neighbouring countries to condemn the war. He has worked for them to get weapons,” said Berhanu, without offering evidence to support the claims.
He added that Tedros had “left no stone unturned” to help the TPLF.
Redwan Hussein, spokesman for an Ethiopian crisis committee handling the conflict, admitted “the government is not happy” with Tedros.


“The government is aware that he has been hustling and bustling, calling leaders and … institutions and asking them to … compel the government to sit and negotiate,” he told a press conference.
Tedros said that he saw the destructive nature of war as a child, and has “used that first-hand experience to always work for peace”.
“There have been reports suggesting I am taking sides in this situation. This is not true,” Tedros, 55, wrote on Twitter.
Civilians in Ethiopia conflict describe horror scenes
“I want to say that I am on only one side and that is the side of peace.”
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave his support to the WHO chief.
“We have all seen the work that he has been doing leading WHO,” he said, calling Tedros “an exemplary international civil servant”.

Tedros was appointed as the first African head of the WHO in 2017 and has become a household name as he grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic. He has been ranked as one of Time magazine’s most influential people.
Abiy’s government insists its target is the “reactionary and rogue” members of the TPLF and not average civilians in Tigray.
But observers have voiced concern about Tigrayans losing their jobs or being arrested for their ethnicity.
Bombs from Ethiopia’s Tigray region hit neighbouring Eritrea, as conflict widens
The TPLF led the overthrow of Mengistu Hailemariam, head of Ethiopia’s military Derg regime, in 1991 and dominated politics for three decades until the arrival of Abiy who was appointed in 2018.
The party has complained about being sidelined under Abiy, and scapegoated for the country’s woes. The bitter feud with the central government this year led the TPLF to hold their own elections in defiance of a postponement due to the pandemic.
On November 4, Abiy said the TPLF had attacked two federal military camps in the region, crossing a “red line”.

His controversial campaign has seen warplanes bombing Tigray and heavy fighting, while Amnesty International has documented a gruesome massacre.
A communications blackout in Tigray has made claims difficult to verify, but the overall death toll is believed to be in the hundreds.
Abiy this week insisted the military operation was in its final phase.
Redwan said that “our defence forces are moving forward and closing in on Mekele,” the regional capital.
Hundreds killed in Ethiopia as PM seeks to allay civil war fears
He added that the northern town of Shire, where heavy fighting has been reported in recent days, was already in government hands.
A senior Tigrayan official, Wondimu Asamnew, said that Tigrayan forces “have adopted a defensive posture on all fronts”.
A statement from Tigray president Debretsion Gebremichael on Thursday said the army had “called upon assistance from an outside force, with drones starting to be used in the battle”.
Meanwhile the UN says a “full-scale humanitarian crisis” is unfolding, with 36,000 people having streamed into neighbouring Sudan, according to that country’s refugee commission.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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War and conflict

WHO chief Tedros denies Ethiopia’s claims he backs Tigray rebels in conflict

Ethiopian troops near the border of the Tigray and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. Photo: AP

An Ethiopian man who fled war in Tigray region, sleeps under a tree at the Um-Rakoba camp on the Sudan-Ethiopia border in Al-Qadarif state, Sudan November 19, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization. File photo: AP

Civilians in Ethiopia conflict describe horror scenes: ‘bodies dismembered by explosions’

Ethiopian troops near the border of the Tigray and Amhara regions of Ethiopia. Photo: Ethiopian News Agency via AP

Ethiopian migrants, who fled intense fighting in their homeland, gather in the Um Raquba camp in the town of Gadaref, east of Khartoum, on November 15, 2020, after being transported from the border reception centre. - Around 25,000 Ethiopians fleeing conflict in the Tigray region have crossed into neighbouring Sudan, state news agency SUNA reported, as the UN said it was working to find them shelter. (Photo by Ebrahim HAMID / AFP)

Map locates the Tigray area

Ethiopians who fled fighting in Tigray region prepare to cross the Setit River on the Sudan-Ethiopia border. Photo: Reuters

Bombs from Ethiopia’s Tigray region hit neighbouring Eritrea, as conflict widens

Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed in the conflict in Africa’s second most populous country. File photo: Reuters

Refugees from the Tigray region of Ethiopia region arrive to register at the UNCHR center at Hamdayet, Sudan on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. Ethiopia’s defiant Tigray regional government has fired rockets at two airports in the neighboring Amhara region as a deadly conflict threatens to spread into other parts of Africa’s second-most populous country. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 10, 2019 Ethiopia's Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Abiy Ahmed Ali poses after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize during a ceremony at the city hall in Oslo. - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power promising real democracy, promoting women and feverishly planting trees across his vast country, snapping up the Nobel Peace Prize along the way. But Abiy's image of a modern, peacemaking reformer risks shattering entirely now that he has sent troops and warplanes into his country's northern Tigray region, a move analysts fear could push Africa's second most populous country into a long, devastating civil war. (Photo by Fredrik VARFJELL / AFP)

Refugees from the Tigray region of Ethiopia region wait to register at the UNCHR center at Hamdayet, Sudan on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020. Ethiopia’s defiant Tigray regional government has fired rockets at two airports in the neighboring Amhara region as a deadly conflict threatens to spread into other parts of Africa’s second-most populous country. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 10, 2020, Amhara militia men, that combat alongside federal and regional forces against northern region of Tigray, receive training in the outskirts of the village of Addis Zemen, north of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. - The US on November 13, 2020, urged an immediate de-escalation of the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, voicing alarm over the "massacre of civilians." "We condemn the massacre of civilians in Mai-Kadra and strongly urge immediate steps to de-escalate and end conflict throughout the Tigray region," said Tibor Nagy, the top US diplomat for Africa, referring to a town where Amnesty International reported mass killings. (Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS / AFP)

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Ethiopia’s forces and Tigrayan rebels fight for two weeks
WHO chief Tedros denies taking sides, calls for peace



Ethiopia’s army accused WHO chief of taking sides in conflict and helping secure weapons for rebel fighters.


World Health Organization (WHO)

WHO chief Tedros denies Ethiopia’s claims he backs Tigray rebels in conflict

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Ethiopia’s forces and Tigrayan rebels fight for two weeks WHO chief Tedros denies taking sides, calls for peace

Ethiopia’s forces and Tigrayan rebels fight for two weeks

WHO chief Tedros denies taking sides, calls for peace