Source: Bloomberg

By Zainab Fattah, 22 November 2020, 17:25 GMT

The United Arab Emirates called on Ethiopian leaders to return to talks and end a military conflict that’s pitting the country’s central government against the dissident northern Tigray state, the UAE’s official news agency WAM reported.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed “stressed the need to return and implement the rule of law” in Ethiopia, which is “key to security and stability in the Horn of Africa and the region,” WAM reported on Sunday.

The minister said the UAE has been in contact with many of its partners in Africa and the region to help put an end to the conflict by peaceful means, according to the statement.

The hostilities in Ethiopia erupted on Nov. 4 after months of tension between the federal and regional governments and have triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Tigrayan authorities say 100,000 people have been displaced, and the United Nations has warned that an additional 1.1 million people may need aid. No official figures of the number of people who’ve been killed are available.