On November 5, the US State Department ordered the withdrawal of non-essential staff from its embassy in Addis Ababa, due to “armed conflict, civil unrest, and potential supply shortages”, and several diplomatic missions followed Washington’s lead.
This week, the US Embassy appears to have angered the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed by issuing a warning of the danger of terrorist attacks in Ethiopia.
“Previously, they (the Americans) were publishing information that Addis Ababa is surrounded (by the rebels), and now they have added to this false information that a terrorist attack will be carried out,” government spokesman Kebede Desisa said in a press conference for local media, Thursday.
“These actions harm the historical relations between the two countries,” he added.
The war in the northern Tigray region began in November 2020 when the Ethiopian Prime Minister sent the army to oust the local authorities, emanating from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, after he accused them of “attacking military bases” of the army.
Washington had considered Ethiopia an important security partner in the volatile Horn of Africa, but relations deteriorated due to the internal war that has been going on for more than a year.
The administration of President Joe Biden announced in November its intention to withdraw Ethiopia from a major trade deal exempting its exports from customs duties.
But the US administration has refrained from imposing sanctions on the Ethiopian government and the rebels in the hope of reaching a settlement.
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