A 27-member Cabinet for Ethiopia’s war-scarred Tigray was unveiled on Wednesday, official media in the region reported, the latest step in a peace process to end two years of brutal conflict.
The Cabinet includes members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and military commanders who fought federal forces during the war, Tigrai TV reported.
The establishment of an interim administration was a key tenet of a peace deal signed in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, in November last year by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the TPLF.
Last month, the Ethiopian government said TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda, the public face of the rebels during the war, had been appointed head of the interim government.
That followed the Ethiopian parliament’s move to remove the TPLF from an official list of terrorist groups in line with the November deal.
Debretsion Gebremichael, who had been president of the Tigray region since 2018, formally handed over the reins to Getachew during a ceremony on Wednesday, Tigrai TV reported.
“Members of the interim administration of Tigray, you have been given a responsibility to play your part in this peaceful stage of the struggle to ensure the security and the interests of the people of Tigray,” said Debretsion, who does not figure in the new lineup.
General Tadesse Worede, commander of Tigrayan forces during the war, has been named regional vice president, in charge of peace and security.
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
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