Ethiopia Withdraws OLF, ONLF and Ginbot 7 from Terrorism List

Addis Ababa – The Ethiopian Parliament approved a government recommendation to remove three rebel groups from the list of terrorist organizations from the country.

Parliament, which is controlled by EPRDF's ruling coalition with the 547 seats currently held by party members, pbaded the resolution unanimously on Thursday. The EPRDF has been in power since 1991.

The groups – Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and Ginbot 7 – have each been engaged in armed struggles against the government in Addis Ababa.

Fitsum Arega, chief of staff of the Ethiopian prime minister, said Saturday on Twitter that the "Cabinet has submitted a resolution to parliament for ratification that will cancel the appointment of the OLF, the ONLF and of Ginbot 7 as terrorist groups. "

According to Fitsum, a law was also pbaded by parliament to grant amnesty to individuals and groups involved in the armed struggle against the government.

Ethiopian badysts said the decision was a step in the right direction.

"The decision is a major breakthrough, but for it to be really effective, the government needs to review some of the restrictive laws currently in place," Aleljah Lulie told Al Jazeer. About the cabinet decision

"The government must review the current anti-terrorism law, it also needs to reform the security services, the judiciary and also the electoral commission," added Hallelujah

Last month Ginbot 7 said he would stop the armed attacks in the country following the reforms announced by the new Abiy government "Our forces have been given strict orders to refrain from any form of armed resistance," he said. the group in a statement posted on their Facebook page

Ginbot 7, an opposition group outlaw formed after a disputed election in. 2005 and named after the date in the Ethiopian calendar when the vote took place – claimed many deadly attacks in the past.

Ethiopia released senior Ginbot 7 prison officials in June, including Andargachew Tsige, who was convicted of violent attacks and initially sentenced in absentia in 2009 for his role in the opposition group .

Tsige was arrested at a stopover at an airport in Yemen in June 2014 and taken to Ethiopia

. o dropped the charges against the group leader, Berhanu Nega, who is based outside of Ethiopia and was sentenced to death in absentia for a murder plot in 2009.

L & # 39; OLF seeks the self-determination of the Oromo people against what it considers rule. The Amharas are an ethnic group in the highlands of northern and central Ethiopia.

The ONLF is a separatist rebel group fighting for self-determination of Somalis in the Somali region of Ethiopia. The group claims the autonomy of this region and has claimed several attacks since 1994 against Ethiopian forces in the region.

Abiy, who took office in April, continues the rapprochement with several opposition groups

. bases in neighboring Eritrea. Addis Ababa has also begun peace talks with Asmara, its longtime enemy.

-Al Jazeera