Nobel body criticizes peace prize winner Abiy over Tigray

BY JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the prestigious Peace Prize, has issued a very rare admonition to the 2019 winner, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, over the war and humanitarian crisis in his country’s Tigray region. Abiy partly won the prize for making peace with neighboring Eritrea after one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts. In a statement Thursday, the committee said: “As prime minister and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Abiy Ahmed has a special responsibility to end the conflict and contribute to peace.” It added that the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia “is very serious, and it is not acceptable that humanitarian aid does not emerge to a sufficient degree.”