Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker.

My guest today recently returned to his home in Miqueli, capital of the Ethiopian region of Tigray,

having signed a document in South Africa which may just be a lifesaver for hundreds of thousands,

if not millions of people.

Gatachu Raida is spokesperson for and an executive committee member of the Tigray People's Liberation

Front.

On the face of it, the deal looks like a capitulation by the Tigrayan rebels.

They've agreed to disarm their forces within 30 days, to let the Ethiopian military take

control of their towns and cities and key installations. But many difficult issues remain

unresolved, not least a full accounting for the horrors and potential crimes committed

over the past two years. As for the TPLF, does it now have to acknowledge a catastrophic

strategic failure? Well, Gattachu Reda joins me now on a not terribly good line from Miqueli.

Welcome to Hard Talk. My pleasure, it's a pleasure to have you on the show.

Let me begin with a very simple question.

There you sit in Makele, the capital of Tigray region.

If you go outside right now, who is in control?

Is it the Ethiopian armed forces, the federal armed forces, or is it your forces from the TPLF?

It's our forces who are firmly in control of Magana.

Right. So this is a very delicate stage of the peace process, because over the next few days,

there is supposed to be a disengagement process and then full authority and control of

McKale and other key towns and cities, your airports and everything else, is supposed to be

handed over to the federal government and federal forces, right?

...