US-supported peace talks held in November 2023 between the Ethiopian government and rebels from the country’s restive Oromia region proved unsuccessful. A Facebook post published shortly after the failed meeting claimed America had imposed fresh sanctions on Ethiopia for allegedly disrupting the negotiations. But AFP Fact Check found this to be false: there is no official record of such sanctions and the US embassy in Addis Ababa confirmed the post was a hoax.

The Facebook post was published in Afaan Oromoo on November 22, 2023 – a day after the warring parties announced (archived here) that the peace talks hosted in Tanzania ended without agreement.

“According to reliable sources, America has imposed new sanctions on Ethiopia for opposing and disrupting the recent peace talks between the OLA and the Ethiopian government,” reads the post, which has been shared more than 110 times.

OLA refers to the Oromo Liberation Army, a rebel force operating in Oromia, the largest region in Ethiopia.

US involvement in peace talks

The failed negotiations in Dar es Salaam were attended by the US special envoy for the Horn of Africa Mike Hammer.

Hammer presented his observations to the US Congress’s Foreign Affairs Committee on November 30, 2023 (archived here)

“Both the government of Ethiopia and OLA need the courage to end the conflict peacefully. The talks were difficult. It was difficult to yield what the people of Oromia expected from Dar es Salaam but progress was made. But, we are...

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