ADDIS ABABA, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's rebel group, Patriotic Ginbot 7, revealed on Tuesday its decision to return home after discussions with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
The rebel group, which the Ethiopian government previously considered as an outlawed terrorist group with frequent accusations against them over creating violence in the country, had been undertaking military operations based in Ethiopia's neighboring Eritrea for around a decade prior to suspending its armed operations since last month.
The group's leaders, who had held discussions with Prime Minister Ahmed over the weekend in Washington, United States, revealed on Tuesday that its members will return home in the coming few weeks period, state affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) reported.
The group further announced that the ongoing socioeconomic and political transformations witnessed in the East African country - since the coming of Ahmed to the premiership position - are the major reasons behind the decision to suspend its armed operations, and eventually to return home to pursue peaceful and democratic operations.
The group has recently stressed that the actions taken by Ahmed "have given us a ray of hope that peaceful transition to genuine democracy, our long-standing objective, is a real possibility."
Since coming to power, Ahmed has moved fast to institute political reforms including freeing thousands of prisoners including prominent opposition figures and has promised to amend controversial laws.
The Ethiopian House of People's Representatives (HoPR), the Ethiopian parliament's lower house, has also earlier this month approved a draft resolution to repeal three rebel groups - including Patriotic Ginbot 7 - from Ethiopia's terrorist groups list.
Members of both armed and other opposition groups have been also recently given amnesty calls from the Ethiopian government.
