ADDIS ABABA, Reuters – Ethiopia demanded that the World Health Organization investigate its chief for aiding rebel forces against the Ethiopian government. The foreign ministry stated.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was the WHO’s director general.

Ethiopia released a statement on Thursday late in the evening stating that Tedros Adhanom had ruined WHO’s organisational standing. He has posted harmful misinformation on social media and has damaged WHO’s integrity, independence, and credibility.

A request for comments was not answered by the WHO immediately.

Ethiopia’s army chief has previously accused https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-conflict-who-idUSKBN27Z13Z Tedros of trying to procure arms and diplomatic backing for the rebellious forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). He denies that.

Tigrayan troops were forced to leave Tigray on December 12th after the conflict spread to other regions of northern Ethiopia.

According to the U.N., the government has de facto blocked humanitarian aid from Tigray since December 15. No trucks entered the area. Over 90% of Tigray’s population requires food assistance. Last week, doctors said that more than a thousand people are suffering from hunger and thirst because they cannot get medicine into Tigray.

On Thursday, Tedros tweeted “People in #Tigray #Ethiopia, living under de facto blockade for over a year, are dying from lack of medicine & food, & repeated drone attacks. @WHO & partners call for safe, unimpeded access to deliver humanitarian aid to the millions of people in great need.”

The government denies blocking aid, accusing the TPLF with requisitioning trucks that were already sent.

According to Ethiopia’s foreign ministry, Tedros did not show integrity or professionalism. He was also a member the TPLF which dominated Ethiopian politics almost 30 years prior to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad’s appointment in 2018.

The ministry stated that Tedros supports the TPLF through his media engagements, and also celebrates what the group’s military successes. He is not only selectively outraged when he addresses humanitarian concerns in Ethiopia.”

After the conflict that broke out in November 2020, the government declared TPLF a terrorist organization. Tedros, a Tigrayan was a member the TPLF. Abiy was also an intelligence chief in the government of the TPLF.

The latest criticism follows two difficult years for Tedros as he led the world through a global pandemic and faced attacks https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-who-idUSKCN2242TW from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who withheld https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-who-idUSKBN2352YJ WHO funding over accusations Tedros did not sufficiently challenge China over the origins of COVID-19.

Tedros, supported by strong Ethiopian support and African votes was elected as the WHO’s first African director general in May 2017. In October, he ran as the only nominee. Tedros was appointed by 28 countries, including Ethiopia.