U.S. envoy returns from Ethiopia as Washington urges end to conflict

FILE PHOTO: U.N. Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman speaks during a news conference in Colombo March 3, 2015. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman returned from Ethiopia over the weekend following meetings with senior Ethiopian government officials and African Union representatives, the U.S. State Department said on Monday.

"We have continued to call for an end to the fighting. We have continued to call for the parties to engage in diplomacy in furtherance of a cessation of hostilities, just as we have reiterated the calls of the international community for an end to the human rights abuses and violations that we've seen," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.