Nigeria's Obasanjo clinches unlikely Ethiopia truce

FILE PHOTO - Former Nigerian president and chairman of the West Africa Commission on Drugs, Olusegun Obasanjo, looks at documents during an interview with Reuters in Dakar, Senegal September 11, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron Ross

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Olusegun Obasanjo has had mixed results as a mediator of intractable conflicts across Africa since he stepped down as Nigeria's president in 2007, although he has never tired of trying.

But on Wednesday the 85-year-old secured a surprise win, leading the team that announced a cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia, marking a diplomatic breakthrough in a conflict that has killed thousands, displaced millions and left many starving.