"As of today 22 June 2018, Patriotic Ginbot 7 has suspended all self-defence operations using firearms in all regions of Ethiopia," the group said in a press statement."Our forces have received strict orders to refrain from any form of armed resistance," the statement added.

The group said it was inspired by reforms introduced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, which it said had "given us a ray of hope that peaceful transition to genuine democracy, our long-standing objective, is a real possibility".

Ginbot7 had been designated as a terrorist organisation by previous governments.

The government pardoned the group's secretary-general, Andargachew Tsege, on 29 May.

He was arrested in Yemen in 2014 after being sentenced to death in absentia in 2009 for allegedly plotting a coup.