From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Apr 22 2010 - 09:56:18 EDT
Ethiopia opposition says activist beaten to death
Thu Apr 22, 2010 6:38am GMT
* Opposition says killing was political
* Government routinely denies attacking opponents
By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA, April 22 (Reuters) - An Ethiopian opposition activist has been
bludgeoned to death with a gun butt in the second politically motivated
murder in the run-up to national elections on May 23, an opposition leader
said on Thursday.
Bulcha Demeksa, a leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), told
Reuters the activist, Biyansa Daba, was attacked at home by members of the
ruling party.
"Biyansa Daba was beaten on April 7 with the butt of a gun," Bulcha said.
"He died in hospital on April 16. He was a very strong up and coming
figure."
"Of course it was political," Bulcha said. "They asked him to stop
converting people to OFC, they warned him many times. Why else would anyone
beat him?"
Government spokesmen were not immediately available to comment but routinely
deny that members of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic
Front intimidate the opposition.
In 2005, the results of the Horn of Africa country's last elections were
challenged by the opposition and some international observers.
Street riots erupted, security forces killed about 200 protesters and the
main opposition leaders were imprisoned. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said
they were trying to oust him.
The OFC and other parties representing the Oromo -- Ethiopia's biggest
ethnic group -- say ruling party officials are intimidating and jailing
their members.
The government denies it targets Oromo politicians and points to the fact
that there are several Oromo government ministers and a ceremonial president
of the country as proof.
Oromos, who number 27 million of Ethiopia's 80 million people, have not held
power in modern history. Ethiopia has more than 80 ethnic groups.
Prime Minister Meles is from the Tigrayan ethnic group, who make up 6
percent of the population and dominate the political and military elite.
Aregawi Gebre-Yohannes, an opposition candidate for the eight-party
coalition Medrek -- of which the OFC is a member --- was stabbed to death in
March.
The opposition says his killing was a political murder, but the government
says Aregawi was killed in a bar fight. A man has been sentenced to 15
years' jail for the killing.
Analysts expect the Meles government to win the election.
The opposition says the government scares people into voting for it. The
government says the opposition is weak and is trying to discredit the poll.
(Editing by George Obulutsa and Tim Pearce)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
Djibouti says Eritrea will bow to UN sanctions
Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:56pm GMT
* Says Eritrea is seeking to isolate itself
* UN says Eritrea's Somali role diminishing
By Jeremy Clarke
NAIROBI, April 21 (Reuters) - United Nations sanctions imposed on Eritrea
last year will stop it interfering in Somalia, Djibouti's foreign minister
said on Wednesday. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told reporters in Nairobi he was
confident Eritrea would be forced to alter its foreign policies but it would
likely remain the region's pariah state.
"Eritrea is trying in a way to wage war with each and everybody in the
region," said Youssouf, who was in the Kenyan capital to discuss regional
security and economic cooperation with his Kenyan counterpart.
Eritrea is accused of backing rebel groups in Somalia -- something it has
repeatedly denied -- where at least 21,000 people have been killed in
violence since the beginning of 2007.
In December the United Nations imposed sanctions on Eritrea, saying Asmara
was sending weapons to southern Somalia, which is controlled by the al
Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group.
Djibouti, which is sandwiched between Eritrea and Somalia, said it alone
could not disrupt the flow of weapons from Eritrea but was confident the
sanctions would have the desired effect.
"(The U.N. sanctions will) compel Eritrea to at least abide by international
regulations and stop messing with the national security of Somalia ... and
Djibouti," he said.
A U.N. report last month suggested weapons deliveries from Eritrea to
Somalia had slowed recently and Asmara's support for Somali rebels was now
more diplomatic, logistical and financial.
But Eritrea denies it ever assisted the violent insurgency and says the
sanctions were designed and imposed by Washington because it feared any
nation that would go its own way.
Youssouff said the resolution was an African initiative, pointing out it was
tabled at the Security Council by Uganda. Relations between the two
neighbours remain hostile, with occasional border skirmishes. Djibouti says
a portion of their land is being occupied by Eritrea, something Asmara
denies. (Editing by Giles Elgood)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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