Meles Zenawi, who ruled Ethiopia for more than 20 years, has died while undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness, according to Ethiopian state television.
It announced on Tuesday that the 57-year-old prime minister died from a sudden infection while recovering from the illness at a hospital abroad.
In a statment read on state TV, Simon Bereket, information minister, said : "It's a sad day for Ethiopia, the man who led our country for the past 21 years and brought economic and democratic changes, has died. We have lost our respected leader.
"Meles has been receiving treatment abroad. He was getting better and we were expecting him to return to Addis Ababa. But he developed a sudden infection and died around 11:40pm last night.
"His body will be returned to Ethiopia soon. We have set up a committee to organise his funeral. More information will be released about that soon."
State media said Hailemariam Desalegn, deputy prime minister, would be the acting prime minister.
Bereket said: "As per Ethiopian law, Hailemariam Desalegn has now taken over the leadership. He will also be in charge of the Ethiopian military and all other government institutions.
"I would like to stress, nothing in Ethiopia will change. The government will continue. Our policies and institutions will continue. Nothing will change in Ethiopia. Desalegn will be confirmed by parliament."
Read more
Obituary: Meles Zenawi
Country Profile: Ethiopia
Talk to Al Jazeera: Meles Zenawi
In Pictures: Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi
Earlier Al Jazeera's Peter Greste, reporting from Johannesburg in South Africa, said: "His death did not come as a surprise because Zenawi missed a couple of important public events.
Rumours about his public health started to rise during the African Union summit where he failed to appear.
"The question now is where does this leave the country. There are already rumours of power struggle in his absence. Tere is no clear succession plan in Addis Ababa. It is not certain who will replace Meles.
"I certainly cannot think of any political figure in Ethiopia at the moment that has his charisma, political savvy or his control over the country."
Zenawi had been in power since overthrowing Mengistu Haile Mariam's military junta in 1991.
He served as president from 1991 to 1995, when he became prime minister.
Zenawi was credited with Ethiopia's economic boom in the past decade, with economic growth shooting from 3.8 per cent in the 1990s to 10 per cent in 2010.
Domestic matters
On the domestic front, Zenawi would regularly come under fire from human rights organisations who accused him of gross abuses against ethnic minorities, including Ethiopia's ethnic Somalis in the eastern Ogaden region where rebels have fought a long-running uprising.
Similar ethnic conflicts have boiled among the Oromo people in central Ethiopia, the Afar in the far east on the border with Eritrea, and the Anuak people near the border with South Sudan.
Zenawi defended his policies in an interview in 2011
Zenawi would tolerate no criticism: in 2005, nearly 200 people died in a crackdown on demonstrations by the opposition, who accused Meles of rigging elections.
But some Ethiopians argued that he did what was necessary to stabilise the vast and ethnically diverse state.
The much criticised 2009 anti-terrorism law, which rights groups have said is far too vague and has been used to quash freedom of speech and peaceful political dissent, has seen multiple opposition figures and journalists, including two Swedes, jailed for lengthy terms.
In the wider region, Zenawi was never afraid to make full use of Ethiopia's powerful and well-equipped army.
After overseeing the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 - run by fellow ex-rebel fighters who had also fought to topple Mengistu - Zenawi returned to war, with a 1998-2000 border war leaving tens of thousands dead.
A peace deal led to a tense standoff, with Zenawi refusing to pull troops from the border town of Badme, even after an international court ruled the town belonged to Eritrea.
The town has been the source of festering discontent between the nations ever since.
Somalia invastion
Zenawi also invaded longtime Ethiopian foe Somalia, sending troops and tanks to topple an Islamist regime in 2006, before pulling out the following year in the face of guerrilla attacks.
//
Reactions to Zenawi's death
Made_INubia The universe is finally making sense in a sort of backwards way. There is a wave, a revolution forming. #Meles #meleszenawi about 1 minute ago · reply · retweet · favorite
eggheader Eritrea and Solamia. RT _at_faithcnn: After 20 years in power, what legacy does Meles Zenawi leave behind? #Ethiopia #Africa #MelesZenawi 3 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
alex_mololo RT _at_tesfalemw: #MelesZenawi is passed away last night at around 11:50pm in a foreign hospital, according to ETV, Ethiopia Radio #Ethiopia 4 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
siakilamtu RT _at_OPride: To the world, #MelesZenawi skilfully projected an image of a soft-spoken intellectual. To #Ethiopians he's rude, arrogant, and threatening. 4 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
4 new tweets
alex_mololo RT _at_africamedia_CPJ: death of #MelesZenawi creates more uncertainty about fate of journalists & dissidents jailed in his prisons as 'terrorists' #Ethiopia 5 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
BuunniCoffee RT _at_malonebarry: Whatever people thought of #MelesZenawi, they rarely denied his cleverness. Ran rings round us foreign journalists at press conferences 5 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
andrewclark189 PM #MelesZenawi of #Ethiopia is dead, according to State Television bbc.in/QlQmPD 8 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
dertogada Alas what bothers me the most is not the fact I passe away at early agebut left so many projects unfinished,RIP our master mind #meleszenawi 10 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
nearestfollies #MelesZenawi obituary gu.com/p/39q4n/tw via _at_guardian #Ethipia 12 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Made_INubia I respect his death for the sake of Allah but I WILL NOT forget those close to me who have been tortured and killed. #meleszenawi 12 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
liliyefish RT _at_OPride: To the world, #MelesZenawi skilfully projected an image of a soft-spoken intellectual. To #Ethiopians he's rude, arrogant, and threatening. 12 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Made_INubia We are in a backwards world! #meleszenawi 14 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Abdu_One #MelesZenawi body flowing to Ethiopia from Brussels ethiotube.net/video/21516/Al… 14 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Made_INubia No one respects the death of those who opposed #meleszenawi for the ppl, yet we are supposed to be respectful towards him? 14 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
BuunniCoffee RT _at_tesfalemw: #MelesZenawi is passed away last night at around 11:50pm in a foreign hospital, according to ETV, Ethiopia Radio #Ethiopia 16 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
endalk2006 The rumor of #Forex crisis was circulating very high before #MelesZenawi's death official confirmation 17 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
faithcnn RT _at_Aynte: Everybody I speak with about #MelesZenawi's death is worried about succession. Govt failed to establish democratic institutions. #Ethiopia 18 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
DBarou RT _at_Semhar: Where is #MelesZenawi's wife, Azieb? Rumors she's in Italy. Member of parliament, v powerful, owns various para-statal companies, ie EFFORT. 23 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
ebubeonline RT _at_malonebarry: Reuters: Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi died overnight in Brussels, says European Commission #Ethiopia #MelesZenawi 24 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
ElFinanciero_Mx Muere jefe de gobierno etíope #MelesZenawi bit.ly/OLOkYW #Etiopía 25 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
ImadAhmed Ethiopian's strongman leader since '91 passes away. He brought stability & growth to one of Africa's most promising economies #MelesZenawi 30 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
officiallyMitu RT _at_BBCDanielS: OK. That's enough Ethiopia. Time to get back to Russian politics. Happy New Year and Happy Meskel everybody. #MelesZenawi 31 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
bonifacemwangi RT _at_shitemikhamadi: In Africa,we hardly talk truth or the reality where it was blurry, of the dead.for fear of what?curses! #meleszenawi cc _at_bonifacemwangi 42 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
OmerFreixa Falleció en Europa #MelesZenawi, PM de #Etiopía y ex pres.,en el poder desde 1991. Estaba enfermo, no se reveló de qué. internacional.elpais.com/internacional/… 45 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
OmarSMahmood RT _at_endalk2006: The corpus of #MelesZenawi to arrive to #Addis in the afternoon 47 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
sfconnected RT _at_StandardKenya: #Ethiopian Prime Minister #MelesZenawi dies at the age of 57. Watch Video bit.ly/OukXNi 51 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
IntRefRights IRRI Co-Director Dismas Nkunda speculates on the impact of the death of #MelesZenawi. refugee-rights.org/blog/?p=176 54 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
_jigsawyouth But hark I spoke too soon. An absurdly polite & hushed row about the relative merits of #meleszenawi has broken out. 54 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Annoula64 RT _at_EverythingAddis: "_at_globeandmail: Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi dead at 57 bit.ly/PBSy9j" #Ethiopia #MelesZenawi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
malonebarry Kofi Annan statement on #MelesZenawi next. Calls it "challenging time for the country and its people". Says hopes for peaceful transition about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Shiineculay Ethiopian deputy PM become new Prime minister after death former PM #MelesZenawi. about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
malonebarry African Union just put out statement on Meles: says death "has robbed Africa of one of its greatest sons" #MelesZenawi #Ethiopia about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
africanstates What reminds me that I had this among my readings for the summer, but still on the pile :-( #MelesZenawi pic.twitter.com/LjvGCTQq about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
annasvalaj The development achieved in Ethiopia over the last 20 years is no less than amazing #MelesZenawi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
EverythingAddis "_at_guardian: _at_guardianworld looks at the life of #MelesZenawi, Ethiopian prime minister, who has died gu.com/p/39q4n/tw" obituary.. about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Hamza_Africa Say Hey to... You know who! RT _at_Moadow Heading to #Addis Ababa #MelesZenawi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
archittiwari " Meles Zenawi was the living embodiment of development state" :Ethiopian Strongman Dies #meleszenawi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
kasabiiti How does one win an election with 99% of the vote? impossible! #MelesZenawi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
FlumesNews Ethiopia's Prime Minister, #MelesZenawi has died age 57 flumes.com/ethiopia. about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
omabha وفاة مليس زيناوي تعني الحياة للصوماليين #somalia #MelesZenawi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
ramakajei smh RT _at_hayayuletu: I respect human life &I do not wish death to anybody but i am pleased with the death of #MelesZenawi. about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
araoameny overwhelmed with emails about death of #Ethiopian president #MelesZenawi, the power vacuum & its implications for East #Africa region. Wow. about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
africanstates According to my TL, hope and expectation seems to be the dominant feelings #MelesZenawi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
haggisheadtweet RT _at_Camell_Rider2012RT _at_loughrichard: here's our latest update on death of #MelesZenawi: Ethiopian strongman and Western ally dies ht... about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
NaijaHistory “_at_ikeasiakpo: _at_ayittey Even @ death Africans are known to mourn. Show some respect” << #MelesZenawi gv his ppl no respect. He deserves none! about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
solhog RT _at_OPride: Bereket says #MelesZenawi's legacy will continue. Does he mean more killing, imprisonment, crackdown on dissent and media? #Ethiopia about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Rahella_Bella RT _at_ri_kh: If this is true about #MelesZenawi, GOD have mercy on his soul. I'd never wish death upon anyone, but I can say the #HOA will not miss him. about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
endalk2006 The #credibility of the pro-regime local press especially #AddisFortune,#AddisAmass & #TheReporter will be buried together with #MelesZenawi about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Rahella_Bella RT _at_ri_kh: What is in store for the #HOA now!?!? If #MelesZenawi is actually dead, who will be the newly appointed leader? about 1 hour ago · reply · retweet · favorite
africanstates RT _at_malonebarry: Got to wonder what #Ethiopia's former dictator Mengistu, overthrown by #MelesZenawi and his allies, is saying at home in Harare today.. 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
adam_sandor RT _at_africanstates: Sad? "_at_AfricaAtLSE: Sad news today about death of #MelesZenawi. A year ago, LSE's Elliott Green assessed his twenty... bit.ly/SfZ2vH" 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
WichoW Lmao RT _at_ErastusGatobu: Video of his death??? RT _at_KTNKenya: #Ethiopian Prime Minister #MelesZenawi dies. Watch Video bit.ly/OukXNi 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
marcusolang Indeed. -» _at_crazynairobian: Of how he died? RT _at_KTNKenya: #Ethiopian PM #MelesZenawi dies at the age of 57. Watch Video bit.ly/OukXNi 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
cmrydland RT _at_Semhar: BBC just described #MelesZenawi as one of #Africa's "most powerful & controversial" leaders. 2 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite
Join the conversation
He sent Ethiopian troops back into Somalia in 2011.
While Zenawi was regularly singled out by rights groups as one of the continent's worst human-rights predators, some Western observers took the pragmatic view that Ethiopia and the region needed Zenawi where he was.
Former US president Bill Clinton once called him a "renaissance leader", while a leaked 2009 US diplomatic cable described him as "quiet, deliberative and certainly not a 'man about town'", adding he was a "voracious reader and very introspective."
Unlike many of his fellow African leaders Zenawi never earned a reputation for having a taste for luxury.
In the final decade of his life he challenged the world's powerful and spearheaded an African push for more fairness in key climate change talks.
Speculation that Zenawi was seriously ill grew after he failed to attend an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, last month.
Diplomats in Addis Ababa had said he was being treated in Brussels for an undisclosed illness, while others said he was in Germany.
Ethiopia's government said last month that he was taking a break to recover from an unspecified condition.
Meles Zenawi, who ruled Ethiopia for more than 20 years, has died while undergoing treatment for an undisclosed illness, according to Ethiopian state television.
It announced on Tuesday that the 57-year-old prime minister died from a sudden infection while recovering from the illness at a hospital abroad.
In a statment read on state TV, Simon Bereket, information minister, said : "It's a sad day for Ethiopia, the man who led our country for the past 21 years and brought economic and democratic changes, has died. We have lost our respected leader.
"Meles has been receiving treatment abroad. He was getting better and we were expecting him to return to Addis Ababa. But he developed a sudden infection and died around 11:40pm last night.
"His body will be returned to Ethiopia soon. We have set up a committee to organise his funeral. More information will be released about that soon."
State media said Hailemariam Desalegn, deputy prime minister, would be the acting prime minister.
Bereket said: "As per Ethiopian law, Hailemariam Desalegn has now taken over the leadership. He will also be in charge of the Ethiopian military and all other government institutions.
"I would like to stress, nothing in Ethiopia will change. The government will continue. Our policies and institutions will continue. Nothing will change in Ethiopia. Desalegn will be confirmed by parliament."
Read more
Obituary: Meles Zenawi
Country Profile: Ethiopia
Talk to Al Jazeera: Meles Zenawi
In Pictures: Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi
Earlier Al Jazeera's Peter Greste, reporting from Johannesburg in South Africa, said: "His death did not come as a surprise because Zenawi missed a couple of important public events.
Rumours about his public health started to rise during the African Union summit where he failed to appear.
"The question now is where does this leave the country. There are already rumours of power struggle in his absence. Tere is no clear succession plan in Addis Ababa. It is not certain who will replace Meles.
"I certainly cannot think of any political figure in Ethiopia at the moment that has his charisma, political savvy or his control over the country."
Zenawi had been in power since overthrowing Mengistu Haile Mariam's military junta in 1991.
He served as president from 1991 to 1995, when he became prime minister.
Zenawi was credited with Ethiopia's economic boom in the past decade, with economic growth shooting from 3.8 per cent in the 1990s to 10 per cent in 2010.
Domestic matters
On the domestic front, Zenawi would regularly come under fire from human rights organisations who accused him of gross abuses against ethnic minorities, including Ethiopia's ethnic Somalis in the eastern Ogaden region where rebels have fought a long-running uprising.
Similar ethnic conflicts have boiled among the Oromo people in central Ethiopia, the Afar in the far east on the border with Eritrea, and the Anuak people near the border with South Sudan.
Zenawi defended his policies in an interview in 2011
Zenawi would tolerate no criticism: in 2005, nearly 200 people died in a crackdown on demonstrations by the opposition, who accused Meles of rigging elections.
But some Ethiopians argued that he did what was necessary to stabilise the vast and ethnically diverse state.
The much criticised 2009 anti-terrorism law, which rights groups have said is far too vague and has been used to quash freedom of speech and peaceful political dissent, has seen multiple opposition figures and journalists, including two Swedes, jailed for lengthy terms.
In the wider region, Zenawi was never afraid to make full use of Ethiopia's powerful and well-equipped army.
After overseeing the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 - run by fellow ex-rebel fighters who had also fought to topple Mengistu - Zenawi returned to war, with a 1998-2000 border war leaving tens of thousands dead.
A peace deal led to a tense standoff, with Zenawi refusing to pull troops from the border town of Badme, even after an international court ruled the town belonged to Eritrea.
The town has been the source of festering discontent between the nations ever since.
Somalia invastion
Zenawi also invaded longtime Ethiopian foe Somalia, sending troops and tanks to topple an Islamist regime in 2006, before pulling out the following year in the face of guerrilla attacks.
//
Reactions to Zenawi's death
Join the conversation
He sent Ethiopian troops back into Somalia in 2011.
While Zenawi was regularly singled out by rights groups as one of the continent's worst human-rights predators, some Western observers took the pragmatic view that Ethiopia and the region needed Zenawi where he was.
Former US president Bill Clinton once called him a "renaissance leader", while a leaked 2009 US diplomatic cable described him as "quiet, deliberative and certainly not a 'man about town'", adding he was a "voracious reader and very introspective."
Unlike many of his fellow African leaders Zenawi never earned a reputation for having a taste for luxury.
In the final decade of his life he challenged the world's powerful and spearheaded an African push for more fairness in key climate change talks.
Speculation that Zenawi was seriously ill grew after he failed to attend an African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, last month.
Diplomats in Addis Ababa had said he was being treated in Brussels for an undisclosed illness, while others said he was in Germany.
Ethiopia's government said last month that he was taking a break to recover from an unspecified condition
Received on Tue Aug 21 2012 - 17:35:18 EDT
