Ethiopia: Civilians & protesters wounded or killed by military & police in Addis

Some A lot more of us in the international public need to be paying more attention to the killing going on in Ethiopia's capital. Many of us - rightfully - care what's going on in Washington and in the Senate and House of Representatives; a lot of us care about Argentina preparing for the Summit of the Americas and expected protests; some of us are also watching the terrible news of race riots in Paris. But what about Ethiopia? What is going on in Ethiopia? I googled "Addis Ababa" + "elections" + "violence" and I got one single article in The Scotsman. Thank you, Scotsman! I just wanted to try some sources in addition to AllAfrica.com. The end of The Scotsman article reads: "The violence erupted over protests of May 15 elections that had been seen as a test of Prime Minister Zenawi Meles' commitment to reform gave Meles' Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front control of nearly two-thirds of parliament. Opposition parties say the vote and counting were marred by fraud, intimidation and violence, and accuse the ruling party of rigging the elections." The top of the article begins: "Police shot and killed two people and wounded 12 others in Addis Ababa in the fourth day of protests against Ethiopia's disputed parliamentary elections, doctors said. The renewed violence came a day after police shot dead at least 29 people and wounded dozens more, according to doctors who said the previous death toll of 23 rose after six people died overnight in hospitals. The latest victims were shot at Old Airport, a wealthy neighbourhood where many foreign expatriates live, according to doctors at the Black Lion and Zewditu hospitals. Sporadic gunfire was heard near the French and Dutch embassies. Elsewhere in Addis Ababa, stone-throwing protesters had earlier defied a heavy military presence. ..." Read the rest at The Scotsman link - highlighted above.

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The dubious role of US foreign policy can some shed light on what’s taking place behind the media wall of silence.

The Meles Zenawi regime received official US blessing under the Clinton Administration when it was even promoted as a model of new leadership for Africa - guerilla princes, supposedly-turned democrats and IMF/Word Bank reformists.

Today, as the Bush administration prosecutes its galactic crusade against terror, Mr Zenawi & Co are considered crucial allies in the Horn of Africa. US Special Forces and their Ethiopian counterparts have carried out joint operations in Somalia, according to the BBC. Even the once-evil Islamic fundamentalist regime in Sudan (and former host of Al Qaida leader, Osama Bin Laden) is now a partner in the war against terror. Huge oil deposits in Sudan have led to its rehabilitation by the US in spite of the genocide being perpetrated in the Darfur region. Under Collin Power’s watch the State Department rewarded Sudan with its removal from the list of nations supporting terrorism. Needless to say then, the twin paradigms of the anti-terror crusade and secure oil deposits for the US, outweigh all other considerations in the Bush White House's world view. For the people of Ethiopia that means little or no pressure on the regime to cease its practice of electoral fraud and the brutal suppression of the opposition.