Ethiopian police say grenades defused in capital
Jan 24, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — The Addis Ababa police said Tuesday they had defused two hand grenades planted outside a school and university in the capital Addis Ababa, a day after two of the devices exploded in other areas of the city.
The grenades were discovered outside the gate of a junior high school in the suburb of Akaki and near Addis Ababa University, the Ethiopian Federal Police said in a statement carried by the state-run news agency.
The devices were found and defused after members of the public alerted police, who blamed “anti-peace elements” for planting them, the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported.
“The anti-peace forces are creating chaos and disturbances in schools, disguising themselves as students,” ENA quoted the statement as saying.
The term “anti-peace forces” is often used by the government to refer to members of the main opposition political party, the Coalition for United and Democracy (CUDP), which claims elections last year were rigged.
Nearly all the CUDP leadership are among a group of 131 opposition supporters, journalists and others facing treason and other charges after being accused of fomenting a coup d’etat through protests against the May 15 polls.
On Monday, two grenades exploded outside a bank and a hospital in Addis Ababa, causing property damage but no deaths or injuries.
The explosions followed disturbances on Thursday and Friday during religious ceremonies in which at least two people were killed and 36 injured, including police, as security forces opened fire on unruly crowds.
The grenade incidents and last week’s unrest come amid continuing political tension and the government crackdown on the opposition which began in November after the second of two eruptions of deadly post-election violence.
In June and November, at least 84 people were killed during skirmishes when police opened fire on crowds during demonstrations against alleged fraud in the May 15 polls.
The crackdown on the opposition has raised concerns about the state of democracy in Ethiopia and prompted several donor nations to suspend or reprogram direct aid aid to the government.
(ST)