Ethiopian opposition accuses ruling party of slaying its two supporters

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 8 (AFP) — A coalition of Ethiopian political parties on Tuesday accused the country’s ruling party of killing two of its supporters in country’s northern region of Gondar last month, but police said they knew nothing of the incident.

The Coalition for Democracy and Unity (CDU) said members of the ruling Ethiopia People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) had killed CDU supporters on January 21 in an orgy of destruction that included looting property and torching huts

Six other people were wounded as a result of indiscriminate firing during the raid, claimed the CDU, a coalition of three marginal parties.

“This is the first time I am hearing about it,” a police officer told AFP from Gondar, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) north of Addis Ababa.

The accusation, in a statement released here, comes on the day candidates started campaigning for a general election scheduled for May.

CDU Chairman Hailu Shawle, who claimed that the attack was aimed at forcing his group out of the polls, said members of the ruling EPRDF had been sneaked on to the country’s electoral board.

“The ruling party is slipping in its own members on to the election board throughout the country, we have factual evidence. However, the electoral board is unwilling to take action,” he said.

The board refused to comment on the allegation.

Opposition groups and the ruling party in the Horn of Africa country are locked in a tough pre-election campaign ahead of the polls.