Ethiopian opposition party calls for calm

Nov 4, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) — An Ethiopian opposition party on Friday called for calm following violence that rocked the country’s capital city this week, killing at least 42 people and injuring more than 200 others.

The head of the United Ethiopian Democratic Front (UEDF), one of the country’s main opposition groups, said a political solution would not be found through such chaos.

“We are calling for restraint and calm, we don’t think that the problems will be solved by throwing rocks,” said Beyene Petros, who expressed dismay at the government’s use of force to quell the protestors.

“We are shocked by the way the government responded to this, by the use of excessive force, we are calling for restraint on all sides,” added Beyene.

Violence erupted Tuesday when police clashed with groups of rioters in Addis Ababa who were protesting results of Ethiopia’s May elections, which the opposition claim were fraudulently won by the ruling party headed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

By Thursday, at least 42 people had been killed, many from gunshot wounds, while more that 200 had been injured and around 2,000 arrested.

There was relative calm early Friday with heavy police presence on deserted Addis Ababa streets as many taxis stayed off the roads and businesses remained closed.

However, witnesses said students in towns outside the capital had taken to the streets to pressure the government to release those detained during the deadly violence.

“The students have been in the streets since morning,” said a witness in Awassa, one of the towns where the students were protesting. “They are demanding the government to release opposition leaders.

Gunshots were also heard in Awassa town some 250 kilometres (155 miles) south of Addis Ababa, but it was not clear how many students were involved in the protests.

Similar protests were reported in Dessie and Debre Berhan in the north of the capital and Bahir Dar in the west.

“The problems must be solved peacefully and politically, the prisoners must be arrested on legal ground … we are calling on the government to restart the negotiations with the opposition,” added Beyene.

The Ambassador Donor Group comprising 21 countries also condemned the violence and urged the government to release those arrested or tried.

In a statement released here the group “expressed its deep concern at the unrest …, the tragic death and injuries. (And) deplored all type of violence whether by security forces or demostrators.”

The group also called for an investigation into the killings.

Authorities have also arrested senior officials from the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) — the main opposition party — who were expected to be arraigned in court Friday.

Over the weekend, the CUD called on Ethiopians to boycott state media as well as products by government firms to protest what it called the systematic theft of votes by the ruling Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolution Democratic Front, also calling for a general strike to begin on November 14.

The protests are the second wave of violence to hit the impoverished Horn of African nation since the May legislative polls.

(AFP/ST)