Ethiopia hinders EU commissioner meeting with opposition leader

Feb 17, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — The European Union commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, Louis Michel was unable to meet the opposition CUDP leader in his prison, because Ethiopian authorites managed to transfer him to hospital.

Louis Michel arrived arrived in Addis Ababa yesterday to hold talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and the jailed Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) leaders today.

While he was briefing staff members of the EU commission in Addis Ababa this morning, he said his objective is to bring about good governance in Ethiopia by bringing together Meles and the detained opposition leaders for dialogue, the opposition newsletter Dgaf said.

The commissioner held talks with Meles during lunch hours and talked with the detainees for two hours, from 0300-0500 (p.m., local time).

When the commissioner went to the Kaliti Prison, the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF)officials had already taken Engineer Hailu Shawel to hospital with a pretext of medical treatment, but it was said that Hailu was taken to hospital so that Michel cannot see his eye’s condition.

Hailu was reported to have totally lost the sight of his one eye.

(ST)