Police detain 56 people in connection with violence in western Ethiopia that left at least 30 people dead
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Dec 22, 2003 (AP) — Police have detained 56 people in connection with violence in western Ethiopia that left at least 30 people dead, a government spokesman said Monday.
The detainees were picked up in Gambella, 800 kilometers (500 miles) west of Addis Ababa, where the violence took place nine days ago, said Zemedkun Teckle.
Authorities were still looking for other suspects, Zemedkun said.
The violence appeared to be related to land disputes and a dispute over the site chosen by the Ethiopian government to house 24,000 of the 87,000 Sudanese refugees living in five camps in western Ethiopia.
It erupted Dec. 13 after seven government workers were killed in an ambush on their vehicle outside Gambella as they returned from the new camp site. Government supporters retaliated by attacking members of the Anuak tribe, the traditional inhabitants of the area, and scores of homes were burnt, aid workers said.
Minister of State for Federal Affairs Gebre-Ab Barnabas blamed the fighting on “anti-peace forces.”
“The cold-blooded killings aimed at specific groups, non-indigenous groups to begin with, followed by indigenous ones is hopelessly aimed at putting a wedge between brotherly communities,” Gebre-Ab said in a statement on Friday.
The U.N. refugee agency evacuated its staff from the region shortly after the violence erupted.
On Dec. 16, unknown assailants threw a hand grenade into the compound the U.N. refugee agency shares with an Ethiopian government aid agency in Fugnido camp for Sudanese refugees, 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Gambella. There were no casualties in that attack.
Land disputes in western Ethiopia have been a consistent problem and have been exacerbated by the influx of refugees from Sudan.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Federal Affairs stepped in earlier this year to calm the situation, arresting a regional leader, disbanding the local police force and forming a new regional government. More than 500 Ethiopian took over police duties until a new force could be trained.