Ethiopia’s Zenawi denounces US Congress bill for democracy
November 29, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denounced a bill passed by the US Congress for democracy in Etiopia, describing it as unacceptable and is an attempt to pass legislations on the internal affairs of the country.
In a meeting on Thursday with US Congress delegation led by Congressman Kendrick Meek, Prime Minister Meles said that the HR 2003 bill, which was sponsored by few individuals and endorsed by the US Congress is detrimental to the common interests of Ethiopia and the US.
The official ENA news agency quoted Zenawi saying the bill, which potentially puts shadow over the future relations of Ethiopia and the US has also hurt the spirit of the Ethiopian people and government.
Ethiopia and the US are enjoying good development cooperation, Meles said, however, such acts could negatively affect existing cordial cooperation between the two parties, according to an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who attended the discussion.
Congressman Kendrick Meek after the discussion told journalists that the HR 2003 bill was passed in the congress by voice vote, before it was discussed by members of the Congress. Accordingly, he said that the bill was passed with out taking the negative repercussions that it will bring on the smooth relation between the US and Ethiopia in to account.
Senator Inhofe during the discussion told Prime Minister Meles that he, in his capacity as member of the US Senate, strongly opposes the endorsement of HR 2003 bill. The Senator indicated that his discussion with the Premier was focused on further cementing the bilateral relation between Ethiopia and the US that is based on the mutual interest of the two sides.
Congressman Meek further said that he will make all efforts to aware other members of the Congress and US government officials on the negative impacts of passing the bill, the ENA reported.
The discussion, the US congress delegation held with Prime Minister Meles was focused on ways of further augmenting the cooperation between the US and Ethiopian governments.
Members of the delegation for their part expressed their readiness to play role in further scaling up the relation between Ethiopia and the US in various sectors.
The H.R. 2003: Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007 will cut off technical assistance to Ethiopia unless it behaves in a more democratic manner.
(ST)