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Many protests that have erupted in the wake of the May 15 elections present Mr Meles with one of the most serious challenges of his premiership.Becuase of his fear to deal with strong opposition parties for the first time, he place all the leaders of the opposition parties to jail charging them for treason. Zenawi has now been in power as long as his collegue he helped to overthrow - Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam.
The anti-Meles popular revolt which erupted in Addis Ababa has now spread over to Dessie, Gondar, Bahir Dar, Arba Minch, Awassa, Dire Dawa and others. The world has no clue about what is going on in Ethiopia. If the West naïvely assumes Meles Zenawi can silence the people through mass murders, it is dead wrong. The time to intervene before the nation of 73 million people erupts in full-blown war is now. Later on, any apologies from the West would only come as an insult to our collective conscience."
The people's protest against the ruthless regime of Meles Zenawi continued in Debre Berhan town on Saturday with gunshots heard continuously with the possibility of casualties. Debre Berhan, a CUD-stronghold 120 km north of Addis Ababa, is the gate-way to northern Ethiopia, including Dessie, a commercial hub with about 2 million residents almost all CUD activists. Dessie clashes with the security forces of the fascist Meles Zenawi regime centered on the famed Woizero Sihin Comprehensive High School, traditionally known as a hub of democrat activists. The tense situation in Dessie and many other towns in Wollo remained off media coverage due to lack of independent reporters and the deliberate news blackout which has hit revolting Ethiopia.
Bahr Dar Deserted Heavily-armed forces patrol this city on the shores of Lake Tana where clashes between government forces and the residents left at least 4 people dead and 11 injured. Businesses were closed, and public transport off the streets. The same tense situation gripped the city of Debre Berhan where the people clashed with forces loyal to Meles Zenawi. Gunfire shots were heard over night in Mercato during a massive crack down on youths and opposition supports and members who were taken to detention centers in Dedesa, 550 km south of Addis where mass deaths are a high possibility in the malaria-infested jungle. Members of the private press were also being hunted down, with two editors of Etiop arrested, and all private newspapers banned without any official statement. The only "private" newspaper published was the Reporter, the last refuge of the Fascist regime which lived fooling the public as if it were a private newspaper ran privately. As an advocate of Fascism in Ethiopia, now the Reporter has joined the propaganda ranks of Walta and Radio Fana. The Reporter, which shamelessly attacked EthioMedia for reporting extensively on the Ethiopian diaspora movement against fascism in Ethiopia, may keep coming out of print to tell us it is surviving, like we don't know about government subsidies.
The Future of Ethiopia Many observers, including foreign diplomats believe the country has entered a completely different chapter of a post-election crisis with the ruling regime carrying out its extrajudicial killings with speed and recklessness.
Ethiopians are bitter that much of the support they had expected from Western democracies was a mere rhetoric, and from bad to worse, some governments are calling for "restraint" on both sides, a call taken by the people as an insult to justice and a tap on the shoulder of the criminal regime in Addis Ababa.
DEBRE MARKOS ARBA MINCH AWASSA DEBRE BERHAN - Anti-government protests went nationwide on Friday with more reports of clashes between government forces and the Ethiopian people reported in several cities. The protest in Deberemarkos was started during the night and continued in the day time. About four government vehicles were burned as an unknown number of students from Debza and Techklehaimanot high Schools were killed. At least one policeman was also killed.
Government TV ADDIS ABABA - The state-owned Ethiopian Television, which hardly broadcasts any anti-government protests, has reported on unrests in Awasa, Gondar, Dessie and Dire Dawa. It admitted four were killed in Bahir Dar, a figure greatly downplayed as per the norm of the government. The spin doctors on the state-owned media refer to the public uprising for democracy as a "dicturbance by a few hooligans." There is no single privately-owned TV or radio station in the hostage-held nation of 73 million people.
ARBA MINCH - Eight civilians have so far lost their lives during clashes between government forces and the residents of the city famed as a destination for birdwatchers and East African Rift Valley visitors from around the world. Back in Addis, buses are confined to the city center after buses which ventured into Kechenie Medhani Alem and Ferensai Legacion were gutted with fire. There is also an early report of clashes between security forces and the residents of Debre Berhan, about 120 km north of Addis Ababa. In the eastern cities of Dire Dawa, the government has detained most opposition leaders which led to clashes. Armed vehicles also patrol the streets of Harar, a walled city honored by UNESCO as a site of the World Heritage of Humankind.
GONDAR - Violent clashes in the historic town of Gondar have left many people dead as street battles erupted between city residents andforces loyal to the Meles Zenawi regime. Fierce battles are reported around areas known as Arada Gebeya, Piazza, Bluko, Otto Barko. An unidentified armed group has also helped the people in the battle against Meles Zenawi's security forces. Areas around Gondar University are also a scene of fierce fighting. The popular revolt against the murderous Zenawi regime has also erupted in Debre Tabor town.
BAHIR DAR - Deadly clashes have also rocked this beautiful tourist-destination city on the shores of Lake Tana. Fierce clashes have left several people dead near Bahir Dar University and Tana Haik High School. One day earlier on Thursday, two army trucks were gutted with fire.
DESSIE - Violence has erupted in this stronghold city of CUD as residents clashed throughout the day with forces loyal to the murderous Meles Zenawi regime. Soldiers have been moved in to reinforce security forces and the police. Many are feared dead, and there is no doubt such anti-Meles Zenawi movement has already spread to other towns and cities in the country, despite deliberate news blackout. In Addis, hundreds are believed to have been killed in three days of violence (Expect details).
Addis Ababa on 4th day of violence ADDIS ABABA - Residents of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa stayed largely at home amid a fifth day of renewed protest over the results of May elections the opposition calls fraudulent. There were reports of more scattered gunfire and rioting in parts of the capital.
Ethiopian special forces, driving six US-built Humvees, patrolled the capital this morning with heavy machine guns and sniper rifles. Opposition supporters went from shop to shop, ordering merchants to shut down and go home.
Diplomats said they had reports of police continuing to round up suspected opposition leaders overnight, perhaps as many as 3,000 people. There were also unconfirmed reports that protests had spread to other parts of the country.
A group of ambassadors from 21 countries that donate large sums of money to Ethiopia issued a statement "expressing deep concern" at the violence, calling for an urgent investigation and recommending the arraignment or immediate release of all political detainees.
Businesses were closed and taxis were off the streets today, and gunfire was reported near the British Embassy. Protesters were throwing stones at buses near the Canadian Embassy in a different part of the city, witnesses said.
Police have killed at least 40 people since violent confrontations began on Tuesday, following largely peaceful protests on Monday, medical officials said, asking not to be identified for fear of retaliation from government officials.
Government figures place the number of dead at 13 civilians and one police officer, with 54 officers and 28 civilians injured.
"We know that there are some problems in some parts of the city today, but I don't have exact figures on casualties so far," Information Minister Berhan Hailu said yesterday.
The violence erupted over protests of May 15 elections that gave Prime Minister Zenawi Meles' Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front control of nearly two-thirds of parliament.
Opposition parties say the vote and counting were marred by fraud, intimidation and violence, and accuse the ruling party of rigging the elections.
The election had been seen as a test of Meles's commitment to reform. Meles has been lauded in the West as a new kind of African leader, appointed to British Prime Minister Tony Blair to his Commission for Africa to help draft a blueprint for ending poverty and building democracy. But at home his government has little tolerance for dissent and has been accused of severe human rights abuses.
The protests began peacefully on Monday, when taxi drivers blew their horns to show support for the opposition. Thirty of the drivers were arrested, which may have sparked protests on Tuesday that deteriorated into deadly clashes.
