Tesfaye Gebre Kidan

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Tesfaye Gebre Kidan (1935? - June 2, 2004) was an Ethiopian general who was President of Ethiopia for one week in late May 1991.

He had military successes in Somalia and Eritrea. Colonel Tesfaye Gebre Kidan served as a member of the Derg, the military committee which seized power from Emperor Haile Selassie, and which would later order the executions of his officials and allegedly the murder of the deposed Emperor himself. The Derg presided over the infamous Red Terror of 1977-78, when an average of 100 people were executed every night. Elevated to the rank of Lt. General, Tesfaye Gebre Kidan went on to serve as the long time Minister of Defence, then became military governor and general commander in Eritrea. He was recalled to Addis Ababa from Asmara to serve on the military tribunal, which tried the high ranking officers who had tried to depose President Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1989. He became vice-President of the Republic until May 21, 1991, when Mengistu fled as rebel forces closed in on the capital.

General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan then became president, but fled for the safety of the Italian Embassy when the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front marched into Addis Ababa and seized power on May 28. The General remained a virtual prisoner in the Embassy until June 2, 2004, when he was killed in a brawl with his fellow Derg member and former foreign minister Birhanu Bayeh, Addis Tedla, who had accompanied him into the Embassy 13 years earlier.

Preceded by Mengistu Haile Mariam

President of Ethiopia 1991

Succeeded by Meles Zenawi

v • d • e Heads of State of Ethiopia since 1889 Solomonic dynasty (1889-1936), Emperors Menelik II · Iyasu V · Zewditu I · Haile Selassie I Italian Occupation (1936-1941) Victor Emmanuel III Solomonic dynasty (1941-1974), Emperor Haile Selassie I Derg (1974-1987), Chairmen Aman† · Mengistu† · Tafari† · Mengistu† People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (1987-1991), Presidents Mengistu · Tesfaye†* Ethiopia (since 1991), Presidents Meles* · Negasso  · Girma *acting     †military