Those who defected are Transport Squadron Air Force members:

1. Lt. Ephrem Kebede
2. Lt. Sintayehu Beyene
3. Lt. Fitsum Getachew

One source said the whereabouts of the three pilots were still unknown.

The three have been barred from flying aircraft after eight pilots who belonged to the same batch and were receiving training in Belarus sought asylum to protest the June 8 government killings of at least 40 unarmed demonstrators, and the rounding up of thousands of university student and opposition supporters.

“While they were suspended from flight operations, their residences were searched by government agents in their absence, and the three were due to appear this week before commander of the Air Force, General Alemshet Degefe,” the source said.

A day before the eight pilots sought refuge with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Minsk, Belarus, two other fighter pilots from the eastern Ethiopian town of Dire Dawa, who had received orders to use their helicopter gunships to quash student demonstrations in Addis, also fled to neighboring Djibouti. The two pilots, still not known whether they were in Djibouti or have forcefully been repatriated to Addis Ababa, were Captain Behailu Gebre and Co-pilot Lt. Abyot Mangudai.

The eight who sought UN shelter in Belarus are (all lieutenants):

1. Fassil Mammo
2. Anteneh Moges
3. Eyob Gebremichael
4. Anteneh Mekuria
5. Gossa Girma
6. Abdissa Befikadu
7. Abduljebar Mama
8. Abaya Bekele

Sources said tension between political appointees of the ruling party of Meles Zenawi and professional fighter pilots reached an all-time high after two of the country’s opposition parties – the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and the United Democratic Forces of Ethiopia (UEDF) swept both urban and rural constituencies in the May 15 elections. The government, which has been 14 years in power and is seeking five more years, tried to nullify the people’s verdict through mass arrests, intimidations, and killings.