Brig General Kemal Gelchi (Shabait)

ASMARA, Eritrea (BBC) – An Ethiopian Army general says he has defected to join the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a rebel group backed by neighbouring Eritrea.
Brig Gen Kemal Geltu told the BBC he had crossed the border into Eritrea with more than 100 soldiers.

He said he would fight the Ethiopian government because force was the only language it understood.

He said his hopes of peace had been dashed after last year’s turmoil that followed disputed elections.

Gen Kemal previously commanded Ethiopia’s 18th army division.

Shooting is reported to have broken out as he crossed the frontier, during which two soldiers were killed. Reliable sources say he was accompanied by a colonel and 150 troops.

“It’s a big force in hundreds. I don’t want to mention the number. It will continue, I can confirm this. There are other soldiers in other areas in big numbers,” he told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme through a translator.

Gen Kemal, who was speaking from Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, said his intention was not “to give [military] secrets to the Eritrean government”.

‘Pure lies’

Ethiopian television said Gen Kemal had asked for further promotion soon after being promoted to the rank of brigadier general, but after this was rejected in engaged in “divisive activities”.

“Although his colleagues repeatedly tried to correct the commander from his anti-government and inappropriate activities, the commander was not willing to change,” the television report said.

But the general said reports that he feared military reforms were “lies, pure lies”.

“Our first hope was to bring about a change in Ethiopia to bring about peace and for the peoples to live in equality, including the Oromo people, but the last year’s experience is war, not peace. Our hopes were dashed and that’s why we went out,” he said.

“The language they (the Ethiopian government) understand is force and we’re going to challenge them by force.”

The OLF which was at first a secessionist movement says it is fighting for more rights for the Oromo people in Ethiopia.

The Oromo are the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, comprising about half of its 70m people.

Demonstrations after Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was re-elected in May 2005 led to a crackdown on many Oromo and other opposition organisations.

Ethiopia and Eritrea ended a border war in 2002, but Ethiopia has not withdrawn troops from the town of Badme which arbitrators awarded to Eritrea, and tensions between the two countries remain high.

Ethiopian general defects to Eritrea: VOA

WASHINGTON DC – An Ethiopian army general and other senior army commanders have defected to Eritrea, the Voice of America (VOA) Amharic Service reported on Wednesday.

The radio said Brig. Gen. Kemal Gelchi, commander of the 18th Army Division, deserted the Meles Zenawi regime along with tens of army officers and hundreds of soldiers who have been deployed for years along the tense Ethiopia-Eritrea border.

Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu also confirmed the arrival of the army general, senior army officers and hundreds of soldiers.

“Brig. General Kemal Gelchi, senior commander of the enemy force deployed along the Tikul-Adi Teklai front, and tens of other army commanders including colonels together with hundreds of soldiers safely arrived in Eritrea at dawn today, August 9 along with their full logistics, communication equipments and military hardware,” an Eritrean government website reported.

State-run Ethiopian TV accused the army general of subversive activities he began to pursue following his request for promotion was turned down.

Observers see the defection of the general and the bulk of his division as a significant blow to Meles Zenawi’s ruling party, which lost the May 2005 elections but resorted to brutal killings of unarmed protesters and a nationwide state-sponsored terror campaigns in a bid to hang onto power.

Rebel movements are reportedly intensifying in the county as the youth – targetted as enemy by the regime – join the armed groups in droves.

150 Ethiopian troops defect to Eritrea: AFP

NAIROBI (AFP) – About 150 Ethiopian troops, including a senior commander, have deserted the country’s army and escaped to Addis Ababa’s arch-foe nation Eritrea, officials said Thursday.

They said the desertions, which still remained unexplained, were the first to hit the Ethiopian military, but Asmara attributed them to a growing disenchantment with the ruling party.

“According to our reports, around 150 members of the Ethiopian army defected to Eritrea on Tuesday,” an official with the UN border mission told AFP on conditions of anonymity.

“This seems to be the first massive defection of Ethiopian soldiers … we have no information concerning the reason of this defection,” the official said.

Defence Ministry spokesmam Dawit Asefa only confirmed the defection of General Kemal Gelchu on Tuesday.

“An Ethiopian general, Kemal Gelchu, escaped to Eritrea two days ago, that’s the only confirmation we have”, Dawit told AFP by phone.

An Eritrean government website said the defection pointed to a growing disaffection by Ethiopians with the government, which it blamed for “suppressing the struggle of opposition organisations and failing to honour the outcome of the popular election and desperately trying to prolong its stay in power.”

“As a vivid demonstration of these developments … senior commander of the enemy force … and tens of other army commanders including colonels together with hundreds of soldiers safely arrived in Eritrea … along with their full logistics, communication equipment and military hardware,” Eritrea’s information ministry said in the website.

Relations between the two Horn of Africa nations have remained tense since they fought a two-year border war that claimed the lives of some 80,000 people and continue to trade blame over the unresolved border demarcation.

In addition, Addis Ababa repeatedly accuses Asmara of supporting rebel movements in Ethiopia in a bid to destabilise the government.