Travel Guide | June 15, 2005 News Ethiopian soldiers reportedly flee rather than quash unrest BBC Monitoring Service June 15, 2005 According to some reliable sources, some signs of protest are been witnessed around members of the Ethiopian defence forces opposing the mass arrests and inhuman actions carried out against those who asked for the people’s voice to be heard. It was reported that some pilots of the Ethiopian airforce have defected with a military helicopter. The Meles administration, who believed that the Addis Ababa unrest could not be curbed by the Addis Ababa police and the federal police, had mobilized the Agezo Commando Division in the capital. Members of this division started to flee their barracks after they were ordered to take action against the people, and others questioned the government, saying that were they not brought from the border [with Eritrea] to go to Rwanda. Source: Ethiop, Addis Ababa, in Amharic 15 Jun 05 © BBC Monitoring The above BBC Monitoring Service report has been published by Ethiomedia without any proof-reading or editing so as to avoid tampering with the original content circulated by the BBC Monitoring Service. (Meanwhile, a copy of government directive which warns defecting soldiers and commanders “of severe consequences” has been published by some independent newspapers, including Ethiop. Similarly, a statement released by the Tigrian Democratic group in Diaspora, which released its statement under the headline “Hizb LeHizb AyFajim,” has been published by the independent press. The statement calls on all Ethiopians to be aware of the “Interehamwe” (i.e. genocidal) inclination of Meles Zenawi, and how we have to deny him any chance to unleash his goals for bloodshed.) ETHIOMEDIA.COM – ETHIOPIA’S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE © COPYRIGHT 20001-2003 ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: [email protected] United States condemns “use of excessive force” in Ethiopia How many more killings will it take to make a ruler a dictator?
