Meanwhile, Deputy Secretary of State for
African Affairs Donald Yamamoto recently visited Ethiopia, and his visit was focused, among others, on the Ethiopia-Eritrea border dispute, and on securing the release of political
prisoners. It appears that there is some activity regarding the former – “Ethiopia
and Eritrea seem to be prepared to ratify the treaty soon” – but no
sign of action is seen on the latter.
In fact, the pressure on Meles Zenawi to release the
political prisoners may be receding as the World Bank and European Union
announced last week that they would release some of their fund. Theoretically this aid
will go directly to rural areas, but in in reality ends up in Zenawi’s hand as every sector in the country is controlled by the government.
I continue to stress to the State Department that it is impossible to
even begin to resolve the political problems in Ethiopia unless and
until all political prisoners are released.
In another development, State Department officials met recently with representatives of the Alliance for Freedom and Democracy (AFD), which reportedly is composed of
the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP-Kinijit), the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), and the Sidma Liberation Front (SLF).
The State Department is evaluating AFD’s request for the U.S.
government to act as an intermediary in negotiations with the Meles
regime. However, the State Department is likely to insist that all
legitimate political and civic groups be included in any negotiations.
