The EU said a withheld aid of $375 million to the government would be released if only Mr. Zenawi met EU’s preconditions set earlier.

On his visit to Brussels, Meles was accompanied by Ambassador Tim Clarke, EU chief in Ethiopia. Ethiopian businessman Sheik Mohammed Al-Amoudi was also at a dining reception with Meles Zenawi in Brussels on Saturday. The motive of Al-Amoudi’s presence in Brussels was unknown.

Meles has been showing a rather tough face in public. Talking to parliament on Thursday, he downplayed the role of donors in Ethiopia. He was clear and loud in his report that Ethiopia can stand by itself while desperately pleading through backdoor diplomacy to keep aid money flowing.

Ethiopians in Europe have been lobbying the European Parliament and the European Commission to pressure Meles Zenawi to stop state-sponsored terrorism and release all political prisoners. The EU has consistently showed its firm stands on democracy to flourish in Ethiopia. It has repeatedly called upon the regime to release all political prisoners and start dialogue with the elected opposition leaders.

EMF source said following a crackdown on opposition leaders and independent journalists amid eruptions of deadly violence during protests over disputed May elections, European Union is on the eleventh hour to freeze aid to Ethiopia.

“The European Commission and other donors have doubts that the necessary conditions are in place to go ahead with budget support,” said commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj Tardio. He added, “Given the current instability … it doesn’t seem possible to go ahead,” he told AFP in Brussels last time. Western donors have become increasingly concerned about the political situation in Ethiopia since at least 85 people were killed, most by police, in violence that exploded in June and November during opposition protests against alleged ruling party fraud in the May 15 polls.

After the November clashes, Prime Misery Meles Zenawi’s government detained thousands of people accused of fomenting violence and 129 opposition figures, journalists and citizens abroad have been charged with treason and other crimes for allegedly plotting a coup d’etat.