ADDIS ABABA – Police and security forces said they have captured a “terrorist” group during thorough weekend searches which created unprecedented traffic congestions in the capital.
The search throughout Addis Ababa – a city which has been laid seige to since the tyrannical regime of Meles Zenawi suffered huge losses in May elections last year – was intense and some drivers were searched three times in one evening, with each search taking an average of 30 to 40 minutes.
Now results of the “thorough search” have been broadcast on TV and Radio, with the government declaring that its forces were able to crack down on a clandestine clandestine group which was about to launch terrorist attacks. The report said the clandestine group had links to Kinijit, the popular opposition which had swept all 23 parliamentary seats in Addis Ababa – a solid evidence that the opposition party had won most of the votes nationwide despite the excuse by the regime that the countrside was its own stronghold.
The Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP) as a policy believed and widely campaigned to win political power through the ballot box. But its faith in peace and democracy has won the ruthlessness of a regime which has been in power since 1991, and accused at vairous times of committing atrocious crimes ranging from mass killings of unarmed protesters to genocide against the Anuak people in southwestern Ethiopia.
Jailed leaders of Kinijit have been accused of ‘treason and genocide,’ and such fabricated charges are being backed up by more bizarre stories like unearthing a terrorist group linked to the party, whose leaders include the nation’s distinguished scholars like the 75-year-old Prof. Mesfin Wolde-Mariam, founding father of the nation’s Human Rights Council.
Human rights groups, governments and regional organizations like the European Union have been calling for the unconditional release of the jailed political leaders. But the peaceful resolution of the crisis seems now a remote idea as the government digs up more sinister crimes clearly aimed at destroying not only the opposition party and leaders but also the faith the Ethiopian people had placed in democracy.
Following is the full text of the report by the state-owned Ethiopian News Agency (ENA):
Security forces capture clandestine terrorist group
The National Intelligence and Security Service and the Federal Police Anti-Terrorism Task Force said they have put under control the leadership and executers of a clandestine group that was preparing to unleash an armed urban terrorism and assault. They said the intended assault has been foiled.
According to a statement the Federal Police Anti-terrorism Taskforce sent to ENA late on Sunday, the clandestine group that had finalized preparations to launch attacks that aim to instigate urban violence has been put under arrest.
The statement said the group was meditating to launch simultaneous attacks in either of the two days including Sunday, targeting various government officials, peoples’ delegates, public figures as well as private and public institutions.
According to the statement the intended attacks were part and parcel of the attempt to hamper the ongoing democratization and development process as well as to dismantle the constitutional order.
However, the statement said, the plots were thwarted owing to the cooperation of the public and the relentless efforts the taskforce exerted over the past months.
According to the statement, the clandestine group is linked to the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), which, it said, opted to pursue the path of violence after the May elections.
The group has been undertaking various preparations over the past few months to launch an armed urban terror by reorganizing the structure of the CUD, the statement said.
The statement said, the group has been engaged in organizing individuals and groups whom it believed would implement the trafficking of arms.
The efforts of the group had the financial backing of groups and individuals abroad, the statement said, adding the activities were being masterminded by people who had experience in the former EPRP, and who lead the CUD at various levels.
The statement said, the professional and legal measures taken by the Task Force have enabled to foil the intended terrorist act before it caused human casualty and property damage.
Apart from arresting individuals who have part in the plot, the Task Force has also apprehended TNT explosives, bombs and various small arms, the statement said, adding, it also found various documents, computers and other materials related to the plot. (ENA)
