Breaking news. CUD leaders are on the verge of being released after agreeing to sign a letter admitting "error" (not "guilt" or "fault," as was demanded of them earlier). The admitted error, or sehetet, concerns inflammatory language used by some CUD leaders following 2005 election results which led to violent clashes with police and ensuing deaths. CUD will thus share part blame for events that transpired. Meles Zenawi, acting somehow neutral from court's actions, has agreed to use his powers as Prime Minister to override the court's guilty verdict and order their release. Ethio-Zagol in Addis writes,...Meles has got his face-saving agreement, and the prisoners have in turn got his admission that the court was wrong. And more; their release from the rotten concentration camp called Kaliti.
Assuming all this is true and events unfold as planned (rare in Ethiopia), would elected CUD leaders be allowed to claim their seats in parliament? Previous demands from P.M.'s office required them to renounce any future involvement in politics. Would CUD leaders also be able to refrain from using inflammatory language, especially now more than ever after languishing in prison for two years? Would "new" CUD who avoided Kaliti prison battle "old" CUD for control of Addis Ababa Mayor's office? And what, if anything, would released CUD leaders have to say regarding the shameful infighting, corruption and eventual split within CUD North America? We can only hope events will unfold peacefully and everyone act accordingly for the sake of building a stable and prosperous Ethiopia...A new millennium's resolution.
06/30/07 Update: Meles backsliding on CUD release
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Weblog - A personal Web site that provides updated headlines and news articles of other sites that are of interest to the user, also may include journal entries, commentaries and recommendations compiled by the user; also written web log, Weblog; also called blog.
