Ethiopia’s Abiy warns ethnic violence may worsen as clashes claim 67 lives
ETHIOPIAN Prime MinisterAbiyAhmed warned on Saturday of f urt her instabilit y and vowed to bring to justice t hose responsible for t he v iolence t hat lef t at least 67 people dead this week.
“The crisis we have faced will become even more fearsome and difficult if Et hiopians don’t unite and stand as one,” Abiy said in his first remarks since t he v iolence broke out.
“We will unswer v ingly work to ensure t he prevalence of t he rule of law and to bring perpetrators to just ice.”
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate a lso noted that what began as protests against his government had quick ly morphed into clashes that took on an ethnic and religious dimension.
“There has been an attempt to turn t he crisis into a religious and ethnic one. In the process our comrades have become v ictims i n terrible circumstances,” he said.
He added that homes, businesses and places of worship had been destroyed and that an untold number of Ethiopians had been displaced.
Violence in Addis
Violence erupted in Addis Ababa, t he capita l, and much of Ethiopia’s Oromia region on Wednesday after a high-profile activ ist accused securit y forces of tr y ing to orchestrate an attack against him – a claim police officia ls denied.
The activ ist, Jawar Mohammed, is credited wit h promoting the protests that swept Abiy to power last year but he has recently become critica l of some of his policies.
Both men are from the Oromo ethnic group, Ethiopia’s largest, and their feud highlights divisions within Abiy’s
Oromo support base that could complicate his bid for a five-year term when Ethiopia votes in elections currently planned for May 2020.
On Friday, Oromia police chief Kef ya lew Tefera said 67 people had been k illed t here, including five police of ficers.
He said most of t he dead had lost t heir lives i n “clashes bet ween civ ilians” rather than at the hands of securit y forces.
He a lso claimed that ca lm had been restored but t he defence ministr y announced Friday t hat it was deploy ing forces to seven hotspots to restore order, and reports of v iolence persisted through Friday night and into Saturday.
Abiy was attending t he Russia-Africa summit in Sochi when Jawar’s supporters first started mobilising in Addis Ababa.
Before Saturday’s statement, he was facing criticism for say ing nothing about the unrest.
In a n i nter v iew on Fr iday, Jawa r accused Abiy of act i ng l i ke a d ic t ator a nd sa id he cou ld cha l lenge his for mer a l ly i n nex t yea r’s elec t ions.
But Jawar said he could a lso end up backing Abiy if he changes course.
US Ambassador Michael Raynor said i n a statement that Washington was “deeply troubled by t he recent hatred, inflammatory la nguage, and v iolence.
“For Et hiopia to build t he peaceful, prosperous, and polit ica l ly inclusive f uture that so many of you tell us you want to see, Et hiopians must unif y around, and work toward, t hat v ision,” Raynor said.
“Anyone who undercuts these efforts undercuts the best interests of all Ethiopians, now and in the future.”