U.S. TO SEND FBI EXPERTS TO PROBE ETHIOPIA BLAST
ADDIS ABABA - The United States will send FBI exp erts to Ethiopia to help investigate a grenade attack at a rally for new Prime Minister Abiy $KPed, VWDWe DffiliDWed PediD said yesterday.
A grenade exploded on Saturday moments after Abiy had finished addressing the crowds, who had turned out to bacN his push for radical political and economic reforms, including a peace deal with arch enemy (ritrea.
Thirty people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attacN that Nilled two and wounded in $ddis $baba¶s pacNed 0esNel 6quare. Nine police officers have also been detained over the security lapse, officials said.
“The U.S. government said it is sending )%I e[perts,´ the state affiliated )ana %roadcasting Corporation reported.
8.6. 8nder 6ecretary of &ommerce *ilbert .aplan made the offer while talNing to (thiopia¶s minister of foreign affairs, :orNneh *ebeyehu, yesterday, )ana added.
7here was no immediate confirmation from the 8.6. embassy in $ddis, or from :ashington. (thiopia is one of :ashington¶s main allies in the region, particularly in the fight against militants in neighbouring Somalia.
6ecurity officials have not said publicly who might be responsible for the attacN.
$biy tooN office in $pril, pledging to bring more transparency to government and reconciliation to a country that has been wracNed by political unrest since .
(thiopia has released thousands of Mailed dissidents since the beginning of the year. 0aMor policy shifts include the partial privatisation of (thiopia¶s state run telecoms monopoly and state owned (thiopian $irlines, loosening the government’s grip on the economy.