Plotter of failed Ethiopia coup killed, 182 others arrested

ADDIS ABABA, Ethi-opia — The Ethiopian army general accused of leading a failed coup in a restive northern region was killed Monday in a firefight with security forces amid a secu-rity crackdown in which more than 180 others have been arrested. Brig. Gen. Asamnew Tsige was killed on the outskirts ofBahir Dar, capi-tal of the northern Amhara region, Nigussu Tilahun, a spokesman in the prime minister's office said. Ethiopian forces had been hunting down Asam-new since he and soldiers loyal to him attacked a meeting of the Amhara government in the regional capital on Saturday, killing the regional governor and his adviser. The region's attorney-general died of his wounds on Monday, ac-cording to local media re-ports. The attack Saturday was followed hours later by the assassination in the na-tional capital, Addis Ababa, of the chief of Ethiopia's military and a retired army general by a bodyguard. The killings were widely seen as an attack on Ethi-opia's reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has pushed through sweeping reforms since his election last year. Asamnew, the renegade general blamed for the vi-olence, had been pardoned by Abiy after being jailed by the previous government for allegedly plotting a coup. The 42-year-old Abiy has initiated popular sweeping political and economic reforms, includ-ing the surprise acceptance of a peace agreement with neighboring Eritrea, the opening of major state-owned sectors to private investment and the release of thousands of political prisoners.