After being locked up in jail for 6 years by Woyanne dictator Meles Zenawi, Ato Siye Abraha is finally free and next month he will start a public meeting tour in the U.S. His first stop is Washington DC on January 5, 2008.
Ato Siye’s U.S.A. tour is being promoted by almost every Ethiopian media in the Diaspora. Some try to portray him as a national hero. Ethiopian Review is the exception. Our position is that before calling public meetings and ask people to pay $20 or $30 per person to attend his meetings, Ato Siye needs to explain, through a press conference or some other means, about the positions he had held and the actions he had carried out as the former military head of the Woyanne regime.
Let’s face the hard fact before getting excited about Siye’s visit. He has not made any public apology for the enormous death and destruction he had caused as one of the top Woyanne leaders.
During the 1998-2000 war with Eritrea, at least 70,000 fellow Ethiopians had perished — for nothing. The dead did not even get proper burial ceremony. Their families were not compensated. The injured were completely abandoned. There is no national holiday to honor those who died. As one of the major proponents of the war, indeed the leading advocate, Ato Siye has the blood of at least 70,000 poor young Ethiopians on his hand whom he callously sacrificed using an outdated military tactic known as human wave to overrun Eritrean trenches.
Just because Meles locked up Siye Abraha in jail for six years as a result of internal Woyanne power struggle, the crimes he committed do not go away. He must account for his horrible deeds.
It is shameful, to say the least, on the part of many in the media to try to portray Siye Abraha has a national hero. He is a person who swam in the blood of countless poor innocent Ethiopians.
203 thoughts on “Siye Abraha is NOT a national hero”
Thanks ER for pointing that out.There are some who are begging for Seye to get a second chance. What about the people who perished under his command? Is there any second chance? Because Meles locked him in jail for few years does not clear him from his wrong doings. I think we have a very short memory indeed.
hi elias,
i think, we should give him a chance. i see him as a hero, though not necessarily national, as he is one of those brave former TPLF leaders who challenged blood thirsty zenawi.
seye is different from the rest in that he planned to do something that is the key to the solution to ethiopia’s problems: killing meles zenawi.
who knows, if he is given the chance, he has the gut and bravery to do just that.
Thanks Elias. I agree with you. Emagine this people, if Melese Zenawi went to jail for one month, and they will tell us a hero. It’s a shame. Come on people.
Siye Abraha can not be an Ethiopian hero because he was thrown to jail by Melese Zenawi.As a matter of fact his hands are washed with Ethioians blood in millions.He was part of the genocidal TPLF regime almost for 13 years and he sides with EPLF when Ethiopians were fighting for their country for 30 years.A criminal doesn’t desrve a heros welcome.He is equally responsible for all crimes against humanity.Probably he is a hero for die hard woyanes not to Ethiopians.He is a traitor to Ethiopians.No Ethiopian should go to the meeting.
How could anybody consider Siye a hero? A- isn’t he part of the architect of “divide and rule” of Ethiopia, B- isn’t he part of the architect of hate among many Ethiopian ethnicity, C- isn’t he the one that said before he went to prison, “Asmara megbat nebern”, as the mountains and valleys were filled with death of so many innocent young Ethiopians and Eritreans, D- isn’t he part of the architect that deported thousands of Eri-Ethio origins with out anything on their back, E- isn’t he part of the architect that caused so much hate among the people of Eritrea, Tigry, and Ethiopia. Please refrain yourself from calling this thug a hero because he is one but he is also responsible for so destruction and future destructions of Ethiopia. I don’t see any difference between the thugs who are ruling Ethiopia now and himself.
My first agreement with you. It is very true that every body langushed in Woyane Jail doesn’t qualify him/her as hero. This must hold to Berhanu group who claim to be the “only” hero who deserve to govern Ethiopia.
Elias, it is nice start. Keep it up.
Almost on every issue I agreed with Elias. Elias, you are one of the greatest journalists of our time—the Paulos GnoGno of the modern era, I would say.
On this issue, however, I beg to differ. In politics you do not have permanent enemies or friends. You push an agenda and get all the help you get from all. Also true in politics is to win your opponents and bring them to your side. If a woyane sees the light and wants to help in the democratization process of Ethiopia, for us to deny them that based on their past would be a big strategical error, in my view. If we go back and cite their past as a proof of purity to lead Ethiopia, we won’t have that many clean leaders.
Besides, Seye Abraha(despite being a woyane,) challenged dictatorship in his own way. He has demonstrated being pro Ethiopian as opposed to Meles Zenawis tendency of weakening Ethiopian identity and interests.
Probably one of the most important reasons why we should accept Seye Abraha is: his rejection by us will be a negative message to all those who want to come back and be on the side of the people in the democratization process of Ethiopia. I encourage all Ethiopians to participate in a respectful and encouraging way in the upcoming public meetings called by Seye Abraha. Thank You!!
Let us work with who ever it is if they stand against WEYANE!
Siye is one of the founders of today’s tyranic govrenment.He was personnaly and idiologiclly at odds with Meles and the inner circle of TPLF.The reason for his inprisonment was a fear of a COUP’DETA and a possible elimination of individuals including Meles by means of assasination.The corruption charge was a cover to dominate his mass support by the EPRDF army and the Tigrai people.
He was freed as a result of lobying and mediation of noted TPLF activists and Tigrean SIMAGILLES.
No matter who Siye is Ethiopian Review has no moral position to judge him.
The crime against humanity committed by this thug is unpardonable as most of the above commentators already said. Murderer Siye must be brought to justice at international level just like other leaders who committed war crimes and crime against civilians in their respective countries and neighboring countries.Rather than preparing to welcome Siye, all sincere Ethiopian must prepare the necessary evidences for his arrest and fair trial at the International Court in Prague/Brussels.
What you said about siye is right.But why you drag your feet when it comes to shabiya/Isaias,the ruthless anti-Ethiopia who bent to distroy our contry.For this moment Ethiopia’s enemies are the Two brothers;Meles and Iaias.Seye is less now.
Siye or any other former TPLF member should not be trusted. These are the people who used to intimidate and kill people. They were the main reason for many Ethiopians leave the country and die helplessly in prison. Ato Siye was the chief architect behind the session of Eritrea. He was the one who used to go the European embassies in Addis and requested the European embassies recognize Eritrea as an independent State. I really do not see him differently from Meles Zenawi and Co. Therefore, a cry by him or other former members of the TPLF gangs should be taken seriously.
Yeah! Yeah! guys.
I always recall Ato (Marshal) Siye’s words he said when he was Woyane’s Minister of Defence. Let me put it in Amharic as he said. “Ehadeg torinetin mashenef bicha sayhon torinetin mesratim yichilal”; meaning “EPRDF (Woyane) is able not only to win wars but also to make (create) wars.” And as a top politico-military bull of the Woyane regime, he was advancing that idea i.e. making wars everywhere he could with all his capacity, with all his knowledge, with all his willingness, interest and intentions. As part of the top leaders and executive officers of Meles Zenawi’s Woyane he with his bosses engineered and orcherstrated several evil wars among the Ethiopian citizens on the basis of languistic and ethnic backgrounds in various parts of the country. Just to mention a few, wars betweenAmhara and Oromo in Arsi, Harargie, and many other places, wars between Somali and Oromo, Oromo and Sidama, Oromo and Gedeo, among various tribes of Oromo (such as Guji and Borena), Oromo and Guragie, among the Guragie family, etc etc. He with his bosses authored and staged the Bedeno and the inquftu dramas in Harargie at the expense of human life. He is a man who was part of Zenawi’s barbaric group, that has no tiny respect for human life and diginity, who used to and may still does represent the narrowest possible ethnic centered mind, who was not and may be is not able to accept human being as human being unless one is from a particular ethnic group, can never be mentioned as a man of national respect be it national hero.
Ato Siye is one of the prime responssible persons for converting the entire region of Oromia into war situation and for the susequent prevalence of the de facto state of emergency in Oromia, which is still in effect. He is personally accountable for mass massacre of civilia demonstrators in Water and Langie (both in Harargie) in 1992.
During his reign as Woyane’s military head, in many parts of the country and speciall in Oromia his army was looting and/or confiscating forcefully in the same manner and ways as done by colonial occupation forces. They were looting business men, NGOs, religious institutions etc. Both as in defence minister and later as civilian official, he led one of the most corrupted organization.
Some times it is good to forget what happened yesterday, so that we should not be preoccupied by repeating it all the time and overlooking today’s affairs. We as people of God have the capacities to forget or forgive peccadilloes or monumental ones committed knowingly by some of our people whom we condemn as our adversaries. If such criminals honestly repent from their hearts and ask mercy from us the victims of their heinous crimes, we should not be hardheaded; we must accept and forgive them without any remorse. This is, I think, the way a civilized society operates in this modern world of ours. Therefore, we shall wait and see what Ato Siye Abraha has to say for himself before we rash to pass our verdicts, not on the man himself, but on his actions that have, some of us believe, offended many Ethiopians.
While I agree with your assessment of Seye’s past misdeeds, I don’t share your view about his future prospects. In fact, I suggest that Seye’s case should be treated as an example of how people like him and Gebru Asrat should be treated.
I believe that when accomplices of Melles and company recognize their mistakes and decide to change to something more in line with the genuine interests of the Ethiopian people, the right response should be to think along the lines of setting clear criteria for determining whether they are foxes in sheep’s clothing or whether they are for real. Condemning and castigating them as Elias has done is, as someone has already stated, a strategic mistake.
In the case of Seye, the following should be the criteria he should be required to meet if he has any hope of being forgiven for all the crimes he has committed against the Ethiopian people:
1. Is he prepared to go down on his knees and beg for forgiveness of the Ethiopian people for having been an accomplice with Melles & company in making Ethiopia an landlocked country; for the disastrous results of the totally useless war against Eritrea; for his dismissal of numerous competent and professional employees in Ethiopian Airlines simply because they were not Tigreyans, for the corruption perpetrated by TPLF companies which he helped establish; for dismantling the Ethiopian defense forces including the navy; etc. etc. etc. etc.?
2. Does he renounce the socialist land tenure system which he helped institute in order to abust the Ethiopian as a serf or a slave?
3. Does he reject Article 39 of the constitution which he and Melles’ cohorts introduced, as enemies of Ethiopia, in order to continue dismantling the nation?
4. Is he now opposed to the disastrous ethnic policy which he and his friends introduced to divide and rule the country?
5. Does he recognize his responsibility for Ethiopia’s continued abject poverty despite his party having been in power for 17 years: Eth. is 170th out of 177 countries in Human Development Index?
6. Does he now reject the fact that his party’s name is still ….Liberation Front? Liberation from what? Does Seye believe in Ethiopia’s unity?
7. Does Seye accept that those responsible for the murder of 198 Ethiopians following the May ’05 elections should be brought to justice?
Whether Seye should be accepted into the fold or whether he should be treated as a criminal should depend on his response to the above and similar specific questions.
Wase
Seye will be held criminally responsible for allowing the massacre of Bedeno, Arbagugu, Assebot monastery, Arsi… to take place under the noses of his Weyane troops. Apart from that, the perpetrators of the massacre were armed by people under his command.
How can Seye be considered a national hero after causing death and destruction in Ethiopia? He was one of these irrational thinking & reckless ethno-centrists, who pushed our country toward fragmentation. He was an arrogant, heartless warmonger & a violent Woyane who doesn’t care one bit if Ethiopians are killed or maimed as long as it serves the Weyane agenda of making TPLF and its region the undisputed power in Ethiopia.
Men! it seems you forget the main point all what he did to Ethiopia and our hope for democracy since they(TPLF/EPRDF) came to power.Whatever he did in the war is a single incident and insignificant when you compare that to the fact that he was one of the perpetrators of all the attrocities and human right violations.Just to reminde some of the facts think of the 1990’s prosecutions of citizines with out due process of law or are you gonna call them thieves just like them. What about those who were imprisoned like him when he is in power.Anyways, by now you should get the whole pictue of his involvement in the creation of dictatorship in Ethiopia.Accordingly you should dare to say that he was one of the few gangsters who create a false pretext of EPRDF-a party which has no existance as party – so as to put the whole nation under seige.This guy and all other members of his party were members and the real players of that group.
Some times it is hard to understand what HERO means. He is bloody killer of 70,000, 100,000 or more people. Are you guys for real to pay money for this killer?
Siye the Tambien Tigre was thrown in jail because his ego grew so large that he challenged the Adwa murderous thugs NOT because he stood for Ethiopia’s interest. During his tenure as Defense Minister and Board chairman of several government enterprises, Siye tried very hard to prove himself more cruel than Meles – in which the murderous Meles and his Adwa thugs outsmarted him.
Fellow Ethiopians: I don’t understand how we perceive the concept of justice – In my humble opinion justice is not limited to neither confession nor apology. Even if one confesses and apologizes that doesn’t absolve him from the crime – One has to pay for the crime he committed in the people’s court when the time comes. As far as I am concerned Siye was and still is a CRIMINAL certainly not a hero.
Elias: Keep up the good work – unmasking hypocrisy and self-righteousness!!!
I realy agree with u. I share all the comments that people wrote about what Ato Siye had done when he was in power. He is not a hero at all. However, if siye realy regrets and ready to apologize, we have to give him a chance because Meles is still in charge with his dummy AGAZI soldiers. So probably Ato Siye might do somthing different to get rid off zenawi and his loyalists by using the majority of good Tigreans and his famous name in that region. What i am trying to say is, let’s meet him and challenge him. May God bless ETHIOPIA!
Thank you Elias you raised good point. Many ppl said it well what I want said above but my question for Seye is why did he decided to come to America before talking to the ppl of Ethiopia? I’m sure he won’t say there is no democracy in Ethiopia because he was the one building democracy before he was locked up. I think he see a gold rush in America and he want to be a part of it. We all should boycott him until he talk to Ethiopian ppl back home. Greed greed greed make ppl blind. shame
yigermal…how quick we forget that siye was and continues to be zeregna just like his bosses in minilik palace. some of us lost family members because of what siye did…he publicly stomped on cigarette butt indicating that is how he will stomp on the “amharas”. this type of action caused friction between ethnic groups specially between oromos and amharas and we all know what happened to those poor amharas in hahar province..they got slaughtered. sisye is a criminal and needs to be taken to court for his destructive past…i’d say let him face the charge of treason given his stand on eritrea. look, daniel and netsanet were falsely accused by woyane of trumped up chages for simply trying to eradicate poverty from ethiopia; and yet we have this criminal siye acting as if he is clean and a hero. why the double standard. i think we need to send siye to kality for good…i have no dout that he will face justice one day.
In the exception of Shabia agents and supports Seye has gained support and respect from the rest of Ethiopians in the diaspora..
Back in 1992-94, when TPLF was laying down its network of domination in the Ethiopian body-politic, Seye Abraha was the one TPLF sends on the Eth. TV to spew his venom of arrogance, hate and demeaning diatribe on the Ethiopian people. His limited vocabulary at the time consisted of the words – neftegnoch, timkhtegnoch, etc. I can not forget this guy’s portrayal of sheer arrogance at the time. He was TPLF’s face when it comes to terrorizing any one who comes its way when the organization was extending its tentacles of subjugation. His unforgetable tirade at that time was when he said, “We, TPLF know how to make a war and how to win a war” This, he said when TPLF decided to push away OLF from the transitional government. Now, he comes here as a hero simply because Meles put him in prison. Seye was in prison because he was corrupt not because he was a hero as some would want us to believe now. Whether it is Seye Abraha or Gebru Asrat or Abay Tsehaye or Sebhat Nega or Meles Zenawi, etc. they are all the same. There is no difference in their view of the Ethiopian body-politic. Let’s not be fooled again.
For the sake of providing a balanced analysis, I think you should have waited until you have heard from him. The paramount question is NOT whether he is a hero or not, but rather whether he can contribute to the struggle to bring democracy to the Ethiopian people. That should really be the SOLE question. Based on his interview with VOA, there is a good reason to hope so. He can play an important role in bringing Tigrean support to the sturggle. I don’t think he is going ask us to endorse him as the next ethiopian leader, I think he may be just looking to be given a chance to undo some of the wrongs he has helped to cause. Let’s HEAR what he has to say, let us challenge him with questions. In the end, if we find he is genuinely committed to contributing to the struggle for democracy, we would be emotional fools if we reject his offer. We need all the help we can get!!!!!
Heroism is not something reflected during war times only. Ato Siye is an individual who found himself in the middle of a group who failed to look at alternatives except war. War like any national issue must be addressed with due zeal and national pride but with political, spiritual and human principles.
The Horn is a region where human suffering and tragedy is immense. Why do we run to label or tag to individuals with certain attributes as a result of an event? A life time deeds and commitment to principles must come first. We Ethiopians ought to remember our LORD is our HERO for eternity. Why do we forget the people who sacrificed themselves to help the needy? What about people who intervene and make peace between seemingly irreconcilable issues among ethnic groups? At least we all people could be called heroes if we only learn to forgive and love our enemies with due influence and principles. Killings and destruction can’t amount to heroism. Let’s wait and see that some individuals to come up to save the Horn or Africa in general. We are people of a great land with opportunities. We need heroes in Economy and vision if they could be called heroes. Otherwise militants who lacked sympathy and human dignity can not be called ‘heroes’. He did his job that is all nothing else though a national issue. His incumbent orders him to defend the land but with little sacrifices and with giving a chance to political solutions if he were keen and visionary. He, Siye, is incomparable to Haile Gebreselasie who toiled steadfastly to keep his Records up and unbeaten.
I don’t think it’s time to call individuals ‘hero’ when they fought a war that could otherwise be solved through negotiations on the basis of ‘true principles’. At last, May the Almighty send us people to save the Horn and Africa as a whole?
people;
you can not solve Ethiopia’s problem by isolating people who would like to join your camp. Go to the meeting and ask him all the hard quesitons and then make your decision. Unless we are willing to narrow down our differences and work for the common good for sake of our country, not only us even our childeren will not solve Ethiopia’s problem. For the sake of Ethiopia, we need to learn to let go the past and work for the future. I bet most of you here admire Nelson Mandela but if you really do admire him, you need to ask yourslef what made Nelson Mandela so different from the rest? the answer is his willingess to forgive but not to forget for sake of his country South Africa. We ethiopians need to learn to forgive but not to forget for the sake Emye Ethiopia. Whether we like it or not, we are bound to live in one country and the only solution I see is to sit down and iron out our differene and move forward. Let it be our generation who breaks the revenge cycle.
If we recall Siyes interview with VOA he also agreed that he can not escape from being held accountable for what he has done as TPLF leadership member. The idea of press conference, as mentioned by ER, or interviews could be nice to achieve a smooth start for Siye’s new political life. It is right for all Ethiopians to question and good for him to explain some questions and introduce his future plan before calling a meeting of all Ethiopians.
Otherwise, it is not beneficial to the opposition to be hostile towards individual TPLF members when they show interest to side with the opposition. Siye never claimed the honour of ‘National Hero’… what ever it means. Whether his regret on past mistakes is genuine or not we can only prove that from his deeds in the future. Considering our hitherto messy political history, changing the course requires forgiving hearts that encourage all Ethiopians to correct themselves. Bitterness only exacerbates bloodshed.
I believe Siye can play a significant positive role and effectively contribute to the struggle against ‘Woyane’. He is a resource person and needs to be encouraged.
Kudos for Elias again!
I would write pages about the criminal activities Ato Siye did in the name of “Abay Tigray’. But, I will not since most people have exposed his complicity in acquiring land from Begemder, Wollo and Afar and of course, if he had his way he would take lands from Eritrea just to make an ethnically driven 19th century mentality of making Tigray what it is not. A sovereign country at the expence of the rest of Ethiopia! for heaven’s sake, is it not bad enough their attempt to make Tigray the jewel of the area by stealing Ethiopian people’s wealth and moving them, yes, literally moving them to Tigray. Do you know how many (albeit non functional) factories and colleges have been built in Tigray when relatively nothing has been done for the rest of the country?
And what about the Ethio-Eritrea war’s saddening results? People say 70,000 souls have been perished on the Ethiopian side alone. No, not that this is a figure that can be easily dismissed, the actual causality Ethiopian figure is 123, 000 human souls perished for nothing, I repeat for absolutely nothing. Call him a hero or a rat, if you like, this guy, along with other weyane thugs, needs to be brought in the court of law and have his say there.
Friends, I even go further than most of you would perhaps want to go. I say not only the Siye Abrahas, the weasil foreign minister for life, the bandit of Adwa, the born again Ethiopian Ghebru Asrat, buit the Tekola Hagos and Getachew Redas and the clown at Ethiomedia, Abraha Belai need to see their day in court. But for now, Siye is not hero on my watch!
This guy is one of the most criminal of TPLF leadership next to the mafia leader Meles. He killed tens of thousands. Someone should work on legal process to legally hold him here, in the U.S. The blood of millions is in his hands. He is outright criminal.
Thank you Mr Elias !!!i fully agree on your position. How come a person who masterminded for forcefull secession of Eritrea, a person who played pivotal role for the death of thousands of university and high school students in broad day light by trigger happy woyane soliders in Addis and elsewhere in Ethiopia.Was’nt he the one who tried to dismantle the Ethiopian Airlines. Consider seyie as hero is tantamount to discredit the real Ethiopian Heros of the past and the present who sacrificed and died for the unity and integrity of Ethiopia and its people. But Seye is the exact opposite of the heros of the past and present.He would be rememberd in history as traitor not as a hero until proved himself by agressively fight along with Ethiopian democratic forces in toppling the decadent Melese and his desperadoes regime.
Elias
I like your comment about ato Siye did during the Ethio and Ertrean war. He has the blood of many Ethiopians on his hand.When time comes he will be one of the war criminal who has to be appeared in front of justice. His jailed history woud not cover up his crime.
Oh man! What’s really going on here? Who are you ppl saying “let’s hear him what he’s gonna say….If he will say I am sorry…blah..blah…blah…”. Who are you to admit ” being sorry” is enough for all those lives we lost, For all the situations we are in now and For everything that some one is responsible for. He was, he is and he will be TPLF’s main person always. Nothing’s going to change it. We have a great fighting going on now with those Bugs of minilik palace. Don’t be so fast to trust someone just bcz he seems to be against MELES. They have their own problems which leads him to spent some years in prison. Why is he coming here now? Why now? Be careful ppl. Don’t put our struggle in danger. No trust at all. We trusted a lot of politicians and we are here now. Some of you guys don’t trust in AFD which is the only and the perfect way we have ever but your ears are open for SEYE ABRAHA. Don’t trust anyone who is part of damaging administrations we saw. Not only EPRDF, any of them. be careful fo r one and for all. SHAME ON YOU ATO(optional) SIYE. YOU ARE A BIG SYMBOL OF SHAME. YOU WILL BE REMEMBERED FOR THE LOSTS WE PRACTISED. SEE YOU IN “GEHANEME ESAT”
with a lot of love for ETHIOPIA!!!
Comment #51 (fetno derash) wrote: “If we go back and cite their past as a proof of purity to lead Ethiopia, we won’t have that many clean leaders.”
If I understand you correctly, there are other people like him that you know about who you would like to lead Ethiopia in the future with their unclean hands. I think you would do the people a great service if you bring them to the public court, as Elias did in this case, instead of trying to defend them, unless you are one of them in the first place.
Folks,
When will this cycle of revenge can be broken in Ethiopia? How do we move Ethiopia beyond the darkness of mutually destructive hatred and revenge into the light of reconcilation and forgiveness? We have to follow what Nelson Mandela did in South Africa: reconcilation and forgiveness.
Let Siye Abraha publicly apologize the Ethiopian people for what he did in power. Let’s give him a second chance.
Yes!
Thank U Elias for your fruitful comments!
He was one of the main dictator during the 1st last 10 years stay of weyane regime! He is too narrow. His letter sent to diaspora and the rest during his conflict with weyane (meles) was written only in Tigrigna. What did this job shows to us? Forget him!!!!
Good job ER!
The article is very pursuasive and logical. We shouldn’t call him a public hero. Everybody knows that Siye was one of the right hand man of the Ethiopian dictator. Siye woke up and start to tell the truth when Meles is against him.
Elias,
I think sometimes people only try to feed their arrogant Ethio-ego. We are not trying to solve the real problems of our country. Let’s not be divisive and fault finders, rather be forgivers and uniters.
There is no objective and reasonable justification for Ethiopians to provide Seye with another chance. Helping him finish what he started is another question. Keep in Mind!! He has not yet finished….
Some of the comments come from genuine guys who may not have understood the spirit of Kinijit very well. The question is not about cleaness of Seeye. We are not inviting him to lead us or join us either. It is about accepting his repentance, whether or not he can positively contribute to democracy in the future in his own way. To me, OLF, ONLF, Seeye or others should be embraced so long as they correct their past mistakes and agree to work with democratic forces to establish a just system in our country.
We should also be careful not to fall in the trap of Zenawi’s stooges who are trying everything to divide the opposition. Do not forget that when the AFD was formed, they were posting several articles on pro-Ethiopia web sites disguising themselves as concerned CUD supporters.
Some of the postings remind me what was written against Gebru Asrat by Zenawi’s imposters following Gebru’s speech to the people in Addis at Meskal Square in 2004. They use the same language and tone as pro-unity forces, appear to be against Meles and the other group for their past deeds. But, the underlying message is one: PERPETUATING DIVISION/MUTUAL SUSPICION/.
Elias
Siye Abraha was defeated by Melles fair and square and should stay put in Mekele for the rest of his life. He is no General either. He could barely command his soldiers and had the help of Russian generals to conduct his operations. He failed miserably there too. He can blame Meles all he wants, but he bares all the blames. Arrogant and useless to the country. That is what he is now. By the way, ask him what he did with all the money he plundered (Marble factory in Badme region, Cemenet factory, commissions from arms sales, etc.).
Elias,
I don’t fully agree with you. What if he is calling these meetings to apologize and explain his plans for the future?
Take this as a comparison: After WW II, the allied forces allowed some Nazi politicians and officials to contiribute because they were useful.
Siye had time (6 years!!) to think about his past actions and future directions. Let us give him a chance to explain himself.
every one who was prisoned by woyane and released for what ever reason shuld not be considered as hero just because he said so.
Elias,
You are absolutly right. First of all Seye is responsible for all the messes that happened in Ethiopia since he came to power from the bush. Secondly so many thousands of innocent lives perished during his gorrila war and after that. What we see right now in Ethiopia is the result of decades long failed policy and brutal crime of his own tribal regime. He and his likes have alienated the people of Tigray from the rest of Ethiopia with his tribal politics. How can we say that he is a national hero. He was a person devoid of any national visionory thinking ( of course he was a Tribal hero, for it was his attribute to brain wash the tigryan people, and he successfully alienated tigray from the rest of Ethiopia and killed the generation of Ethiopianness). Now the visionary!, Seye, has waken up from his deep wintersleep (tribal wintersleep) and is facing the grave danger of his tribal politics. One important thing for sure is , he recently identified the root cause of all evils in Ethiopia namely: Tribalism. Is he equiped with its remedies?. No, not at all. So, I would suggest he has to appologize for all our miseries and resign from public with the remnants of his dignity. Basta It is to late to be trusted.
I agree with you, Elias. You are probably one of the few Ethiopians who call a spade a spade! Why bring people with lots of criminal records like Siye while we have lots of genuine people who can work for democracy? We should learn from our past mistakes.
Thank you Elias, I agree with u. I watched his interview from 15 years and follow his history including the time with Ethiopian airlines. I’m telling you those who wants to call him Hero are those who want to see more killing in Ethiopia, Somalia & Eritrea. If it is deliberate plan to get Melles (Sreet smart and cruel) please follow people with fresh ideas not Siye( King Bokassa) brutal not intelligent.Thanks God time is changing, people start to know who is who.I agree with those who are saying we should work on legal process to legally hold him in the US.Let’s put him back in jail that is where he belongs.We need PEACE!!
I could not agree more Mr. Elias. Who forgets when Siye and Meles use the amharas, the oromos and others to clear up the mines that was in their way to Eritrea. It is clear day by day that the war was to protect tigray not Ethiopia as a nation.
What second chance are people talking about? People whom Siye killed or instrumental in their murder don’t get a second chance. I truly believe that most of all SIYE will go back and serve Meles and his woyane thugs if they give him a second chance – that is how petit CRIMINAL this guy was and still is – just because he shared Prison time with CUD leaders or because Birtukan or Berhanu had good words to say about him doesn’t warrant to forgive a CRIMINAL – the blood he shed of the thousands of Oromos and other Ethiopians is crying for Justice beyond their grave – as an Oromo and proud Ethiopian I indeed will not forget or forgive for the crime he and his crime family committed!!!
Like I said to Kinfe Abraha burn in hell – I say to SIYE the murderer Go to Hell!!!
The statement made about Siye and his deeds are 100% correct and thruthful. As a matter of fact, this cold blooded killer should be confronted for his brutal actions and be sued for mass destruction along his woyanne associates. Ande Ethiopia
Those who call Mr. Siye a national hero are people who gained from the bloodshed he and his party caused. He is a fool that was discarded by the Meles regime after his usefulness to the party expired. Weyane is the pain of the Ethiopian people and its unity! Mr. Siye is part and parcel of the current regime. Whether he is outside the prison wall or inside it makes no difference to the millions of people that suffer under the weyane regime.
Paying to listen to him even a dime is a crime by itself.