The late Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi’s funeral Sunday has been scaled down because of security threats, according to an Ethiopian Review correspondent in Addis Ababa.
The gathering for the funeral at the Addis Ababa Holy Trinity Cathedral has also been reduced to a small number of foreign dignitaries and senior members of the ruling party, while the people are being ordered to go to the various tents that has been set up through out Addis Ababa and watch the ceremony on TV.
The number of people coming from other regions of Ethiopia for the funeral has also been reduced to 200 per region.
The main fear on the part of the junta is that a riot could break out if there is a large crowd and things could easily get out of hand.
It is not clear where Meles Zenwi will be buried, but we have been informed that it will not be at the Holy Trinity cemetery. There is a wide spread speculation that his body is placed inside a freezer at a secure location and may be set to this birth place, Adwa.
This is an extremely stressful time for the TPLF junta. … stay tuned for updates.
EDITOR’S NOTE: There is a total clampdown on the independent press in Ethiopia. Even foreign correspondents are working under constant threats, frequently being called into Bereket Simon’s office to be threatened with expulsion from the country. In the report below by William Davison of Bloomberg, we removed all the junk that he was forced to add to his report in order to placate the junta and kept only the few hard facts.
By William Davison
ADDIS ABABA (Bloomberg) — [ … ] Throughout the capital, the mood is somber as Sunday’s funeral looms. Normally deafening bars keep stereos switched off. State television offers blanket coverage of the mourning. There are few outliers. An articulate young journalist – as appreciative of Meles’s rules as millions of his compatriots – reports on Facebook of the intimidation he suffered when he sat on a poster of the premier outside the palace after paying his respects to Meles.
“I was mad that my respect for the late PM could be simplified by the manner I treated a poster,” he writes.
One individual was hauled to a police station for disrespectfully listening to music on headphones, another user alleges below. […]
In an afternoon of stalking the mini-city of flats freshly hoisted by the government and now cluttered with barbers, bars, grocery stores and hordes of people, just one person expresses some doubt. “The EPRDF [Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front] is one party. They dominate everything,” a Russian-educated trader says in perfect English about the Meles-led ruling coalition. “There is no freedom for journalists. A lot of them are in prison.” Those would include dissident Ethiopian writer Eskinder Nega, who was recently sentenced to 18 years in prison for terrorism offenses.
The trader then requests to remain anonymous.
The system’s excesses are also on public display. The mobilization skills of the 6 million-strong party, previously used to permeate state and society, bolster crushing election victories, and encourage donations for Meles’s political masterstroke, the damming of the Nile, are in overdrive. Colleagues cannot travel to Addis Ababa for a meeting next week, one individual informs: all public transport is tied up busing people in for the funeral. Teams of government workers were parading through central Addis Aug. 31, chanting slogans and brandishing placards about the necessity to keep Meles’s dream alive.
The dynamics are similar to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam fundraising campaign: Both Meles and the Nile hydropower project – which signaled Ethiopia’s intention to use a huge asset historically monopolized by Egypt – would be staggeringly popular without any leverage being applied by the EPRDF’s leaders and cadres; yet they still turn the screw in order to strengthen their grip on power.
Critics sneer at some of the party’s alleged tactics: “they’re all receiving per diems”; “homeless beggars on television are praising Meles”; “they’re wheeling the sick out of hospital to join the crowds.”
A leaked letter purportedly from university administrators demanding that staff attend a mourning ceremony makes its way round the Web. “Got it. The North Korean comparisons are justified,” pontificated a media advocate from New York, suggesting that the mourning was not sincere.
But Kemal indicates otherwise. “I cried. Nobody pushed me, nobody paid me. I cried,” he volunteers about his response to Meles’s death.
[…] Away from the public pomp, nervous Ethiopians and Addis’s chattering classes opine that the future is uncertain. Very little is known about the inner workings of an opaque ruling party. Only time will tell whether its stability and thus the country’s is wrecked by factional squabbling. Only the years and decades to come will define his legacy […]
A large group of donkeys residing in Addis Ababa went to the National Palace to pay respect to the late Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi, according to ETV.
On a serious note, the donkeys are better than all the people pigs who cried for the genocidal dictator who has been looting Ethiopia and terrorizing its people for the past 21 years. They cry for a guy who calls them adhgi (agasses). We agree with Meles on that — they are agasses.
Children living on the rough streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capitol, describe their days and nights of struggle. To better understand the mentality that keeps the children from seeking help, we speak with Dr. Minas Hiruy, the director of a local charity organization. He believes that, given a chance, the children can one day succeed.
Here is what we have been able to gather so far:
1. The biggest news in Addis Ababa and other cities in Ethiopia yesterday and today has been the reported death/disappearance of Ethiopian-Saudi Billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi, even though the news has not be confirmed yet. The number of people visiting Meles’s body at the National Palace to pay ‘respect’ has dramatically decreased since yesterday following the story about Al Amoudi.
2. The Ethiopian Review main source stands by his report about Al Amoudi’s death.
2. TPLF propaganda chief Bereket Simon’s office denies the report.
3. One of Al Amoudi’s employees in Addis Ababa told Ethiopian Review that Al Amoudi was in Addis Ababa until Monday 10 AM and that he saw him in person.
4. The same employee told Ethiopian Review this morning that Al Amoudi will be back in Addis Ababa today.
5. EMF reported on Tuesday that Al Amoudi has arrived in Addis Ababa on Monday.
6. Al Amoudi’s office in Jeddah told Ethiopian Review that he is currently in Ethiopia.
7. DLA Piper office in London said the report about Al Amoudi’s death is incorrect, but would not elaborate.
8. A senior adviser told Ethiopian Review that Al Amoudi is not well but he will arrive in Addis Ababa today.
9. ETV news director refused to speak with Ethiopian Review about his report on Monday that Al Amoudi arrived in Addis Ababa.
Conclusion: Three different people who are in a position to know said that Al Amoudi will arrive in Addis Ababa today. We will see.
Ethio-Saudi billionaire Ato Mohamed Al Amoudi, one of the late dictator Meles Zenawi’s closest friends, has died today in Saudi Arabia after receiving medical treatment in London, Ethiopian Review Intelligence Unit sources reported this afternoon.
Ethiopian Review could not confirm this breaking news from more than one source, but the source is credible enough for us to report it.
As we prepared to report the news, the TPLF-controlled Ethiopian Television (ETV) this evening reported that Al Amoudi has arrived in Addis Ababa today, but showed only an old photo. ETV reported Al Amoudi’s arrival in Ethiopia with an old photo to preempt any talk of Al Amoudi’s death which could turn people’s attention away from Meles Zenawi’s burial program that is scheduled for next Sunday, September 2, according to Ethiopian Review analysts.
… stay tuned for more update.
