Hailu Shawel disinvited from King birthday celebration

The Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday celebration organizing committee in Atlanta disinvited the estranged chairman of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) from giving a speech.

The committee decided to take this action after learning about Ato Hailu’s dictatorial action last week against members of the Kinijit executive committee.

The committee instead invited Prof. Alemayehu Gebremariam to address the gathering in Atlanta to celebrate the civil right leader’s birthday on January 15, 2008.

Martin Luther King’s birthday is a federal holiday in the United States.

Ato Assefa Dires, who introduced himself as Hailu Shawel’s “chief of staff,” appealed the committee’s decision to the King family and friends, including prominent civil rights leader Rev. Joseph Lowery. He argued that Hailu Shawel is still the chairman of Kinijit. As evidence he presented Kinijit spokesperson Dr Hailu Araya’s interview with the VOA earlier this week. Chief of Staff Assefa was simply told that Ato Hailu’s action is contrary to the teachings and principles of the civil rights community.

When Kinijit delegation led by Bertukan Mideksa went to Atlanta in October, they had visited the King Center and met with Rev. Joseph Lowery and other members of the civil rights community in Atlanta.