_ From: "Macdonald Stainsby" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 03:00:34 -0700 To: "Leninist International" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [L-I] news from Ethiopia Oromo Rebel Group Denies Ideological Split UN Integrated Regional Information Network August 31, 2001 Reports that three prominent leaders of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) had been dismissed were denied by an OLF spokesman on Thursday. The Washington-based spokesman, Lencho Bati, told IRIN that Gelasa Dilbo, Abiyu Geleta and Tchala Leta continued to be members of the OLF national council, but were being "reassigned" to new duties. "They have been reassigned and reshuffled, which is a normal organisational process," he said. Veteran leader Gelasa Dilbo had for the past year represented the OLF in the recently formed United Force of Oromo Organisations and in the Oromo Union, but had now been "recalled". "The executive committee is in the process of reassigning him," the spokesman said. According to reports in the Ethiopian private press, two rival groups have emerged in the OLF over the issue of self-determination for the Oromo people, the majority ethnic group in Ethiopia. The veteran leadership of the OLF reportedly insists on the need to create an independent Oromiya, while another group of leaders advocates an option of voluntary union. The alternative group is reported to include the present secretary-general, Daud Ibsa; the former minister of information in the ruling coalition Ethiopian People's Democratic Revolutionary Front (EPRDF) transitional government, Dima Nogo; the OLF's former secretary-general, Lencho Leta; and the spokesman, Lencho Bati, who is described as the OLF's head of foreign relations. There were differences over whether or not to push harder for talks with the Ethiopian government, a regional expert told IRIN. Some OLF members believe now is an opportune moment to initiate contact with the government - which has recently dealt with a political crisis - and want to heed international calls that opposition groups and government should engage in a reconciliation dialogue. Earlier this year, Ethiopian leader Prime Minister Meles Zenawi narrowly retained the support of the central committee of his party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant political force in the ruling coalition EPRDF. Political "renewal" and a campaign against corruption by the government has led to a number of high-profile defections, including that of Oromo Almaz Meko, the former Speaker of the upper house of Ethiopia's legislature, the House of the Federation, and former member of the pro-government Oromo Peoples Democratic Organisation (OPDO), who declared she was joining the OLF. Two more defections from the OPDO were announced by the OLF this week. According to an OLF statement issued on Wednesday, Diriba Ariqo Hurise, security head and militia commander of Oromiya, and Yasin Hussein, former administrator of Bale Zone, both members of the OPDO central committee, and members of the EPRDF, have fled to a neighbouring country. The OPDO has had a number of senior members removed from its central committee during the post-crisis "purge", including Ethiopian President Negasso Gidada. Rejecting the reports of an ideological split, Lencho Bati told IRIN that "there had always been a difference of opinions and tactics" within the OLF. He said that as a political and military organisation, the OLF would "never close an option" - including negotiation with the Ethiopian government. He confirmed that the last peace talks between the government and the OLF had been held in Bonn, Germany, in 1999 under the auspices of a former German ambassador. The talks failed, with the OLF refusing to renounce armed struggle, and rejecting the present Ethiopian constitution. Bati said the constitution was unacceptable, because the OLF had not participated in the drafting of it, and that the demand by the government for the OLF to renounce violence was "hypocritical". "The government is more violent, and uses our people as cannon fodder to fight Eritrea," he said. On the issue of an independent Oromiya, Bati said the OLF had a common goal in "fighting for the rights of the Oromos". He said "we want our people to decide on whether they want an independent Oromiya or a voluntary union, and this decision ultimately lies only with the Oromo people themselves." The OLF claim to represent the majority ethnic group in Ethiopia, the Oromos, who inhabit some of the most fertile and productive land, bordering Kenya and Sudan. The OLF was part of the transitional government when it was established by way of the TPLF victory in 1991, but pulled out of the EPRDF coalition in 1992, having accused the government of manipulating regional elections, and declared war against the government. But the Ethiopian government has dismissed the movement as unrepresentative, and has declared it a terrorist organisation. "Militarily it poses an irritation to the government, but not a real threat," a regional expert said. Nevertheless, national and international human rights organisations have complained of widespread harassment and political repression of the Oromos in recent years. Regional experts point out the importance of the Oromo constituency to the coalition government, and the fact Oromos enjoy a strong presence in the armed forces. Until recently, the Ethiopian army chief-of-staff was an Oromo, but resigned, reportedly to set the stage for him to take a more active role in political life. According to the government press, Maj-Gen Abadula Gemeda, a founding member of the OPDO, had asked to be allowed to resign so that he could return to politics and "contribute his share to the advancement of the renewal movement within the OPDO and the EPRDF". The current president, Negassa Gidada, is also an Oromo - but his future has become unclear following his expulsion from the OPDO and his resignation from the executive committee of the EPRDF. Nairobi, 30 August 2001 ------------------------------------------- Macdonald Stainsby Rad-Green List: Radical anti-capitalist environmental discussion. http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green ---- Leninist-International: Building bridges in the tradition of V.I. Lenin. http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international ---- In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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