»ETHIOPIAN Delegates Chased Away by Oromo Youth in Minnesota
OPDO/TPLF Delegates Chased Away by Oromo Youth in Minnesota
On Saturday August 27, 2007 there was a secret meeting scheduled to take place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The delegates of the "Oromian Regional Government" were supposed to speak at that meeting. Although the meeting was claimed to be public, there was no publicity or announcement prior to the meeting. In fact it was rumored that the meeting would take place on September 1st, 2007 which was information released to mislead the public.
However the cover of that highly secretive meeting was blown up when information leaked to Oromo youth activists on the evening of Friday, August 24th. Using all necessary means of communication, the youth rapidly transmitted the information and were well prepared to face the sellout delegates. Ready for the major confrontation, the youth marched to the Hilton Hotel in Bloomington and waited for the "delegates" to arrive. After almost an hour, the "delegates" arrived led by Faisal Abrahim, an agent working for the "Diaspora Affairs" at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC. He took the lead and introduced his guests and their ranks within the surrogate OPDO government. In the meantime, tension in the room was raising, any observer could read fear and confusion on the face of the "delegates". Especially the self-proclaimed vice president of Oromia Muktar Kedir was sweating bullets and staring blankly into the audience.
Before the delegates said a word, the youth asked permission to comment on the agenda of the meeting. However Faisal refused to allow such comments and instead called the security just as he would do against unarmed Oromo students in Oromia by calling Agazi commandos. This led to confrontation between the audience and the delegates. The police arrived but stayed aside because the youth explained to them the reason for the stand off which was legal action without violence. It was at this time that the so called delegates realized that they were the only members and supporters of OPDO in the room while the rest of the audience was there to confront them. The debate became heated to the level where Faisal was forced to resign from chairing the meeting and the youth activists took over the meeting. One young audience member told the delegates that just as they the delegates, were made to take order from Melles in Oromia, now they should not refuse to take order from the Oromo youth.
Scared by such development, the delegates ran out of the room. The youth followed them denouncing the OPDO and its master the TPLF. An attempt by the nervous dark suited delegates to attack a female member of the audience led to a brief moment of physical confrontation which resulted in the audience overpowering the delegates. The meeting was cancelled and the victorious Oromo youth showed their solidarity to their peers back home who are the subject of gross human rights violations by the wayanes and their surrogates. The latest information indicates that the humiliated delegates have cancelled their remaining tour to other states and have returned back to the country.
One thing very obvious at that meeting was the absence of local OPDO members and sympathizers. The reason for their absence is that they didn't want to be identified by the community due to fear of isolation. The most amazing of all is that just as they spy for the regime in Finfinne, they were also serving as double agents providing information against the delegates. This is an indicator of the nature of the relationships between the TPLF and its surrogates; a relationship based on mistrust and betrayal. This relationship is a positive development and advantageous to the camp of those who struggle for freedom, justice and democracy.
This heroic action of the Oromo youth in Minnesota should serve as an example for all those who oppose the regime in Ethiopia. It is crucial that we stop the regime's agents from dividing the Diaspora in the name of investment while in fact the regime is engaged in gross human rights violations and looting of national resources.
Baker Ware- Freelance reporter, Minnesota
