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ETHIOPIA: VIOLENCE IN ADDIS November 1, 2005
<|ethiopia.jpg|Ethiopia|left|>(SomaliNet) Addis Ababa Police clashed with opposition supporters, killing at least five people and wounding more than twenty. These clashes came after the government arrested members and supporters of the opposition party.
The government is claiming the police used force in self-defense. However, people at the scene said the police were not in any danger when they started shooting indiscriminately, even shooting at bystanders.
In western region of Gambella, Anuak rebels attacked police stations and killed at least twenty people, including state police chief. Anuaks have long fought with the government accusing state police of human rights abuses.
Addis Ababa's clashes and arrests stem from last May's elections in which the opposition party charges Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his party rigged the results and intimidated voters.
Landlocked Ethiopia has borders with five East African nations, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and Eritrea. Instability in the country would have great impact on all East Africa. Somalia is a prime example of what happens when governments are overthrown and the vacuum is not filled immediately. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis left the civil war that followed the overthrow of Somalia's last functioning government and are now scattered throughout the world. Thousands lost their lives in high seas trying to reach the Middle East or southern Europe.