ADDIS ABABA - Prominent Ethiopian activist
Jawar Mohammed called for calm on Thursday amid protests that
have killed 16 people and are challenging Nobel Prize-winning
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in his political heartland.
Addressing hundreds of his supporters who have set up camp
around his house in Addis Ababa, Jawar said: "Open the blocked
roads, clean the towns of barricades, treat those who have been
injured during the protests and reconcile with those you have
quarrelled with."
People have been killed in at least four cities since
clashes broke out Wednesday, officials and a witness said, after
police fired gunshots and teargas to break up demonstrations in
support of Jawar.
A media entrepreneur and activist from the Oromo ethnic
group, the country's largest, Jawar organised protests that
propelled Abiy to power last year.
Abiy oversaw rapid political reforms after decades of
repressive rule, winning international praise that culminated in
last week's award of the Nobel Peace Prize for ending a
decades-long conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
But the greater freedoms have unleashed long-repressed
tensions between Ethiopia's many ethnic groups as local
politicians claim more resources, power and land for their own
regions. This week Abiy accused unnamed media figures of
promoting ethnic interests over national unity.
Jawar, a one-time ally of the prime minister, has mobilised
protesters from the Oromo ethnic group - the same group Abiy
comes from. The showdown is a litmus test for Abiy: if he backs
down, it could embolden Jawar and other regional powerbrokers.
But widespread violence would tarnish his reformist credentials.
A spokeswoman for the prime minister did not respond to
requests for comment.
Late on Tuesday night, police had surrounded Jawar's house
and told his bodyguard to leave, he told Reuters. Hundreds of
people quickly gathered in support. Protests spread to other
parts of the capital and other cities, where police fired
teargas and bullets to disperse them.
On Thursday, Jawar supporters dug in, erecting tents outside
his house and bringing mattresses. Some chanted: "We don't want
Abiy, we don't want Abiy".
Half a dozen policemen stood at a distance from the
protesters.
"One week, one month, we don't care," said a young
protester, who asked for anonymity for fear of repercussion from
the security forces. "We will stay here until the government
tells us why they did this to Jawar."
PROTESTS AND POLITICS
Jawar, an Ethiopian-born U.S. citizen, mobilized many
thousands of young men all over the Oromiya region to protest
against the government from 2016 to 2018, finally forcing Abiy's
predecessor Hailemariam Desalegn to step down - the first time a
prime minister had resigned since independence.
Jawar and Abiy were photographed together frequently last
year but remarks by the prime minister in a speech to parliament
on Tuesday suggested frustration.
Abiy said, without naming anyone, "Media owners who don't
have Ethiopian passports are playing both ways."
"We tried to be patient. But if this is going to undermine
the peace and existence of Ethiopia ... we will take measures."
Abiy must walk a delicate line between increasing political
freedoms and reining in strongmen building ethnic powerbases.
Some Ethiopians have criticised Jawar for using
ethnically-tinged language, but many young Oromo men consider
him a hero.
Ethiopia is due to hold elections next year. The four main
ethnically-based parties in the ruling coalition, which has held
power since 1991, will compete with new, more strident parties
in their home regions. Jawar could help mobilise support for the
ruling coalition - or a rival.
"The rise in tension and violence that ensued yesterday is
driving wedges into the ever-widening fissures among political
parties in the country," said Fisseha Tekle, Ethiopia researcher
at Amnesty International.
DEATH TOLL CLIMBS
On Thursday morning, the army was deployed in Dodola, about
300 km (185 miles) south of the capital, after six people were
killed, said an official at Dodola hospital. He said three had
been shot and three beaten to death.
"The number will definitely escalate," he added. "We are
hearing gunshots and people shouting."
A army spokesman said he had no information on the army
being deployed anywhere.
In the town of Ambo, 100 km (60 miles) west of the capital,
five protesters had died from wounds from gunshots and stones
since Wednesday, Oromiya regional police commissioner Kefyalew
Tefera told Reuters by phone on Thursday.
Security forces fired to disperse protesters setting tires
alight, 30-year-old Solomon Kidanu told Reuters by phone as
gunshots cracked in the background.
In Harar, 500 km (310 miles) east of the capital, police
shot two people on Wednesday, an official said, and protesters
killed a third because they suspected him of being an informant.
"Today the city is calm this morning but the road to Addis
Ababa is closed by the young men," he said.
A businessman in Addis Ababa told Reuters he saw two dead
protesters brought to the city's Alert Hospital on Wednesday.
Several roads heading out of Addis Ababa remained closed.
Residents in several other towns and cities across Oromiya
told Reuters that Jawar's supporters had begun to block roads.