The ex-PM Meles Zenawi and his family have fled the country and went to Somaliland. Sources in Hargeisa, the Somaliland capital, say Meles is planning his travel to China, where he is expected to reside permanently. Soldiers and generals loyal to Meles Zenawi’s TPLF have fled north to the Tigray region where he still has much support from his ethnic group. However, sources in the Tigray capital Mekele have reported that some ethnic Tigrayan opposition supporters have risen up against the TPLF and there are reports of gunfight in southern Tigray.
In the disputed Badme town near the border with Eritrea, Tigray forces are battling Eritrean troops who have invaded the territory. In Addis Ababa and most of Oromia, OLF rebels have taken control of strategic military posts as hundreds of thousands of Oromos have went to the streets in jubilation. Young men and women, children and the elderly have flocked outside to enjoy their freedom after decades of oppressive and exploitive Abyssinian rule in Oromia. For many centuries, various ethnic and regional communities and kingdoms lived side-by-side peacefully. But it was in the 1880s that Abyssinian Emperor Menelik II, with the help of General Gobana Dacche, conquered most of the independent Oromo Kingdoms.
Thousands of elated people celebrated victory from tyranny; some of them holding signs that read “Oromia is Free!” “Meles to the Hague!” and “Free at Last!” Some non-Oromo Ethiopians have also joined the celebration while opposition leaders plead for calm. There has been some looting and robbery reported in Adama, Jimma, Bahir Dar and Desse in the absence of the police however MEDREK opposition officials and elders have joined the OLF to control the crowd in many towns.
US embassy officials said they have been surprised in the disciplined conduct of the rebels in the capital city as they take control of federal institutions. However, there have been reports of “border conflicts” near Oromia state’s boundaries with other regional states as well as land dispute in the Ogaden region where OLF rebels are battling ONLF rebels.
A couple of OLF officials have declared that the country will conduct a referendum for the future of Oromia region in “less than five days.” But top level OLF leaders stated that formation of a transitional and democratic Ethiopian government is their first priority; to supervise an orderly, impartial and peaceful referendum.
-----
in your dreams
