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http://news.yahoo.com/ethiopia-says-us-embassy-intruders-must-charged-091538652.html
Ethiopia says US embassy intruders must be charged
By Elias Meseret
Associated Press
Published: Friday, Oct. 10 2014 8:25 a.m. MDT
Updated: 4 hours ago
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia's government said it hopes U.S.
authorities will prosecute protesters who tried to take down the national
flag on the grounds of its embassy in Washington.
A security attache at the embassy, who has since returned home, fired a gun
during the Sept. 29 incident, which has renewed tensions between Ethiopia's
government and dissident groups.
Dina Mufti, a spokesman for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told
Ethiopian state television late Thursday that the protesters have ties with
Eritrea and the Somali Islamic extremist group al-Shabab.
He said the U.S. government is expected to protect the integrity of the
embassy and to charge the "intruders," who chanted anti-government slogans
as they tried to take down the flag of Ethiopia.
But on Oct. 2, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman in Washington indicated
that authorities were instead looking to investigate the shooting incident,
which reportedly caused no injuries.
"In this case, we requested a waiver of (diplomatic) immunity to permit
prosecution of the individual involved in that incident. The request was
declined and the individual involved has now left the country," State
Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Oct. 2.
Critics of Ethiopia's government say it is intolerant of political dissent.
Human Rights Watch says Ethiopia's government has "clamped down heavily" on
protests, arbitrarily detaining and beating protesters.
Yilikal Getnet, head the opposition Blue Party, said Ethiopia's government
routinely characterizes protesters as criminals, adding that opposition
groups back home have been similarly treated.
Received on Fri Oct 10 2014 - 14:53:17 EDT