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ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA: Civilians are killed as police, protesters clash
Thursday, Nov. 03 2005
Riot police deployed across the Ethiopian capital firing guns and lobbing
grenades Wednesday to quell a second day of protests over disputed
parliamentary elections. Doctors and hospital workers said at least 23 people
were killed and 150 wounded, including children.
But government Information Minister Berhan Hailu said the casualty figures had
been exaggerated and put the death toll at 11 civilians and one police officer.
He said 54 officers and 28 civilians were injured.
The killing of civilians was a political setback for Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi, touted by the Bush administration as a progressive African leader and a
key partner in the fight against terrorism.
The May 15 vote, which gave his ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary
Democratic Front control of 60 percent of the parliament, had been seen as a
key test of Meles' commitment to reform. Opposition parties say the vote and
ballot-counting were marred by fraud, intimidation and violence, and they
accuse the ruling party of rigging the elections.
FROM NEWS SERVICES
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