Meles Zenawi: the prime criminal of Ethiopia

Mesfin Arega

Ever since he usurped power, the actions and behavior of Meles Zenawi – the measure he took, the policies he adopted, and the statements he uttered – have been puzzling countless Ethiopians.  Even well meaning foreigners who keenly follow developments in the country are having great difficulties in making head or tail of Meles’s policies. 

How come the leader of a country not only becomes the first to recognize the secession of a crucial part of his country (with out which the country will be totally and helplessly land-locked) but also nags– harasses– the leaders of other countries to do the same?  Why does the leader of a country completely reverse all the military gains of the country – achieved at enormous sacrifices – to turn a victorious country into a vanquished one – an absolute loser – which not only loses all of what it gained militarily but also what was incontestably hers?    Why does the leader of a country divide the country along ethnic lines when he knows for sure that it is a recipe for disaster?  Why does the leader of a country adamantly stick to his policies when these policies have been proven to be total failures?   In short, why does the leader of a country abhors that country so much so that nothing seems to please him more than seeing the very name of the country completely wiped off from the world map via disintegration, and its population driven to extinction via plague and famine?  The aim of this letter is to address these and other seemingly perplexing questions and, thereby, explain the reasons why Meles Zenawi is behaving and acting the way he does.   

Meles has grand plan – a life long dream – the dream to hook-up his father’s province (Tigray) with his mother’s province (Eritrea) so as to form the Tigray-Tigrin Empire or Greater Tigray - as christened by the proponents of this crazy idea.  It is with grand plan in mind that Meles snatched huge lands - strategic and fertile lands - from Wollo and Gonder and incorporated them into Tigray.  It is also with this grand plan in mind that he resettles – under the pretext of fighting famine – tens of thousands of Tigrians in these newly acquired lands. By doing so, Meles intends to make these lands permanently Tigrean so that the future Tigray-Tigrin will become, at least agriculturally, self sufficient. 

These newly acquired fertile lands – Meles reckons – will play invaluable roles in winning the hearts and minds of those Eritreans who until now are vehemently opposed to the idea of Tigray-Tigrin, mainly because they see no economical advantage – if not disadvantage – in Tigray joining Eritrea.    Add the industries, colleges, irrigation dams, hydro-electric plants, roads etc recently built in Tigray – built with taxes collected from other regions of Ethiopia, and with money borrowed in the name of all Ethiopians – the province will soon become so tantalizing that an Eritrean must be a diehard moron not to be thrilled at the prospect of gaining full access to these resources via Tigray-Tigrin.  [Caution: Let it not be interpreted that I am begrudging the “development” of Tigray.  Far from it.  In fact, Tigray being the cradle of Ethiopia, and I being a passionate believer in Ethiopia the idea – Ethiopia the religion – no one would be happier to see Tigray prosper.  However, I believe that it is in the interest of the people of Tigray themselves if the little we have is shared equitably – if due emphasis is given to our people who deserve it most – the Omos and the Agnuwaks, the Benshanguls and the Gumuzs, the Afars and the Isas etc.]    

Meles’s Tigray-Tigrin grand plan also explains why Meles – quick and aggressive though he was to grab lands from other regions of Ethiopia and incorporate them into Tigray – is not in the least bothered at all whether any part of Tigray (Badme, Zalanbessa, Irob etc) “goes” to Eritrea or not.   For him any “boundary” between Tigray and Eritrea is a meaningless temporary line which will become moot the moment Tigray-Tigrin is born. 

Meles’s expression of “dissatisfaction” with the ruling of the boundary commission is nothing but a propaganda hoax designed for public consumption.  In fact, Meles cannot be any happier about this ruling, because it fits perfectly with his Tigray-Tigrin grand plan. 

The boundary commission’s decision – now “accepted, in principle” - will make the land-locked status of the present day Ethiopia legally recognized by all countries and international bodies of the world.   As far as Meles is concerned, this is the single most important effect of the commission’s verdict – the one which makes him the happiest – since it will ensure that - when Tigray eventually joins Eritrea - the resulting Tigray-Tigrin will have complete control of the red sea cost, rendering the rest of Ethiopia a strangled, weak and ethnically divided mass of land which can easily be manipulated and controlled – forever serving as a source of raw material and cheap labor for Tigray-Tigrin.   In short, Meles renounces the entire red sea coast to Eritrea by a “final and binding” decision – a term included in the Algiers agreement by the insistence of Meles – only to get it back as a sole, uncontested, and - internationally protected - property of Tigray-Tigrin , when this artificial entity is realized in the not so distant future.  A very brilliant plan indeed!  I have to admit that this guy is deviously smart – the devils own reincarnation.   And, for some reason, God seems to be on his side, because, up to this point, every thing has been going precisely according to his plan. 

Perhaps, God is using him to punish us for our horrendous sins – for the unspeakable crimes we committed against each other, and against his chosen holy land – the cradle of mankind, the biblical Eden Ethiopia – against its lakes and rivers, its forests and wild animals, its mountains and valleys, and its churches and monasteries.   Our sins were so horrendous that this devil sprung up form – of all places – Adwa - only to defile the very essence of Adwa, to desecrate everything Adwa symbolizes.  Adwa – by far the holiest place not only for Ethiopians but for blacks all over the world.   Adwa – that massive grave yard of our heroic forefathers of every ethnicity, drenched to the core with their blood. 

Meles’s Tigray-Tigrin grand plan is the principal reason for his ethnic division of Ethiopia under the guise of federalism – his dividing up of the country into numerous, potentially antagonistic pieces – held together by nothing but a very thin string dubbed “federal government” – a string deliberately designed not to withstand even the slightest tension force – a string which, unlike any other string witnessed in nature, pushes rather than pulls, defying the laws of physics. 

Unlike the other regions of Ethiopia, Meles’s Tigray is governed by a strong “local” government with no “minority” rights at all, even though the region includes sizable Amhara and Oromo populations, especially in the newly annexed lands.  Likewise, the Eritrean government is as central as any government can be.  There is no talk of that nonsense called “ethnic federalism” in Eritrea.   Thus the foundations for a relatively huge Tigray- Tigrin empire – ruled by a strong and highly centralized government - and adjoined by ethnic-based, weak, and antagonistic mini-states – have already been laid.  In this regard, Meles is on record to have replied – when asked why his emphasizes ethnicity, whereas his counterpart in Eritrea suppresses it – “I guess we both are right”.  

Meles’s main problem with Shabia’s leader Isayas Afeworki is not because he claims this or that part of Tigray, but because he either totally rejects Meles’s Tigray-Tigrin plan or vacillates between accepting and not accepting it.  This is, perhaps, the reason why, in a recent interview with the BBC, Meles laments that Isayas is “very unpredictable … today he is your friend tomorrow he becomes your enemy and the day after tomorrow he can be your friend again..”  Why Meles wishes to befriend Isayas – Ethiopia’s sworn enemy – should not be a mystery here.  If Isayas does not like the idea of Tigray joining Eritrea, it may be partly he is smart enough to foresee that - in any union of Tigray and Eritrea - Eritreans will be completely swallowed by the comparatively huge and rapidly growing population of Tigray and, therefore, will be reduced to mere minorities, with little say – if any - in the government. 

Meles’s other problem with Isayas has something to do with Meles’s insatiable thirst for power.  The control-freak Meles wants to be the sole, uncontested, leader of (what he hopes) the soon-to-be realized Tigray-Tigrin.  In Isayas Afeworki he sees a series rival - a physically imposing adversary well endowed with that abstract thing called “charisma” which Meles so conspicuously lacks.  For this – and for this reason alone – Isayas has to be gotten rid off in due time – liquidated if necessary.   Thus, if things go Meles’s way, the fate of Isayas will be – at worst – that of General Hailom Arayay, and – at best – that of General Tsadkan Gebrekidan and Sye Abraha.

Meles has now tapped Hirui Tedla Bairu - the son of Dejazmach Tedla Bairu (Eritrea’s first president under federation) – to replace Isayas Afeworki.  Hirui is a fanatic disciple of Woldeab Woldemariam – the greatest protagonist, if not the pioneer, of the Tigray-Tigrin movement.  With Hirui in power, Meles’s cronies in Tigray will immediately invoke article 39 of “Meles’s constitution”, proclaim that “99.8 percent of Tigrayans are in favor of secession”, and then secede from the rest of Ethiopia to join Eritrea.  A new country – Great Tigray (sort of Africa’s “Great Britain”) – will then be born, with Meles as its greatest founding father and its first president – its “Ataturk”, so to speak. 

For obvious reasons, Meles’s grand plan cannot be made public until the right time comes - until every ingredient is put in place to actualize the plan.  Till then Meles has to use every means he can muster - historical distortions, pure lies, scaring tactics, psychological demoralization, etc. – to deceive the Ethiopian masses – to deflect their attentions.   In the remainder of the letter I will go over some aspects of this deception campaign of Meles, lest some Ethiopians are not aware of them.       

One aspect of Meles’s campaign involves distortion of facts and misinterpretation of historical events.   An excellent example of this is his argument that “the question of Eritrea was settled once and for all when Emperor Menelik stopped at Mereb and signed agreements with Italians”.  Nothing can be further from the truth.  Emperor Menelik stopped his pursuit of the utterly defeated Italians at Mereb – not because he believed that Ethiopia ends there – but only because, his army completely exhausted, he was painfully aware of his inability to chase them any further.   He didn’t even have any more proven military leaders who would carry out the chase, since most of them were sacrificed in Adwa.  May their soul rest in peace!  We should not forget that we are talking about a war between a European country whose well trained army deployed the most modern weapons of the time, and an African country which didn’t even have a standing army, and whose hastily assembled “soldiers” fought with essentially nothing but spear and swords.  No wonder that the price for the victory of Adwa was a huge sacrifice – a sacrifice more than five times paid by the Italians – a sacrifice which even included our then war minister Fitawrari Gebeyhu.  How many wars have we heard of in which the defense minister of a country got killed?  This should sum it up.     

Another aspect of Meles’s campaign involves scaring Ethiopian from ever taking measures that would jeopardize his Tigray-Tigrin grand plan.  An excellent example of this is his argument that, since Eritrea is now a country recognized by the U.N., it will be defended by that international body should Ethiopia attempt to get her ports back - much like the case of Kuwait.  This is nothing more than baseless terrorization.  If any thing, it exposes that the real reason why Meles hurriedly recognized Eritrea and implored others to do so, was to give this artificial entity full international protection and, thereby, dissuade Ethiopians from ever attempting to reclaim any part of it.  

Many Ethiopians are indignant at the UN for endorsing the break up of Ethiopia – its founding member – by giving ultra-fast recognition to Eritrea, but, at the same time, adamantly refusing to do the same in the case of Somali Land.  But what was the UN expected to do, when the supposed “leader” of Ethiopia is the most vocal advocate of the cause – more so than even Isayas Afeworki himself?  

Deep down, the whole world – including those Arab or pseudo-Arab leaders who lavishly fund Shabia for the sole purpose of weakening Ethiopia – very well know that Ethiopia has both the legal and moral rights to get her ports back, that Ethiopia should not be penalized for fighting – and defeating – colonialism and white domination, and that - had Ethiopia been colonized - it would have had the entire red sea coast – and more.  In any case, let us not put the cart before the horse.   The moment Meles is gone, we should immediately take our ports back.  We will then see which countries – under the auspice of the U.N. – will send their soldiers, attack us, drive us our from our ports, give them to Eritrea, and condemn a country 70 million – a country which accounts from more than 15 percent of the black African population - a country which symbolizes the pride and dignity of blacks all over the world - to be suffocated to death, with practically no means of breathing in or breathing out.       

Yet another aspect of Meles’s deception campaign is his claim that the red sea ports are not essential for Ethiopia and, therefore, can be given away without adverse consequences for the country.   Nothing can be more insulting to the intelligence of Ethiopians.  One does not have to be a rocket scientist to realize that having her own access to the sea is crucial to the very survival of Ethiopia – surrounded as it is by inimical and potentially inimical countries, chief among which is Egypt.   Ethiopia cannot afford to be blocked from her natural access to the sea by a  colonial-fabricated artificial entity called “Eritrea” – an entity which is overzealous to cooperate and serve as a spring board for Ethiopia’s arch enemies in any possible - dare I say, inevitable - future confrontations.  Lack of her own ports will no doubt kill Ethiopia, albeit slowly and agonizingly.  Besides the immense sacrifice paid from time immemorial by millions of Ethiopians in safe guarding her red sea cost from the Egyptians, the Turks, the Italians and – yes, the Mereb Millash bandits and bandas with slave mentality –  should not be in vain. 

Another deception employed by Meles  - to mislead Ethiopians into abandoning the question of sea out let one and for all - is his argument that, right now, we have more pressing problems to deal with – famine, poverty, and disease.  This is nothing more than Meles the actor – the “Oscar winning actor” (remember he won a “peace award”!) – shading a crocodile tear.  Now we know why Meles deliberately implements flawed land and economic policies which do not assuage but aggravate the plight of Ethiopians.  Now we know why, with Meles at the helm of power, the proportion of Ethiopians totally dependent on foreign hand outs grew to a colossal value – one in four.  And now we know why – right after Meles grabbed power - the HIV infection rate in Ethiopia increased so dramatically that it quickly became one of the highest – if not the highest – in the world.  Nevertheless, this pretext of Meles is a very treacherous one which can easily deceive many well-meaning Ethiopians – Ethiopians who are constantly worried about the suffering of their country men.   However, such Ethiopians have to realize that deciding on a permanent issue – and a very crucial one at that – based on temporary problems is nothing but shortsightedness at its best – a classic example of the donkey’s adage “Ene Kemotku Serdo Aybkel” (“Let no grass grow after I die”). 

We have to think of hundreds – if not thousands – of years from now.  We have to consider the future generations.  As the saying goes “We didn’t inherit our country form our fathers, we borrowed it from our children”.  And when we borrow something, the most honorable thing for us to do is pay – the principal plus the interest.  Should it happen that we cannot pay the principal plus interest - shame on us – but we have to make sure that we pay the principal, and never less than the principal – which is what it would amount to if we condemn our children to live in a land-locked country. 

The question is then, do we want our children to be at the mercy of others for what they import and export or not?  Do we want them to be completely excluded from harnessing the rich and untapped resources of the Red sea or not?  In short, do we want them to be, as our saying goes, “Ye Bei Temelkatch” or not?   Think of the very adjective land-locked.  “Ethiopia – a land-locked country in the horn of Africa – blah, blah, blah”.  How shameful!  How psychologically demoralizing!  Surely, Meles Zenawi should one day be made to pay dearly for this grave crime of his. 

Here is an interesting observation.  Of all leaders of Africa, why is Meles the darling of the BBC and, by extension that of the British government which recently bestowed up on him what amounts to a sainthood – “Africa’s new-found savior”.   Why do BBC journalists – who are well aware of  Meles’s intense hatred of the Amhara since his rebel time - repeatedly ask him inappropriate and totally unfounded questions like “how do you deal with Amharas who think that they have the divine right to rule Ethiopia? ” – if not to reinforce his hatred and provoke him to do even more damage to Ethiopia – as if he needs any provocation.  Why don’t these English journalists slightly modify their own question and ask an Irish freedom fighter [say, Gerry Adams of the Irish Republican Army (IRA)], or a Scottish nationalist, or a Cymru (Wales) separatist “how do you deal with the English who think that they have the divine right to rule the U.K?” – a kingdom which, to the best of my knowledge, has never been led by a person of non-English decent  (aside from King James IV of Scotland) – which is absolutely not true in the case of Ethiopia – most of whose leaders have been, in fact, non-Amharas.  [We should not confuse an English man born Scotland – such as Tony Blair – for a Scotsman.  The same applies for Cymru and Northern Ireland.]

Ethiopia’s scintillating victory at the battle of Adwa (March 1-2, 1986) has proved beyond any doubt that - well organized and wisely lead - the black man is capable of defending Africa from those European murderous beasts otherwise called colonialists.  Ever since then, the colonialists and their descendants – now called pro-colonialists - have, understandably, developed intense hatred towards Ethiopia, and what the very name Ethiopia stands for.  With regard to Africa, the shaming and humiliation of Ethiopia has been their main agenda, partly because it will be a severe blow to the black man’s pride, hope and aspirations, and partly because it will serve as the ultimate justification for colonialism, enabling pro-colonialists to proudly claim that “colonialism was good for Africa – just look at the only non-colonized country in Africa, Ethiopia, which is destitute, hungry, and always at war itself”.  In Meles Zenawi, they have finally found the perfect man to implement their agenda – the man whose own objectives precisely match with theirs. 

I am not a fan of the term “Amhara”.  I would rather use “Ethiopians whose first language is Amharic”.  We are so intermingled – so blended with each other- that there is no such thing as pure Amhara, pure Oromo, pure Tigre, pure Somali, etc.  The mobile nature of the people of Ethiopia has insured that there is no such thing as a pure ethnicity in Ethiopia.  Our tumultuous history – the “invasions” of Yodit and Gran, the Oromo “expansion” northwards, the Menelik “expansion” southwards, and the continual relocation of the capital city of Ethiopia – has made it more so.

Thus, no one – absolutely no one in Ethiopia – can say “I am 100 percent this or 100 percent that”.   No body can claim to be “totally Amhara” denying his Oromo root, just as no body can claim to be “totally Oromo” denying his Amhara root.   The same applies to other peoples of Ethiopia, most of all to Tigres whose home province Tigray has been – until very recently – the seat of Ethiopian government – the center of power – to which Ethiopians of all ethnic backgrounds congregate.  And no Tigrean is as good a proof of this fact as the race obsessed – the ethnic purist – Meles Zenawi himself.  One just has to take a brief look – a quick glance – at him to concur with my point. [Caution: I am not implying that Meles is ugly.  Far be it from me to utter such an obnoxious – absolutely vulgar – statement.  I was just trying to drive home my message that Meles Zenawi – try as he might to convince the rest of us Ethiopians and, most importantly, himself that he is ethnically pure – is, in fact, the antithesis of that – a perfect example of how far intermingling has gone in Ethiopia - and that, in this sense - only in this sense - he would have constituted as good a leader as Ethiopia can have. ]      

It follows that, at least in the case of Ethiopia, ethnic purity is nothing but a pure lie - a political ploy employed by the likes of Meles Zenawi and some other leaders of the so called “liberation fronts” including those who claim to “represent the Amhara”.  In retrospect, we should be thankful that such a blending – such a mixing up of genes – occurred in Ethiopia, since nature tends to select the strongest – the most dominant - gene from each participant in the process.  A blended – genetically diversified - “race” is much stronger than a pure one – if there is such thing as a pure one – in every physiological aspect, be it physical or mental.  The greater the extent of the genetic diversification, the better. It is only the ignorant – the naïve - who proclaim to be of pure blood, and brag about it.    

Defamation is another aspect of Meles’s campaign of deception.  Any body who exposes the destructive policies of Meles - his step by step plan to annihilate Ethiopia – is demonized by Meles and his cronies as a blood thirsty, chauvinist warmonger.  Ironically, these are the very people who sacrificed of tens of thousands of Ethiopians at Badme, Tosorona, Zalambesa etc - not to gain anything but to lose what was uncontestably ours.  Their message then is very clear.  When it serves their mission of destroying Ethiopia, they are the greatest warmongers – cold blooded murderers with absolutely no qualms about using young Ethiopians as mine sweepers or Fenji-regach as they disdainly refer to them.  In the contrary case, the shade crocodile tears and pretend to be peace lovers, going to any length to avoid blood shade, be it by giving away Ethiopia’s own lands. 

Unfortunately, a substantial number of Ethiopians have fallen victim to this treachery Meles.  It is not uncommon to hear many Ethiopians label those Ethiopians who oppose the ethnic policies of Meles and demand the restoration of Ethiopia’s rightful access to the sea, as Amhara chauvinists living in the “Ivory Towers” of the west.  However, such Ethiopians have to realize that one can never have peace by giving away one’s own land to whoever threatened to take it.   It has never been witnessed in history – until a person called Legesse Zenawi came into the picture.   Besides, if we start giving up portions of our country so as to avoid confrontation, where are we going to stop?  Now we give up our entire Red Sea cost so as to have “peace”.   Next we will be asked to give up the entire Ogaden region, lest we have war.  Next the Gambella region …Next …. As the saying goes “One who fights and run away; will live to fight another day” (equivalently, “Alebabsew biyarsu be arem yimelesu”). 

Politically, Ethiopians should have the freedom to be whatever they wish to be – socialist or capitalist, democrat or republican, conservative or liberal.  In fact such diversity is healthy for the country and should, therefore, be encouraged.  However, with regard Ethiopia’s territorial integrity – when it comes to keeping our land intact or giving any part of it away to the enemy – there are only two options – Ethiopian or anti-Ethiopian.  There is no middle ground here.

Then comes Meles joke that his chopping up of the country into ethnic enclaves “effectively averted the looming danger of national disintegration”.  But who in the first place did create such a danger?   Yes, during the military regime, the survival of Ethiopia was in question - as it has been in question myriads of times in our tumultuous history.   However, it has never been in question to the extent it is right now.  Ethiopia has never been so close to the edge of a very steep cliff – a precipice - that – apply the slightest push – it will tumble down so violently, and then explode with such a cosmic big-bang that it will disintegrate completely, leaving no trace – absolutely no trace - in its wake.   

Now, who is going to apply this little push – this tiny little push so dreadful to the majority of Ethiopians that they don’t want even to contemplate about it.  Yes, you guessed right.  It is none other than Meles himself.  After working so hard to bring Ethiopia right to the very edge of oblivion, his is definitely not going to give the “honor” of finishing her off – the coupe de grace – to any body else.   This is what Meles believes he came to this world for, this is what he has been dreaming about since his childhood, this is his ultimate way of getting even with who he thinks are his mortal enemies – the Amharas - and this is what he reckons will give him the greatest satisfaction of his life that Meles will make sure – absolutely sure - that nobody else but he, himself, is going to do it.  In the mean time Meles will use his power to dissolve Ethiopia at any moment of his choice to scare Ethiopians  - who are constantly worried about the fate of their beloved country - from ever attempting to get rid of him.   The very survival of Ethiopia has now been reduced to Meles’s bargaining chip.

Ethnic nationalism continues to be the greatest source of disorder and violence in the world.   Several methods have been tried to confront it.  One method is partition.  If a part of a country attempts to break away, let it do so.  However, partition almost always leads to bloodshed.  Think of India-Pakistan, Northern Ireland, Cyprus, and Yugoslavia.  But, nothing exemplifies this better than the carnage – the senseless loss of both military and civilian life – in the so called “Ethio-Eritrean” conflict.   Another method is power sharing.  Give the troublesome region autonomy at the local level and a share of power at the national level. Yugoslavia tried it under Tito, before everything fell apart.  Lebanon tried it – sharing power between Christians and Muslims.  That, too, was a total failure.   The same goes for Sri Lanka and East Timor. 

So far, the only method which has been proven to work is the one adopted by Pierre Trudeau – the former prime minister of Canada.  Mr. Trudeau’s method involves neither partition nor special status.    His idea was - instead of trying to appease groups - empower individuals by bulking up their constitutional rights.  Give individuals – whatever their back grounds or beliefs – the opportunity to flourish within the existing nation. In other words, build a broader definition of the group, rather than a narrower one.  In line with these ideas, Mr. Trudeau introduced a new concept called Multiculturalism, made Canada bilingual, and introduced The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which includes, among other freedoms, the freedom to move and take up residence in any province of Canada.   [See Marcus Gee’s commentary “The state has no business in the gene pool of the nation”, The Globe and Mail of Canada, October 3, 2000].   

Various groups all over the world are trying to rebuild violence-torn nations by applying Mr. Trudeau’s idea of a civil society based on rights and laws, rather than ethnic identity.  The best example is of this is the Republic of South Africa which - when it abolished apartheid - flirted with the idea of special status for blacks and minority whites, but in the end chose rights-based constitution that made every one equal.  It is working quite well.   However, no where in the world would Mr. Trudeau’s method be as brutally practical as in our own country Ethiopia whose people live jumbled up together - Tigre next to Amhara , Oromo besides Somali, Welayta up against Gurage.  If every group in Ethiopia that considers itself a people strives to become a nation, the horrors of Yugoslavia and Rwanda will look like a child’s play.  The point is not that Ethiopians should live together.  The point is that they have to live together.   

In conclusion, every policy Meles adopts - every measure he takes - is geared towards one – and only one - objective – the realization of his life long dream of creating an artificial entity called Tigray-Tigrin via the annihilation of Ethiopia.  Should, God forbid, he succeed, the ensuing chaos will have catastrophic repercussions not only in the horn of Africa, but in the whole of Africa and the Middle East.  Meles is thus the messenger of doom – the great Satan – who must be fought by any and every means available.  He is the prime criminal of Ethiopia drenched with the blood of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of our brave soldiers sacrificed at the battle fields of Badme, Tsorona, Zalanbesa, Barentu, Tesenney, Bure, etc.  He is the prime criminal of Ethiopia - the main reason why millions of our people perished from disease and starvation, and why millions are completely dependent on foreign handouts.   He is the prime criminal of Ethiopia principally responsible for ethnic massacres in Gambella, Bedeno, Assosa, etc. He is the prime criminal of Ethiopia singularly responsible for the plunder our properties and resources – worth tens of billions of dollars - by Shabia vagabonds.  We Ethiopians must never, ever, forget that this prime criminal in no way represents Ethiopia and, therefore, agreements signed by him on behalf of Ethiopia have exactly the same weight as those signed by Graziani when Italy occupied Ethiopia – they will be null and void the moment Meles is gone. 

Mesfin Arega.