Ethiopian Review stands by the report. We believe that General Kemal Gelchu gave the interview under duress.

In an interview with ESAT Radio yesterday, General Kemal Gelchu, a leader of one of the factions of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), has denied that he has been detained or placed under house arrest.

Ethiopian Review has reported the news based on the information we received from a close friend of the general. We have also independently verified the information from our sources in Asmara.

Even though Gen. Kemal went on the air yesterday to deny the news, we have been able to verify from additional sources that he has been placed under house arrest in Asmara. His troops have been also been turned from freedom fighters into day laborers.

Gen. Kemal had no choice but to vigorously deny such news. Otherwise he will face certain danger. He would be banished by the Eritrean regime the same way other Ethiopian opposition leaders who have taken shelter in Eritrea disappeared without a trace.

The only way that Gen. Kemal can prove that he is a free man is by traveling outside Eritrea like Daud Ibssa, a leader of the other faction of OLF, who frequently travels to the U.S. and Europe to collect money. Kemal Gelchu has received several invitations from his supporters and others to attend public meetings in the U.S. and Europe, but he could not go because the Eritrean government does not allow him to leave the City of Asmara, let alone, Eritrea, according to his friends.

Leaders of the Tigray People Democratic Front (TPDM) and all the other Ethiopian opposition groups based in Eritrea find themselves in the same situation with the exception of ONLF and Daud Ibasa’s faction of OLF. They are hostages of the Eritrean government.