In November 2005, when the Federal Police and Agazi special forces (Meles Zenawi’s death squads) went to Birtukan Mideksa’s home to arrest her, the Ferensay Legacion neighborhood of Addis Ababa rose up to protect her. In that confrontation between unarmed civilians and the heavily armed Woyanne forces, at least 5 people were gunned down and several were injured. Birtukan escaped to some embassy and later surrendered herself.
It was a different story yesterday when Woyanne thugs picked up Birtukan. It seems no body in the neighborhood cared, according to Ethiopian Review sources. Few people even show enough interest to talk about it. The people of Ferensay Legacion feel that Birtukan has betrayed them, as she betrayed all Kinijit supporters by breaking most of the promises she had made. Not only that, after she signed the letter of apology and was released from jail in July 2007, she didn’t even visit the families of those who were murdered by Woyanne death squads trying to protect her.
Some Addis Ababa residents, even her own supporters, say that, what Birtukan did is foolish. It’s like throwing herself from a cliff.
Others say that she seemed to have welcomed the arrest. She was about to lose control of her party, UDJ, due to worsening internal frictions. Inside sources told Ethiopian Review that a group of executive committee members had asked Birtukan to resign just a few days ago. Some of the most senior members of the UDJ leadership were quitting. So the argument goes that both Woyanne and Birtukan will benefit from this trumped up controversy. The only losers are Birtukan’s dimwitted followers who jump up and down over this game of shred between Birtukan and Woyanne.
It is obvious to any one with commonsense that Birtukan’s arrest is a smokescreen for Woyanne’s other troubles, particularly its withdrawal from Somalia after suffering a humiliating defeat. Although she has been the weakest opposition figure inside Ethiopia as far as criticizing the Meles dictatorship, she is a better target for Woyanne since she is relatively more popular in the Diaspora than any of the other Addis Ababa-based opposition leaders. Woyanne strategists have correctly calculated that her arrest would attract a lot of media coverage, which is what they want.
Woyanne is not satisfied with arresting Birtukan. EMF has reported today that UDJ members of parliament were summoned today by the speaker of the Woyanne rubber-stamp parliament and had been asked to distance themselves from Birtukan. Those ‘parliamentarians’ are opportunists. They will waste no time doing that.