Kinijit is back: Ethio-Zagol

Ethio-Zagol; August 17, 2006

Prison sources confirmed that she talked with Birtukan Midekisa last Friday and told her in detail about the problems of Somalia and the need to solve internal differences to do away with the threat of "Islamism in the Ethiopia". Birtukan replied that she didn't want to see war with Somalia but Kinijit had no control on the situation. The Charge d'Affaires was adamant that there is a way out for Ethiopia and they should think about starting a reconciliation process.

Source said the American diplomat was thinking in terms of the Mandela line where he initiated talks with the government while he was in prison. It was reported that the government has shown interest to the talks but doesn't want to initiate them. Mrs. Huddlestone had also talked with Dr. Brehanu's wife, Dr. Nardos Minase, about the possibility of talks, according to Embassy sources. Vicki is due in the US by Tuesday to exert efforts for a full-fledged negotiation when she returns to Addis.

The reconciliation efforts by the American representative show that Kinijit, the spirit of the people, can't be sidelined from the Ethiopian political process as the government thought. The excitement in Addis and elsewhere about freedom has not been this high since the November repression with Birhanu's book acting as a catalyst.