January 21, 2006 - The press spokesman for the ministry, summoned AP
reporter Anthony Mitchell to the ministry in the capital of Addis Ababa and
told him he no longer was welcome in the country and had 24 hours to leave.
Ethiopia has ordered a British journalist to leave the country within 24
hours, accusing him of portraying it in a bad light, state television said on
Saturday.
Anthony Mitchell, who worked for the Associated Press, was summoned to the
foreign ministry and told to leave. "Anthony Mitchell has been asked to leave
the country in the next 24 hours because of disseminating information
tarnishing the image of the country despite repeated advice not to do so," the
television said.
Associated Press Managing Editor Mike Silverman said the news agency was aware
of the order and was seeking clarification. "We stand by our reporter and we
hope he will be able to remain in the country," he said in a statement.
Western diplomats were making efforts to dissuade the government from
expelling Mitchell, diplomatic sources said. Ethiopian television did not
elaborate on the reasons for ordering him out of the country.
The expulsion order was announced a day after a procession by tens of
thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians turned violent in the capital Addis
Ababa, with police opening fire at crowds, injuring more than 20 people,
according to witnesses.
Police said they acted after an unidentified person threw a grenade at them,
adding it missed and killed a civilian. The announcement of the expulsion
coincided with a visit to Addis Ababa of the top U.S. diplomat for Africa,
Jendayi Frazer, who is mediating in the border dispute between Ethiopia and
Eritrea. Frazer met Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi earlier on Saturday,
the television said.
Once hailed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton as "part of a new generation
of leaders" for Africa and a key member of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's
Africa Commission in 2005, Meles' democratic credentials have suffered in the
last year. A disputed May election sparked bloody protests and a security
crackdown in which more than 80 people were killed and top opposition leaders
and journalists were arrested on treason charges.
Britain said on Wednesday it would stop budget support worth at least 50
million pounds ($87.9 million) to Ethiopia because of concerns over governance
and human rights.
|
