Mengistu says visit was organised at the "highest level"

Meanwhile, Mengistu said that his visit for medical treatment had been organised at the "highest level." In a telephone interview from his Harare home, with the 'Pretoria News', he said that he had been given the assurance by the South African government that he would not be extradited to Ethiopia.
"My trip to South Africa was organised at the highest level by the governments of Zimbabwe and South Africa," he said.

He added: "The South African government told me that I should not worry because in the first place there is no extradition agreement between South Africa and Ethiopia, and secondly, South Africa believed in reconciliation rather than recrimination."