University student leader escapes from detention

Former Asmara University Student Union President Semere Kesete has reportedly escaped from detention and is now in Ethiopia, a source in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, told IRIN on Wednesday. He arrived in Ethiopia on 1 August, accompanied by "one of his prison guards", after walking for five days, the pro-Ethiopian government Walta Information Centre reported on Tuesday. However, Eritrea's deputy ambassador to Kenya, Teweldemedhin Tesfamariam, told IRIN that he had "no knowledge" of Semere's whereabouts. If the reports from Ethiopia were true, Teweldemedhin added, "then Semere's activities had nothing to do with democracy, but had more to do with treason, which is what the government has been saying all along". Semere was arrested in 2001 with some 3,000 other students after accusing the government of interference in university affairs and student summer work programmes. Most of the students were later released.