More protesters released from jail

Ethiopian authorities have announced the release of another 3,858 detainees who were seized after days of political unrest that claimed the lives of at least 46 people. The latest release brings the total number of those freed to 8,200. In a statement broadcast on state television late on Monday, the authorities said they had released people from three detention centres around the country. "The detainees were released as they were not found to be direct actors in the violence," said the statement from federal police. The announcement did not specify the date of their release. Police have yet to announce how many people were rounded up during the November arrests after security forces clashed with demonstrators who were protesting the outcome of parliamentary elections or how many will face charges. Meanwhile, an independent media watchdog said that two more journalists had been detained in a growing crackdown, bringing the number of reporters who had been arrested to eight. Among those seized are leaders of the main opposition group, members of local civil society organisations and editors of newspapers. Some of those in detention are expected to face treason charges for their part in orchestrating the violence, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told foreign news organisations on Wednesday. "The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by these ongoing arrests," said Ann Cooper, executive director of the group. "We call on the Ethiopian authorities to abandon any idea of bringing treason charges against journalists, and to end this blatant attempt to shut down the country's independent media." The EU and the US have called for all political detainees to be freed. Diplomats maintained that thousands had been rounded up after the clashes but said it was impossible to verify the exact number. Meles, who is known as one of the continent's more progressive leaders, has pledged that his government would introduce greater democracy. He has ordered an independent investigation into bouts of unrest that he said were designed to topple his government. Many saw the polls as a test of his commitment to reform. Ethiopia was an absolute monarchy under Emperor Haile Selassie until the mid-1970s, when a brutal Marxist junta overthrew him. Civil wars wracked the ethnically fractured country in the 1980s. The current ruling group overthrew the junta in 1991.