Anti-UN demonstration

A large demonstration was held today in Addis Ababa against the United Nations, focusing on the role of Britian and the United States. It was called to express indignation against the United States and Britain for their role in sponsoring a UN resolution that gave Ethiopia and Eritrea 72 hours to stop fighting or face possible sanctions. Police used tear gas to break up protests outside the US and UK embassies, news agencies report.

Isolated incidents of harassment of foreigners were reported. “Recent demonstrations have been rather lacklustre, but not this one”, said one humanitarian worker. Some cars were stopped by small groups and some journalists and pedestrians were asked to identify their origins. Sophisticated printed banners suggested a significant “degree of organisation”, said the source.

People had been “urged... to come out in unison” by the Addis Ababa administration in a broadcast on state radio, after the Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said the UN Security Council had not accepted that Ethiopia had been invaded by Eritrea, and had not made any effort to stop the conflict. In the state broadcast, monitored by the BBC, the administration condmened the US and British governments as playing “vital roles in the UN Security Council”. The minister “condemned the council for presenting Eritrea as an innocent country”, reported Ethiopian state radio.