ETHIOPIA: PROTESTORS ATTACK U.S. EMBASSY IN ADDIS ABABA

Record ID: 862188

  • Title: ETHIOPIA: PROTESTORS ATTACK U.S. EMBASSY IN ADDIS ABABA
  • Date: 16th May 2000
  • Summary: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (MAY 15, 2000) (REUTERS) VARIOUS: VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING TOWARDS US EMBASSY/ PROTESTERS WAVING BANNERS/ PROTESTERS ON ROOFS OF BUSES (13 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 31st May 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
  • City:
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics:
  • Reuters ID: LVA981NLM1W8EWDNVANZH7DOC57G
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: More than 200,000 Ethiopians have marched through the capital to support the war against Eritrea and attack the United States and Britain for proposing an arms embargo against both nations.
    The demonstration turned rowdy as protesters threw rocks at foreign journalists and the U.S.embassy building.
    They were also gathered outside the British embassy.
    People packed the huge Meskel Square in central Addis Ababa and buses rolled through the streets with demonstrators standing on top, waving Ethiopian flags and shouting anti-American slogans.
    About 30 ethnic Oromo horsemen waved flags, and Ethiopian Orthodox Church deacons, dressed in black ceremonial robes, also joined the procession, which was called by the city council.
    Ethiopia launched a huge offensive in the border war on Friday and both sides claim to have killed thousands of enemy troops in the fighting.
    The U.N.Security Council has demanded an end to the fighting between the Horn of Africa neighbours, which are both teetering on the edge of famine after a prolonged drought.
    The United Nations says up to eight million Ethiopians and one million Eritreans are threatened with famine.
    The Security Council was due to meet again on Monday to discuss the conflict, with Britain and the United States leading calls to impose an arms embargo on the two countries.
    Both Ethiopia and Eritrea insist they want a peaceful settlement but each blames the other for a series of failed peace initiatives since the war began in May 1998.
    At the start of the war, Eritrea seized pockets of disputed territory along the 1,000-km (620-mile) frontier.
    Ethiopia then won back the Badme region last year and insists its much smaller neighbour now withdraw from other areas it occupies.
    Tens of thousands of soldiers are thought to have been killed in First World War-style trench warfare since the conflict began.Both sides routinely exaggerate victories and play down or ignore losses.
    Eritrea, Africa's youngest state, was a province of Ethiopia but won independence in 1993 after a long guerrilla struggle.
    Relations were initially friendly but soured in squabbles over trade relations and a poorly demarcated border.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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