Mengistu still holed-up in Zimbabwe

Mengistu still holed-up in Zimbabwe

MENGISTU: Holed-up in Zimbabwe

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By Agencies
25/02/04
FORMER Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam remains in Zimbabwe as his genocide trial in absentia resumed back home on Tuesday, government officials and diplomats said.

"We know for sure he is still living in Zimbabwe," an official at the Ethiopian embassy here told reporters. "But we are not sure where in Zimbabwe."

Mengistu, a former ally of President Robert Mugabe, was given asylum in Zimbabwe when he fled his country ahead of a rebel advance in May 1991.

Zimbabwe said it granted Mengistu asylum on "humanitarian grounds" and put him up in a tightly guarded luxury government villa in Harare's upmarket Gunhill suburb.

Along with 65 other officials, 21 of whom are also being tried in absentia, Mengistu is charged with genocide and other crimes in a trial that began in 1994.

Red Terror

He stands accused of killing tens of thousands of people, including the Emperor Haile Selassie, during the 1977-78 so-called "Red Terror" period which followed the emperor's ouster by a Marxist junta in 1974.

The Ethiopian embassy official said his government has been trying without success to have Mengistu extradited to Ethiopia to face trial.

"We have been pursuing it for a long time because the people of Ethiopia want him back home to face trial. We strongly look for him and we will be very happy if he is returned to Ethiopia," he said.

"But as to Zimbabwe's position, you are better off speaking to them," he added.

Asked about Mengistu's status amid speculation that he had been granted a Zimbabwean passport, the Zimbabwean foreign ministry said: "The former Ethiopian leader is in Zimbabwe after being granted political asylum in accordance with the UN Convention on Refugees.

"The Convention stipulates that any refugee is entitled to a travel document, eg a laissez-passe issued by the United Nations or a travel document issued by the host government. This is done to ensure protection of the refugee," said Pavelyn Tendai Musaka, foreign affairs spokeswomen.

Rarely spotted

Mengistu has rarely been spotted since his arrival here 13 years ago. Some time ago he was seen browsing at a bookstore.

Some unconfirmed independent media reports said he was given a farm more than four years ago.

Two of his children have studied medicine here and were recently reportedly practising at one government hospital in the capital.
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