Ethiopian farmers kill rebel leader

Farmers in southern Ethiopian stoned to death a
senior rebel figure suspected of organising fatal
blasts in the capital Addis Ababa.

08 November, 2008

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – Farmers in southern Ethiopian stoned to death a senior rebel figure suspected of organising fatal blasts in the capital Addis Ababa, police said Friday.

Legesse Wegi, a central committee member of the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), was attacked on Wednesday while fleeing from a police operation in a remote village in the Oromiya region.

"Local farmers, whose peace was destabilised by the terrorist, stoned him to death," police said in a statement.

Several others were either killed or arrested in the operation, police said.

Police accused Legesse of masterminding a bomb attack near the foreign ministry complex in Addis Ababa in May which killed six people.

They also blame him for simultaneous explosions in two petrol stations in the capital that killed three people in the same month.

Police on Thursday announced that several leaders from the OLF and Kawerj, a previously unknown rebel group, were captured while plotting a terror attack in Addis Ababa.

The police did not say how many were detained but the OLF, which for more than three decades has fought for independence of the Oromiya region, accused the government of arbitrarily detaining Oromo people.

Security has been intensified in Addis Ababa since Tuesday when intelligence officials warned of an "imminent" attack, without elaborating on the nature of the risk.

A series of blasts has rocked the Ethiopian capital this year with the authorities blaming neighbouring Eritrea, along with the OLF and the Ogaden National Liberation Front.

Relations between Asmara and Addis Ababa have been frosty since they fought a devastating 1998-2000 border war that claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides. The dispute is yet to be resolved.