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By Eskinder Michael - Capital
30 November 2006
Religious clashes in Jimma had resulted in the deaths of eight people and several houses and churches burnt down. Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, in a report to the House of People's Representatives announced that religious leaders from both Islam and Christian religions were responsible in fuelling the troubles.
The PM said that though the government could not prevent the clash, it has now put a stop to it.
Meles announced that almost all the criminals and those who were involved in the matter have been apprehended and will be taken to court.
“We haven't apprehended all criminals as some have escaped. But the police are doing their best to find them and put them on trial for the crimes they have committed. We haven't just arrested those who were part of the crime, but those accessories to the crime as well,” he added.
Several hundred people have been arrested from both zones Dembi and Juba where the crimes took place.
It was learnt that most of the culprits were Islamic extremists and do not even live in the area where the clash took place. They had come there to accomplish their appalling mission, though some of the people who lived in the area were accessories to the crimes.
The trouble has now receded and burnt houses have been rebuilt, and people who fled the area for fear of being killed have returned, according to the PM.
“Burnt churches are being rebuilt for the people living in that area. In addition, some of the churches that were forcefully transformed into mosques were also resolved and the churches have resumed services once again,” the PM added.
Though the PM recognized that religious leaders from both religions had done a commendable work in calming the situation down, some leaders were reportedly involved in escalating the problem.
He said that leaders from both the Christian and Islam religions have been arrested for fuelling the problems.
“We have solved the problem and we hope that it will not happen again. But the involvement of the people in the area and religious leaders would do more good to calm the situation than the government could,” he said.
It was also stated that Islamic extremists (Jihads) have been feeding false information to Muslims and Christians so as to instigate the clash.
The PM added that one of the reasons for the problems to be fuelled was the fact that the killings had been recorded on CDs and distributed to the public in Addis Ababa and other regions. People who recorded these CDs have been used for illegal purposes.
The CDs distributed in Addis Ababa and other regions allegedly contain footages of dead people most of whom were killed with machetes and houses that were burnt down.