Ethiopia opposition calls for probe into "massacre"

Mon 30 Jun 2008, 16:04 GMT
By Tsegaye Tadesse

ADDIS ABABA, June 30 (Reuters) - An Ethiopian opposition party called on Monday for an official probe into what it said was a massacre of 400 women and children in the west of the Horn of Africa nation.

The government, which has put the number of dead at more than 20 from the ethnic clashes in May, called the version by the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) an exaggeration.

Fighting between different communities over scant resources and grazing is common in outlying areas of Ethiopia.

OFDM said in a statement that the incident happened in Hangar and Didesa Valley, about 600 km (373 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa.

"Between May 16 and 31, some 400 Oromo infants, children, women and men who lived in Hangar and Didesa valley were slaughtered by Gumuz citizens of Beneshangul region," the party said in a statement.

"We appeal to the Ethiopian parliament to establish a commission and investigate the causes of the ethnic conflict and the massacre of the people of Oromo."

Information Minister Berhan Hailu said the number "was an exaggeration". "The government has apprehended the perpetrators and investigating further the cause of the violence that erupted suddenly," he said, without giving an update on those killed.

"A reconciliation process is being undertaken to solve the problem faced by the displaced people."

The OFDM, which has nine seats in parliament, said the regional government had ordered a news blackout, preventing people in the area from talking about the massacre.

"Innocent people were mowed down. Pregnant women were slaughtered and their bodies strewn around. Arms and breasts were severed and men were murdered and beheaded," it said.

OFDM added that some 10,000 people were uprooted and left without shelter and appealed for urgent assistance.

Independent versions from witnesses in the region could not be immediately obtained.

The statement added that the government was "an accomplice". The government rejected the accusation.

"While the government is handling the situation promptly, the statement by OFDM is tantamount to a call for reprisal action, which did not help the situation," the information minister said.