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Ethiopia blames rebels for blasts that killed 3 |
Tue 15 Apr
2008, 14:58 GMT
(Adds rebel spokesman, paragraphs 7-8)
By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA, April 15 (Reuters) - Ethiopia
blamed rebels backed by arch-foe Eritrea on
Tuesday after two bombs killed three people
and wounded more than a dozen in the
capital.
The attacks in Addis Ababa late on Monday
came a day after the nation held the first
round of local, regional and federal
elections that have prompted opposition
claims of harassment.
"This is the work of the enemy, trying to
disrupt Ethiopia's ongoing democratic
elections," Information Minister Berhan
Hailu told Reuters. No arrests have been
made yet, police said.
Ethiopian state media said the explosions
tore through two petrol stations in the city
at the same time, killing and wounding
residents who were queuing to buy fuel.
Bloodstains and charred clothing lay at the
scene of one of the blasts.
Bereket Simon, special adviser to Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi, blamed the attacks on
separatist rebels.
"The early stages of our investigation
indicate that organisations like the Ogaden
National Liberation Front and the Oromo
Liberation Front, who are organised and
financed by the Eritrean government, are
responsible," he told Reuters.
An ONLF spokesman said the allegations were
baseless.
"The ONLF has got nothing to do with this at
all," spokesman Abdirahman Mahdi said by
telephone from London. "These attacks
happened in Addis, far from our area of
operations. And besides, it is not our
policy to harm civilians."
The government has often blamed rebels
backed by Asmara for attacks in the past.
Eritrea routinely rejects the charges.
Tensions remain high between the two Horn of
Africa rivals, who fought a 1998-2000 border
war that killed 70,000 people. (Additional
reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse; Writing by
Lisa Ntungicimpaye; Editing by Daniel
Wallis) (For full Reuters Africa coverage
and to have your say on the top issues,
visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
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