Two killed in Ethiopia election grenade attack

TWO people were killed and 14 injured in a grenade attack on an election meeting in Ethiopia, authorities said yesterday.

The attack took place last Thursday deep in the country's Oromia region and was believed to have been a failed effort to assassinate a local leader.

The violence comes just two weeks ahead of a general election in multi-ethnic Ethiopia. The last round of elections in 2005 was marred by unrest.

A government spokesman said the attack had been made at a meeting of the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organisation, one of the parties in Ethiopia's ruling coalition.

The Oromo, who dominate Oromia, are the country's most populous ethnic group. Some Oromo want their province to break away from Ethiopia, like Eritrea in the north. Fully 27 million of Ethiopia's population of 80 million are Oromo.

"The attack was an attempt to assassinate the region's deputy president, Abdulaziz Mohammed, but he was unhurt. The suspects have been arrested," government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said yesterday.

Shimeles said police would investigate whether the men were from any particular group. Ethiopia has in the past blamed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) secessionist rebels for similar attacks.

The political climate in Ethiopia is closely watched by foreign investors showing interest in oil and gas exploration and large-scale farming. Opposition Oromo parties say ruling party officials are attacking and jailing their members ahead of the 23 May poll.

The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) says the opposition is trying to incite violence because it has no chance of winning the elections.

Ethiopia's 2005 poll ended with street riots and the jailing of politicians after both the ruling party and the opposition claimed victory.

The government said the violence had been planned to force an unconstitutional change.