TPLF/EPRDF Regime in Crisis: ETA's director Eshetu Alemu & State Minister for Communication Affairs Ermiyas Legesse Seek Asylum in USA

Top defections hit Zenawi regime

July 20, 2009

WASHINGTON - As Ethiopia slips into the quagmire of a failed state, top-notch officials are fleeing the country before the door is slum shut for them and their immediate family members.

Within a space of two weeks, the ruling party of Meles Zenawi has lost two officials who could have been described as the most trust worthy to the regime in power since 1991.

Eshetu Alemu, director of the state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunications Agency (ETA) has reportedly sought a political asylum in the United States.

The online Reporter said the ETA chief traveled to the US early in May to attend a two-week executive management training. He was expected to return home but the media was tipped he was overstaying his visa for his own good.

Earlier last week, AFP reported that the country's state minister for communication affairs has refused to return home from the United States.

Ermias Legesse was issued with an 11-day visa and left for the US in the second week of June, but has not returned.

“He didn’t report back, but there is nothing political in that,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“He has chosen to stay there. It seems he has dreamt about going to the US,” he added. “Sometimes strange things happen.”

Ermias, who is in his thirties, was appointed to the position earlier this year.

The US embassy in Addis Ababa declined to comment on the matter, but a diplomatic source said Ermias “has not been reachable for several days.”

[Meanwhile, the Reporter said Ermias has already sent his resignation paper to Meles Zenawi.]

Source :Ethiomidia