Thank you very much.
I think it's a very interesting situation that's developing in Ethiopia. Ethiopia suffered huge repression under Mengistu Haile Mariam, the previous military ruler. At that point, of course, Mengistu and his government proclaimed that they were socialists and they were backed by Cuba, Russia, and things like that. Therefore, there was this dichotomy: “We want to overthrow or get rid of the communist regime.” When Meles came to power, he clearly said that he would accept the principles of human rights, he would accept multi-party politics, and all the good things that a pluralized society would aspire to. Therefore, there was this honeymoon, I would say, for a period of time, and the desire to give him an opportunity to see if things would be improved.
Also, in practical terms, I have to admit at the beginning of this government's taking power there were some indications of positive things. For example, there were a number of independent newspapers; there were political parties that started to organize; there was a semblance of a democratic and progressive movement that came up. Therefore, in my opinion, the west started really to foster this positive aspect, thinking that capitalizing on the gains would push the government further into democratization. That was the beginning.
Secondly, I would say, particularly in the last little while, since 9/11, regional stability and terrorism have been an issue. Of course, Meles says that he is an ally of the western world, particularly the United States. He went to Somalia, for example, and assisted a lot. But there are a lot of factors that we really have to consider when we talk about these things.
First of all, in terms of democracy, as I said, at the beginning there was a semblance, but since then the movement has been backsliding continuously. The free press is already decimated.
In terms of regional stability, I would say within the Ethiopian opposition, the main opposition, there is full understanding and acceptance that any form of religious extremism should not be allowed to flourish in Ethiopia. Even if you examine each of the opposition groups, you'll see that they all condemn extremism. They all want to continue to foster a democratic process, a multi-party system, pluralism in the country.
I would say it's just a combination of all of these factors that has really played into the hands of the government. I think they have also been smart in playing a game in lots of places. Particularly, they have a very strong PR that really helps them to get their message out, and deceive, I would say, a lot of the western countries.