Berhanu's men in Ethiopia

Previously we have stated that Dr. Befikadu Degifie was Dr Berhanu's man in Ethiopia. Tamrat Tarekegn is taking the lead in promoting the "third way" of Dr Birhanu. Both Dr Degife and Tamrat Tarekegn were in the same prison compound in Kaliti with Dr Hailu Araya, Eng Gizachew Shiferaw, and Bruk Kebede. Recently Dr Degifie has gone to Gojam and Jimma without the knowledge of his Kinijit compatriots. There are many reports coming out of Southern and Northen Ethiopia that some Kinijit officials with money are trying to scare local officials by saying Hailu is going to retire/be forced out and Birtukan will be the new leader and to get on the right side before it is too late. So far they have no takers.

Dr Berhanu's group has started a new weekly newspaper called Addis Neger and also are circulating a petition to get the two groups in CUD to reconcile with no one being held accountable. This strategy is a way to give Dr Berhanu's group an easier time to reenter politics when they return to Addis form North America (SEE PETITION HERE-http://info.ethio.googlepages.com/Petition.pdf ) Tamrat Tarekegn has published a fundraising card without the knowledge and support of Kinijit officials - see card below. Tamrat has been making the rounds with local newspapers to get coverage about the new card. The editors of newspapers have been calling the kinijit office to confirm if it is an official card and they have been told flat out that Kinijit did not sponsor the new card. A few of the executive committee of CUD met with the newspaper rep (Dr Befikadu refused to meet). They told the newspaper rep that Kinijit did not authorize this card and will contact the authorities to stop the publication and sale. The CUD members tried to sign a statement acknowledging their decision but Sileshi Tena refused to sign.