Ethiopia: Seyoum Mesfin is back and at the Helm in Meles’ Absence

9 August 2012 [ESAT]
The former Ethiopian Foreign Minister and a close confidante of Meles Zenawi, Seyoum Mesfin is back in Addis Ababa and leading the country according to a news report by the weekly Amharic newspaper–Finote Netsanet .

It has been more than seven weeks since the Prime Minister was last seen and people are wondering if the Prime Minister is alive.  ESAT –citing sources in ICG–has broken the news that the Prime Minister has died in Belgium last week.  Though the government was quick to deny ESAT’s news report, it couldn’t show the Prime Minister or any audio or video evidence to disprove the news.

Seyoum is currently working as Ethiopian ambassador to China. It is a recent memory that his appointment as ambassador to China –after serving at the helm of as important a ministry as foreign affairs– has left many with mystification