Ethiopian rebels arrested for dam raid

Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:16pm GMT

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ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Friday it arrested three Oromo Liberation Front rebels who beat up Chinese technicians in a raid on a dam construction site in the west.

State TV said three Chinese were in hospital after being badly beaten by the OLF gang during the attack this week at the Neshie Dam. The statement said they were planning "terrorist activities" there, and were later caught by security forces.

"The culprits beat Chinese technicians working at the site, robbed laptops, printers, digital surveying machines and other equipment at the site," it said.

The three were paraded on TV, together with guns, communications equipment and bomb-making materials.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government blames the OLF, which has fought for autonomy for its southern homeland since 1993, for various explosions in the capital Addis Ababa.

Addis Ababa accuses arch-enemy Eritrea of training and funding the OLF and other small rebel groups in Ethiopia's remote, outlying areas. Asmara says that is an excuse to mask popular unrest with Meles' government.

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