Ethiopia's PM says soldiers who marched on palace sought to 'abort reforms'

Thomson Reuters

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday that soldiers who marched on his palace last week had "nefarious aims" and wanted to abort the government's reforms.

In an address to parliament, Abiy gave details for the first time of the incident that took place on Oct. 10 in which he met with several hundred soldiers. The government had initially said they marched on his office to demand pay rises.

"The approach taken (by the soldiers) was not only unconstitutional and dangerous, the intent was to abort reforms," Abiy said. "Five to 10 people with nefarious aims" had instructed the soldiers." He gave no further details.

"Had we not taken a cautious approach, it could have led to a dangerous situation."

The incident took place amid a spate of violence that has displaced over 2.2 million people posing a challenge for Abiy who took power in April and has instituted a series of reforms.

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)

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