Yilkal
Kefale, president of Ethiopia's Amhara region, which has been convulsed by
deadly clashes over the past month between the army and local militiamen,
resigned on Friday and has been replaced, state-run media reported.
The
president resigned during an emergency meeting of the regional council, the state
affiliated Amhara Media Corporation (AMC) reported. He was replaced by Arega Kebede, who has been leading an official militia that operates under the
authority of the regional government for a year and Amhara Labor Enterprise and
Industry Development Bureau.
Yilkal
said in farewell remarks to the council that he had first submitted his
resignation letter to the ruling Prosperity Party eight months ago but that
recent crises had forced him to stay on longer, AMC reported.
Violentprotests broke out in Amhara, the second most populous of Ethiopia's 12
regions, in April after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered that regional
security forces be integrated into the police or federal army.
Many Amharas saw the
order as aimed at undermining the region's security. The federal government
denied this and said the decree was meant to strengthen national unity.
Similar grievances led to the clashes that
erupted late last month between the military and Fano, a local militia that had
fought in support of federal troops during the two-year civil war in theneighbouring Tigray region that ended last November.
0 Comments