Ethiopian Muslims stage silent protest

Oct. 12 (ESAT News) Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian Muslims gathered at Mosques for Friday prayers staged a silent protest against government interference in their affairs.

At a time when the movement of Ethiopian Muslims has been gaining momentum, organizers preferred a silent protest as they were tipped that government security agents mingled with the Anwar Mosque congregation to provoke violence.

After Sunday’s government staged election of Muslim spiritual leaders for the Islamic Supreme Council at local and national level, the government had threatened to take tougher measures against protesters. The regime has warned that it will not tolerate demands for free and fair election of  Muslim councils as last Sunday’s election has already answered the call.

A leader of the movement told ESAT that Muslims had already showed yellow cards to the government in last week’s rally. He said that the next move could be to show red cards in a show to escalate their struggle against government repressions. The organizers are making preparations to bring out a huge crowed to confront the regime during the forthcoming Muslims holiday.

Meanwhile, jailed leaders of the Muslims’ movement appeared yesterday before the Arada First Instance Court. The hearing was adjourned to October 25th.