Ethiopia says US embassy intruders must be charged

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Ethiopia's government said it hopes U.S. authorities will prosecute protesters who tried to take down the national flag on the grounds of its embassy in Washington.

A security attache at the embassy, who has since returned home, fired a gun during the Sept. 29 incident, which has renewed tensions between Ethiopia's government and dissident groups.

Dina Mufti, a spokesman for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Ethiopian state television late Thursday that the protesters have ties with Eritrea and the Somali Islamic extremist group al-Shabab.

He said the U.S. government is expected to protect the integrity of the embassy and to charge the "intruders," who chanted anti-government slogans as they tried to take down the flag of Ethiopia.

But on Oct. 2, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman in Washington indicated that authorities were instead looking to investigate the shooting incident, which reportedly caused no injuries.

"In this case, we requested a waiver of (diplomatic) immunity to permit prosecution of the individual involved in that incident. The request was declined and the individual involved has now left the country," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Oct. 2.

William Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, said Friday that the office has "no comment on the statements or reports" and that "no other charges have been filed in the incident."

Critics of Ethiopia's government say it is intolerant of political dissent. Human Rights Watch says Ethiopia's government has "clamped down heavily" on protests, arbitrarily detaining and beating protesters.

Yilikal Getnet, head the opposition Blue Party, said Ethiopia's government routinely characterizes protesters as criminals, adding that opposition groups back home have been similarly treated.