The President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, has expressed the Council’s deep grief over the murder of so many Ethiopians and others in three bombing incidents by the Somali al-Shabaab terrorist group in the Ethiopia-town area of Kampala, Uganda, on July 11, 2010. “The Crown Council not only expresses its grief and outrage over this cowardly attack on innocent civilians, but also sends its profound condolences to the families of the victims,” Prince Ermias said.
“This was a pointed attack on Ethiopia and Ethiopians,” Prince Ermias said, “and no-one in the civilized world will tolerate this kind of behavior. The act was designed to target not only Ethiopians, but to shake the foundations of trust between Ethiopia’s Christian and Muslim communities, which have historically lived in trust and mutual respect.”
“It was also an attack on the African Union, coming as it did just before the AU summit in Kampala, and on the AU’s attempts to restore stability in Somalia.”
Prince Ermias said that the Crown Council supported the Ethiopian Government’s repudiation of the threats which al-Shabaab and other radical groups have made against Ethiopia’s integrity. “We must see the martyrdom of the Ethiopians in Kampala as a rallying cry to ensure that all Ethiopians stand up against terrorism, so that their deaths will not have been in vain, as tragic as their loss is to us all.”
