Editing Mengistu Haile Mariam (section)

===Asylum in Zimbabwe===
In May 1991, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopian_People%27s_Revolutionary_Democratic_Front Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front] (EPRDF) forces advanced on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Addis_Ababa Addis Ababa] from all sides, and Mengistu fled the country with 50 family and Derg members. He was granted asylum in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwe Zimbabwe] as an official guest of Zimbabwean President [[Robert Mugabe]]. Mengistu left behind almost the entire membership of the original Derg and the WPE leadership, precluding their escape; in fact, one officer was caught twice while trying to escape from Addis Ababa. Almost all were promptly arrested and put on trial upon the assumption of power by the EPRDF. Mengistu has claimed that the takeover of his country resulted from the policies of Mikhail Gorbachev, who in his view allowed the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the termination of its aid to Ethiopia.

An assassination attempt against Mengistu occurred on 4 November 1995, while he was out walking with his wife, Wubanchi Bishaw, near his home in the Gunhill suburb of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harare Harare]. While Mengistu was unharmed, his alleged attacker, Solomon Haile Ghebre Michael, an Eritrean, was shot and arrested by Mengistu's bodyguards. He was later tried for this assassination attempt, pleading not guilty in a Zimbabwean court on 8 July 1996. The Eritrean Ambassador to South Africa, Tsegaye Tesfa Tsion, flew to Harare to attend the trial. The attacker was sentenced to ten years in prison, while his accomplice Abraham Goletom Joseph, who had been arrested in a police raid, was sentenced to five years. They said that they had been tortured under Mengistu, and on appeal their sentences were reduced to two years each due to "mitigatory circumstances". The Ethiopian ambassador to Zimbabwe, Fantahun Haile Michael, said his government was not involved in the assassination attempt, and that he heard about the incident from the media.

Mengistu still resides in Zimbabwe, despite the Ethiopian government's desire that he be extradited. He is said to live in luxurious circumstances, and it is claimed that he advises Mugabe on security matters; according to one report, he proposed the idea of clearing slums, which was implemented as [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Murambatsvina Operation Murambatsvina] in 2005, and chaired meetings at which the operation was planned. State Security Minister [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didymus_Mutasa Didymus Mutasa] strongly denied that Mengistu was involved in Operation Murambatsvina in any way, saying that Mengistu "does not interfere at all with the affairs of our country. We also do not allow him to interfere with his country from Zimbabwe."