Mengistu Haile Mariam: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Benti Tafari.jpg|thumb|283x283px|tafari benti was the last obstacle for mengistu]]

During the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War Ogaden War], learning that after the fall of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga Jijiga] to units of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Somalia Somali army] (2 September 1977) Ethiopian units had started to mutiny, Mengistu flew to the front and took direct control. According to Gebru Tareke, he ordered those suspected of leading the mutiny "bayoneted as cowardly and counterrevolutionary elements", then had the soldiers regrouped and ordered to recapture Jijiga in simultaneous attacks from the west and north. The Ethiopians recaptured the city on 5 September, but Jijiga remained within range of the Somali artillery, which shelled the city the whole night long. The next day the Somalis counterattacked, "considerably strengthened and ever more determined", and before he could be encircled inside the city, Mengistu fled back to Adew on the 7th where he boarded a plane back to Addis Ababa. The Somalis broke through Ethiopian lines, recapturing Jijiga on 12 September, and managing to overrun Ethiopian positions past the Marda Pass.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-20 [20]]</sup>

He received the anti-communist dictator [[Samuel Doe]] in a friendly manner in 1980, something very ironic due to his communism.

In early 1984, under Mengistu's direction, the Marxist-Leninist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker%27s_Party_of_Ethiopia Worker's Party of Ethiopia] (WPE) was founded as the country's ruling party, with Mengistu as general secretary. On 10 September 1987, a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Constitution_of_Ethiopia new constitution] was adopted, and the country was renamed the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Democratic_Republic_of_Ethiopia People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia]. Mengistu became president, with sweeping executive and legislative powers. He and the other surviving members of the Derg all retired from the military and as civilians made up the Politburo of the WPE.

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 [[File:Benti Tafari.jpg|thumb|283x283px|tafari benti was the last obstacle for mengistu]]
 During the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogaden_War Ogaden War], learning that after the fall of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jijiga Jijiga] to units of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Somalia Somali army] (2 September 1977) Ethiopian units had started to mutiny, Mengistu flew to the front and took direct control. According to Gebru Tareke, he ordered those suspected of leading the mutiny "bayoneted as cowardly and counterrevolutionary elements", then had the soldiers regrouped and ordered to recapture Jijiga in simultaneous attacks from the west and north. The Ethiopians recaptured the city on 5 September, but Jijiga remained within range of the Somali artillery, which shelled the city the whole night long. The next day the Somalis counterattacked, "considerably strengthened and ever more determined", and before he could be encircled inside the city, Mengistu fled back to Adew on the 7th where he boarded a plane back to Addis Ababa. The Somalis broke through Ethiopian lines, recapturing Jijiga on 12 September, and managing to overrun Ethiopian positions past the Marda Pass.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mengistu_Haile_Mariam#cite_note-20 [20]]</sup>
+He received the anti-communist dictator [[Samuel Doe]] in a friendly manner in 1980, something very ironic due to his communism.
 In early 1984, under Mengistu's direction, the Marxist-Leninist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker%27s_Party_of_Ethiopia Worker's Party of Ethiopia] (WPE) was founded as the country's ruling party, with Mengistu as general secretary. On 10 September 1987, a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1987_Constitution_of_Ethiopia new constitution] was adopted, and the country was renamed the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Democratic_Republic_of_Ethiopia People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia]. Mengistu became president, with sweeping executive and legislative powers. He and the other surviving members of the Derg all retired from the military and as civilians made up the Politburo of the WPE.