Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Aerospace & Defense
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Campaign Polling
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Anatole Kaletsky
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Frederick Kempe
Christopher Papagianis
Mark Leonard
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Photos of the week
Our top photos from the past week. See more
Images of June
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Armed gang rapes women in Mexican youth camp
5:13am EDT
Springsteen storms through London marathon
7:02am EDT
A whistleblower emerges from the shadows
13 Jul 2012
Intense fighting reported inside Damascus city limits
|
11:58am EDT
New York pier fire extinguished after heavy smoke
14 Jul 2012
Discussed
121
Texas governor rejects two provisions of health law
115
Russia’s Putin says the West is on the decline
106
Obama team targets Romney over taxes, Republicans cry foul
Watched
Large solar flare signals weekend disruptions on Earth
Fri, Jul 13 2012
Friday the 13th not so scary
Fri, Jul 13 2012
Tons of marijuana discovered in Mexico
Fri, Jul 13 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Inside San Quentin
A look inside San Quentin prison, California's oldest correctional facility and home to the state's only gas chamber. Slideshow
When lightning strikes
Dramatic images of electrical storms. Slideshow
Ethiopia mosque sit-ins see deaths, arrests: protesters
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Sudan protesters teargassed, politician arrested
Sun, Jul 8 2012
Sudanese protest over cuts amid security crackdown
Sat, Jun 23 2012
A Palestinian plan to attract Muslims back to Al-Aqsa
Tue, Jun 19 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Interfaith report: Poverty and injustice drive Nigeria’s sectarian violence
Rabbis to meet in Berlin to protest circumcision ban
Related Topics
World »
By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA |
Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:59am EDT
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Protesters against government interference in religious affairs staged the latest of a series of mosque sit-ins in the Ethiopian capital on Sunday, saying police had arrested dozens in the run up to this weekend's African Union summit.
Two activists told Reuters the sit-in - in protest at the government's promotion of the moderate Al Ahbash branch of Islam over other doctrines - had already been surrounded by police although there had been no clashes as yet on Sunday.
Online activists, who have been using social media to call for demonstrations, have reported several deaths during previous clashes, and published several pictures of injuries they claim are those of victims.
"They have arrested dozens, even hundreds, of protesters in the past few days, while police fired teargas and fired rounds to disperse the crowd," one activist, calling himself simply Hassan, told Reuters. Two other activists gave similar accounts.
Protests are uncommon in tightly-controlled Ethiopia and the unrest has caused concern in a predominantly Christian nation of 84 million that takes pride in centuries of coexistence.
The government fears hardline Islam is taking root in the Horn of Africa country, which has long been seen by the West as a bulwark against militancy in neighbouring Somalia.
Hassan said the planned sit-ins were held in a number of mosques throughout the capital, including the Awoliya mosque, where the first protests took place late last year.
Government officials were not immediately available for comment on Sunday, but a state news outlet said security authorities have arrested "extremists who tried to disrupt the (AU) summit."
LEBANESE SECT
Any attempt to exploit sectarian divides has the potential to destabilise Africa's second most populous country, which is 60 percent Christian and 30 percent Muslim according to a 2009 census.
Also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, Al Ahbash was founded in the early 1980s by Sheikh Abdullah al Harrari, an Ethiopian cleric who was forced to leave his country for Lebanon in 1950.
Muslim protesters say the government is promoting the ideas of the group, which has few followers among the bulk of Sunni and Sufi-inspired Islam in Ethiopia, through the leadership of the Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs. They say the government is trying to prevent new elections to the Council in aid of promoting Al Ahbash because it opposes ultra-conservative ideology and rejects violence.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has dismissed accusations of interference in the religious domain but often says Islamic hardliners are "peddling ideologies of intolerance".
"It (Al Ahbash) has the right to exist in Ethiopia, but it is unacceptable that the Council tries to impose it on all members of the Muslim community," Abubeker Ahmed, head of an independent Islamic arbitration committee, told Reuters.
(Editing by Duncan Miriri and Patrick Graham)
World
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.