Ethiopia's Emperor to Be Reburied on Nov. 5: Reuters
From: Crucial Lloyd
<coolcrew@reggaesource.com>
Subject:
Ethiopia's Emperor to Be Reburied on Nov.
5
Sources: Reuters -
AP
Tuesday October 3 7:17 PM
ET
Ethiopia's Emperor to Be Reburied on Nov.
5 (2000)
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
(Reuters) - Ethiopia's late Emperor Haile Selassie will be reburied on Nov. 5 in
a ceremony aimed at restoring the dignity of a monarch who died in murky
circumstances 25 years ago.
The body
of the aged emperor, who was deposed by military officers in 1974 and was either
murdered or simply allowed to die of neglect a year later, will be buried in a
tomb in the Orthodox Trinity Cathedral in the capital Addis Ababa.
"The ceremony is aimed at restoring
the image of the late emperor, tarnished by the Marxist regime of Mengistu Haile
Mariam that murdered him,'' said Bitwoded Zwede Gbrehiwot, president of the
Emperor Haile Selassie I Memorial Foundation.
"The emperor was defiled, humiliated
and despicably treated by the fascist regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam,'' Zwede
told reporters.
The emperor's body was
exhumed from beneath a toilet in 1992, a year after Mengistu's Marxist regime
was overthrown in a rebellion.
The
body has lain in a mausoleum in Addis Ababa since then but it was always the new
government's intention to rebury the emperor.
The ceremony will take place three
days after the 70th anniversary of Haile Selassie's coronation.
Zwede appealed to Ethiopians at home
and abroad to help fund the reburial ceremony, saying the foundation had so far
raised just $20,000.
Haile Selassie,
born in 1892, portrayed himself as an enlightened monarch leading his country
toward development, but an ancient feudal system ensured most of his subjects
lived in dire poverty.
The Ethiopian
Orthodox Church still considers him its head and Rastafarians the world over
still worship Haile Selassie as God incarnate.
--
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Posted: Thu - February 13, 2003 at 03:52 PM