Ethiopia arrests former peace minister over alleged links to an outlawed rebel group

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s peace minister has been fired and arrested for having alleged links to an outlawed rebel group after he made a series of social media posts criticizing the government. Federal police released a statement Tuesday accusing Taye Dendea of “collaborating with anti-peace forces that are trying to destroy Ethiopia” and of belonging to the Oromo Liberation Army, which is banned as a terrorist organization. The OLA is waging a long-running insurgency against the government. It claims to be fighting for greater representation for the Oromo, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, but has been accused of ethnic-based attacks on other groups. Taye, an ethnic Oromo, is a senior member of the ruling party.