Ethiopian tyrant lives in Luxury thanks to Mugabe

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Mengistu Haile Mariam.

The former Ethiopian strongman, who fled to Harare in 1991 as Meles Zenawi's rebels closed in on Addis Ababa, has not only remained active in helping his generous host President Robert Mugabe sharpen tactics of repression and political longevity. He has also flourished as a businessman.

Mengistu is graced with around-the-clock security and two mansions in the affluent suburbs of Gunhill and Borrowdale. Mugabe gave him the second so he could switch between the two, after four Ethiopians tried to kill him on November 4 1995.

When Mugabe begun his destructive land seizures in February 2000, Mengistu also got two plum white-owned farms. Those who watch his movements say he drives the latest ML Mercedes Benz and travels to his farms and other places under discreet escorts. All of this is financed by the state...


And the fellow-Marxist who has a death sentence hanging over him in Ethiopia because of his murder of hundreds of thousands of his countrymen during his "Red Terror" reign from 1974 to 1991, had the necessary experience.

"Mengistu did not only play an advisory role, he effectively became an active employee of the CIO," said a source in the dreaded spy agency.

Mengistu worked closely with the security generals in the so-called Joint Operations Command (JOC), the military junta that has run Zimbabwe over the past few years.

He advised them on the "best tactics" for keeping the opposition and civic society at bay.

In fact, some sources claim that the murderous campaigns that Zimbabwe has witnessed over the years are a direct result of Mengistu's "wit"....