Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has pledged to crack down on human rights abuses such as those which left at least 100 people dead in two separate shooting incidents earlier this year. He said the government would take action against regional officials who may have been implicated in the killings.

Ethiopian youth, with the sponsorship of UNICEF, on Thursday launched the nation's first HIV/AIDS forum for teenagers.

Ethiopia has reacted strongly to United Nations assertions that the security of peacekeepers stationed in the region has been seriously threatened by Ethiopian villagers and militia. Officials were angry about reports earlier this month that UN troops overseeing the ceasefire that ended a 30-month territorial war were threatened by armed villagers and militia along the disputed border with Eritrea.

One of the ruling coalition parties in Ethiopia - the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Front (SEPDF) - has replaced its chairman and purged more than 30 members in a bid to wipe out corruption.

Half a million children under the age of five die each year in Ethiopia because of illnesses such as malaria and measles, as well as pneumonia, diarrhoea, and malnutrition.