Ethiopia Denies $95M from ‘Live Aid’ Proceeds Was Spent on Weapons

Zenawi said that the BBC had fallen for lies fabricated by his political opponents.
Ethiopia Denies $95M from ‘Live Aid’ Proceeds Was Spent on Weapons
Ethiopian Prime Minister and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) chairman Meles Zenawi (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images)
3/9/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/ethiopia97574621.jpg" alt="Ethiopian Prime Minister and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) chairman Meles Zenawi (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images)" title="Ethiopian Prime Minister and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) chairman Meles Zenawi (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1822262"/></a>
Ethiopian Prime Minister and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) chairman Meles Zenawi (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images)

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denied on Tuesday allegations that claim 95 percent of the $100 million in aid money raised by Live Aid and others to fight famine in 1985 was diverted to be spent on weapons.

Zenawi said that the BBC had fallen for lies fabricated by his political opponents right before the general election in Addis Ababa next month.

“The notion that a decision was taken to spend 95 percent of aid on the military is a complete lie,” he said to the Independent.

In 1985, Zenawi was one of the leaders of the rebel group, the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front.

The rebels were fighting the army of the Mengistu dictatorship whose troops were mainly conscripted.

According to Zenawi, they procured large amounts of guns and tanks because the enemy often ran away, abandoning their weapons when the fighting began.