Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Friday urged the public to mobilize for maintenance of peace and stability in the Horn of Africa country.

In a televised news conference, Meles said the Ethiopian people in general, and the people of the capital Addis Ababa in particular, should mobilize in an organized and efficient manner for the maintenance of peace and stability in the country.

He said the people are the primary force to resist and eliminate negative symptoms in the path of peace, democracy and development in the country.

The violence in Addis Ababa was sparked not because the residents wanted it, but because there are large numbers of destructive forces in the city, he said.

Meles said the residents of Addis Ababa should take a lesson from the recent incidence and strive to ensure that it will not happen again.

On June 8, police and security forces in the capital opened fire on stone-throwing crowds who were looting shops, robbing banks, attacking police and trying to free detainees in custody.

At least 36 people were killed and thousands were detained after the deadly violence.

The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) blamed the opposition parties for inciting the worst violence seen in the capital in four years. However, the opposition parties denied they were behind the protests and ensuing violence.

The opposition parties have accused Prime Minister Meles Zenawi-led EPRDF party of massive electoral fraud. The ruling party retains control of parliament according to official election results that have not yet been ratified. Final results were scheduled to announce on July 8.

Reacting to the accusation of oppositions against the ruling EPRDF party that the election has been particularly tampered in rural areas, Meles said oppositions had devised a strategy of fomenting confusion, violence and riot in relation to the election a year before the May 15 election day.

If there are irregularities in the electoral process, it would be necessary to correct them in a legal manner, Meles said, adding currently more than 20 teams consisting of international observers have been deployed to the various regions to investigate the alleged irregularities.

Source: Xinhua