Mengistu h mariam biography channel

Former President Mengistu Haile Mariam, fled Ethiopia in May, 1991, leaving his country ravaged by economic decline, famine and on the verge of political disintegration.

Mengistu shows no signs of repentance

Fifteen years later, he has been held responsible for the deaths or disappearances of tens of thousands of Ethiopians during the 1970s - a period known as the Red Terror, when Mengistu ruled the country through his military committee, known as the Dergue.

He was a relatively obscure army officer when he took part in a successful but bloody coup against Ethiopia's Haile Selassie in September 1974.

The emperor had failed to come to grips with a poor harvest, and the situation escalated into a devastating famine.

The young officers formed the Dergue, which Mengistu took control of three years later, after a power struggle.

Mengistu showed a ruthless streak, shooting a fellow officer who wanted to make peace with the province of Eritrea, which was seeking in Mengistu Mariam (born May 21, 1937), Ethiopian Dictator ... RIDA