Ethiopian opposition to boycott polls

Seven opposition parties in Ethiopia have said they will boycott local government elections due on Sunday.

A spokesman for one of them, the Ethiopian Democratic Party, told the BBC that it was taking the action in protest at the conduct of the recent district elections -- which have been taking place across the country, region by region, since May last year. The spokesman, Isak Kifle, accused the government of rigging the results and said his party's candidates had been harassed by the police.

But he denied suggestions that the boycott was a stunt motivated by the weak political position of the parties. Together, they were expected to account for no more than thirty per cent of the vote.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service