Parties demand fair Ethiopia poll

Meles has been in power for nearly a decade

At least 6,000 Ethiopian opposition supporters have rallied in the capital Addis Ababa to demand a fair vote in the general election one year away.

Fifteen opposition parties have come together to form an alliance under Merara Gudina in a bid to put Prime Minister Meles Zenawi out of office.

Launching the campaign, Mr Merara urged a "peaceful and democratic poll".

He called for a reform of election laws for the election commission to be replaced with more neutral members.

An election run by a board controlled by the government in power is a mere joke Admasu Gebeyohe Ethiopian Democratic Party

Mr Merara is taking the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), formed in August of last year, into the May 2005 election in the hope that a combined opposition will have more appeal.

Demonstrators at Sunday's rally sang freedom songs and waved banners calling for better governance, democracy, a free press and an independent electoral process, as well as an end to human rights abuses in Ethiopia's regions.

'Joke'

Fragmented until now, the opposition currently has only 13 members in the 548-seat parliament.

It accuses the current electoral board of bias in favour of the governing Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.

"Unless a neutral election board is formed in the country, an election run by a board controlled by the government in power is a mere joke," said Admasu Gebeyohe, head of one of the UEDF parties.

Mr Merara also demanded an end to alleged state involvement in violence against civilians in the troubled western Gambella region and Oromia in the south.