RIP

Ethiopian P.M. Dies

Meles Zenawi reportedly suffered a long illness.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has died, the government confirmed on Tuesday. Meles was 57 and had reportedly been suffering from a long illness. Meles took power in 1991 after leading a coup against the country’s Communist government that ruled in the 1970s and ’80s. Under Meles’s governance, Ethiopia became an important U.S. ally, but his reputation suffered at home in the 2000s over his disregard of human rights. Rumors about Meles’s being in ill health arose after he missed an African Union summit last month, although the government insisted he was in “good condition and recuperating” as recently as three weeks ago.