Morreu Meles Zenawi

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has died aged 57 after months of illness, the government says. A spokesman said Mr Meles had died in a hospital abroad - but did not specify where or give details of his ailment. Speculation about his health mounted when he missed an African Union summit in Addis Ababa last month. Mr Meles took power as the leader of rebels that ousted communist leader Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991 and led the country's economic transformation. Continue reading the main story Analysis James Copnall BBC News -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meles Zenawi's death will have repercussions far beyond his country. He was undeniably central to everything in Ethiopia - the good and the bad, the economic growth and development, as well as the repressive climate denounced by opposition politicians and journalists. But he also played a key role in the region. Since Mr Meles took power in 1991, Ethiopia has seen Eritrea secede, then fought a war with the new country. It also twice sent troops into Somalia to fight militants linked to al-Qaeda. Ethiopia also has peacekeepers in Abyei, the border region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan. Political leaders in all these countries will be carrying out rapid calculations about what Mr Meles' death means for them. The West has also lost a key ally in the Horn of Africa. Now the attention will switch to whether Mr Meles built a strong enough system to outlast him. He was austere and hardworking, with a discipline forged from years spent in the guerrilla movement - and almost never smiled, says Elizabeth Blunt, the BBC's former correspondent in Addis Ababa. Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga told the BBC he feared for the stability of Ethiopia following Mr Meles' death. He said the situation in the country was fragile and ethnic violence continued to be a threat. But Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who called Mr Meles an "intellectual leader for the continent", said she was confident his successors would be supported by leaders in the region. 'Sudden infection' Ethiopia's Council of Ministers announced "with great sadness the untimely death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi" in a statement, state TV reported. BBC