Memorial Service for Prime Minister Meles Zenawi @ Emmanuel Centre, Marsham
Street, SW1
I went to Ethiopia en route to Malawi in 2002. I stayed with Myles Wickstead our
Ambassador there and met Patriarch Abune Paulos, of the Orthodox Tewakedo Church (part of the larger Coptic Church in Africa), Richard Pankhurst and several Ethiopian ministers and MPs. We talked endlessly about the repatriation of the Magdala Treasures from the British Museum - which I had
strongly supported. The British Army took them as loot in the mid 19th century in our brief hostilities with Abyssinia, as it was called then.
Subsequently, I met HE Prime Minister Meles Zenawi twice in the UK and stayed
close to Ethiopian issues when an MP. Since 2010, I have maintained my
enthusiasm for all things Ethiopian.
It was very moving to be part of the Memorial Service today. Myles Wickstead
hosted the event and the great and the good spoke warmly about Meles. And so
they should.....his achievements were quite astonishing.