When was meles zenawi dead

May - Mengistu flees Ethiopia en route to Zimbabwe. Two months later, an interim government is formed with Meles as transitional president. Up to 80, people are killed in the war.

December - Ethiopia sends troops into Somalia to drive hardline Islamists from power. Ethiopian troops withdraw from Somalia in January December - Meles represents the African continent at the Copenhagen climate talks and cements his position as one of its leading statesmen, despite accusations from the opposition that he behaves more like an autocrat at home.

He had contracted an infection, the report said. Meles, a former rebel leader, took power in after ousting dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, who was granted asylum by Zimbabwe, where he still resides today.

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf called Meles "an economic transformer" and "a strong intellectual leader for the continent. South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress said Meles "has earned his place in the post colonial history of Africa. Mr Hailemariam, who is also Ethiopia's foreign minister, will become acting prime minister, government spokesman Bereket Simon told reporters. He said an election was not necessary as the "constructional procedure" allowed for Mr Hailemariam to "kick off as a full-fledged prime minister".

In an earlier news conference, Mr Bereket said Mr Meles had struggled with illness for a year, but he had continued to work regardless. Concerns have been expressed - including by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga - that Mr Meles's death could lead to a power vacuum and dangerous instability in Ethiopia. But Mr Bereket insisted the country was stable and that "everything will continue as charted" by the late prime minister.

This theme was echoed by state television, which stated that "even if Ethiopia has been badly affected for missing its great leader, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi initiated fundamental policies and strategies which will be further strengthened". Ethiopia's economy has grown rapidly in recent years, despite the secession of Eritrea and the subsequent war between the two countries.

Under Mr Meles, Ethiopia became a staunch US ally, receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in aid over the years, and hosting the US military drones that patrol East Africa. But concern had been growing about the lack of democracy and human rights in Ethiopia, our correspondent in the region says. At least people died in the violence that followed the elections, and many journalists and politicians have been locked up.

But it was only a lip service," he told the BBC. Obituary: Meles Zenawi.