Ex-spin doctor arrested in Ethiopia

A former top Ethiopian government minister, Bereket Simon, who at one time wielded a lot of influence, has been arrested over the alleged misuse of public funds.

Mr Bereket has served as the communications minister, overseeing the country's media output, and at times acting as a government spokesperson. He was also a close confidante of former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who died in 2012.

He was picked up by police at his home on Wednesday morning around the same time as another senior official was arrested, local media are reporting.

They are both accused of corruption in relation to an endowment fund in Ethiopia's Amhara region.

Mr Bereket was a founding member of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and was a long-standing cabinet minister in the governments of the Mr Meles and his successor Hailemariam Desalegn.

He also held a senior position in a government think tank before resigning in 2017.

Since then he has largely retreated from public life.

Under Prime Minsiter Abiy Ahmed, who took over last April, the authorities have detained more than 70 senior intelligence and military officials accused of corruption and human rights abuses.

But critics of Mr Abiy have accused him of targeting his opponents particularly from the once powerful Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, one of the four parties in the EPRDF coalition.