It rapidly rose to prominence due to its presentations of credible and researched viewpoints before its sudden closure in December 2009.
They feared that the Ethiopian government was planning a repeat of the crackdown that imprisoned thousands of people after the disputed 2005 election.
[5] The U.S. Embassy issued a statement on December 10 expressing concern that such moves "contribute to a perception that space for independent media in Ethiopia is constrained.".
[6][7] The Ethiopian authorities dismissed the allegations and claimed that Addis Neger's decision had ulterior political and personal intentions.
In an official statement released by the country's foreign ministry, the government said that the closure of the newspaper was intended to feed false accusations that independent media space in Ethiopia was constrained [8]