[4] As a captain, Berhanu joined the Derg as the representative of the Military Academy, where he became chairman of the legal committee, and was promoted to Major in April 1976.

[5] In this new role, he toured a number of Arab countries in 1976 and stated they all supported the PMAC regime, although aid to Ethiopia from these counties ceased not long after.

[4] At the beginning of the Ogaden War, when the Soviet Union attempted to mediate peace between Ethiopia and Somalia, Birhanu secretly met with a Somali delegation in Moscow.

[9] Berhanu obtained safe haven in the Italian embassy after the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front army entered Addis Ababa on May 28, 1991.

The death occurred after a physical brawl with Berhanu, when Tesfaye was accidentally hurt on his head from a glass cut and bled profusely.

[13] Although Berhamu and Adis' continued presence in the embassy was a considerable embarrassment, the Italian government refused to give them up for trial since Ethiopia still has the death penalty.