Meles Zenawi, who led Ethiopia as Prime Minister since 1995, and served as chairman of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) since 1988, died in office on 20 August 2012.

His state funeral took place on 2 September with high-profile political figures from around the world, including 20 African leaders and senior US officials such as US Ambassador Susan Rice attending.

[1] His ill health was not known publicly until an EU Commission spokesperson broke the news in Brussels, Belgium, following surgery for a secondary infection.

[3] Speaking to Voice of Americas' Somali Service, Bereket did not mention where Meles died and did not disclose the illness that led to his hospitalization.

[7] The purportedly most recent images of Meles show him thinner and he failed to attend an African Union meeting in Addis Ababa.

claimed that Meles died as a result of catecholamine after a verbal attack by Ethiopian journalist Abebe Gelaw.

[11] Meles state funeral was conducted on 2 September with thousands of mourners gathering near Meskel Square to pay tribute.

[13] Afterward, the casket was slowly drawn to Meskel Square by horses, where thousands of people waited to pay tribute.

[22] As The New York Times questioned a gap between the United States of America's strategic and ideological goals in relation to its support for Meles' government, it quoted HRW researcher Leslie Lefkow as saying: "There is an opportunity here.

Author Dan Connell, who had interviewed Meles in June, said that "he seemed focused [then] on wrapping up a number of major projects as if he were aware the end was near.

"[25] Regional groups responded with the Ogaden National Liberation Front saying it hoped his death "may usher [in] a new era of stability and peace" and Al Shabaab that it was celebrating the "uplifting news.