Brigadier General Habtezion Hadgu, the former commander of Eritrean Air Force, has been arrested again.   The general had been released from serving a five-month term only in May 2003.

The government gave no reasons for his arrest.

Mr. Habtezion Hadgu was first arrested in late January 2003, shortly after an Ethiopian fighter plane piloted by Major Teshome and another unidentified crewmember detoured from its route (Mekele-Addis) and landed in Asmara.   Officials in the Asmara air base, who were communicating with the approaching Ethiopian pilot, contacted Brigadier General Habtezion Hadgu at his home to seek advice on how to deal with the situation, a move that gravely angered President Isaias Afwerki.   Within minutes of the peaceful landing of the plane, the president ordered the arrest of Brigadier General Habtezion Hadgu and other officials including a young officer named Amare (no last name), then in charge of administration in the Eritrean Air Force.

At the time of his first arrest, Brigadier General Habtezion Hadgu had already been “frozen” and replaced, first by his deputy, Colonel Abraham Ogbaselasse, and then by Major General Teklai Habteslassie.   The latter has a substantial portfolio including coordinator of “Warsay-Yekaalo Project”, a compulsory national service program; as well as Commander of Military Training; Commander of the Southern Zone; and general manager of all military-agro businesses in Gash-Barka.