Ethiopian embassy to sue Saudi media for defaming its nationals

The Ethiopian embassy in Saudi Arabia is considering suing individuals and the media for defaming members of Ethiopian community, according to Al Hayat newspaper Wednesday. The legal cases will be filed after negotiation with the Saudi foreign ministry due to the negative viewpoints on Ethiopian from many segments in Saudi Arabia, the Ethiopian Ambassador Mohammed Hassan told the newspaper. "African infiltrators who commit criminal acts in the country have no documents showing their identifications and nationalities, so there is no evidence that they are Ethiopians," he explained, while highlighting that the local media always refer to the infiltrators as people from Ethiopian community. "The negative campaigns against my people harm members of the Ethiopian community in the country who are law-abiding and came to Saudi Arabia legally for better job opportunities. Many Ethiopians have to deal with bad remarks and hostility from citizens here because of unbalanced media reports," he said. Many TV programs have reported Ethiopians as members with armed gangs in Saudi Arabia who live in remote area and involve in armed robberies and other illegal activities.