The act of civil disobedience from Ethiopian Muslims is a rare sign of instability in a country seen by US policymakers as a bulwark against radical Islam in the volatile Horn of Africa region.

Last month, members of a committee mediating the dispute over perceived unconstitutional state interference in Islamic affairs were taken into custody, while unrest broke out on two occasions around separate mosques in Addis Ababa. And demonstrators are showing solidarity with the jailed religious leaders.

But by playing hard on a fight to eradicate radical Islam on domestic and neighboring countries, is Ethiopia risking serious Islamist backlash?

According to Ethiopian officials, this group is working round the clock an to create Islamic state, which in the Ethiopian context is totally forbidden and against the constitution. Muslims account around 30% of the population in predominantly Orthodox Christian Ethiopia. And some experts are refuting Ethiopian government’s claim by saying ‘how could any Islamist group hope to create an Islamic state in such a country?’

Other regional experts lean toward the official line that there are some externally-supported radicals that have hijacked the language of democratic rights to covertly pursue fundamentalism.

Protestors are accusing the government for unconstitutional promotion of the moderate al-Ahbash sect popular in Lebanon accusation the Ethiopian government denies any state meddling, saying there has been no promotion of al-Ahbash.

Source Christian Science Monitor.