Hailu Yimenu was acting prime minister of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

The People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was the official name of Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991, as established by the Communist government of Mengistu Haile Mariam and the Workers' Party of Ethiopia...

 from November 8, 1989 until May 1991.

In May 1991, after hearing of Mengistu Haile Mariam

Mengistu Haile Mariam

Mengistu Haile Mariam is a politician who was formerly the most prominent officer of the Derg, the Communist military junta that governed Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987, and the President of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991...

's fall from power, he fled to the Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 embassy in Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...

, along with Lieutenant General Tesfaye Gebre Kidan

Tesfaye Gebre Kidan

Tesfaye Gebre Kidan was an Ethiopian general who was President of Ethiopia for one week in late May 1991.Tesfaye was a student at Holetta Military Academy, where he met Mengistu Haile Mariam; according to Gebru Tareke, along with Legesse Asfaw and Gebreyes Wolde Hana Tesfaye was part of Mengistu's...

, Foreign Minister

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ethiopia)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the Ethiopian government ministry which oversees the foreign relations of Ethiopia....

 Berhanu Bayeh and Chief of General Staff Addis Tedla. He was succeeded by Tesfaye Dinka

Tesfaye Dinka

Tesfaye Dinka Yadessa was Minister of Foreign Affairs , and acting Prime Minister of Ethiopia.Born in Ambo, Tesfaye is an ethnic Oromo. He attended high school in Ambo....

.

While the other two remained at the embassy for years, Hailu committed suicide on May 26 1991, after only a short time in the embassy compound.

Following the death of General Tesfaye thirteen years later on June 2, 2004, rumors began to circulate caused by the embassy's lack of detail on the death of both General Tesfaye and Hailu's earlier suicide. The Ethiopian government demanded Italian records on the incidents during that month.