World Bulletin / News Desk 

Ethiopia Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has fired the country's civil minister, Junedin Sado, whose wife is one of 29 people facing "terrorism" charges related to protests by Muslims who accuse of the government of meddling in their religious affairs.

Sado published a letter in the country's independent newspapers in which he defended his wife and criticized the federal prosecutor's charges.

Ethiopian Muslims, who make up about a third of the population in the majority Christian country, accuse the government of interfering in the highest Muslim affairs body, the Ethiopia Islamic Affairs Supreme Council (EIASC).

Thousands of Muslims have staged weekly mosque sit-ins and street protests in Addis Ababa over the past year.