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UN: Ethiopia-Eritrea Stalemate Could Spark Renewed War
By VOA News
31 March 2005
The head of the United Nation's peacekeeping mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea is warning that continued stalemate over their border could lead to renewed war.
Ethiopia expels three American groups
Published Wed, Mar 30, 2005
By MATTHEW J. ROSENBERG, Associated Press Writer
LONDON (AP) - Ethiopia on Wednesday ordered three private American groups that promote democracy to cease operations and gave their foreign staff 48 hours to leave, officials with two of the groups said.
Field missions from the groups - the National Democratic Institute, the International Republic Institute and IFES - were in Ethiopia helping prepare the Horn of Africa nation for May 15 general elections.
Foreign staff from all three were called to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday and told by Ethiopian authorities they had two days to leave, officials from two of the groups said. The Ethiopians, the officials said, told the groups they were being kicked out because they were not properly accredited. Both officials said their groups had earlier applied for accreditation.
The officials - one in Washington, the other in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - spoke on condition of anonymity, saying all three groups were pushing to get back into the country and did not want to further upset the Ethiopians.
Ethiopian officials were not immediately available for comment.
All three groups are based in Washington and focus on building democracy in the developing world. They had relatively small staffs in Ethiopia. IFES, which was formerly known as the International Foundation For Electoral Systems, and the International Republic Institute each kept only one foreign staffer in the country.
An official from one the groups said members of all three organizations believed they were being expelled in a broad Ethiopian retaliation to recent U.S. criticism of Ethiopia's human rights record - especially a U.S. State Department report released earlier this year.
The report, one of the annual human rights updates the U.S. government prepares for every country, said Ethiopia had made progress in respecting human rights in 2004, but noted that police lacked needed training and continued to employ excessive force, the judiciary remained overburdened and lacked capacity and there were still restrictions on freedom of the press.
The elections in Ethiopia, a country of 25.6 million [Wrong], would be only the third democratic ballot in the nation's history. All the elections have been won by the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.
Source: People's Daily Online
A 1.1-billion-US-dollar debt cancellation agreement has been signed between Ethiopia and Russia, the Ministry of Finance said Wednesday.
Getachew Admassu, public relations officer with the ministry, told journalists that Russia has canceled 1.104 billion dollars of Ethiopia's 1.268-billion-dollar debt.
Ethiopian Minister of Finance Sufian Ahmed and Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin signed the agreement at a ceremony held in Moscow last week, Getachew said.
Russia has agreed that Ethiopia will pay the remaining 160-million-dollar debt over the next 30 years.
The debt cancellation was made in the spirit of the agreement Paris Club countries had reached and signed in 2004.
The Paris Club creditors have agreed to write off Ethiopia's debt after the country had effectively met the conditions and reached the completion point under the enhanced framework of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in April 2004.
Read the article submitted by Ato Yosef Yisak about the upcoming election in Ethiopia.
America seems to be unhappy about China's economic influence in Africa.
In Ethiopia, China is already playing a major role. Addis Ababa ring road and telecommunication projects come to mind.
Read the article from Wall Street Journal below.
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To Further Global Goals, China Expands Its Role In African Development --- Shrinking U.S. Influence Gives Beijing Chance to Seek Poor Nations' Support --- State Firms Throw Money Around
By Karby Leggett
The Wall Street Journal Europe
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- When this East African country went to war against neighboring Eritrea in the late 1990s, the U.S. responded by evacuating its Peace Corps volunteers, scaling back military aid and issuing a security warning to U.S. citizens and companies.
The Chinese government had a different reaction. Beijing saw the war -- and the reduced U.S. presence -- as an opportunity to expand its influence. It dispatched even more diplomats, engineers, executives and teachers to Ethiopia. New aid grants soon rolled in, followed by bank credits for Chinese companies operating there.
Today, China's influence in Ethiopia is overwhelming. Its embassy is among the largest in the country and hosts more high-level visits than any Western mission. Chinese companies have become a dominant force, building highways and bridges, power stations, mobile-phone networks, schools and pharmaceutical plants. More recently, they have begun exploring for oil and building at least one Ethiopian military installation.
It is all part of Beijing's broad push into Africa. Aiming to secure access to the continent's vast natural resources, China is forging deep economic, political and military ties with most of Africa's 54 countries. There is more at stake than just fuel for an economic juggernaut, however, say senior Chinese officials, executives and Western diplomats. In Africa, as in many other parts of the developing world, China is redrawing geopolitical alliances in ways that help propel China's rise as a global superpower. China is courting other countries to support its plan to reassert political authority over Taiwan and seeking a counterweight against U.S. power in global bodies such as the United Nations. It is also thinking long-term, cultivating desperately poor nations to serve as markets for its products decades down the road.
For the U.S., China's Africa initiative poses new challenges. Despite a landmark trade pact signed with Africa in 2000, U.S. influence has leveled off in many African countries and in some cases declined. Now, as Washington focuses its attention on the Middle East, it faces a formidable player in a region key to future U.S. economic and security interests.
In oil-rich Nigeria, China is rebuilding the railroad network. In Rwanda, Chinese companies have paved more than 80% of the main roads. In more than a dozen African countries, Chinese firms are searching for oil and gas and rebuilding electricity grids and telephone networks. Chinese companies own one of Zambia's largest copper mines and run a major timber operation in Equatorial Guinea. In tiny Lesotho, Chinese businessmen own and operate nearly half of all the supermarkets and a handful of textile companies.
Though these interests stretch from massive state-funded projects to small private ventures, they all share a common thread: Beijing's policy of actively encouraging its companies and citizens to set up shop in Africa at a record pace.
"China has simply exploded into Africa," says Walter Kansteiner, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Adds Rep. Ed Royce, a California Republican and vice chairman of a House subcommittee that deals with Africa: "China's increasing engagement in Africa is a concern and we need to focus on it before Beijing becomes fully established."
Last year, Africa supplied more than 15% of U.S. oil imports, and the figure is forecast to rise sharply in the decade ahead. Africa is also becoming a major global supplier for metals, timber and other natural resources.
Yet in some of Africa's most promising commodity markets, China is now challenging U.S. and other Western firms for access to these goods. Since 2000, China's trade with Africa has nearly tripled to almost $30 billion (23.1 million euros). Last year, China spent almost $10 billion on African oil, accounting for nearly one-third of its total crude imports. That is twice as much as it imported from Saudi Arabia, traditionally one of Beijing's biggest suppliers. In oil-rich Angola, where ChevronTexaco Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. have large operations, China has become a major buyer and an increasingly active investor.
Unlike the U.S., which bars U.S. companies from doing business with some outlaw regimes, Beijing expresses no qualms about dealing with the continent's most brutal and corrupt leaders. Instead, Chinese leaders prefer to view their relationship through a North-South prism, emphasizing the need for developing nations to band together against the industrialized West. "China is ready to coordinate its positions with African countries . . . with a view to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries," said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao during a 2003 speech in Ethiopia.
What's more, many Chinese companies operating in Africa are government-owned and less concerned with near-term profits. Indeed, by reaching out to African leaders who are shunned by Western nations, and throwing money at projects Western companies avoid, Chinese officials and businessmen say they are able to secure more business deals and build political influence at a far more rapid pace.
Consider Sudan, a war-torn nation set across from Saudi Arabia on the coast of the Red Sea. In 1997, the U.S. passed a law barring U.S. oil companies from investing there, saying Sudanese leaders had engaged in human-rights abuses and sponsored terrorism. In the years that followed, China invested more than $2 billion in Sudan's oil industry. Today, Sudan provides China with nearly 5% of its annual oil imports. Beijing, meanwhile, has become one of Sudan's largest arms suppliers, according to foreign diplomats and aid workers in the region. China's Foreign Affairs Ministry declined to comment.
More recently, the U.S. sought to impose United Nations sanctions on Sudan amid continuing violence in the Darfur region, where pro-government militiamen have raped and murdered civilians while suppressing a rebel uprising. Beijing deflated these sanction efforts by threatening to use its veto power in the U.N. Security Council. Yet far from seeing itself as complicit in Sudanese violence, Beijing sees the oil project as a symbol of China's reliability when others have left. "It's part of our policy of long-term cooperation that helps both sides," says Li Xiaobing, a senior Africa official at China's Ministry of Commerce.
A similar dynamic is now playing out in Zimbabwe. Over the past three years, the U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, and dozens of his closest government officials. In power for 25 years, Mr. Mugabe presides over what is widely regarded as one of Africa's most corrupt and ruthless regimes. Human-rights organizations and Western governments regularly cite his regime for its use of arbitrary arrests, torture and murder to suppress political dissent.
By sanctioning Zimbabwe, the U.S. and EU hoped to isolate and ultimately unseat Mr. Mugabe. China, as a matter of policy, has worked to blunt the impact, boosting aid and investment. Last year, it opened direct flights between the two countries. Chinese leaders still afford Mr. Mugabe huge respect. Since 1980, Beijing has invited the president to China seven times, feting him at banquets. Dozens of Chinese leaders, including former Communist Party boss Jiang Zemin, have visited him.
The close ties are now paying dividends for such companies as China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corp., or Catic. A trading company jointly owned by two large Chinese aerospace concerns, Catic recently signed a $300 million contract to rebuild Zimbabwe's electricity grid. It has a raft of other deals in the pipeline -- including possible military aircraft sales, company officials say. "We see Zimbabwe as a great opportunity, a great place to make money," says Wang Dawei, the company's vice president.
A spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to discuss Mr. Mugabe's human-rights record, saying "China and Zimbabwe have a traditional friendship and a relationship based on cooperation."
There is also a softer side to China's pursuit of Africa. In 2000, Beijing voluntarily waived $1.2 billion in sovereign African debt and it recently agreed to bring some 10,000 African students to China on scholarships. Across Africa, it has dispatched hundreds of doctors and teachers in recent years.
China's ties to Africa date back to the 1950s, when Beijing threw its support behind African independence movements as a way to counter U.S. and Soviet influence in the region. These days, Beijing's emissaries to Africa have swapped their uniforms and weapons for business suits and name cards. In 2000, China established the pro-business China-Africa Cooperation Forum with 44 African nations, paving the way for a free-trade and investment pact with the region.
Few countries have felt China's influence as much as Ethiopia. Though China established relations with Ethiopia in 1970, ties were limited until the mid-1990s. That is when Beijing initiated a broader push across Africa in an effort to secure natural resources and political influence on the continent.
A decade later, Ethiopia has become a reflection of China's wider ambitions in Africa and the changes it portends for the region. A poor, landlocked nation of 68 million people, Ethiopia lacks the vast natural resources that have drawn China's interest in other countries. But it has something else Beijing craves: geopolitical clout in the region. Ethiopia is the source of the Blue Nile, the river that slakes Egypt's thirst. It is the meeting ground between largely Muslim north Africa and the Christian south. And it is the seat of the African Union, the political body that represents the continent.
Wu Ping, a tall man in his mid-40s, was one of Beijing's pioneers in Africa. In 1993, he was dispatched to Ethiopia by Catic, the firm rebuilding Zimbabwe's electricity grid. His simple orders: Open a trade company and develop political relationships. Mr. Wu began by selling things like milling equipment for sugar cane. Later he branched into tractors. Though he made little money, he forged close relations with Ethiopian officials, partially, he says, by paying the occasional bribe. "Sometimes it's the only way to get things done in Africa," he says. A Catic spokesman in Beijing says the company has a strict internal policy against paying bribes and denies it is a widespread problem.
Today, Mr. Wu drives around Addis Ababa in a Toyota Land Cruiser and presides over a growing business empire. His latest project: an $11 million airport hangar that, when complete later this year, will be able to house the world's largest aircraft.
To secure the contract, Mr. Wu beat out an Australian company by deliberately underbidding the contract. Though he will incur a loss on the deal, he says it is all part of Catic's strategy. "Almost every African leader passes through this airport to attend meetings at the African Union," he says, standing a short distance from dozens of Chinese and African workers working at the construction site. "So they will all see our hangar."
Even more important, Mr. Wu says the owner of the hangar, Ethiopia Air, is mulling a large order of propeller aircraft, and the hangar contract has opened the door with officials who will play a role in that decision. "That's my company's real goal in Africa -- to sell airplanes, both commercial and military," he says.
Unlike Mr. Wu, Deng Guoping, general manager of China Road & Bridge Corp., says he isn't sure his company will ever make money here. In the past six years, Mr. Guo has paved five highways stretching roughly 500 kilometers. Three more roads are under construction and he is bidding on another three.
In all, Chinese contractors have stitched together a road network that reaches Ethiopia's northern border with Sudan to the eastern seaport of Djibouti to the southern border area with Kenya. China Road secured most of its contracts through public tenders. Yet Mr. Deng says he is instructed to slice projected profit margins so thin -- about 3% -- that losses are inevitable, given perennial cost overruns in Africa. Western businesses, by contrast, typically pad bids with projected profits of 15% and more. Even so, Mr. Deng is looking at a range of new projects, including water reservoirs, airport facilities and a railway project. "We're a government company and the Chinese government wants us here building things," he says.
The U.S. still provides Ethiopia with more assistance than any other nation, nearly $500 million last year. But for U.S. companies, Ethiopia's small market and unreliable legal system makes the country a risky place to do business. One of the only U.S. companies with substantial business in Ethiopia is Boeing Co., which supplies Ethiopia Air with the jets for its international routes.
In contrast, Chinese companies say Ethiopia's shaky legal framework sometimes helps advance Beijing's wider goals. The story of Jiangxi International Economic & Technical Cooperation Co., another state firm active in Ethiopia, explains how. A few years ago, a flood in Ethiopia left a few hundred people homeless. Not long after, Beijing pledged about $4 million to build them new homes. It hired Jiangxi International as contractor. At a groundbreaking ceremony, China's ambassador and Ethiopian officials shook hands and smiled for photographers.
About a year later, eight modern apartment buildings were completed. But the homeless families never moved in. Instead, the complex was handed to Ethiopia's Ministry of Defense, which used the buildings to house its own personnel. Today, a corrugated metal fence rings the complex, with a small group of guards stationed at one corner. "We don't really care who uses it," says a senior executive at Jiangxi International, requesting his name not be used. "It was a political task for us and so long as Ethiopia officials are happy, our goal is fulfilled."
A spokesman for Ethiopia's Ministry of Defense said the flood victims didn't like the apartments and were relocated to another neighborhood, and that the ministry later purchased the apartment block.
Lately, Beijing has begun winning projects that have geopolitical relevance, such as Ethiopia's Takazee Dam -- a massive, $300 million hydropower station that is rising on the headwaters of the Blue Nile River. Set deep in a mountainous region near the border with Sudan and Eritrea, the Takazee Dam has been on Ethiopia's drawing board for more than a decade. But getting it off the ground hasn't been easy, thanks to Egypt. Cairo has long feared any project that could affect the flow of the Nile, viewing its own access to those waters as a matter of national security. Indeed, so great was its concern over Takazee that Egyptian officials have made clear that any attempt to divert Nile water could result in military action, according to senior Chinese and Egyptian officials.
That warning scared off the World Bank and other international financial organizations, and also raised concern among potential foreign contractors. Several years ago, Ethiopia announced it would finance the project on its own. Though a handful of Western contractors submitted bids, the Ethiopian government awarded the project to Chinese companies.
Today, the Takazee Dam is inching toward completion. Already, hundreds of Chinese engineers have carved out a vast administrative camp, an underground tunnel nearly 1.6 kilometers long and deep caves that will hold massive power turbines. Later this year, they will begin pouring the 180-meter-high cement dam. Once complete, the Takazee dam will stand as one of Africa's largest, and will help change the lives of those who live in northern Ethiopia, where electricity is often nonexistent. Ultimately, some of the power could be pooled into a region power grid.
That would allow neighboring countries to tap into the power. And it would also further China's ambition of expanding oil and mineral exploration in the region, particularly in southern Sudan. Says Girma Biru, Ethiopia's Minister of Trade: "China has become our most reliable partner and there is a lot we can learn from Beijing, not just in economics but politics as well."
Hooliganism in Addis Ababa Stadium during a football match between Wonji Sugar and St. George.
Read the full scoop from Reporter.
Download Ethiopic font if you can not see fidel below
አዲስ አበባ ስታዲየም ተበጠበጠ
በአዲስ አበባ ስታዲየም በተፈጠረው ብጥብጥ ምክንያት በርካታ ተመልካቾች ከስታዲየሙ እንደሚርቁ አስታወቁ። የቅ/ጊዮርጊስና የወንጂ ስኳርየእግር ኳስ ቡድኖች ባደረጉት ጨዋታ ላይ ብጥብጥ እንዲፈጠር ያደረጉ አካላት ተልዕኮ እንዳላቸው ተጠቆመ። ፌዴሬሽኑ ሕጉን ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ ብቃት እንዳለው ገልጿል። የቅ/ጊዮርጊስና የወንጂ ስኳር ቡድኖች ተበደልን እያሉ ነው።
አሳፋሪ የተባለው የአዲስ አበባ ስታዲየም ረብሻ የተከናወነው መጋቢት 15 ቀን 1997 ዓ.ም ከምሽቱ አስራ ሁለት ሰዓት አካባቢ ነበር። ረብሻው ከተጨዋቾች አልፎ ደጋፊ አጥር ጥሶ የገባበት በመሆኑ ከፖሊስ ቁጥጥር ውጭ ሊሆን ችሏል። ኳስ ለመመልከት በክብር ትሪቡን በኩል የተቀመጡ ተመልካቾች እንደገለጹት «በአዲስ አበባ ስታዲየም እንዲህ ያለ ስርዓት የለቀቀ ረብሻ ተፈጥሮ አያውቅም»
ጨዋታው ሁለት ለሁለት በሆነ ውጤት ከተጠናቀቀ በኋላ አስራ ሶስት ቁጥር ለብሶ ሲጫወት የነበረው የወንጂው ፍቅረአብ ቡባም የቅ/ጊዮርጊሱን አብርሃም ቺባን በቦክስ መማታቱ ምክንያት የተቀሰቀሰው ረብሻ በገላጋይ ስም የሁለቱም ቡድኖች ተጨዋቾች ቡጢ የተለዋወጡበት ነበር። የወንጂ እግር ኳስ ቡድን የቡድን መሪ አቶ አለማየሁ ከበደ «ተጨዋቾቻችን በሙሉ ተደብድበዋል። ጥርሱ የተነቃነቀ፣ የተቀጠቀጠና በዓይኑ ላይ ጉዳት የደረሰበት ተጨዋች አለ»በማለት ከአሁን በኋላ አዲስ አበባ ስታዲየም ገብቶ ለመጫወት ፍርሃት እንዳደረባቸው ገልፀዋል። ፀቡን የፈጠረው የወንጂ ተጨዋች ነው ለተባለው «አይቻለሁ፣ ተጨዋቾቹንም ጠይቄያለሁ በክብር አይኑ ላይ ተመቶ የተጎዳ ተጨዋጭ የመማታት አቅም የለውም» በማለት ረብሻውን የፈጠሩት የቅ/ጊዮርጊስ ተጨዋቾችና ደጋፊዎች መሆናቸውንና የእለቱ ዳኛ ለጥፋቱ መባባስ አስተዋፅኦ እንዳደረጉ ጠቁመዋል።
የቅ/ጊዮርጊስ ቡድን ረዳት አሰልጣኝ ደሳለኝ ገ/ጊዮርጊስ በበኩሉ «ለመገላገል ገብተን በቆመጥ ተደብድበናል»በማለት የነበረውን የፖሊስ ኃይል ወቅሷል። አያይዞም «የእለቱ ዳኛ ሁለት ፍጹም ቅጣት ምት ከልክለውናል። ይህ የሚያሳየው ፌዴሬሽኑ ከመቼውም ጊዜ ይልቅ የተበላሸ አሰራር መከተሉን ነው» በማለት ተናግረዋል።
«ዳኛ የደበደበ የማይቀጣበት ጥፋት የስራ ዝም የሚባልበት ተቆጣጣሪ ያጣ ፌዴሬሽን ባለበት ሁኔታ ወደፊት የበለጠ ጉዳት ሊደርስ ስለሚችል ቢያደርጉ መልካም ነው። ይህ ካልሆነ ውድድር የሚደረግበት ሁኔታም አሳሳቢ እየሆነ ነው የሚመጣው» ያለው ደሳለኝ አንድ ተጨዋች የጫረው እሳት የተባባሰው ከፌዴሬሽኑ ደካማነት የተነሳ በቂ ጥበቃ ባለመደረጉ እንደሆነ አመልክቷል።
ፌዴሬሽኑ ውድድር ያዘጋጃል። ዳኛ ይመድባል እንጂ የክለብ ደጋፊዎችን እግር በእግር ሊቆጣጠር አይችልም የሚለው ፌዴሬሽኑ «የተፈጠረውን ስፖርታዊ ጨዋነት የጎደለው ተግባር በተመለከተ በአረንጓዴው መፅሀፍ መሰረት ርምጃ ይወስዳል» ብሏል።
«የተፈጠረው አሳፋሪ ስራ አሳዝኖናል። ሁሉም ነገር የሚዳኘው በሕጉ ነው» ያሉት የፌዴሬሽኑ ስራ አስፈፃሚ አቶ ሽፈራው እሸቱ «ፌዴሬሽኑ ህጋዊ ርምጃ ለመውሰድ ሁሉም ዓይነት ብቃት አለው» ብለዋል። የፌዴረሽኑ ፕሬዚዳንት ዶ/ር አሸብር ወ/ጊዮርጊስ «አደጋ እንዳይፈጠር በማተኮር እንሰራለን» አሁን ለተፈጠረው ጉዳት ችግሩ ዳኛው ጋር ከሆነ በዳኞች ኮሚቴ፣ የስነስርዓት ጉዳይ ደግሞ በውድድርና ስነ ስርዓት ኮሚቴ ይታያል። ኮሚቴው የሚያቀርበው የውሳኔ ሃሳብ ለማንም ሳይዳላ ተግባራዊ ይሆናል» ብለዋል።
የዕለቱ የፖሊስ ኃይል አስተባባሪ ዋና ኢንስፔክተር ኃይሉ ሃለፎም በበኩላቸው «እግር ኳስ ስሜት ውስጥ የሚከሰት ስፖርት ቢሆንም አውቀው ረብሻ የሚፈጥሩ አጋጥመውናል» ብለዋል። አያይዘውም «እንደ ስፖርት ቤተሰብ ሳይሆን የተለየ ብቀላ የሚፈልጉ አለ» ሲሉ የድርጊቱን አፀያፊነት አመልክተዋል። ሁሉም ነገር ለፖሊስ መተው የለበትም። ፖሊስ ከስፖርት ቤተሰቡ የተለየ ስራ ሊሰራ አይችልም።የትኛውም ቦታ ይህን ፖሊሲ መለዮውን አጥልቆ ከቆመ ህገወጥ የሚሰሩትን አጋልጦ ለፖሊስ መስጠት ከስፖርት ቤተሰቡ ይጠበቃል ያሉት ዋና ኢንስፔክተር «በቀጣይ ያሉት ጨዋታዎች ለሻሚፒዮና፣ ላለመወረድና ነጥብ ላለመጣል ፉክክር ስላላባቸው ጥበቃው ሊጠናከር ይገባል» ብለዋል።
ከሪፖርተር መጋቢት 18 ቀን 1997
Source: Mercury News
Posted on Tue, Mar. 29, 2005
114 days on the Nile
IMAX CAMERAS FOLLOW FIRST CONQUEST OF ENTIRE RIVER
By Mark de la Viña
Mercury News
It's the longest and one of the most famous rivers in the world, the source of life for one of history's great civilizations and a Holy Grail for the most ambitious adventurers.
But for thousands of years, no one -- not the ancient Egyptians, not legendary explorers David Livingstone or Sir Richard Burton -- was able to travel the Nile from its source on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia to its delta on the Mediterranean Sea.
Last year, Pasquale Scaturro and Gordon Brown achieved what had been the unthinkable when they trekked the 3,260-mile combined length of the Nile and the Blue Nile, a feat chronicled in the Imax film ``Mystery of the Nile.'' Directed by Spanish filmmaker Jordi Llompart, it will have an exclusive Bay Area screening Friday at the Tech Museum of Innovation, where it continues through Oct. 1.
The 114-day expedition was often harrowing and dizzying: The crew faced everything from crocodile-infested waters to rapids so dangerous they would make the most extreme athlete long for an inflatable wading pool.
AK-47-slinging bandits took potshots at the adventurers from river banks in Ethiopia. The 150-foot Tissisat Falls in Ethiopia threatened to block the watery path. But Scaturro, Brown and their crew somehow managed to make it through the most treacherous stretches of the river that over the years had killed at least a dozen other travelers.
The Ethiopian military has committed widespread murder, rape and torture against the Anuak population in the remote southwestern region of Gambella since December 2003, a new Human Rights Watch report has shown.
"The Ethiopian government must address its responsibility for the horrific crimes that the army has committed against Anuak civilians in Gambella. While serious abuses have continued, the government has focused only on prosecuting a handful of soldiers involved in the December massacre. "
Peter Takirambudde
Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa Division
Human Rights Watch has documented many rapes of Anuak women committed by ENDF soldiers along isolated roads in Gambella. One woman told Human Rights Watch that a group of twelve ENDF soldiers gang raped her on a road between Gok Jinjor and Gok Dipatch in Gilo wereda sometime in the first few months of 2004.
But Ethiopia's minister for information Bereket Simon dismissed the report, saying it was authored by government opponents seeking to make political capital ahead of elections in May.
"The Human Rights (Watch) accusations are unfounded and unacceptable," Bereket told Reuters in Addis Ababa.
"The report is based on false information by the (local) Ethiopia Human Rights Council. We know that the leaders of this group want to make political gain from this issue."
ETHIOPIA: Majority lack access to clean water - UNICEF
23 Mar 2005 14:16:08 GMT
Source: IRIN
ADDIS ABABA, 23 March (IRIN) - Three-quarters of Ethiopia's 71 million people do not have access to clean water, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. Four out of five live without proper sanitation, it added.
Speaking on World Water Day, Bjorn Ljungqvist, UNICEF's representative in Ethiopia, said the country faced enormous challenges if it was to reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Ljungqvist said Ethiopia must provide clean water for 3.6 million people, and toilets for 4.5 million, every year if it is to reach the targets.
The seventh MDG states that by 2015, the number of people in the world without access to safe water – around 1.1 billion people - should be halved.
"UNICEF firmly believes that improvements on water supply, sanitation and hygiene will dramatically improve the lives of children," Ljungqvist said.
"These deprivations cost many lives, and account for at least 1.6 million preventable child deaths each year."
Ethiopian athlete Berhane Adere, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, said hundreds of children were dying each day from diarrhoea and other dirty-water-related illnesses.
She told officials in Addis Ababa, where World Water Day was being celebrated, that clean water could also help get girls into school.
"One of my main aims as UNICEF goodwill ambassador for girls' education is to improve school attendance among girls in Ethiopia," she said at the occasion, where an International Decade for Action under the theme 'Water for Life' was launched.
She added that girls often collect water for their families, so clean water sources close to their homes will allow more time in school.
Ethiopian president Girma Woldegiorgis said that water management in the country could boost food production and end hunger. "With the frequent droughts and unreliability, the obvious way for Ethiopia to increase its food production is to develop irrigation schemes," he said.
"In areas where water is scarce and rains are erratic, rainwater harvesting is being widely implemented to supply farmers with this important commodity," Girma explained.
According to UNICEF, 21 percent of children in developing countries are severely water deprived. The World Health Organisation estimates that 20 litres per day of safe water is needed for a child to drink, wash and cook.
IRIN news
You can read the full bill introduced in US Congress House of Representatives here.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:h5321ih.txt.pdf
SOURCE: VOA
US congressman Dana Rohrabacher wants to prevent Ethiopia from receiving economic aid from the US until it compensates American citizen from his district, Berhane Gebremedhin, whose property was confiscated in Ethiopia. Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California spoke in Congress criticizing what he called Ethiopian government's "arrogance and intransigence" in resolving the issue. His proposal would prevent Ethiopia for receiving any benefits from US government sources but would not include emergency humanitarian aid.
In response, counselor at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington Ato Gizachew Bizuayehu said Berhane has refused his government's offer of compensation calculated on the basis of principles applied by Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency MIGA. Gizachew adds that he does not believe the Ethio American relation is dependent on a single person's claims.
Ted Dagne, Africa specialist at Congressional research services explains the prospects of the bill.
ETHIOPIA: EU to observe May general elections
22 Mar 2005 08:56:07 GMT
Source: IRIN
ADDIS ABABA, 22 March (IRIN) - The European Union (EU) has fielded one of its largest ever teams of election observers to Ethiopia for the 15 May general polls, the mission chief, Ana Gomes, said.
Gomes told reporters on Monday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, that the forthcoming national elections could play a critical role in fostering democracy in Ethiopia and greater stability in the Horn of Africa.
The 159-strong observer mission, which would cost about €2.8 million (US $3.68 million), had some initial concerns over whether the elections would be free and fair, she added.
"These elections might be very important for the democratisation process here in Ethiopia and a very important factor in the stabilisation of the region," she said.
Gomes, a European member of parliament, said that access to the media for the opposition groups, as well as potential partisanship of the national election board, were issues they would address. They would also pay close attention to elections in areas where violence has flared up in recent months, citing Gambella in western Ethiopia.
"If we see major flaws we will not refrain from conveying our views either to the government or opposition parties, but we are here to observe, we are not here to interfere," she added.
Gomes heads an initial team of nine observers. In April 50 additional observers will arrive, and in early May, 100 more observers will be deployed for the polls, she added.
Opposition groups, however, criticised the mission, saying it had arrived too late and with too few observers to effectively monitor the 38,000 polling stations.
"There are too few observers," Brehanu Nega, campaign manager for the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, one of the largest opposition groups, said. "We don't think 159 observers can effectively monitor voting in 38,000 polling stations."
Critics also said the mission had missed critical voter and candidate registration across the country.
"They have got here too late to make a difference," Beyene Petros, vice chairman of the rainbow coalition group, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, said. "These important points of observation have already been missed so the damage has already been done. You cannot have a free and fair election if you don't have these two important ingredients."
Gomes dismissed the criticism saying it was never too late to arrive and added that they did not need to field observers at every polling station to establish the validity of the elections.
The Ethiopian government said it welcomed the deployment of EU observers.
"The government - welcomes the European delegation of observers and wishes them success in their work and a pleasant time in Ethiopia," a statement from the information ministry, said.
Ethiopia has a two-house parliament: the 110-seat upper House of the Federation and the 547-seat lower House of People's Representatives. More than 25 million of Ethiopia's 70 million people have registered to vote in May.
Ethiopian success due to willingness to double
By Sabrina Yohannes
NEW YORK, March 22 (Reuters) - Four Ethiopian athletes gathered seven medals between them at the world cross country championships because of the team's willingness to run both long and short course races.
"We have athletes who can double successfully and are willing," said head coach Tolossa Kotu. "Without that it would been hard to obtain this many golds."
Ethiopia won a record five out of six titles at the weekend at the converted horse racing course near St Etienne in France
Kenenisa Bekele, in mourning after the sudden death of his fiancee last January, completed the men's double for the fourth time and Tirunesh Dibaba won both women's races.
"Tirunesh's double was expected because she was confident and had prepared for it but, in light of the fact that Kenenisa had been in mourning, his achievement is remarkable," said another team coach Hussein Shibo.
Ethiopia's ambassador to France Sahlework Zewde paid tribute to the team at a reception on Sunday night organised by Mama Ethiopia, an association that aids orphans in the impoverished African nation.
"There are many in France who are only aware of the image Ethiopia has been identified with in the past, that of famine and war," she said.
"To have our flag raised and our anthem played in a place Ethiopia is seldom heard about plays a big part in improving that image."
Zewde said she was also moved and impressed by 22-year-old Bekele's triumph in the face of personal tragedy.
"He has endured a trying ordeal at a young age," she said. "I believe he will draw strength from it."
Source BBC Sport
Dibaba collects second world gold
Dibaba storms to world cross gold
Bekele takes double
Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba delivered a carbon-copy performance of her 8km victory at the World Cross Country Championships to claim the 4km crown.
The 19-year-old was content to nestle within the leading pack before she made her move with 800m to go to win in 13 minutes, 15 seconds.
Compatriot Werknesh Kidane tried to stay with Dibaba in a sprint finish but had to settle for silver in France.
Kenyan Isabella Ochichi, who led the race in the early stages, took bronze.
Dibaba's victory helped Ethiopia win the team race by a single point, ahead of Kenya, with the United States third.
Great Britain's women finished in 10th place with Kate Reed the first runner home, clocking 14:26 to take 38th spot.
Ireland's Jolene Byrne produced an outstanding run to finish a highly creditable 17th.
-------------------------------------------
SOURCE: IAAF
Dibaba overcomes all barriers – Women’s Long Race Report
Saturday 19 March 2005
St-Galmier, France - Tirunesh Dibaba today extracted some family revenge, the 19-year-old leading her Ethiopian training partners in a dominant display to team gold and collecting the $30,000 individual first prize in the women’s long race at the 33rd IAAF World Cross Country Championships here at St-Etienne/St-Galmier.
Dibaba clearly enjoys racing in France, for it was in Paris two years ago that she became the youngest ever winner of the 5000m World title on the track. This time, her achievement was less of a surprise, but it was no less hard-won.
Twelve months ago, Dibaba’s older sister, Ejegayehou, was outrun through the rain, wind and mud of Brussels to be denied the World title by Benita Johnson, as she won Australia’s first ever medal at the World Cross.
Family and national honour was duly restored by the young Dibaba, though not before Johnson and the Kenyan team put up a spirited fight.
Dibaba covered the 8km-plus course in a breathtaking 26:34, with the judges’ examination of the photo-finish required to separate Kenya’s Alice Timbilili and last year’s bronze medallist, Werknesh Kidane, as they were both clocked at 26:37, Kidane, the 2003 champion, third again this time.
Kenya took the team silvers, with Portugal, led home by 15th-placed Analia Rosa, winning bronze, their first team medal at this meeting since they interrupted - briefly - the East African domination in Budapest 11 years ago.
Rosa, a steeplechaser on the track, clearly found the course to her liking. For if anyone was under the apprehension that Helsinki in August would witness the debut of a women’s steeplechase at the World Championships, they would be wrong: each lap here featured six low logs that needed hurdling, as well as a handful of man-made mounds designed to disrupt the rhythm of the runners.
At an official 8.108 metres - four laps of 1.956m, plus the 284m of the start-finish funnel - this was to be longer than any of the previous 32 stagings of the women’s race at the championships.
It was also conducted in conditions more familiar to midsummer than mid-March, with blue skies and sunshine over the hills of the Rhone valley, the temperature touching 27 degrees for the mid-afternoon start, adding a gruelling extra dimension to the endurance demanded of the 90-odd starters.
Otherwise, with the going underfoot at the St-Galmier hippodrome firm, this flat course, with the dirt of the racetrack blowing up a sandstorm under the feet of the mass of runners, would prove to be a fierce test of track speed, as a lead group of 16 women sped through the first lap in less than 7:30.
“The course was really hard,” Dibaba said, “and the weather was a little uncomfortable, but I was glad it wasn’t muddy.”
The fast conditions meant it was brutal, eyeballs-out, hard running from the starting gun, with Johnson prominent early on, hemmed in at times by a knot of runners including six Kenyans, five Ethiopians, Eden Tesfalen, of Eritrea, Zakia Mrisho and Ruhama Shauri, of Tanzania, and New Zealand’s Kimberley Smith hanging in doggedly.
“I knew she would be strong and tough,” Dibaba said of Johnson. “Last year she won by a very large margin, so I expected her to do the same thing again and make it tough.”
The relentless pace in the searing heat had boiled the lead group down by half long before the halfway mark, and the outcome of the race was defined. As if to reinforce the track pedigree required by this race, it was Isabella Ochichi, Kenya’s Olympic 5,000m silver medallist, dictating terms from Dibaba, who during the indoor season had set a world record for 5000m.
Midway around the third lap, and Johnson, challenged by two Kenyans and three Ethiopians, was struggling, her title hanging by a thread. Throughout the European winter, the Australian had raced her and won four times out of five: her one defeat coming at the hands of none other than Dibaba at Edinburgh after Christmas. It would prove to be a reliable form guide. “I was confident from that race that I could beat her again,” Dibaba.
As the leaders approached the bell, with Ochichi in the lead, shoulder to shoulder with Timbilili, Johnson was now 10 metres adrift of the pack, with Kidane, Dibaba and Meselech Melkamu stalking their Kenyan rivals.
A year ago, in the entirely opposite conditions in Brussels, Kidane, then defending the title she'd won in 2003, had done much of the early pacesetting work and paid the penalty as she faded in the latter stages. This time, she and Dibaba displayed far more patience, and it was not until the final quarter-mile that the younger of the two unleashed the decisive kick, hurling herself over the final set of logs to enter the finishing straight well clear of the duel for silver between Timbilili and Kidane, 21-year-old Kenyan just preventing an Ethiopian cleansweep of the individual medals.
Closing the Ethiopian team in eighth place, one behind the tiring Johnson, was another former champion, Gete Wami, adding another team gold medal to her collection of 19 in total - a tally matched only by Kenenisa Bekele following his double gold earlier in the afternoon.
Dibaba and Werknesh both paid tribute to Bekele. “His achievements are a source of great joy for all Ethiopians, not just the athletes,” Werknesh said.
The women’s race here, though, sets up the prospect of an intriguing re-match over 5000m at the Helsinki World Championships in five months’ time, with Dibaba, Werknesh and Timbilili, plus the ultimately fifth placed Ochichi, all likely to resume their rivalry. And none, it seems, are likely to opt for the steeplechase.
Steven Downes for the IAAF
Bekele back to world-beating best
SOURCE: BBC Sport
Bekele takes cross country double
Kenenisa Bekele added the 12km title to his 4km crown at the World Cross Country Championships as he completed his return to form in stunning fashion.
The Ethiopian Olympic 10,000m champion went stride-for-stride with Eliud Kipchoge for much of the race in France before breaking away on the final lap.
Bekele clocked 35 minutes, 08 seconds ahead of Zersenay Tadesse, with Kipchoge run out of the places.
Bekele, 22, has now won both titles for a record fourth straight year.
Qatar's Hassan Abdullah Ahmad completed the podium places as he ran on for bronze.
Bekele's performance over the weekend answered many question marks about his fitness and ambition after the tragic death of his fiancee Alem in January.
The 22-year-old had lost two high-profile indoor races this season and his management admitted he was not in peak shape.
But Bekele cast all doubts aside at the St Galmier racecourse and blew kisses to the crowd as he crossed the line to rousing applause.
"I am very, very happy," he said "Thanks to the crowd who supported me throughout the race."
Britain's Mo Farah, 21, continued to improve his potential as he crossed the line in 37th place, clocking 37:50. Team GB finished in 17th place overall.
Ethiopia retained their team title with a score of 24 points ahead of Kenya and Qatar.
------------------------
Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele claimed the men's 4km race at the World Cross Country Championships for an unprecedented fourth time on Saturday.
Bekele clocked 11 minutes, 33 seconds on the sun-drenched course in France to push Kenyan duo Abraham Chebii and Kiprono Songok into second and third.
The Olympic and world 10,000m champion will now seek to defend his long course title over 12k on Sunday.
Bekele has struggled for form since the death of his fiancee Alem in January.
This is much more significant than my Olympic victory
Kenenisa Bekele
The 22-year-old slumped to a pair of defeats at high-profile indoor meetings at Boston and Birmingham since the tragedy.
And Bekele was forced to dig deep to retain his cross country crown after being tested at the St Galmier race course.
Former Kenyan Saif Saaeed Shaheen, now running for Qatar, burst away from the field at the 2km-mark but Bekele reeled him in and reached the finish line unchallenged.
"This is much more significant than my Olympic victory because I had really suffered as a result of the tragedy," said Bekele after the race.
"Winning was more difficult than last year, as the course was tougher and I was grieving."
Bekele spearheaded an Ethiopian team gold with Kenya second and Qatar third.
Veteran John Mayock was the first Briton past the post, coming home in 53rd with a time of 12:33.
ALL CREW MEMBERS SURVIVED THE CRASH.
If you can not read the Ethiopic script below
click here
የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ የተከራየው የጭነት አውሮፕላን ተከሰከሰ
የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ለጭነት መጓጓዣ ካርጎ ፕላስ አቪየሽን ከተባለ ድርጅት የተከራየው ቦይንግ 707 አውሮፕላን በትላንትናው እለት ጠዋት ኢንቴቤ ዓለም አቀፍ አየር ማረፊያ ላይ ተከሰከሰ።
አውሮፕላኑ ከኢትዮጵያ ወደ ሎሚ በመብረር ኢንቴቤ ላይ ነዳጅ ለመሙላት በማረፍ ላይ ሳለ መከስከሱን የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ለሪፖርተር ከላከው መግለጫ ለመረዳት ተችሏል።
አውሮፕላኑ በወቅቱ ያሳፈራቸው አምስት የካርጎ ፕላስ አቪየሽን ሠራተኞች ከአደጋው የተረፉ ሲሆን በአካባቢው ወደሚገኝ ሆስፒታል ለጤንነት ምርመራ ተወስደዋል።
የአደጋው ትክክለኛ መንስኤ በመጣራት ላይ መሆኑንም የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ጨምሮ ገልጿል።
The following is a press release from Ethiopian airlines.
Leased Cargo Aircraft Crashes - All crew members survive
A B707 freighter registered in Ghana under 9G IRL which is owned and operated by a charter company, Cargo Plus Aviation, crashed at Entebbe International Airport on landing today March 19, 2005 at 0750 UTC. The aircraft was temporarily leased by Ethiopian Airlines to accommodate excess demand and was operating from Addis Ababa to Lome with a refueling stop at Entebbe when the accident occurred. Cause of the accident is under investigation.
According to information obtained from Entebbe all five crew members who are employees of Cargo Plus Aviation have survived the accident and were taken to the nearest hospital for check-up.
All concerned have been notified about the incident.
For further information please contact:
Manager Public Relations,
Ethiopian Airlines
Telephone: +251-1-615110
Fax: +251-1-611474
http://www.flyethiopian.com
As it was reported on IOL South African news below.
Ethiopian Cargo plane crashes in Lake Victoria
By Geoffrey Muleme
Entebbe - An Ethiopian Airlines cargo plane crashed into Lake Victoria near Uganda's Entebbe International Airport while attempting to land on Saturday, an airport official said. The five crew members suffered minor injuries.
The Boeing 707 plane was en route from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Lome, Togo, when it requested permission to land at Entebbe, 10km outside Uganda's capital, Kampala, said Major Moses Rwakitare, the airport's top official.
"The cargo plane crash-landed on the second attempt. It had earlier overshot the runway when attempting to land," Rwakitare said.
The five crew members were rescued from the lake and taken to a hospital with minor injuries, he said.
Entebbe airport's main runway ends at the shore of Lake Victoria, Africa's largest lake.
Neither Rwakitare nor Ethiopian airlines employees in Kampala could explain why the plane attempted to land in Uganda.
An Antonov An-24 cargo plane crashed in January after taking off from Entebbe, killing the six-man Russian crew. That plane crashed on land while attempting to return to the airport after two of the plane's four engines failed. - Sapa-AP
Published on the Web by IOL on 2005-03-19 15:44:51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
© Independent Online 2004. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.
ETHIOPIA: Q/A with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Africa Commission report
18 Mar 2005 13:16:16 GMT
Source: IRIN
ADDIS ABABA, 18 March (IRIN) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is one of 17 commissioners who last week released a report by British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa. In an interview with IRIN in Addis Ababa on Friday, Meles explained his views on the report, and its role in fostering greater development in Africa. Here are excerpts from that interview:
QUESTION: The report was launched in Africa Hall, where the founding fathers launched the Organisation of African Unity in 1963. What do you think they would say if they saw the state of Africa today, more than 40 years later?
ANSWER: I think they would say that things have not gone as well as they should. But I hope they would recognise that over the past few years, and with the coming of the Africa Commission report, Africa has been making significant efforts in moving forward.
Q: What are you most pleased about with the recommendations made by the Africa Commission?
A: It is really the fundamentals of that report, based on the need for inclusive and fair globalisation. That is the fundamental point, based on the recognition that Africa should be in the driving seat.
For me it is a new paradigm - no matter what happens in terms of the specifics. If the report is endorsed by the G8 [Group of Eight economic summit], that in itself would be an historic achievement.
Q: You say the report has been infused with African spirit. Fine words, but what do you really mean by that?
A: Well, as I said in my speech, it is about Africa. It is about globalisation. It recognises that in the end, Africa has to stand up for itself, and has to do what it has to do.
And it is about the rest of the world recognising that it is in their interests, and that they are closely linked to Africa doing much better than it has done before.
Q: What do the Africa Commission's recommendations mean for Ethiopia?
A: It means legitimacy in terms of our rights, and it sets [an] agenda of development cooperation which is much more productive in my view than has been the case over the past 30 or 40 years. It creates the right framework for pro-poor growth in this country, as well as on the continent.
Q: Do you think you can set an example by settling, once and for all, the dispute between Ethiopia and Eritrea?
A: We will try. We have tried in the past, but as I have said it takes two to tango.
Q: What is required on that then?
A: A willingness on the part of our fellows in Eritrea to talk. The outcome of the talks is open, but in the final analysis the dispute will have to be resolved through dialogue. Talking with each other. That is not available to us right now.
Q: But obviously you accept that peace and security are core themes of the commission's work?
A: Nothing good will happen to Africa unless we address the security and governance issues, and that means, in specific terms, in the case of Ethiopia, we have to rule out the possibility of conflict between ourselves and Eritrea for good. We have to recognise that this problem can be, and should only be, resolved by peaceful means through dialogue.
Q: There has been concern about Ethiopia moving troops to the border and the potential problems this might lead to. What is your view on this?
A: The bottom line is we will not initiate a conflict with Eritrea or anybody else. We have had enough. We believe the problem between ourselves and Eritrea can be resolved through dialogue. And so everything we do is calculated to reinforce this message; including the troop movement.
The troop movement is designed to send a message to our brothers that the option of violence in not an attractive option to any side. In the end we have got to sit around the table. There is no way round it.
Q: The measure of success for the Africa Commission is to see the implementation of the recommendations, to see real action. What specifically will you be looking for?
A: The first thing, and for me the most important thing, is that the report should be addressed. I am confident that Africa will address the report, and I very much hope that the G8 will address the report.
Once we have the paradigm in place, then we would expect our G8 partners to move expeditiously on improving the quantity and quality of aid; debt cancellation; and the [World Trade Organisation] Doha round of trade negotiations that provide real and non-reciprocal access for African goods.
Q: What sort of Africa do you see without the implementation of this report?
A: Well, clearly either we have to move forward aggressively, or we are going to move backwards, and we have examples of both. Moving backward means going in the direction of, let's say, Somalia, Liberia and so on. Moving forward means moving forward in the direction of, let's say, Botswana.
Despite the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Botswana has done very well, in terms of governance and economic development, and there are many other African countries that can be cited. So either we move in the direction of Botswana and company, or we move in the direction of Somalia and company.
Q: You have been in power now 14 years, in that time I am sure you have had a lot of promises from various countries that have not been fulfilled. Why do you think these promises [by the Africa Commission] will be fulfilled?
A: First, I am not banking on specific promises per se, I am banking on the paradigm as a whole. Secondly, despite some disappointments, we have seen some countries moving in the direction of implementing their programmes. For example, I can cite - in the case of Ethiopia - Sweden, Ireland and the UK who have improved both the quantity, but more importantly the quality, of their assistance to us.
Q: And realistically where do you think Africa will be in five years time?
A: It may not be the case that Africa, or every African country, will have done well by then, but I think there will be enough countries in Africa that are moving more aggressively to achieving the [UN] Millennium Development Goals.
Q: Is this a landmark document, a blueprint, something that people will look back on and say "that was a turning point for Africa"?
A: That is exactly the case for me, and I would have thought so for every other African.
IRIN news
Ethiopian says she is Bin Laden’s wife
Source: http://yementimes.com/article.shtml?i=825&p=local&a=10
A middle-aged Ethiopian woman recently attempted to convince officials that she is one of Osama Bin Laden’s wives, after she arrived at the Sana’a International Airport from Saudi Arabia.
The incident happened March 9.
One of the passports officers at the Sana’a International Airport said to the media: “An Ethiopian Woman aroused curiosity among the airport officers after declaring that she is one of the wives of Osama Bin Laden, the top leader of al-Qaeda Organization who is currently chased by the USA.”
The source clarified that the Ethiopian national come to Sana’a via Riyadh-Sana’a- Addis Ababa, without holding a passport, except for an exit license to the capital of her country. She got an exit license for her and her family from Khaled International Airport in Saudi Arabia.
The officer added: “We were surprised when she started to introduce herself with a loud voice saying ‘I am Osama bin Laden’s wife’.” This also surprised other officials at the airport who gathered around the Ethiopian woman.
Al-Mu’atamar Net official Newspaper said that the Ethiopian woman tried to convince the airport officers that she is the wife of al-Qaeda top leader with the aim to convince the security authorities to detain her.
This, they said, was in an attempt to escape the completion of her flight to Addis Ababa with her other family members, who completed their procedures and moved her to the exit hall.
Updated March 2007
Mohammed Al Amoudi is the 86th Richest Person in the World Click here
Updated March 2006
Mohammed Al Amoudi is the 77th Richest Person in the World Forbes March 2006 up from 243 in 2005
Billion Dollar Babies
According to Forbes list of The world's Richest People, Mohamed Al-Amoudi ranks 243 among the richest people on the planet.
Bill Gates is Number 1 for the 11th year in the row.
Source: Forbes Magazine
Mohammed Al Amoudi 59
self made
Source: oil
Net Worth: $2.5 bil up
Country of citizenship: Saudi Arabia
Residence: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Industry: Oil/Gas
Marital Status: married
Born in Ethiopia and now a Saudi citizen, Al Amoudi made his fortune in construction and real estate before expanding into oil refineries in Sweden and Morocco. Now he's plowing refinery profits into his native Ethiopia buying assets and bankrolling the national soccer team. His Sheraton Addis Ababa Hotel, which hosted U2 front man Bono when he toured Africa, faces new competition from Saudi Arabia's richest man, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, who is negotiating to buy the once-grand Ghion Hotel, built by the late Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie.
----
You can learn more about Al-Amoudi's Sweden based company MIDROC here
Watch the interview and discuss.
Source: BBC
Boutros Boutros Ghali BBC interview about possible war over Water.
Ethiopia
Listen to the radio from Talk of the Nation.
Talk of the Nation, March 11, 2005 · The 'Lucy' fossil skeleton is one of the best-known finds in anthropology. Now, researchers have found a skeleton of the oldest known upright-walking animal, thought to be even older than Lucy's 3.2 million years. Join Ira and his guests in this hour of Science Friday for a look at the new hominid skeleton find.
More than 100 migrants from Somalia and Ethiopia, including women and children, may have drowned while trying to reach Yemen, the UN refugee agency says.
Source: State Department of The United States
Ethiopia
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004
Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
February 28, 2005
Security forces committed many unlawful killings, including some alleged political killings, during the year. There were numerous reports of unlawful killings during the year.
The opposition All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP) reported that government militia and soldiers killed l1 of their supporters in the period from December 2003 to May 2004. For example, on March 29, government militiamen Gashaw Melese and Dessalegn Damtew reportedly murdered AEUP member Dessalegn Simegn of Ebinet District, South Gondar Zone. On April 29, government militia killed AEUP district council member Hailu Zelleke in Gishe Rabel District. On May 15, government militia murdered AEUP Youth League leader Getiye Alagaw. No actions were taken against the perpetrators by year's end.
The opposition Southern Ethiopia People's Democratic Coalition (SEPDC) reported that district police shot and killed one of its supporters, Aeliso Tieliso, while he was having lunch in his home in Megacho Locality, Giibe District, Southern Region, on December 28, 2003. The suspected police officer was not detained and there was no investigation of the killing.
There continued to be reports of unlawful killings by security forces, particularly in the Oromiya and the Somali Regions. For example, on March 1, district police shot and killed Alemu Tesfaye, a ninth-grade student in Tikur Inchine, Oromiya Region, during a student protest. Amelework Buli, a female high-school student in Nekemte, Oromiya Region, died from a police beating she sustained at her high school, although the Government and police claimed she died from natural causes.
Eritrean Taxi Cab driver killed in Washington DC
Cabby Killed in Stop at Convenience Store
Two Men Attack Eritrean Immigrant in Northeast Washington, Police Say
By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 6, 2005; Page C14
The taxicab that Esayas Alazar rented was supposed to have been disabled, but on Friday night he drove it to his death.
The 50-year-old Eritrean native was shot as he left a convenience store in the 4900 block of South Dakota Avenue NE about 9:30 p.m., D.C. police said.
Alazar was leaving the Four Seasons delicatessen and convenience store and headed to his 1997 Ford Crown Victoria, which he had parked outside, when two men approached him, according to police spokesman Joe Gentile. After a struggle, the cabdriver was hit by one shot in the chest. He was taken to Washington Hospital Center and died 30 minutes later, Gentile said.
Police did not release Alazar's name pending notification of next of kin, but the cab's owner, reached on his cell phone in Chicago, said he matched the cab's identifying number to Alazar.
"He is my countryman. He is from Eritrea," said Mengestab Ghebreginsae , whose company owns about 16 cabs that operate as part of the Five Star Cab Association in Washington. Alazar had been renting the cab since September and paid his rent regularly until recently, Ghebreginsae said. He said he saw him frequently: "I know him for a very long time," he said. "It's very sad."
Around the beginning of the year, the cab owner said, Alazar dropped out of sight and fell behind in his cab payments. Ghebreginsae said Alazar owed him $320 for two weeks' rental.
The cab owner said that about two weeks ago, he drove to Alazar's apartment, in the 1400 block of Somerset Place NW, and took matters into his own hands, disabling the car.
"I took the fuses out . . . the fuel pump and ignition fuses," Ghebreginsae said. He also found out that the cab had been in an accident that Alazar failed to tell him about. The two men talked on the telephone, he recalled, and Alazar promised to pay what he owed, but did not.
Ghebreginsae said that was the last he heard from Alazar.
Somehow, Alazar managed to get the taxi working and ended up at the convenience store Friday night.
A store surveillance tape shows Alazar entering about 9:17 p.m., according to D.C. Council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5), who viewed the tape yesterday with the store owner. On the tape, Alazar can be seen exchanging words with someone outside just before entering the store, Orange said. The tape has no audio.
"When he came in the store, you can see a figure standing in the corner, like he was waiting," Orange said. Alazar played a D.C. Lottery instant scratch game, then left the store after a few minutes.
At that point in the surveillance tape, Orange said, "I thought I saw a white flash, and then a person running."
Orange said he became involved because the shooting took place in his ward and the store owner called him. The council member said he was concerned that police did not retrieve the surveillance video immediately after the shooting.
Capt. C.V. Morris said police were unable to get the tape Friday night because the store employee on duty did not have access to it. He said police retrieved it yesterday.
Morris also said anyone who handles such tapes or views them automatically becomes awitness and could be called to testify before a grand jury investigating the matter.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
Driven Away by Upheaval, Drawn Back by Success
Far-Flung Ethiopian Emigres Begin to Rediscover Their Home as the Business Climate Blossoms
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, March 6, 2005; Page A19
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- The cigar smoke was thick at the swank Office Bar. Danny Davis, a stylish businessman raised in Washington, D.C., huddled with other Ethiopians visiting from the United States, sharing tips about the best local neighborhoods, most promising investment opportunities and best restaurants to munch a burger.
"I am so happy I am moving back," said Davis, 37, wearing a buttery leather jacket and sipping a whiskey. He's the owner of Pearl Restaurant and Lounge in Washington, but he plans to move with his pregnant wife back home to Ethiopia next year. "There is real energy and movement in Addis. I tell my Ethiopian friends in D.C. they've got to go back and see what's going on."
A few blocks away, Woosen Ayalew, 44, a former resident of Fairfax, Va., runs the City Café, a coffeehouse that serves American-style doughnuts along with tiny cups of Ethiopian espresso.
"Ethiopia is experiencing a brain gain," Ayalew said. "Even just five years ago, no wanted to come back. Now everyone wants to come back and be a part of helping to build the country."
In many parts of the world's poorest continent, the chatter among ambitious people is usually about which Western embassy issues the fastest visa. About 20,000 skilled professionals leave Africa for Europe or the United States every year, according to the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency.
Among Ethiopians, however, many young emigres from the business and professional set are looking to return. This unique situation can be attributed in part to the financial success of Ethiopians in the United States, and in part to a campaign by the government to woo them back, said Kinfe Abraham, president of the African Economist magazine.
The greater Washington area has the world's largest concentration of Ethiopians outside of Africa, many of them driven away by protracted periods of famine and political instability. Last year, Ethiopians in the United States sent home $6 million in remittance money, eclipsing coffee, the country's biggest export, which earned $4 million.
[Editor] I think Emily Wax made a mistake about the above number [end]
But increasingly, Ethiopians who made their fortunes in the strip-mall spice stores and bakeries of Fairfax and the packed restaurants of Adams Morgan say they want to do more than send money home. All over Addis Ababa, eateries and offices are opening with such names as The Olive Garden, New York, New York, and The Boston Professional Building.
Government officials said at least 1,500 emigres had returned to Addis and that they were launching an aggressive campaign to woo more, offering tax breaks on importing belongings and flexible land ownership laws. In Washington, they said, embassy officials had been going door-to-door in Ethiopian-American neighborhoods, urging patriotic entrepreneurs to move back.
"There is the sentimental pull of home and at the same time a thriving business atmosphere," Kinfe said. "Successful people feel they owe something back to their country. Ethiopians love their culture. They want to come back. They just want to know they can also support their families here."
Despite a history of poverty and political problems, Ethiopia has long been regarded as a cultural capital of Africa. A recent celebration here, honoring the late reggae singer Bob Marley's 60th birthday, drew Africans from around the world. Many praised Ethiopia, the country Marley honored in his songs. "Babylon is falling, Ethiopia is calling," a Jamaican reggae group sang at the festival, encouraging Africans living abroad to move here.
One reason the country holds emotional resonance for Africans is because, unlike its neighbors, it was never colonized and was able to retain its cultural and religious traditions. Ethiopians have their own way of telling time and their own calendar.
The country has a long history of art and crafts, with a unique style of thick furniture, gauzy white cotton fashions and cuisine served around a low table, where diners use napkin-like injera bread to scoop up vegetables, sizzling fish and meats. While MTV-culture has had some impact, Ethiopian music stars are far more popular than foreign imports. The country has its own music awards.
It's also a place where literature has been highly respected, even during repressive times. While imprisoned from 1977 to 1987 for running a student movement, Nebiy Mekonnen, now editor of the newspaper Addis Admas, gained international honors for translating the entire text of "Gone With the Wind" on 3,000 torn cigarette packets. He recently visited the Washington area for poetry readings and to persuade emigres that the political situation was better and that they should come home.
It was political oppression that caused many Ethiopians to flee in the early 1980s, when the now-exiled communist dictator, Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam, confiscated the property of the upper classes and put opposition party members in jail.
Tadiwos Belete, an energetic man of 40, left Ethiopia when Mengistu took over. His family fled to neighboring Sudan, where he washed dishes and scraped by as a refugee. After securing a U.S. visa, he settled in Boston and worked as a waiter while going to school. He saved enough to open a small Ethiopian restaurant, which did well. Then he opened a hair salon, and it became so popular that he opened a second.
With money in the bank and a stable political situation in Ethiopia, Belete returned recently to Addis Ababa, where he built the gleaming Boston Day Spa. The $2 million club houses a full-service spa and salon with steam rooms, vibrating massage chairs and a hair-braiding room. Upstairs is a posh bar with puffy velvet couches. Belete also plans to build another spa in Debre Zeit, a town 33 miles southeast.
"It's not charity work," Belete said, a wearing white linen shirt, beige pants and a wide smile as he showed a visitor the Ethiopian mosaic artwork in the spa's lobby. "There is a lot of opportunity here, and a lot of people who are happy to have these services."
The Boston Day Spa is located on Bole Road, a lively strip so filled with Ethiopian-American businesses that it's called "wha's up avenue," a reference to the slangy English a lot of returning emigres speak.
Yet for all the buzz, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with an average life expectancy of 42 years, a per capita annual income of $100, and 172 of every 1,000 children dead before age 5, according to the World Bank's World Development Report for 2004.
But officials hope that after the first investors come, doctors, lawyers, educators and other professionals will follow. The government is especially eager to attract back those in the medical profession. At present, there are more Ethiopian doctors living in the United States than in Ethiopia.
"Most of the friends I graduated with are now in the U.S.," said Dr. Abdu Ibrahim, who was rushing off to deliver a baby in a private Addis Ababa clinic. "I want to tell the medical profession to come back. But I also understand why they left. It can be frustrating."
T. Dosho Shifferaw, 51, is the inventor of the exercise machine Bowflex. He moved to California's Bay Area in the 1970s and became a millionaire. Recently he has been visiting his homeland often, setting up water pumps in poor rural areas and hosting an inventors' conference last month to encourage young scientists to come back. Now, he said, he too was feeling the pull to return.
"The whole country is changing. I want to be part of a place where things are really happening," said Shifferaw, 51, during a recent evening at the Office Bar. "Maybe some of us are like Polish-Americans and Greek-Americans and feel we will never really move back," he said. "Then again, you don't forget your heritage. Sometimes if you have a chance to go home again, you take it."
The Washington Post Company
NPR: All Things Considered March 3, 2005
Interview with Prof. Richard Pankurst
NPR Interview with Richard Pankurst
All Things Considered, March 3, 2005 · A precious piece of Ethiopia's archaeological heritage will soon return home. Italy has agreed to return a 1,700-year-old obelisk that dictator Benito Mussolini ordered seized from Ethiopia in 1937. The first of three pieces will be airlifted at the end of this month.
Melissa Block talks with Richard Pankhurst, of the Committee for the Return of the Axum Obelisk, about the homecoming.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, four ministers and eight deputies accompanying him are in Ethiopia. The Prime Minister and the official delegation travelled in an Airbus A319 and about 110 journalists and businessmen flew in a private plane rented from Turkish Airlines. In other words, we are speaking of a magnificent Ethiopian visit with two separate planes.
But why Ethiopia? What kind of commercial explosion is expected from this country with its national per capita income at below $100? Its total trade volume with Turkey in 2004 was only $96 million, and they have no official embassy in Turkey. As the "Consular agency" did not have sufficient visa stamps for the Turkish delegation, they were made to obtain visas at the airport by informing their names. According to United Nations (UN) Development Agency data, Ethiopia is among the world's poorest countries
Prime Minister Erdogan announced that their aim was to reach the target of $500 million in trade with Ethiopia.
More from Zaman.com
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan invited to tea in Ethiopia
Prime Minister Erdoğan, who sets off on a trip to Africa today, has been invited to tea at the new villa of national athlete Elvan Abeylegesse in her native country of Ethiopia.
Elvan Abeylegesse recently bought a three story villa in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa with the prize money that she won competing in Turkey.
The athlete has returned to her warmer, native home for winter training, using the recently outfitted gym on the first floor of her new villa. She said that she would be honoured to welcome the Prime Minister into her home for tea and home-made cake.
“It gives me great happiness that the Prime Minister is coming to Ethiopia."
Erdoğan’s trip is set to last five days, one of which will be spent in Ethiopia visiting with the President and Prime Minister. However, it is unlikely that he will be able to accept Abeylegesse’s kind offer due to his busy schedule.
(Hurriyet)
Sports
March 2, 1896 is one of the most important historical days in the history of all black people. It was on this date that the gallant Ethiopian forces routed the Italian invaders and kept our country FREE as it has been for thousands of years.
We salute all the fallen brave Ethiopians that gave the ultimate sacrifice so that we Ethiopians will be FREE. God Belss Ethiopia.
Italian-Ethiopian relations reached a low point in 1895, when Ras Mengesha of Tigray, hitherto reluctant to recognize the Shewan emperor's claims, was threatened by the Italians and asked for the support of Menelik. In late 1895, Italian forces invaded Tigray. However, Menelik completely routed them in early 1896 as they approached the Tigrayan capital, Adwa. This victory brought Ethiopia new prestige as well as general recognition of its sovereign status by the European powers. Besides confirming the annulment of the Treaty of Wuchale, the peace agreement ending the conflict also entailed Italian recognition of Ethiopian independence.
nazret.com is the #1 rated Ethiopian website. Be part of the largest Ethiopian News website, join in to become a contributor.
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