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Opinion: Ethiopia - Political pornography
By Getachew T.A
Hi my esteemed friends, here is yet again my two cents on similarity of politics and porn; especially in its application to our miserable existence.
Politics has become a common place and any body over 18 years old can exercise it freely. Just like the actors in porn movies.
Porn movies do not need any strong plots or probable story lines. The main thing is the hype and climax. No one will question why the girl did not wait for the second bus after she missed the first one. She gets an offer to spend the night till the next bus is due…I know the fans of such movies would not appreciate the reasoning or the cause and effect relations behind every action. Just give me the action!
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If the girl in that movie declines an offer for a free bed, it would be a boring drama or a useless documentary.
“…No I will wait for the next bus, Mister. Thanks for your generosity” That is an outrageous blunder to the story. Very amateurish! Go to the point maaan. We cannot wait.
Any body could be a star on these movies. Black, white, tall, midget, thin, fat, old young…anyone. The only requirement is to be a human. No spelling test.
The person, who has studied Agro Engineering for years, does not want to leave the capital, once returned from abroad. What? You do not have a video conferencing…fiber optics backbone to the farmers… and wireless APs on trees, transmit to their Ipods? I would rather join the revolution. “Free my people..Ipods to all!”
The guy, who failed his 10th grade exams on his first trail, would not want to try it again. What for? He can go into politics. He can propose a curriculum change. The math is too confusing, chemistry boring, let us learn only home-economics, and use calculators to solve every equations. Down with reason and logic!
Supporting a cause does not make me a politician. I support the cause and leave the execution to the politicos. I, for instance, support the politicians, who with their ideology mange to create real jobs. I do not support the other ones, who promise me a provision of free surplus cheese from the storages. I will vote; and I shall not expect to get an office and a free meal for the rest of my life.
If all of us are looking to be a “politician” then we all are standing inline for the free cheese, which would dwindle in a short time as no one is creating the surplus.
I am not suggesting all politicians should be only those who studied political science or history, but give way for those who can play the game and to those who knows the art of maneuvering in the local and international arena.
I know every thing could be politics. Local, International, Government ,Non-government. Office politics, church politics, etc and it has never been a matter of being right or wrong.
It is a decision of wise people to pick among a set of choices given at a certain time. Those choices picked are not always the “right” ones. That is why, it should be a concern to you that anyone over 18 years old should not have a say on every thing under the sun.
There are things you put out for referendums; there are some which should be dealt inside closed doors, like intelligence briefings or a decision to join parliament or not.… The righteous…does not have place in politics, not even in church politics.
I know a young priest who was reprimanded for teaching the tenth commandments. Specially, for not skipping the 8th in his fateful sermon. “Thou shall not steal.” He finally apologized to the congregation, after it was made clear to him that he had disappointed the patrons. Lack of discretion! (Poor-Abba)
Now, we know there are 9 commandments in my area church. I wish he had apologized for all of them and gave us some peace of mind! (The Episcopal church of the free!)
I am not suggesting only liars should be in politics, but being able to vote and serve as a politician should be separate issues.
It is boring but I will say it again. Let us work on continuity.
If I start from a very recent history; the late king Haile Selassie, may the good lord rest his soul in peace, did not have a heir to the throne; the crown prince was out of league and out of the country, shortly after the failed coup attempt in 1960. Colonel Mengistu was pushed very high to the top of the ceiling, and was unable to get down and see the fruits of his labor…I am not sure what would be coming after today, as the song “We or death!” is still the top, on the billboard charts, yet again, for a 1000th times as it was the case for the last 1000 years. Only one song in generation?
Every attempt from- “Hero to Zero”
What can be done? Here, I will throw my two…no, I will make it three cents…
The old/traditional political parties… please show some dynamism. Things have changed. Some of your “fresh” slogans have been answered, 50% here 95% there, and 100% over there… Join alliance, and show us that there is still blood in your veins. Your flexibility should not be taken as infractions on your trade marks. Politics is not like religion, you can change the course or direction any time you see a benefit to people. I should not be afraid to live, and afraid to die…Live on!
Those of you, who have the caliber and knowledge to help the poor farmer, get closer to him and give a helping hand. Do your researches, teach the young, help the poor. Use your trades as far as the system allows you to go. Learn to push for more with out going to prisons.
Those of you, who returned home after buying your Degrees, Diplomas and currently trick the poor people with your shady PhDs and masters degrees from “accredited” universities; my only hope is for a stronger evaluations of your yearly performances other than your ethnic backgrounds.
Those of you, who are in Eretria to liberate Ethiopians…three words “use your heads”
The government-Please free all political prisoners, whether their actions qualify as “political” or not. You still could maintain a majority and let those in prison come out and take their seats in parliament and city councils. It does not matter if they declare “Victory” on their news papers and dance the whole night. The people of that country are learning from experience. Have faith in the people. Until you do that, you will never have a full legitimacy to your actions and all your good intentions would never be translated as such. I do not need to tell you, we are all by-products of suspicious and contemptuous culture. Don’t let any one, including your own supporters; take you from Hero to Zero. Stay a hero and be my hero too!
For the loyal opposition members in parliament- I know you cannot call cabinet ministers to get briefings, but watch scheduled shows by majority. Not enough hours to speak on the floor… It is same every where; but do not despair and stop taking notes. It will be your platform for your next push. You are the only reasonable people in unreasonable mind set of ours. “…forgive Thou the Muhajirs and the Ansar..forgive Thou our lapses.” And thanks!
For the “stars of all the shows”-I understand, if you label me as pacifist, spreading defeatism or a “lone idealist” in era of “Shoot First”, opportunist, Buddhist, Nihilist…but look what has transpired out of the revolt mentality. Let somebody win this round, please.
For the rest of us, 10th grade dropouts, let us go back to school, as politics is best served when it is left to Politicians; to the craftsmen who know the art. No more creating a hero..-Learn to read. Get off the pony.
Was there a time of peace and stability for generations? I do not even see “generations” but only one single “generation” extended for the last 100 years. Please, get me out of here! I know, I am selfish.
Some famous dictionaries, like “Teyeq Mezegebe qalat” and “ABC of socialism”, printed in Amharic during the beginning of the Derge regime, gave us some words to grasp the concept of “socialism” and struggle in general. A large number of politicians never bothered to get beyond these “solid” dictums of jargon. It is sad; the ability of using those few words in a sentence had qualified many of us to be politicians then, as it does today. That is the highest (Lowest?) stage achieved so far; and that is also, probably why you see any one jumping on the band wagon, because it is so low to mount it. A 1000 years old pony!
In area where I live now, there is an Ethiopian Restaurant, which changes its owners faster than the napkins on the tables. It changed hands a minimum of three times in the last few months. It is killing its customer base at every transaction.
I cannot tell you the name of the restaurant as there is a probability of its name being changed yet again, between the time I am editing this 40 pages of free flow of my sub-conscious, and the time it takes Nazret.com to publish it.
The problem with this Restaurant, I learned, was mismanagement and mistrust between the owners. This owner does not trust the other owner. The other owner suspects the other owner of some “misappropriations.” Same issues; with the previous owners and the ones before them…I wonder, why they could not hire a manger, qualified as a hotel manager, and place controlling mechanisms? This is America, or is it not?
Allow the manager call the shots on every thing from who would be the DJ or a performer for Friday nights; “happy hour” provisions… and all the tricks to get us there.. Fire those waitresses who sneak in their own liquors and sell it at “half price”… All owners to keep their hands off the cash registers,…add a system of book keeping?...little elbow grease…Fire the manger, if he does not deliver on his promises in a period of time.
I would buy a share to that kind of business, as I see a prospect of franchise Ethiopian restaurants in every state. I love food and hungry all the time.
I know some of you “English and Politics Majors”, would say, ze last few paragraphs do not follow one anazer… Politics, Hotel, 8th commandment, Dictionary and hungry…Zat iz krazy tok!
Well… Professor Jack, if you cannot conjure up a single image, from the above entries, you should not involve in politics, other than contributing money to your leaders or a cause.
Honestly, if you have only two sets of categories, “either” “or” and nothing else, you are a danger to your own political party with the same revolt mentality of your daddy, which has dragged the country on the same bloody path for years.
Stay away from politics and play a few word games with your kids or neighborhood kids. (I am not sure, if you have time or if the kids feel comfortable playing with you.) Remember, don’t scare them away and try this…
“Lucy, Chosen, Bird” say it three times
…Lucy, Chosen, Bird…
…Lucy, Chosen, Bird…Do you see any thing? A singe image?
Zat is dizazozachen and outrajosly childish!...Try a little harder, Maestro, you cannot buy a vowel here…wrong show.
BTW, where did you buy your “credential”? Graduated in “Duct Tapeology”, from School of Domestic Sciences? Wink, wink.
Seriously, “we can win as a team or die as individuals.” I forgot who d’ said that.
Salaam.
Getachew T.A
Ethiopia - Freed oil workers arrive in Addis Ababa
Photo: ENA
SEVEN Chinese oil workers abducted by Ethiopian rebels after a deadly attack on an oil venture arrived in Addis Ababa, a day after being freed, Chinese officials said.
The hostages arrived aboard a military helicopter from the country's eastern Ogaden region, where they had been held since last Wednesday, when the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) raided the Chinese-run oil site, killing 77 people.
"Yes, they have already arrived. They are at the Chinese embassy as of now," an embassy official at the airport said on condition of anonymity.
It was not immediately clear whether one Somali and one Ethiopian, also released yesterday, had also arrived in Addis Ababa.
The ONLF handed over the hostages to the International Committee for the Red Cross after a temporary ceasefire was arranged with the Ethiopian army, with the aid agency acting as mediator.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 65 Ethiopian workers were killed
- 9 Chinese were killed
- 7 Chinese workers were kidnapped
- ONLF claimed responsibility
- 9 kidnapped oil workers freed on April 29 2007
The rebels, who want independence for ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia's Ogaden region, had said they wanted to release the Chinese captives rapidly, without any demands.
The group said overnight that the government had begun a crackdown on civilians in Jijiga, the provincial capital of Somali regional state, which includes Ogaden.
"Now that the Chinese citizens have been released, the ONLF expects this crackdown to broaden to other areas in Ogaden," they said, calling for the international community to bear witness to events there.
Ethiopia "must take a different approach to conflict resolution and agree to internationally-witnessed dialogue with legitimate representatives of the people of Ogaden", the ONLF said.
Last week's attack, the first on an oil site since the ONLF issued a threat to foreign companies operating in the region a year ago, killed 68 Ethiopian workers and nine Chinese.
The ONLF has urged China to stop cooperating with Ethiopia on oil exploration until the group gains legitimate self-government in Ogaden, but it said that the attack was not targeting China.
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Ethiopia - Mulu Ketsela has say in Wolfowitz’s fate
By Groum Abate
Capital
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz'sfate will be decided on Monday April 30, after appearing before a panel of seven bank directors that also include Mulu Ketsela, former state minister of Finance and Economic Development. The panel is to make recommendations on his future to the full 24-member board. The board hasn't provided a time frame for a decision.
Mulu Ketsela is the current Executive Director for 22 African countries.
Acording to the Washington Post, Jorge Familiar, the director representing Mexico and a member of the panel, said its deliberations were ``moving forward,'' and he hoped ``the process would advance soon.'' The other panel members represent France, Ethiopia, China, Norway, the Netherlands and Russia.
According to the Washington Post, members of the panel have already decided to recommend Wolfowitz's departure, citing a senior bank official who wasn't named.
Mulu is Executive Director for Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Mulu, along with the other members of the office, represents these countries in meetings at the World Bank and engages in direct consultations and negotiations with other Executive Officers in efforts to gain support for the World Bank's efforts in reducing poverty.
Mulu last served as the Alternate Executive Director with the World Bank Group until 2006 when she was appointed to the position of Executive Director for 22 African countries. Before joining the World Bank, Mulu facilitated cooperation with bilateral and multilateral partner as the State Minister of Finance and Economic Development for Ethiopia. From 1992-1995 Mulu served as an Economic Consultant for the United Nations Development Programme.
A group of World Bank employees who oversee the agency's campaign to fight corruption in poor nations urged ``clear and decisive actions'' in the probe of President Paul Wolfowitz's decision to arrange a promotion and pay raise for his companion.
``We are deeply concerned by the impact of the current leadership crisis on the bank's credibility and authority,'' 46 employees said yesterday in a letter to Wolfowitz and the bank's board. ``Our own governance standards must be upheld and enforced impartially and without exception,'' the letter said, ``even when they touch the highest levels of this institution.''
The former U.S. deputy defense secretary has made fighting graft a hallmark of his tenure, suspending loans to countries including Chad and India because of concerns that the money might disappear into the pockets of corrupt politicians.
In their letter, the members of the Washington-based agency's Governance and Anticorruption Strategy group said the ``credibility of our front-line staff'' had been undermined. They asked the board ``to resolve this crisis quickly in a way that demonstrates to all our stakeholders the bank's commitment to the highest standards of integrity.''
Three months after Wolfowitz became head of the bank in June 2005, his companion, Shaha Riza, was transferred to the State Department under rules that forbid one partner from supervising another. At the same time, she received a promotion and a 36 percent pay raise while remaining on the World Bank payroll.
According to Bloomberg news agency ``It is a problem when your own resident experts on corruption are stating that the bank is not practicing what it preaches,'' Manish Bapna, director of the Bank Information Center, a Washington-based organization that monitors the agency, said in an interview.
Wolfowitz initially offered to rescue himself from dealings with Riza, a request that was rejected by the board's ethics committee, according to his attorney, Robert Bennett. His subsequent decision to promote Riza and reassign her was made with the approval of the committee, Bennett said.
Paul Wolfowitz was unanimously approved as 10th President of the World Bank Group by the institution’s Board of Executive Directors on March 31, 2005.
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Angel Melaku YouTube Videos
Angel Melaku
Check out For more Ethiopian models video
Don't forget to check our Style Section for other Ethiopian Models
Angel Melaku on Cover of "Black Men" magazine
Angel Melaku: The New "IT GIRL" for 2007.
Angel's measurements: 36D-22-40
Angel Melaku is available for Special Events, look up her contact number on Black Men Magazine. She is in the DC metro area according to the magazine article.
For more pictures check out "Black Men" April - May issue at your local newsstand.
Here is an excerpt from XXL magazine
Okay, for those who don’t understand coded female proportions, allow me to clarify. The cup size is D. The waist, measuring in at 22 inches, is crazy enough, but when you factor in that it’s partnered with a size-40 bass line, you’ve just reached religious regions. If you’ve only seen numbers move like this on Wonder Showzen, then you’ll probably label the approaching statement cliché, but this type of proportion can only be a product of heaven. Angel is her name (told you!). Well, it’s actually her nickname and her last name. Sort of. (Born in Ethiopia to a native mom and a Trinidadian Dad, her last name, Melaku, means angel in Amharic, a language spoken in her native country.) But the point is she might be the most irresistible female you’ve ever seen in your life. “I’ve needed a bodyguard way before I was anybody,” says Washington D.C.’s best national offering. “Sometimes [the attention] gets irritating. There are certain things I can’t do because guys just won’t let me be. I can’t even go to the club.”
For a close up picture, click here
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Check out our new Style section for Ethiopian women in the Fashion industry and much more
Ethiopia - Opposition members begin defending themselves in political trial
The Associated Press
Monday, April 30, 2007
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: A former member of parliament charged with inciting anti-government violence along with 47 other Ethiopian journalists and opposition activists stressed Monday that he called for change through peaceful means only, and mocked charges he threw rocks at police.
The 48 defendants appeared in a packed courtroom in the capital in the latest phase of the trial, which has been condemned by human rights activists. Many of the defendants are accused of inciting violence and violating the constitution during protests over 2005 parliamentary elections.
File Photo: Election 2005 June 10 2005
Former parliamentarian Bedru Adem called two witnesses to testify that he was in prison on the date he was accused of participating in street violence. He also said he was not trying to incite violence when he addressed two pre-election rallies.
"I called upon the people to change the system peacefully, nonviolently, using their voters card," he told the court.
Regarding the charge that he threw rocks at police during a November 2005 riot, he said: "I'm an old person, I'm 50 years old. I have gray hairs and they are saying that I threw rocks. It would've been better if they said I shot guns."
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It was not clear how many of the 48 defendants would choose to put on a defense. Thirty-eight of the defendants asked presiding Judge Adil Ahmed to give them the court's list of accusations and evidence before they would agree to defend themselves.
The judge also asked four newspaper owners, who had charges dropped against them as individuals, to defend their organizations. He issued a warrant seeking the identities of two other newspaper owners, who have not yet appeared in court.
The judge then adjourned until Wednesday.
The defendants were charged in December 2005 with treason, inciting violence and attempted genocide. On April 9, the court freed 25 prisoners, among them eight journalists. Earlier in April, the judge dropped the charges of treason and attempted genocide.
File Photo: CUD supporter (BBC)
The trial has been widely condemned by international human rights groups as an attempt to silence Ethiopian government critics. The opposition leaders have claimed the trial is politically motivated.
The violence erupted during protests over elections that returned Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to power in May 2005. The opposition, despite winning an unprecedented number of parliamentary seats, claimed the vote was rigged, and EU observers said the polls were marred by irregularities.
Late last year, Ethiopia acknowledged that its security forces killed 193 civilians protesting alleged election fraud, but insisted they did not use excessive force. A senior judge appointed to investigate the violence had accused the security forces of excessive force.
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DR Congo beat Ethiopia 2-0 in Nations Cup Group 10
DR Congo extended their lead at the top of Group Ten when beating Ethiopia 2-0 in an outstanding Nations Cup qualifier on Sunday.
Photo: BBC DR Congo lead Group Ten on seven points
Goals from Mputu Mbungu and Portsmouth striker Lomano LuaLua sealed the win for the Simbas in Kinshasa.
The home side dominated the early exchanges and opened the scoring in the 38th minute after Mbungu took advantage of a defensive mix-up.
LuaLua sealed the victory from the spot after Mputi Mabi was fouled in the box, late in the game.
The England-based striker had only arrived on the morning of the match, having played in Portsmouth's 2-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday.
The Group Ten clash, originally scheduled for March, was postponed due to the civil unrest in the capital at that time.
The win gives the Simbas seven points after three games in Group A, while Libya remain second with four points.
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Opinion Ethiopia - In respose to EPRDF’s EFTIN
Ethioguardain
In one of EPRDF’s Amharic weekly news paper (EFTIN), EPRDF requested Ethiopians residing abroad to show their position concerning the death of 65 EPRDF solders and nine Chinese people, in Degehabur zone. We are sorry that EPRDF’s EFTIN did not bring this agenda to the Diaspora at the time when hundreds and thousands of Ethiopian were gunned down by EPRDF solders, and at the time when thousands of opposition supporters were imprisoned and tortured. We are sorry that EFTIN did not ask the Diaspora to shout for the release for political prisoners and thousands of opposition supporters, who are languishing in EPRDF prisons. We are sorry that EFTIN did not ask the Diaspora to ask justice for those who were massacred. We are sorry that EFTIN did not ask for press and academic freedom. In short, we are very sorry for the fact that EFTIN did not ask the Diaspora to show their concern about the basic human rights that are violated by EPRDF.
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The Chinese government is forming a tread alliance with tyrants like EPRDF, who are torturing and massacring their own people. The attack on the Chinese workers is a lesson for the Chinese dirty economy and greedy expansion. The Chinese government should take Human rights violations and other facts into consideration before jumping into a flaming fuel. Greedy Investors including Al Amoudi, who are lending money for fulfill EPRDF’s blood thirst should learn a very good lesson form this attacks. It will not be surprising if ONLF or OLF, which are the results of EPRDF’s repression, attack EPRDF or its joint institutions (e.g. MIDROCK, Al Amoudi).The steps that are taken by EPRDF to connect this attack to Kinijit (CUDP) are EPRDF’s usual lie and calculation. Kinijit is one among few parties in Ethiopian politics which has fully renounced violence and seek to only struggle peacefully to attain its objectives. These allegations are simply not true and will not have any significant effect on Ethiopians living in Ethiopia or in the Diaspora. After 16 years of EPRDF’s rule the country is facing a growing number of conflicts, growing number of oppositions and enemies. This regime is imprisoning, torturing and murdering the peace loving poor Ethiopians, who are dreaming of peace and prosperity. Ethiopians in Diaspora should continue their unified pressure and action to bring this regime to an end. The focus of Ethiopians in Diaspora should be on how to solve this problem from its roots rather than its consequences. Ethiopians in Diaspora should ask for the release of political prisoners, justice, democracy…….not for EPRDF’s lie and allegations. EPRDF, China, Al Amoudi and all other donors should learn form this attacks, and start helping democratization process as soon as possible.
File Photo: AFD
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Ethiopia - 9 Freed After Ethiopian Oil Attack
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Seven Chinese oil workers and two Africans kidnapped during a rebel attack on a Chinese oil field near the Somali border were released Sunday, the Red Cross said.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 65 Ethiopian workers were killed
- 9 Chinese were killed
- 7 Chinese workers were kidnapped
- ONLF claimed responsibility
- 9 kidnapped oil workers freed on April 29 2007
Patrick Megevand, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ethiopia, confirmed the release but declined to provide details. The Red Cross was taking the men to a safe location to be turned over the Ethiopian and Chinese authorities, he added.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the attack on the Chinese-owned oil exploration field in eastern Ethiopia on April 24 that left 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese workers dead. The group said six Chinese workers "were removed from the battlefield for their own safety." Ethiopian and Chinese officials said seven Chinese workers were missing.
The rebels, ethnic Somalis who claim to be fighting for independence for the Ogaden region, said in a statement Sunday that all of the Chinese citizens were in good health and had been treated well. The group had refrained from new attacks while negotiating with the Red Cross to release the abducted workers, but complained that the Ethiopian military was cracking down on ethnic Somalis in the regional capital, Jijiga.
"Civilians in Ogaden are being told by troops that they will pay the price for the recent ONLF military operation," the rebel statement said.
Earlier, the group said it would resume fighting after the Chinese workers were transferred to the Red Cross. The rebels warned foreign companies against trying to work in Ogaden.
China has condemned Tuesday's attack and rejected the group's warning.
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Ethiopia Continues to Hold U.S. Man, Frustrating Family
From News Services
Sunday, April 29, 2007; A07
TRENTON, N.J. -- The family of a U.S. citizen being held in Ethiopia has grown increasingly frustrated that he remains detained despite reports that he would be released.
A congressman's office said this month that Amir Meshal, 24, would soon be freed. But Ethiopia then changed its mind, according to an internal U.S. government document that was disclosed last week.
"It was an emotional roller coaster for us," said Mohammed Meshal, Amir's father, speaking from their home in Tinton Falls on the New Jersey shore. "We started cooking and marinating the meat for his homecoming, and the next minute, everything collapses."
Amir Meshal was in Somalia at a time when much of the country was controlled by Islamic militants. In December and January, hundreds of people, including Islamic militants, fled Somalia for Kenya after Ethiopian troops invaded the country in support of a weak but internationally backed government.
This photo taken by a U.S. consular officer and submitted by the subject's father, Mohamed Meshal, shows Amir Meshal, of Tinton Falls, N.J., filling out a U.S. passport application at Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security Service Headquarters, Wednesday April 4, 2007, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Amir Meshal is currently being held in an Ethiopia for allegedly fighting on the side of radical Islamists in neighboring Somalia. (AP Photo/Congressman Rush Holt's office via Mohamed Meshal)
Meshal was arrested in Kenya, where U.S. authorities interviewed him and, according to officials in Washington, determined that he was not a threat and had not violated U.S. law. The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi asked Kenya to deport him to the United States, then filed a formal protest when it learned Meshal had been returned to Somalia and then sent to Ethiopia.
At an April 13 hearing in Addis Ababa, a military tribunal declined to charge Meshal with a crime, U.S. officials said. The State Department made arrangements to fly him home, then discovered that the FBI had placed Meshal's name on a no-fly list of suspected security threats maintained by the Department of Homeland Security.
U.S. officials agreed last week that Meshal should be removed from the list and brought back to the United States, but now the Ethiopian government is standing in his way.
"I'm worried about his welfare, his safety, his security," Mohammed Meshal said. "Why doesn't the U.S. government demand his immediate release and bring him home?"
Rep. Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), who sits on the House intelligence committee, said he has been frustrated by the often-contradictory information he has received about Meshal from U.S. government agencies. Holt has asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to intervene.
"We certainly had hoped that this case would be resolved earlier," said State Department spokesman Tom Casey. "We continue to discuss this issue with the Ethiopian government."
The Meshals vehemently deny that their son was a fighter, saying he had been a tour guide in Dubai. They did not know he was in Somalia until U.S. officials showed up at their door in early February.
Relatives have not been able to talk with Meshal, although they have received written messages from him through U.S. Embassy officials in Ethiopia who visited him. He told them that he was being treated well.
Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana and Anne Gearan and McClatchy Newspapers writer Jonathan S. Landay contributed to this report.
ZTE wins US$200 mln order from Ethiopia
Shanghai Daily
Photo:
An Ethiopian man walks past a closed Chinese restaurant in the capital Addis Ababa 26 April 2007, in respect to their slained fellow citizens.(AFP)
ZTE Corp won a US$200 million contract to supply gear to Ethiopian Telecommunications Corp to diversify into overseas markets.
Profile of ETC
- Ethiopia has 874,336 landline subscribers
- 31,834 Internet Subscribers
- 1,100,000 Mobile Subscribers
- Total exchange capacity 1,040,907 April 2007
- Tele Density Including Mobile 2.4 %
Source: ETC Latest Available data
The three-year agreement includes mobile-phone network equipment using code division multiple access, or CDMA, technology, ZTE, the mainland's biggest listed telephone equipment maker, said today in a statement to Shenzhen's stock exchange, Bloomberg reported.
ZTE said the sales of wireless network equipment, the company's biggest business, rose 23 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter due to increased revenue from outside China. The Shenzhen-based company has invested in developing nations to boost sales.
"Africa is one place ZTE has a real competitive advantage over American and European companies because ZTE's products work well and cost less,'' Randy Zhou, an analyst at Bank of China International in Shanghai, said today by phone. He rates ZTE's shares "underperform."
Shares of ZTE rose 0.7 percent in Shenzhen to 47 yuan( US$6) as of 10:24am local time. The stock has gained 20 percent this year, compared with a 61 percent gain by the Shenzhen stock exchange's index of yuan-denominated A shares.
China agreed to invest US$1.5 billion in Ethiopia's telecommunications networks, the east African nation's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in February. The Chinese government also agreed to loan Ethiopia US$500 million and an additional US$1.5 billion in short-term trade credits, Zenawi said.
Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged US$3 billion in loans to African nations over three years during a summit in Beijing in November last year.
ZTE's equipment costs 20 percent to 30 percent less than gear from rivals such as Ericsson AB and Alcatel-Lucent, Bank of China's Zhou said. Ernest Ndukwe, head of Nigeria's telephone regulator, said in December that Chinese equipment from ZTE and Huawei Technologies Co cost 40 percent less than Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent's gear.
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Also
Ethiopia, China sign US$158m telecom expansion deal
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-29 06:31
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA -- The state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) and ZTE, a Chinese telecom company, on Saturday signed a 1.39 billion birr (US$158 million) agreement on three telecom service expansion projects.
The agreement includes the first phase of fiber transmission backbone, expansion of mobile phone service for the Ethiopian millennium as well as expansion of wireless telephone service.
According to the agreement, some 1.2 million mobile telephone lines will be provided to subscribers in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and eight other towns in connection with the upcoming Ethiopian millennium celebration.
Moreover, the first phase of the wireless telephone expansion project with the capacity of 652,000 telephone lines will be also executed.
Upon completion, the projects will enable the corporation to provide standardized and quality telecom service to its customers.
The projects will increase the number of fixed and mobile telephone service subscribers to over 14 million.
ETC has designed and put in place a five-year strategic plan with a view to improving quality and coverage of telecom service across the country.
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Opinion Ethiopia - CUD-Diaspora asked to show exact position on recent outrageous massacre
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 28, 2007 (ENA) - The so called Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) in Diaspora was requested to show its stand concerning the outrageous massacre committed on 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese people last Monday in Degehabur zone.
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File Photo: AFD
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OPINION:
Ethiopia - AFD Vs ONLF’s blunder
By K.Sewenet
The violent attack of ONLF on the Oil installation in east Ethiopia that claimed the lives of innocent Ethiopians and Chinese employees is a cowardly act that does not in any way help the people of Ogaden – the people the organization claims to defend.
File Photo: AFD
According to its objectives and program it (ONLF) is waging an armed resistance against the TPLF led dictatorial government for the ‘self determination’ of the Ogaden people. The organization is therefore fully responsible for the manner and types of its operations. The fact that it has now – for the first time to my knowledge – targeted civilians and economic installations is a criminal act that can not be covered up simply because it is fighting a brutal government that commits the same crime against its own people.
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ONLF is also a member of the broad alliance – AFD. As to be recalled, AFD was formed a year ago with a view to convene an all inclusive conference to seek peaceful solutions to the complex political problems of the country. While each member of the alliance agreed to have its own independent freedom of action (and no one to be responsible for the other), the attack of ONLF on the oil installation constitute a breach of the spirit of the formation of AFD. It is therefore incumbent on the remaining members to distance themselves from the action of ONLF.
Some may hesitate on the relevance of AFD because of the paralysis state of inaction it currently exhibit. Nevertheless, the concept and hope that AFD broadly reflected for a negotiated settlement of Ethiopia’s woes among all its peoples and groups is the only salvation for the country.
Meanwhile, TPLF propaganda machine and its apologists on the web are having a field day by attacking Kinijit (CUDP) on the account of being a member of AFD. By their self serving and twisted logic, Kinijit is ‘implicated’ in the actions of ONLF. Leaving aside the deafening and boring analogy of Meles Zenawi to tie Kinijit with Eritrea’s Shabia, TPLF is now engaged full time in apportioning blame for every atrocity committed as a result of its own direct or indirect repression on the people of Ethiopia.
Kinijit is one among few parties in Ethiopian politics which has fully renounced violence and seek to only struggle peacefully to attain its objectives. Starting from the emperor of violence – TPLF – to various ‘libration fronts’, all have at one stage or another depended on violence as a means of struggle. It is a mere crying of wolf that Meles Zenawi is now labeling Kinijit as ‘violent’. It is just another white lie.
It is Meles Zenawi and his stooges which has now immersed the country into an ever growing list of conflicts. In 1991 when TPLF controlled the country, Meles based his argument for the cessation of Eritrea by saying that ‘peace can only be achieved by answering the demands of the people of Eritrea and TPLF’s objective was transforming Ethiopia into a period of a peaceful era’. What a joke! After sixteen years of TPLF rule the country is now choked with conflicts to its brim. He even has forayed east of the border into Somalia. His one track mind for solving a conflict by igniting another has led a poor country to the state of imminent chaos that will be unfolding if he goes unchallenged. Would any one be surprised if another war breaks out with Eritrea or for that matter even with Sudan? You can’t help wondering who he is working for. Certainly not for Ethiopians – especially not for Tigreans despite his claim.
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Ethiopia - Rebels deny any role in grenade attack in eastern Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: An Ethiopian rebel group denied on Saturday any role in a grenade attack in eastern Ethiopia that killed one person at the home of a family mourning a relative killed in a rebel attack earlier this week.
On Friday, government spokesman Zemedkun Tekle said that the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front was responsible for the grenade attack in the eastern Ethiopian town of Jijiga, some 700 kilometers (435 miles) east of the capital, Addis Ababa.
The accusation "has no basis in reality," the Ogaden National Liberation Front said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. "We wish to make clear that it is the policy of the ONLF not to deliberately harm civilians or carry out military operations targeting civilians."
The rebel group claimed that the Thursday grenade attack stemmed from a dispute between soldiers of two tribes, but they did not give details about what the dispute was.
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Device explodes in Jijiga, killing 1
The front had claimed responsibility for an attack on a Chinese-owned oil exploration field in eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday, killing 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese. The group said in a statement sent to media organizations that six other Chinese workers "were removed from the battlefield for their own safety."
The Ethiopian rebels promised on Friday to work with the Red Cross to return the six as soon as possible but said that government military operations placed the workers in danger.
The group said it would resume fighting after the Chinese workers were transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Patrick Megevand, a spokesman for the Red Cross, declined to discuss the case. Two Ethiopian government spokesmen also declined to comment.
Sun Qing, a spokeswoman at the Chinese embassy in Addis Ababa, would not discuss efforts to gain the release of the Chinese workers.
The rebels said again that no foreign company should try to work in the Ogaden region, a large state along the Somali border. The group says it is fighting for the region's right to self-determination.
The Chinese government has condemned Tuesday's attack and rejected the group's warning.
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Woman strikes plea deal in death of man burned on San Jose sidewalk
By Rodney Foo
Mercury News
It was a gruesome discovery. A body dumped on a West San Jose sidewalk and flames devouring the corpse.
But the immolation wasn't the cause of 29-year-old Ghrimay "Jimmy" Frezghi's death. The coroner determined Frezghi had been stabbed to death before he was set on fire more than two years ago.
This morning, Rosiland Marie Payne - a 33-year-old woman who shared a Thanksgiving Day dinner with Frezghi's family and had attended his funeral - appeared in court and pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter.
Payne's conviction was the result of a plea bargain that will net her an 11-year state prison sentence. She is formally scheduled to be sentenced on June 15.
The deal was assailed by Frezghi's family and friends who said they were not consulted by prosecutors before a deal was made. They say Payne deserves a longer sentence and they wonder why she killed Frezghi and if there were accomplices.
"The reason we want this to go to trial is to know what happened," said the victim's sister, Weyni Frezghi.
She and her family and friends say two others may have had a role in her brother's death or helped Payne dump his body.
Read complete article from San Jose Mercury News
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Brazen Daytime Robbery And Shooting at Flamingo Ethiopian restaurant in DC
Video: Nancy Yamada Reports (Channel 9 News DC)
WSAHINGTON, DC (WUSA)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- An Employee of Ethiopian Restaurant in DC shot
- Flamingo Restaurant is located in the 1100 block of V Street in Northwest DC
- Employee remains in critical but stable condition
- Ethiopian Business owners worry that they are being targeted
- Police believe robbery was the motive of a day-time shooting at an Ethiopian restaurant on the 1100 block of V Street in Northwest Washington.
File Photo: Ethiopian Restaurants in the U Street corridor in Washington DC.
Shortly after 2pm, investigators say a man walked in, demanding money. After taking a customer's purse and money from the register, police say the suspect opened fire, hitting an employee in the back.
That employee remains in critical but stable condition at Howard University hospital. While the robbery appears to be random, several members of the Ethiopian community told 9NEWS NOW reporter Nancy Yamada, they worry Ethiopian business owners are being targeted.
One block away on U Street, other business owners say they're worried that the petty crimes and increasing violence will scare customers away. Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham says he wants more officers assigned to patrol the area.
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Motive sought in shooting at Ethiopian wedding party in Atlanta [August 2006]
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Ethiopia travel warnings stepped up
Warnings for holidaymakers visiting Ethiopia were stepped up by the government today.
The UK Foreign Office now advises holidaymakers against all travel within 50 kilometres of all of Ethiopia's borders.
"We advise against all travel to areas off the principal roads/towns within 50 kilometres of the border areas with Eritrea because of the risk of landmines. The Ethiopia/Eritrea border remains closed and the situation is very tense and could deteriorate extremely rapidly," the Foreign Office said in a statement.
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It also advises against all travel to the Danakil desert area that is bounded by the Dessie-Adigrat road, the Dessie-Djibouti road and the Ethiopian/Eritrean border, following the kidnapping of tourists that took place in March of this year.
Additionally, all travel to the Gambella Region is advised against as "the situation remains volatile", and border areas off principal roads and towns towards the Sudan and Kenyan border where banditry has increased.
"Armed groups hostile to the government of Ethiopia operate in several areas near the border with Kenya," the Foreign Office warned
Source:
Travel Bite
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A device exploded in an eastern Ethiopia town, killing one person, the government spokesman said Friday
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia: (AP)
The explosion occurred Thursday in the eastern Ethiopia town of Jijiga at the home of an Ethiopian family mourning the death of their relative in a rebel attack earlier this week, said Zemedkun Tekle, the government spokesman. "The terrorists who have done the massacre have done this. This horrible incident has been committed by the ONLF (Ogaden National Liberation Front)," Zemedkun told The Associated Press.
Source: AP
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Recruited in Ethiopia, exploited in Yemen
Radio Netherlands
Photo: Helen Chana who went to Yemen for work RN
A growing number of girls are being recruited in Ethiopia to work as domestic servants in nearby Yemen. Once there, they're often kept locked in the house, and are sometimes subjected to physical, mental and even sexual abuse.
Amsterdam-based anthropologist Marina de Regt has been providing help to Ethiopian women like Helen, whose employment agent beat her with a stick two days after she arrived in Yemen.
Helen Chana is painfully thin. She beams as she tucks into a large plate of food in an Ethiopian restaurant in the centre of the Yemeni capital Sana'a.
Read more from Radio Netherlands
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AAU Students Fume Over Doctors' Action, Food Poison Sends About 90 Students to Hospital - Source
The Daily Monitor
April 27, 2007
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia AAU Students expressed anger on Tuesday after doctors of the Menelik II hospital allegedly took out some parts from the body of a student.
The deceased Ahmed Abdurrahman, a third year physics student from Harar, fainted in class while he was doing a presentation, before he died later.
File Photo: Addis Ababa University Sidist Kilo Campus Photo by ahnd
One of his class mates told The Daily Monitor on conditions of anonymity that, after he died , Ahmed's body was taken to the hospital for autopsy and the doctors there "took his brain, his eyes and his kidneys." "The students demanded that was outrageous, that it was inhuman, and that they wanted those who did this to be brought to justice," the student said.
According to the same source, the University's student community went to the University President's office the same day to demand that those responsible for the inhuman act on their colleague be named and brought to justice.
The students also demanded a guarantee to be given to them that this would not happen again.
One student said he wondered if the same thing happened to the student who died in a shower room two weeks ago, the source said.
Responding to the students' plea, Professor Andreas Eshete, the University's President said, the doctors didn't have any right that allows them to do what they did on the student's body.
Only his parents had the right to decide on their child's body, Andreas told the students adding he heard reports that the doctors had permission from the police,according to the source.
Professor Andreas Said, some food had been sent for examination.
The students have decided to cut classes and not to go to their cafés for a few days.
The source said that from the University President's office, after they with screams and shouting slogans: "You have to replace his body parts!"; "We don't want to bury his skin!" and "We want our rights to be respected!
The students marched down to Arat Kilo intending to submit their complaints to the Prime Minister's Office.
But then, they though to have a film off the body, believing that could serve a strong evidence to file a lawsuit against the "evil acts" on the part of the Medical Doctors at the Menilik Hospital.
In a meeting they held there afterwards, they elected representatives to film the corpse with Dr. Araya, the source said was a lecturer who shared the students' anger over the incidence.
Meanwhile about 90 students of the Sidist Killo Main campus have been admitted to the Black Lion hospital as a result of a supposed food poisoning, another student who also did not want to be named told The Daily Monitor.
He said some students assert that the major symptom was "acute diarrhea".
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Ethiopia says Eritrean troops beat hostages
27 Apr 2007 14:11:05 GMT
Source: Reuters
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia April 27 (Reuters) - Eight Ethiopians were beaten by Eritrean troops during a two-month ordeal after being kidnapped with five Europeans, according to comments published on Friday by Ethiopian state-run media.
Photo: Released hostages arrive in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. (ENA)
The group was abducted on March 1 near the Eritrean border by gunmen who later said they were separatist rebels. Addis Ababa says Asmara masterminded the operation. Eritrea denies it.
"The hostages were beaten by gunmen, who wore Eritrean military uniform, while they were kidnapped," the official Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) said in a report.
One of the hostages told the agency they were subjected to continuous interrogation by Eritrean soldiers and at times threatened with death.
"We were forced to march barefoot for five days and nights after we were kidnapped from the Ethiopian territory of Afar and taken into Eritrea," another hostage, Yonas Mesfin, was quoted as telling ENA.
The eight men were freed on Sunday before being reunited with family and friends in the capital late on Thursday.
The five Europeans -- three British men, an Italian-British woman and a French woman -- were released on March 13.
The expatriates were all linked to the British diplomatic community in Addis Ababa and have declined to discuss their time in captivity on the advice of Britain's Foreign Office.
Tensions are rising between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which fought a 1998-2000 border war in which some 70,000 people were killed.
Experts say the worst fighting for 16 years in Somalia, where Eritrea is accused of arming Islamist rebels against the Ethiopian-backed government, has stoked tempers further.
And Addis Ababa said Asmara was behind guerrillas who raided a Chinese-run Ethiopian oilfield on Tuesday, killing 74 people.
Eritrea denied the accusation and said Ethiopia was seeking to build a case for "a pretext for belligerent action against Eritrea".
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Released Ethiopian hostages arrive in Addis
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 26, 2007 (ENA) - Eight Ethiopians, who have been released recently from Eritrea where they were held for 52 days after being kidnapped by gunmen in an Eritrean government-sponsored act of terrorism arrived in Addis Ababa on Thursday.
Upon arrival at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, the released hostages received warm welcome from families and pertinent bodies.
One of the released hostages, Yonas Mesfin said the hostages suffered from several cruel actions by the kidnappers.
The hostages were forced to travel for five days and nights without shoe to Eritrea after they had been kidnapped in Hamed Illa area, a place in the Afar Regional State very near the Eritrean border.
The prison they were made to stayed in is very hot and uncomfortable, Yonas said.
The Ethiopian hostages were afraid that they might be killed after the release of the European abductees. However, Yonas said, they could be released after 52 days thanks to pressures on the Eritrean government by the government and peoples of Ethiopia.
Hussein Mohammed, another hostage, said his livelihood is based on renting guest house to tourists in Afar State. Some of the European hostages including himself were kidnapped from the house.
The hostages were beaten by gunmen, who wore Eritrean military uniform, while they were kidnapped. The kidnappers were speaking "Tigrigna", he added.
During their stay in prison the officials and soldiers of the Eritrean government had been interrogating each hostage.
Furthermore, the hostages had been threatened by the kidnappers now and then.
Mohamed Ibrahim, another victim, said the mercenaries of Eritrean government kidnapped him while he was sleeping at 3:00 AM.
The hostages stayed in unknown camp and prison, he said, and added that they were treated very badly.
Hadji Ali Nure, 60, one of the elders, who contributed a lot for the release of the hostages, said the kidnapers also detained him while he was negotiating.
All the abductees said they had been treated very badly at the hands of men wearing Eritrean military uniforms.
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Meles, Chinese delegation hold talks
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 26, 2007 (ENA) - Prime Minister Meles Zenawi held talks here on Thursday with a senior delegation of the Chinese government led by Wang Shengwen.
The aim of the visit of the Chinese delegation was to share the empathy of the people and government of China with Ethiopian counterparts over the indiscriminate massacre of innocent civilians of the two countries by anti-peace forces at Abule area in Degehabur zone. In an ambush at the dawn of April 23, terrorists massacred 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese citizens - all civilian workers at an oil exploration project run by a Chinese Company.
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74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
According to a government official who attended the discussion, the delegation said the inhuman massacre committed by the terrorist group would not reduce the age long friendship and economic ties between Ethiopia and China. Ethiopia holds the self-styled Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) for the massacre under orders from the regime in Eritrea. The terrorists also kidnapped seven Chinese and Ethiopian workers of the project.
Prime Minister Meles expressed to the Chinese delegation his government's distress over the appaling act of terror that victimized innocent civilians of the two countries.
Having expressed condolences, Meles assured the delegation of his government's readiness to provide the necessary protection to Chinese citizens assisting in development activities in Ethiopia. Earlier in a relevant press conference, Meles said his government will see to it that the perpetrators would not go unpunished to ensure that such a heinous crime would not happen again.
The perpetrator of the terrorist attack on the Chinese and Ethiopian workers at the petroleum exploration and development project site is the self-styled Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a terrorist wing which is part of the front of destruction led by the Eritrean Government, the Ministry of Information said said in an earlier statement.
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Ethiopia: Ogaden rebels to free Chinese workers soon
A spokesperson for the Ethiopian rebels holding seven Chinese oil workers captured during an attack on a Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia said on Thursday they would release them "as soon as possible"
"They are very well. We are planning to release them to the ICRC (International Committee for the Red Cross), we'll do that as soon possible when the proper arrangements are done," said Abderahmane Mahdi, said.
The situation is very complex because Ethiopia will take any advantage to kill them and to blame us," he told AFP by telephone from London.
It is "a very delicate operation, because Ogaden is a battle zone," he added.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front separatist group claimed responsibility for Tuesday's dawn attack on a Chinese oil venture in Ogaden, where the ONLF is fighting for the independence of ethnic Somalis.
The Chinese embassy in Ethiopia expressed hope on Thursday for the release of the seven Chinese seized in the attack in which 77 people died, including nine Chinese.
Meanwhile Ethiopia has sent an investigation team to the oil site in its remote eastern region.Authorities in Somali region, which includes Ogaden, decreed two days of mourning starting on Thursday in memory of victims of the attack. (AFP)
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 65 Ethiopian workers were killed
- 9 Chinese were killed
- 7 Chinese workers were kidnapped
- ONLF claimed responsibility
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Ethiopia ensnared in Somalia
Some observers see similarities to U.S. in Iraq
By Stephanie McCrummen
The Washington Post
Updated: 2:09 a.m. ET April 27, 2007
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Four months after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi declared his own "war on terror" against an Islamic movement in Somalia, Ethiopia remains entangled in a situation that analysts and critics are comparing to the U.S. experience in Iraq.
Though Meles proclaimed his military mission accomplished in January, thousands of Ethiopian troops remain in the Somali capital, where they have used attack helicopters, tanks and other heavy weapons in a bloody campaign against insurgents that in recent weeks has killed more than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, and forced half of the city's population to flee.
On Thursday, the Ethiopian-backed Somali prime minister, Ali Mohamed Gedi, declared that three weeks of heavy fighting was over, a statement tempered by the mortar blasts that continued to boom in the distance, witnesses said.
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Somali insurgency seen 'broken' [Washington Times]
Allied Ethiopian and Somali government forces have "broken the backbone" of an Islamist insurgency in Somalia and are now engaged in a "mop-up operation,"
Seyoum Mesfin
War in the Horn [The Economist]
Somalia's government says it has crushed Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu, the capital. The reality looks different
Meanwhile, a political crisis seems to be worsening, as the Somali transitional government, steadfastly supported by the United States, faces a swell of criticism for ignoring concerns of the city's dominant Hawiye clan, whose militias form the core of the insurgency and who are motivated not by the ideology of jihad, but power.
An Osama boy or just an ordinary gunman? [AP]
"It's just exactly like the Americans in Iraq,"
"I don't see how this was a victory. It really was a futile exercise."
Beyene Petros
"It's just exactly like the Americans in Iraq," said Beyene Petros, a member of the Ethiopian Parliament and an early critic of the invasion. "I don't see how this was a victory. It really was a futile exercise."
'Decentralized Guantanamo'
The United States, which had accused Somalia's Islamic Courts movement of being hijacked by extremist ideologues, followed Ethiopia's invasion with airstrikes aimed at three suspects in the 1998 American embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, along with certain Islamic Courts leaders accused of having terrorist ties.
Four months later, however, none of those targets has been killed or captured, and the U.S. airstrikes are confirmed to have killed only civilians, livestock and a smattering of Islamic fighters on the run who were never accused of any crime.
More than 200 FBI and CIA agents have set up camp in the Sheraton Hotel here in Ethiopia's capital and have been interrogating dozens of detainees -- including a U.S. citizen -- picked up in Somalia and held without charge and without attorneys in a secret prison somewhere in this city, according to Ethiopian and U.S. officials who say the interrogations are lawful.
U.S. and Ethiopian officials say they have netted valuable information from some of the 41 detainees, who are being brought before a court whose proceedings are closed to the public.
Others have been quietly released, however, and human rights groups are criticizing the joint operation as a kind of "decentralized Guantanamo" in the Horn of Africa .
Ethiopian officials declined to be interviewed on the subject of Somalia, and a general blackout of information about the war prevails in the capital. Opposition members of Parliament complain that they have not been informed how many Ethiopian soldiers have been killed, how much the war is costing per day or how the government is paying for it.
There is also a sense here that while the invasion served Meles's own domestic interests, Ethiopia was also doing a job on behalf of the United States and is being left with a financial and military mess.
Supporters of Meles are mostly playing down the trouble, even as they are scrambling behind the scenes to find a solution. Knife Abraham, a close adviser to the prime minister, described the situation in Mogadishu -- where the bodies of Ethiopian soldiers have been dragged through the streets -- as "a hiccup."
"The victory was swift and decisive," Abraham said. "Now Ethiopia wants to stabilize the situation and get out."
But it remains unclear how Ethiopia will manage to do that while preserving Somalia's fragile transitional government and preventing more violence.
"The military victory was not complemented by a political victory," said Medhane Tadesse, an occasional adviser to the Ethiopian government who initially supported the invasion. "Long-term stability in Somalia requires a long-term social strategy, but Ethiopia and the U.S. only had a military strategy."
Ideological or monetary motivation?
Privately, diplomats in the region say the main problem for Meles comes down to one man: the president of the Somali transitional government, Abdullahi Yusuf, who has always had close ties to Ethiopia. Although Yusuf promised an inclusive government, he has failed to satisfy key leaders of the Hawiye clan, the historic rivals of Yusuf's Darod clan and the main base of support for the ousted Islamic Courts movement.
While Yusuf and Meles have continued to wage what they call a war against "terrorists," experts and even officials close to Yusuf say the insurgency has been heavily motivated by Hawiye clan business interests rather than ideology.
Yusuf's chief of staff, Adam Hassan, accused Hawiye leaders of trying to "hoodwink" Somalis and foreign diplomats into believing that the Hawiye have been treated unfairly, so they can retain property and land they took over after the 1991 fall of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, who was from Yusuf's Darod clan.
Hawiye leaders said Yusuf wants to assume control of a city they have in many ways administered, and profited from, for years. They said their skepticism of the government has been strengthened by the president, "who labels as 'terrorist' every person or clan who criticizes his policy and clan-style leadership," according to a document outlining their concerns to Ethiopian officials.
One diplomat closely involved in the reconciliation process said Yusuf has refused to meet with Hawiye elders.
In an attempt to breach that gap, Ethiopia has lately been negotiating directly with Hawiye leaders, while the Hawiye seem to be trying to untangle themselves from certain Islamic Courts figures in an attempt to polish their image. This month, the clan asked two of the more extreme Islamic leaders to leave Mogadishu, saying they were a liability.
While the extremist element was always a factor in the Islamic movement, the notion of waging a "war on terror" in Somalia was always an oversimplification of a more complex situation, said Tadesse, the adviser to the Ethiopian government .
The Islamic movement was diverse, made up of extremist military commanders vowing holy war against Ethiopia and moderate leaders, including one, Ibrahim Addow, who taught at American University and holds a U.S. passport.
It was also always fundamentally a Hawiye movement, and Somalis tend to be loyal to clan above all.
Ethiopia, U.S. made a mistake?
Ethiopia and the United States made a mistake, Tadesse and other critics say, by throwing their support entirely behind the transitional government in the name of fighting a terrorist threat that involved just a few individuals, and at the expense of alienating the Hawiye.
This month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer flew to Somalia in a show of U.S. support for Yusuf's government, a move that further infuriated Hawiye leaders.
Frazer has expressed "concern" for civilians but has offered no public criticism of the transitional government or of Ethiopia for using attack helicopters and other heavy weapons against civilian neighborhoods that have been reduced to ruins.
In his news conference Thursday, the Somali prime minister, Gedi, invited more than 300,000 residents who have fled the city in recent weeks to return to the broken seaside capital, where certain neighborhoods have lately acquired new nicknames.
In an allusion to sectarian violence engulfing Baghdad, residents now call the north part of the city Shiite and the south Sunni.
Gedi said that most of the fighting had ended and that Ethiopian and Somali government troops were merely clearing out the remaining "pockets" of resistance.
But Mohamud Uluso, a prominent leader of a Hawiye sub-clan called the Ayr, said that despite Gedi's declaration, fighting will most likely continue.
"What is worrying for Somalis and the international community now is the possibility of what happened in Iraq," he said. "The fighting was under the control of the Hawiye leadership committee, but once that control disintegrates, then there will be underground leadership. You don't know who or where they are."
Special correspondent Mohamed Ibrahim in Mogadishu contributed to this report.
----------------------
Timeline: Ethiopia and Somalia
- 1991 Somalia descends into civil war between rival clan warlords
- July 21 2006 The Islamic court leadership orders a "holy war" against Ethiopians in Somalia.
- October 25 2006 Ethiopian Prime Minster Meles Zenawi says Ethiopia is "technically at war" with the UIC.
- December 19 2006 Deadline for Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia or face a "major attack" expires.
- December 25 2006 Ethiopian aircraft bomb Mogadishu airport.
- December 28 2006 Mogadishu Captured
- April 26 2007 Ethiopian forces seize insurgent strongholds in Mogadishu
Source: BBC News and Wire Reports
For more on Somalia Ethiopia conflict check nazret.com Special Section on Somalia
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War in the Horn It just gets worse
Apr 26th 2007 | ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
War again, holy and unholy
From Economist.com
Somalia's government says it has crushed Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu, the capital. The reality looks different
THE UN says that at least 340,000 Somalis have fled their capital, Mogadishu, in the recent weeks of fighting there. Thousands more are trapped along the frontlines inside the city, under fire, packed in with rotting corpses, and unable to find a way out. At least 1,300 have been killed so far this month, most of them civilians. Ethiopian artillery has demolished chunks of the already rubble-strewn city. On Thursday April 26th, after the heaviest fighting yet, Somalia’s prime minister, Mohamed Ghedi, said that an Islamist-inspired insurgency is almost squashed. The reality may be rather different.
The Somali transitional government, backed by Ethiopia, says it is in a do-or-die struggle with al-Qaeda. A few more days of shelling, it says, and it will have the upper hand. But the insurgents are getting stronger, striking with machinegunners, snipers and suicide-bombers, then melting back into their communities. A contingent of 1,000-plus Ugandan peacekeepers under African Union command has remained impotently confined to barracks.
Most of the displaced civilians are encamped on Mogadishu’s outskirts, where the scenes are medieval. People lack water, food and shelter. Cholera has broken out. The sick sometimes have to pay rent even to sit in the shade of trees. Things will get worse with the rains, which have started. Aid agencies say people will soon start dying in large numbers. Some reckon Somalia is facing its biggest humanitarian crisis, worse than in the early 1990s, when the state collapsed amid famine and slaughter.
Related Links
Ethiopian forces seize insurgent strongholds in Mogadishu (AFP)
Somali insurgency seen 'broken' (The Washington Times)
The Rise and Fall of Mogadishu’s Islamic Courts [Chatham House]
This new briefing paper, by Cedric Barnes of SOAS and Harun Hassan of the Somali Media Centre, explains the full context of the rise to power and eventual fall of the Islamic Courts of Mogadishu. It argues that the external intervention has destroyed stability, particularly in Mogadishu.
An Osama boy or just an ordinary gunman? [AP]
An additional worry this time is that Somalia may be drawn into the international jihad. Somali Islamists are getting training and arms from Eritrea, which wants to fight a proxy war with Ethiopia in Somalia, and money from Arabs in the Middle East. Radical Muslims around the world are likely to blame supposedly Christian Ethiopia and America for the mayhem in Mogadishu. That ignores the fact that the Ethiopians were invited in by a Muslim Somali government and have been longing to leave ever since.
America can be more heavily criticised for subordinating Somali interests to its own desire to catch a handful of al-Qaeda men who may (or may not) have been hiding in Mogadishu. None has been caught, many innocents have died in air strikes, and anti-American feeling has deepened. Western, especially European, diplomats watching Somalia from Nairobi, the capital of Kenya to the south, have sounded the alarm. Their governments have done little.
That reflects a feeling of fatigue among outsiders who have been trying for years to persuade the Somalis to negotiate a new deal for themselves. The officially-recognised but feeble Somali transitional government, the elders of the Hawiye clan (the main one in Mogadishu) and various prominent members of the far-flung Somali diaspora have all failed to accommodate each other and are largely responsible for the present fighting.
The Somali government has been particularly weak. It has used the latest offensive partly to settle scores with its enemies. Its description of the insurgents as al-Qaeda is self-serving. In reality, they include disaffected Hawiye people, profiteers, and nationalists who cannot bear having Ethiopians on Somali soil. There may be a few hundred jihadist fighters and perhaps a dozen or so who can properly be classified as al-Qaeda. But the government’s failure to make concessions to the Hawiye raises al-Qaeda’s hope that Somalia may become a hub of instability and a new front in a holy war against Ethiopia—and the West. A ceasefire proposed by America looks unlikely to take hold. A national reconciliation conference has been put off until the summer. Ferocious fighting between clans has broken out in Kismayo, a southern port. More Somalis, trying desperately to reach Yemen across the Red Sea in small boats, are being drowned off Somalia’s northern coast.
This is all bad for Ethiopia. Morale among its troops is dropping; some have deserted. Another war with Eritrea is in the offing, along with terrorism by separatist and Islamist groups at home. The insurgency in Mogadishu has pepped up the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an ethnic-Somali group fighting for the autonomy of the Ogaden region, in eastern Ethiopia; this week it attacked a Chinese oil-exploration facility in the desert there, killing some 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese, apparently with help from Eritrean intelligence.
In sum, the entire Horn of Africa is back on edge.
-------------------
Timeline: Ethiopia and Somalia
- 1991 Somalia descends into civil war between rival clan warlords
- July 21 2006 The Islamic court leadership orders a "holy war" against Ethiopians in Somalia.
- October 25 2006 Ethiopian Prime Minster Meles Zenawi says Ethiopia is "technically at war" with the UIC.
- December 19 2006 Deadline for Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia or face a "major attack" expires.
- December 25 2006 Ethiopian aircraft bomb Mogadishu airport.
- December 28 2006 Mogadishu Captured
- April 26 2007 Ethiopian forces seize insurgent strongholds in Mogadishu
Source: BBC News and Wire Reports
For more on Somalia Ethiopia conflict check nazret.com Special Section on Somalia
Ethiopia rebels want to hand over Chinese hostages
26 Apr 2007 13:24:54 GMT
By Andrew Heavens and Tsegaye Tadesse
ADDIS ABABA,ETHIOPIA April 26 (Reuters) - Ethiopian rebels who killed 74 people and seized seven Chinese workers in a raid on an oilfield said on Thursday they had no plans to hold the hostages or to attack other foreign companies.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 65 Ethiopian workers were killed
- 9 Chinese were killed
- 7 Chinese workers were kidnapped
- ONLF claimed responsibility
- Ethiopia blamed Eritrea
- Rebels want to hand over Chinese hostages
A London-based spokesman of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) said the group had warned investors the area was a war zone and that it expected the conflict to escalate.
"We have no new plans to attack foreign companies at the moment," Abdirahman Mohammed Mahdi told Reuters by telephone.
"But our general policy is that foreigners are not allowed to explore for oil or gas in the Ogaden. Any company which does that will be responsible for what happens."
The separatist rebels, who have been fighting the government since 1984, stormed the oilfield in Ethiopia's barren southeast region on Tuesday, killing 65 locals and 9 Chinese in one of the worst attacks yet on Beijing's growing interests in Africa.
Mahdi said the ONLF was "terribly sorry" for the deaths of the Chinese, who he said were caught in the crossfire during a mission the guerrillas had planned for six months. And he said the group was trying to return the seven Chinese it had seized.
"We do not consider them hostages. We took them away for their own safety. We are trying to contact the appropriate authorities, the Red Cross or whoever, to return them," he said.
ARMY THREATENED
He warned the military against launching a rescue mission.
"They will be responsible for any debacle that happens," Mahdi said. "That would be a most foolish thing to do."
The ONLF has repeatedly told energy companies they will not allow oil and gas exploration in the area as long as the Ogaden people are "denied their rights to self-determination".
Last year it told a state-run Indian company vying for a gas concession to drop its plans.
Related Links
74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
Mahdi said the rebels had captured lots of weapons in recent operations against Ethiopian troops and he expected the fighting in Ogaden to intensify as the military retaliated.
"We control the countryside ... Ethiopian army camps will be attacked wherever they are," he said.
China has condemned the killings of staff working for Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, part of the larger China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec).
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said China had sent foreign and commerce ministry officials as well as Sinopec representatives to the Horn of Africa nation.
Chinese diplomats were also helping efforts to secure the release of the kidnapped staff, he said, adding that China was evaluating the safety of its workers overseas.
Ethiopia renewed its vow to hunt down the rebels it says are "terrorists" backed by its arch-foe and regional rival Eritrea.
Asmara denies the allegations and accuses Addis Ababa of trying to divert attention from the two nations' border dispute.
"The defence forces are in hot pursuit to apprehend ONLF criminals who committed this heinous crime," Ethiopian Foreign Affairs spokesman Ambassador Soloman Abebe told Reuters.
"We will bring them to justice." (Additional reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing)
--------------------
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Timeline: Ethiopia and Somalia
- 1991 Somalia descends into civil war between rival clan warlords
- July 21 2006 The Islamic court leadership orders a "holy war" against Ethiopians in Somalia.
- October 25 2006 Ethiopian Prime Minster Meles Zenawi says Ethiopia is "technically at war" with the UIC.
- December 19 2006 Deadline for Ethiopian troops to leave Somalia or face a "major attack" expires.
- December 25 2006 Ethiopian aircraft bomb Mogadishu airport.
- December 28 2006 Mogadishu Captured
- April 26 2007 Ethiopian forces seize insurgent strongholds in Mogadishu
Source: BBC News and Wire Reports
For more on Somalia Ethiopia conflict check nazret.com Special Section on Somalia
Ethiopian forces seize insurgent strongholds in Mogadishu
By Mustafa Haji Abdinur
(AFP) Ethiopian forces have seized control of insurgent strongholds in northern Mogadishu after some of the heaviest fighting in the city's history, the Somali prime minister said Thursday.
"We have nearly concluded the fighting in Mogadishu against Al-Qaeda insurgents and we are now chasing them away," Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi told a news conference.
"We hope to completely conclude the war tomorrow, and government forces will secure the capital," Gedi said while calling on the militias to surrender.
US-backed Ethiopian troops entered Somalia last year to help the weak Somali government drive out an Islamist movement accused by many of harbouring Al-Qaeda members. They took control of central and southern Somalia at the start of the year but have since been battling escalating insurgent attacks.
The seizure of insurgent positions gave the Ethiopians the upper hand in the latest nine-day-old battle, which has claimed several hundred lives and displaced up to 400,000 people.
Related Links
Somali insurgency seen 'broken'
Allied Ethiopian and Somali government forces have "broken the backbone" of an Islamist insurgency in Somalia and are now engaged in a "mop-up operation,"
Seyoum Mesfin
War in the Horn [The Economist]
Somalia's government says it has crushed Islamist insurgents in Mogadishu, the capital. The reality looks different
Residents said Ethiopian forces had taken control of northern Mogadishu's main Balad checkpoint, a vital supply line for insurgent enclaves in the city.
"We saw more than 10 tanks and infantry troops pouring into northern Mogadishu this morning," said Mohamed Jeele, a resident of Suuqahoola area.
"I believe the Ethiopian forces broke insurgent positions in Tawfiq and Ramadan areas and then moved further north," he added.
Residents said the insurgents had halted face-to-face battles and were believed to be regrouping in several residential areas devastated by the clashes.
Ethiopian forces carried out sporadic shelling on rival positions after heavy shelling and mortar fire earlier in the day, setting buildings ablaze.
At least six civilians were killed in northern neighbourhoods in some of the heaviest fighting so far, residents said.
"I have seen the bodies of three civilians killed by stray bullets in Tawfiq," said witness Abdullahi Ali Mohamed, trapped in the area.
Three other civilians were killed when a shell hit a passenger van in Suuqahoola, said witness Idle Abdi.
On Thursday Ethiopia rejected allegations from human rights groups that its troops were targeting civilians, saying they had "taken every possible precaution to avoid or minimize civilian loss of life and civilian casualties."
"Ethiopian troops have never deliberately or knowingly targeted civilians, despite the current operational difficulties," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Local human rights workers monitoring the toll say at least 329 people, mostly civilians and insurgents, have been killed in the latest clashes that come around three weeks after similar battles claimed at least 1,000 lives.
Mogadishu doctors have appealed for medical supplies for the wounded from some of the heaviest clashes in Mogadishu since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Meanwhile, on Thursday the UN World Food Programmes started distributing 321,000 metric tonnes of food to displaced people in six areas between Mogadishu and Afgoye, near the capital, an official told AFP.
"We're giving each individual a sack of maize and three litres of cooking oil and porridge flour. This food is intended to feed 32,000 people who fled Mogadishu," the official said.
Many of the city's tens of thousands of displaced people are camped in the capital's outskirts, facing disease outbreaks and without sufficient water, food and medicine, according to aid workers.
A London-based foreign affairs think-tank warned Wednesday that the Islamic Courts Union rulers, who controlled south and central Somalia for six months last year, were likely to rise again.
"Genuine multilateral concern to support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Somalia has been hijacked by unilateral actions of other international actors -- especially Ethiopia and the United States -- following their own foreign policy agendas," the report from the Chatham House thinktank said.
--------------
Also
Somalia says it has defeated insurgents
By SALAD DUHUL, Associated Press Writer
Somalia's prime minister claimed victory Thursday over Islamic insurgents in Mogadishu, where nine days of battles using tanks and artillery left hundreds dead.
Western diplomats were skeptical of the claim. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of damaging relations with Somalia's interim government, said the insurgents had suffered many casualties and were running low on ammunition, but were not yet defeated.
Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said government forces and their Ethiopian allies had captured an insurgent stronghold in the northern part of the capital and that more than 100 fighters had surrendered. He said the city should be secure by Friday.
"We have won the fighting against the insurgents," Gedi told The Associated Press by telephone from Mogadishu, saying that small, mopping-up operations were still under way. "The worst of the fighting in the city is now over."
Machine gun and artillery fire could still be heard in the south of Mogadishu, a coastal city of 2 million people. An estimated 340,000 Somalis have fled the city's worst fighting in 15 years.
"People can now return to their homes," Gedi said. "The rest of the fighting will be over soon. We have captured the stronghold of the terrorists. We will capture any terrorists who have escaped."
The insurgents are linked to the Council of Islamic Courts, which was driven from power in December by Somali and Ethiopian soldiers, accompanied by U.S. special forces. The U.S. has accused the courts of having ties to al-Qaida.
The militants reject any secular government, and have sworn to fight until Somalia becomes an Islamic emirate.
Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then battled each other. A national government was established in 2004 with U.N. help, but it has failed to assert any real control.
----------------------------
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Somali insurgency seen 'broken'
By David R. Sands
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
April 26, 2007
Allied Ethiopian and Somali government forces have "broken the backbone" of an Islamist insurgency in Somalia and are now engaged in a "mop-up operation," despite the recent surge in fighting on the streets of Mogadishu, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin said in an interview this week.
The minister's upbeat assessment was in stark contrast to recent statements by United Nations humanitarian officials and private analysts, who say the new fighting poses a severe challenge to the Ethiopian-backed Somalia interim government still struggling to establish its authority.
Mr. Mesfin, who met with top Bush administration officials and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a U.S. visit this week, said the Ethiopian troops now in Somalia could return home "within weeks" if a promised 8,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force fully deploys to assist the struggling transitional government in Mogadishu.
"We certainly want to withdraw at the earliest possible time, but we have to be responsible about it," Mr. Mesfin told The Washington Times on Tuesday. "We cannot leave behind a security vacuum that the terrorists can fill."
Ethiopian forces crossed the border into Somalia in December to oust the Islamic Courts Council, a shadowy fundamentalist group that had proclaimed its intention to transform Somalia into a strict Muslim state. U.S. and Ethiopian officials said leaders of the Islamist movement had ties to al Qaeda, seen as a growing threat throughout the Horn of Africa.
Regrouping insurgent forces and clan militias have battled Ethiopian and government forces on the streets of the capital, and some say Ethiopia risks being dragged into the kind of clan and religious warfare that have left Somalia a classic "failed state" for more than 15 years.
More than 300 people, mostly civilians, have died in renewed fighting just over the past eight days, and Ethiopian tank and artillery crews pounded enemy position in downtown Mogadishu again yesterday. The United Nations has warned that Somalia already faces a massive refugee and humanitarian crisis because of the fighting.
A pair of car bomb attacks that targeted Ethiopian forces and a Mogadishu hotel used by government lawmakers killed seven persons Tuesday. A shadowy militant Islamist group calling itself the "Young Mujahedeen Movement," which has links to the top al Qaeda leader in Somalia, said it carried out the strikes.
In the interview, Mr. Mesfin maintained that virtually all of the violence is coming from just two districts in the capital. The high-profile shelling by rebels of the airport and government buildings obscures the fact that the rest of the country "is entirely peaceful."
"We have not entirely destroyed the terrorist threat, but the turnaround has been remarkable," he said. "The information I have just received from our commanders is that in the latest wave of fighting we have broken the backbone of the insurgency and now are engaged in a mop-up operation."
The foreign minister also voiced support for the beleaguered "transitional federal government" of Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf. After some early missteps, the transitional administration is now reaching out to political opponents -- in particular the powerful Hawiye clan -- in a bid to forge a representative national government, Mr. Mesfin said.
"I think they are very aware of the criticisms they heard about the need to be inclusive," Mr. Mesfin said, pointing to a planned national reconciliation congress now set to be held in June.
The Bush administration has quietly supported Ethiopia's military mission in Somalia, offering logistical aid to African nations who have pledged troops for the peacekeeping mission there. Just 1,200 Ugandan troops have been deployed to date.
Mr. Mesfin, who met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley during his Washington visit, said bilateral relations are strong. Ethiopia has emerged as a key partner in the U.S. global war on terrorism, bolstered by the creation of a Pentagon joint task force focused on the Horn of Africa.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
----------------------
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Did you know?
"China was Ethiopia's largest trading partner in 2006, with $450 million in exchanges. Chinese firms have invested more than $70 million in Ethiopia, and Beijing has provided road and school construction aid."
Source: The Washington PostHave your Say about China's trade with Ethiopia!
Read the T&Cbefore posting. This section is about business, so your comment must be relevant to this topic. Unrelated comments will not be published. Discuss the pros and cons of trade with China, whether you support China's economic engagement with the current government in Ethiopia
Chinese push into Africa won't be derailed by deadly attack in Ethiopia
BEIJING -- China voiced outrage on Wednesday over a rebel attack in Ethiopia that killed nine Chinese oil workers, but the assault -- which also cost the lives of 65 Ethiopians -- was unlikely to dim Beijing's interest in the resource-rich African continent.
More than 200 rebel fighters stormed a Chinese-run oil field in eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday, destroying an exploration facility, killing 74 people, and kidnapping seven Chinese. The rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front claimed responsibility.
"There is no way we would stay away from Africa due to the fear of risk,"
a Sinopec spokesman said on routine condition of anonymity.
China's Foreign Ministry condemned the raid, the deadliest in a string of assaults on Chinese in Africa, calling it "an atrocious armed attack." The embassy in Addis Ababa said efforts were being made to rescue the hostages and that remaining Chinese staff were being evacuated.
The shootings underline the risks that big oil companies face when drilling for oil in Africa even when they have the support of the host country. China has used soft loans and aid to woo African governments and secure greater access for its state-owned oil giants to valuable oil assets.
Oil imports from Africa are highly prized by Beijing because they help to reduce China's reliance on crude oil from the instability-prone Middle East.
Sinopec, the state-owned parent company of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, which operates the oil field targeted in Ethiopia, said it was undeterred by the attack.
"There is no way we would stay away from Africa due to the fear of risk," a Sinopec spokesman said on routine condition of anonymity.
"This is not a game for us. We will try to improve security in the future, but there is no way we will withdraw from our projects there," he said.
The attack was also unlikely to prompt divestment of other Chinese interests in Africa but may force Beijing into a deeper level of engagement with its African trading partners, analysts said.
Related Links
74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
"This incident will not have a major influence on China's investment in Africa," said Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing.
"It's possible that China may use its influence and business leverage to make the African governments offer more effective protection of China's economic interests," he added.
Chinese companies have expanded their presence in Africa despite simmering anger among some Africans over cheap Chinese goods that are undercutting their local industries and the perception that Beijing's attention is a neocolonial resource grab.
China calls the relationship a "win-win" partnership and rejects accusations of colonialism. The government has taken pains to emphasize respect for its African trade partners, sending frequent high-level delegations on tours of the region. Chinese President Hu Jintao has gone twice in the past two years, emphasizing a blend of trade and aid.
Beijing has, however, resisted using its leverage in the past to lean on governments like Sudan.
As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China has been accused of turning a blind eye to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, which erupted in 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of neglect.
China buys two-thirds of Sudan's oil exports and sells the African country weapons and military aircraft.
But if China's business interests and citizens in Africa are increasingly caught in the crossfire of homegrown disputes, Beijing may be pushed into a more active role in the continent's political affairs, said June Teufel Dreyer, a professor of Political Science at the University of Miami.
"I think they have never been uninvolved but this is a good reason to nudge them forward to more involvement," she said.
The attack Tuesday was the first against a foreign company in Ethiopia but one of a string of attacks against Chinese this year in other parts of Africa. Sixteen Chinese nationals were kidnapped in Nigeria this year in three separate incidents, while in January, gunmen in Kenya killed one Chinese engineer and injured another working on a highway project.
"The stakes are too high for them" to be scared away from doing business in Africa, said Teufel Dreyer. "They need energy, they need markets and there are places there for Chinese merchants."
Trade between China and Africa has soared fourfold this decade, to US$40 billion in 2005. But Beijing has also become a major supplier of aid, last year announcing US$10 billion in assistance from 2006 to 2009. (AP)
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Opinion: Tragedy in Ethiopia Somali Region
By Tedla Asfaw
Yesterday's massacre of 74 Ethiopians and Chinese
nationals in the Somali region of Ethiopia should not
be surprising after the invasion of Somalia and the on
going human tragedy there.
The boarder region between Ethiopia and Somalia is a
nomadic zone and that mixed up with natural resources
exploration by outsiders is dangerous when you bring
an army to displace the nomads from their grazing
lands.
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Melese Zenawi on his parliament speech last month and
previously declared Ogaden National Liberation
Movement(ONLF),the local Somali rebel movement as
terrorist to be dealt with and we know the fight in
that part of the area has been going on and off for
many years under the name of different movements some
local Somalis and outsiders.
Before the Somalia invasion by Melese Zenawi ONLF has
warned that its territories will not be used for the
Somalia aggression and their representative in London
had also told the Western media that they have good
understanding with the USA forces in the area.
To their credit they did not attack foreign nationals
in that area until yesterday's massacre and I wonder
if the USA intelligence were aware of the coming of
such attack.
ONLF did not want to be labeled as anti-West for its
own recognition in the future and by killing Chinese
nationals in yesterday's operation has surely angered
the Chinese and there will be a future price to pay
for it.
The Ethiopian regime care less for the consequences
when it embarked on its futile mission to "liberate"
Mogadishu from the Islamists and Melese Zenawi and his
parliament who were boasting of crushing the gathering
threat in Mogadishu rather succeeded in spreading the
threat.
The Ogaden problem has been with us for many years and
has been the rallying cry also for the Greater Somalia
and led to wars between Ethiopia and Somalia supported
by the West and East block then.
The 1970s invasion of Ethiopia by Somalia coasted us
many lives and properties and the Ogaden Somalis paid
a high price for being a battle zone.
This misfortune is now replicating in Mogadishu with
thousands lives lost and fleeing of close to half a
million people from Mogadishu and many Ethiopians who
lived in Harar thirty years ago faced the same
situation when the invading army of Barre bombarded
and controlled large parts of Harar.
To its credit ONLF formed an alliance with other
opposition movements and formed AFD to resolve their
legitimate grievances peacefully and Ethiopians will
be delighted to see the fruit of such alliance in this
difficult time.
Other Ethiopian opposition parties which are not
members of AFD should stop acting as news agencies and
analysts and be involved in their own to change the
political dynamics for the benefit of our people.
-------------------------
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Washington Update
Rep. Donald Payne introduced Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007
Posted on April 25, 2007
By Mesfin Mekonen
1. Congress.
Rep. Donald Payne introduced the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007 on April 20. The bill essentially the same as HR 5680 that Rep. Chris Smith wrote and introduced last year. The primary differences are: 1) the “findings” have been updated to include language from the State Department’s human rights report that describes outrages the Meles regime has inflicted on members of the opposition, including unlawful killings, beatings, and arrests. 2) the findings describe the results of an investigation by the Commission of Inquiry that the Meles regime created to investigate the use of force by government security forces. Although the Commission was hand picked by the government, it concluded that government security forces acted illegally and with extreme brutality. 3) Makes U.S. non-humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia contingent on punishment of security personnel who were involved in the unlawful killing of demonstrators. The bill specifically mentions Etenesh Yemam and the killing of prisoners at Kaliti prison. 4) The section on economic development assistance for Ethiopia has been expanded. It specifies that the U.S. government is to provide financial assistance for the development of irrigation to avoid future famines, including funds for the Blue Nile and Awash River. It also directs the U.S. to support Ethiopia’s healthcare infrastructure. 5) The bill authorizes the expenditre of $20 million per year for fiscal years 2008 and 2009 to accomplish its goals. 6) Language in the previous version of the bill that provided assistance for development of Ethiopia’s tax collection system, debt management and other financial infrastructure has been deleted.
This legislation may not be perfect, but its enactment would be a tremendous benefit to Ethiopia. We should have an initial list of co-sponsors very soon. Once we have the list we will know who should be thanked for their support and especially who should be contacted to solicit support.
We have spoken with Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) and he has indicated that he will co-sponsor the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007. He was a co-sponsor of HR 5680.
At this point it is important for every Ethiopian in the U.S. to contact Rep. Payne’s office to thank him for introducing the legislation and to urge him to push hard for its rapid enactment. It is also important to acknowledge Rep. Smith’s efforts and to ensure that this remains a bipartisan issue. Especially when this legislation moves to the Senate, bipartisan support will be critical. The Meles regime is certain to look for cracks that it can exploit to block the bill. We need to create and maintain a united front. There is no reason that Ethiopian human rights, freedom, democracy and economic development should be a partisan issue in the United States.
2. State Department
U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia, Donald Yamamoto, has helped arrange for a physician to travel from South Africa to Addis Ababa to treat Hailu Shawel, who remains in prison. We are hoping that he and all political prisoners will be released quickly.
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MEDIA CRITICISM:
The Lies of the Times: NYT Pushes Bush Line on Somalia
By Chris Floyd
The New York Times has finally deigned to bestow prominent notice on the Bush Administration's third on-going "regime change" operation, its blood-soaked proxy war in Somalia. But it should come as no surprise that today's front page piece by Jeffrey Gettleman (People Who Feed Off Anarchy in Somalia Are Quick to Fuel It) is riddled with the same kind of slavish spin, artful omissions and outright lies that the paper produced in those glorious Judy Miller days of yore before the invasion of Iraq. One can only hope that Gettleman submits an invoice to the White House, to get his rightful due for this remarkable piece of government propaganda. For the story is permeated with the Bushist ethos: blame the victims, bury the truth, and smear all those who oppose the Leader's will.
The theme of Gettleman's piece is that resistance to the U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia is being led by a bunch of greedy gangsters grown fat on the anarchy that has plagued the land for more than 15 years. What's more, this chaotic gangsterism is evidently a national trait of Somalis, who are possessed of a "raw antigovernment defiance" that is solely responsible for the collapse of the nation, and is making it hard even for the entirely benevolent Bush Administration to do anything for them. For as Gettleman ominously notes, "many Somalis...will never go along with any program." Obviously then, the only way to tame these savages is by brute force -- such as the artillery and tank fire that the Ethiopian invaders and their native warlord allies are raining down on residential areas in Mogadishu even as we speak, killing at least 350 people in the last week -- and 29 civilians just yesterday, as the BBC reports, but which Gettleman politely declines to mention in his piece.
Read complete article here
Also visit Chris Floy'd website for more
Have Your Say
Ethiopia facing results of its Somalia adventure
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 65 Ethiopian workers were killed
- 9 Chinese were killed
- 7 Chinese workers were kidnapped
- Terrorist group ONLF claimed responsibility
- Ethiopia blamed Eritrea
As the Somali population of Mogadishu is facing decimation, Somali fighters have taken over the city of Kisimayo. Nonetheless, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said military operations to clean Somalia of Islamist extremists were going well.
Despite reports of wounded dying in streets and shelled homes and of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced, camping in the open without shelter nor emergency supplies, Zenawi insisted that there are "no mass casualties of the type that the so-called human rights organisations have been reporting".
Terrorist photo-op in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 2006.
"I would be very surprised if it were to take us more than a week or two to completely clear Mogadishu", Zenawi added. By now, some 500 thousand residents of Mogadishu have fled, while armed fighters, drawn largely from the huge Hawiye tribe, have flocked into the capital, determined to drive the Ethiopian invaders out.
Related Links
74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
Meanwhile, the destabilizing results of the Ethiopian offensive in Somalia are spreading into Ethiopia itself: the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) claimed responsiblity for a raid carried out in an eastern Ethiopian oil field, where a group of about 200 guerrilla fighters massacred 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese in their sleep.
From the beginning of its Somalian adventure on 31st December last year, Ethiopia had been warned that any prolongued military presence in Somalia would have sent a message of incitement to the Ogaden tribes in Ethiopia, who are closely linked to Somali tribes on the other side of the border. Meles Zenawi immediately blamed the Eritrean government of being behind the ONLF's actions.
Source: Arabmonitor
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Ethiopia hunts for seized Chinese oil workers
By Andrew Heavens and Tsegaye Tadesse
April 25, 2007
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (Reuters) - Ethiopian troops searched on Wednesday for seven Chinese and Ethiopian workers kidnapped in a rebel attack on an oilfield that killed 74 people in a remote and barren southeastern region.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 65 Ethiopian workers were killed
- 9 Chinese were killed
- 7 Chinese workers were kidnapped
- Terrorist group ONLF claimed responsibility
- Ethiopia blamed Eritrea
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), ethnic Somalis fighting for independence since 1984, claimed responsibility for the pre-dawn raid on the Chinese-run field that was one of the worst attacks to date on Beijing's growing interests in Africa.
A herder stands with his cattle over the plains of Ethiopia's remote Somali region, outside the regional capital of Jijiga April 19, 2007. Gunmen killed 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese in their sleep on Tuesday in a pre-dawn raid on an oil field near Jijiga, 390 miles east of the capital Addis Ababa, that Ethiopia blamed on rebels backed by regional foe Eritrea. (REUTERS/Andrew Heavens)
The rebels have repeatedly warned energy companies they will not allow oil and gas exploration in the area as long as the Ogaden people are "denied their rights to self-determination."
"The Ethiopian government will hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice," Bereket Simon, special adviser to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, told Reuters.
"We have assigned an appropriate force for the task."
Related Links
74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
Ethiopian officials said gunmen killed 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese as they slept at the oilfield about 100 km (60 miles) south of the regional capital Jijiga.
But on its Web site, the ONLF blamed the deaths of a "handful" of Chinese on blasts caused by munitions during a battle they said killed or wounded some 400 Ethiopian soldiers.
It denied abducting Chinese oil workers. "They have been removed from the battlefield for their own safety and are being treated well," the ONLF said in an overnight statement on its highest-profile operation since formation in the mid-1980s.
China's Xinhua news agency said the Chinese staff worked for Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, part of the much larger China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec).
Officials from both companies declined comment.
ANGER IN BEIJING
Beijing "strongly condemned" the attack, which exposed the risks of its drive to use Africa's under-developed energy resources to feed a rapidly growing economy.
African governments have generally welcomed the Chinese push, which comes free of the political conditions often imposed by Western nations. But there is concern in some quarters Beijing may be gaining too much control, treating local labor forces badly and flooding Africa with cheap goods.
Some Chinese oil workers were kidnapped in Nigeria, while Zambians have rioted over pay at a Chinese-owned mine. But the Ethiopian case is believed to be the most serious of its kind.
The bodies of the dead Chinese were due to be flown back to the capital Addis Ababa later on Wednesday.
The latest separatist attack in Ethiopia comes a month after rebels seeking autonomy for its northern Afar region kidnapped five Europeans and eight Ethiopians. Analysts say the unrest in the country's remote corners highlights simmering opposition to centralized rule in Addis Ababa from its many ethnic groups.
Dissent has grown since disputed elections in 2005, with Ethiopia accusing arch-foe Eritrea of fomenting rebellion in the country of 75 million. Asmara denies the charges.
The United Nations has said ONLF and Oromo Liberation Front guerrillas were fighting alongside Islamists in a war with the Ethiopian-backed interim government in neighboring Somalia.
Ethiopia's embassy in London on Wednesday accused the ONLF of links to al Qaeda. "The terrorist network that extends from Asmara to Somalia and beyond has, once again, attacked and killed civilians," its statement added.
Critics say the Ethiopian government, Washington's closest regional ally, routinely dismisses rebels as terrorists to avoid addressing their complaints of neglect and marginalization.
Somalia's deepening crisis had raised tensions in Ogaden.
"There are a lot of sympathizers with the Somali cause," one aid worker told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "Perhaps the ONLF are taking advantage of all the attention on Mogadishu to get some publicity for themselves."
The ONLF was formed after Ethiopia crushed Somali troops trying to regain ethnic Somali areas in a 1977-78 war.
(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing)
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Ethiopia Cast Blame for Oil Attack
By ANITA POWELL
The Associated Press
Wednesday, April 25, 2007; 9:00 AM
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Ethiopia blamed its longtime enemy Eritrea Wednesday for an attack in eastern Ethiopia on a Chinese-owned oil exploration field that killed 74 people. Eritrea issued a swift, angry denial.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 65 Ethiopian workers were killed
- 9 Chinese were killed
- 7 Chinese workers were kidnapped
- Terrorist group ONLF claimed responsibility
- Ethiopia blamed Eritrea
In addition to those killed, at least six Chinese workers and a number of Ethiopians were taken hostage during Tuesday's dawn attack, for which the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front claimed responsibility. The secessionist group formed from Ethiopia's minority Somalis has been linked to neighboring Eritrea.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi spoke during a news conference in Addis Ababa Tuesday.
Andrew Heavens/Reuters
"Hand-in-glove with the Eritrean government, which hates to see Ethiopia's development, the terrorist forces in the region have acted out this horrendous act of terror," Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry stated on its Web site Wednesday.
Related Links
74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
It called on the United Nations to take action against Eritrea.
Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu denied the allegation, saying it was "a habitual nonsense statement" from Ethiopia.
Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea have been strained since Eritrea gained independence from the Addis Ababa government in 1993 following a 30-year guerrilla war. The two countries fought a two-year border war that ended in 2000.
Recently, the two nations have traded accusations over involvement in Somalia. Eritrea is accused of backing an increasingly violent Islamic insurgency fighting Ethiopian troops supporting the Somali government.
Tuesday's attackers "were wearing Eritrean military uniforms," Abdullahi Hassan, president of the region in Ethiopia where the attack occurred, told The Associated Press. "We are sure. They were speaking the Eritrean language."
Hassan said the area of the attack is now under control. The attack took place early Tuesday in Abole, a small town 310 miles east of Addis Ababa in Somali Regional State and close to the Somali border.
Xu Shuang, the general manager of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau's Ethiopia operation, said nine Chinese oil workers and 65 locals were killed and that seven Chinese workers were kidnapped. But the group said it is only holding six Chinese workers.
China condemned the attack, the first against a foreign company in the Horn of Africa nation.
The bodies of the nine slain Chinese workers were being flown to the Ethiopian capital on Wednesday, before being repatriated to China, said Sun Qing, a Chinese embassy spokeswoman. She said negotiations were under way to win the release of the hostages and that all Chinese staff were being evacuated. She had no detail on whether the attackers were wearing Eritrean uniforms.
Ethiopian troops continued their search Wednesday for the rebel group and the hostages.
Tuesday's attack by more than 200 fighters lasted about an hour, and followed a warning the rebel group made last year against any investment in eastern Ethiopia's Ogaden area. The group said in a second statement posted on its Web site that 400 Ethiopian troops were killed or wounded in the attack. It said the Chinese fatalities were caused by explosions caused by munitions during the battle.
The statement added that the oil exploration field was attacked because ethnic Somalis were driven from their land by Ethiopian troops to make way for the facility.
In recent years, the Ogaden National Liberation Front has only made occasional hit-and-run attacks against government troops, making Tuesday's attack its most significant one. It has fought for the secession of the Ogaden region _ an area the size of Britain with 4 million people _ since the early 1990s.
The volatile Somali Regional State, as the Ogaden is known, "is not a safe environment for any oil exploration to occur. We urge all international oil companies to refrain from entering into agreements with the Ethiopian government," the front said in its claim of responsibility sent to the AP.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front described Tuesday's attack as "military operations against units of the Ethiopian armed forces guarding an oil exploration site," in the east of the country.
It did not give any details of casualties, but said they had "wiped out" three Ethiopian military units.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that the attackers fought 100 Ethiopian soldiers protecting the facility in a 50-minute gunbattle.
Ethiopia is not an oil-producing country. But companies such as the Chinese one and Malaysia's state-owned oil giant Petronas have signed exploration deals.
Xinhua said Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau had 157 Chinese and Ethiopian workers at the facility. The company is a division of the giant state-owned China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. that began its operations in Ethiopia in May 2004, according to its Web site. It began work in the volatile Somali Regional State last year.
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Selected comments from nazret.com visitors
"I am not a Woyane supporter. But I am strongly in favour of the oil exploration which is beneficial to the whole of Ethiopia. Thinking that Ogaden will be an independent state is a day dream that will never come true. Ethiopians in the past have fought and shed their blood in order that the people of Ogaden live their nomadic life peacefully untill the emergence of ONLF. Now, with the prospect of oil, the half naked nomads might dress up properly and live a decent life. As for the terrorist act against foreign and civillian workers, the ONLF proved its allegiance to Shabiya and AlQueda. If ONLF has a cause, rest assured, that cause is lost today. One thing is certein. Woyane, to restore its credibility and mend the damage it caused after the election, will do everything at its disposal to wipe the ONLF from the face of the earth.
Of course with no chance for ONLF and its dream of "Ogadenia" to resurface."Choice [A regular visitor of nazret.com ]
Join the conversation.
Ethiopia - Facts about Ethiopia's ONLF rebels
Ethiopia - ONLF is an Islamic terrorist group operating in the Eastern Somali region of Ethiopia. On April 24 2007, the terrorist group carried out an early morning attack on a Chinese operated Ethiopian oilfield and killed 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese workers. The Ethiopian government has blamed Eritrea for playing a role.
Terrorist photo-op in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 2006.
Here are key facts about ONLF:
Source: Reuters
Formed in 1984 amid a resurgence of separatist sentiment in the Ogaden region on Ethiopia's border with Somalia, many of its first members supported Mogadishu in its failed war with Addis Ababa over the region in the late 1970s.
The ONLF's aims have varied over time, ranging from full-scale independence to joining a "Greater Somalia", to more autonomy within ethnically diverse Ethiopia.
* ONLF fighters, who do not wear uniforms, have taken advantage of their close ties to the area's largely nomadic communities, crossing expanses of open land to launch hit-and-run attacks on Ethiopian military convoys. They often melt into villages and hide among herders whenever counter-attacks are threatened.
* The Ogaden region is almost entirely populated by Muslim, Somali-speaking people. The region has kept its own distinctive identity, doing the bulk of its trade with Somaliland, Somalia and the Middle East rather than the rest of "highland" Ethiopia.
* The separatist cause has been fuelled by widespread resentment at the region's low level of development. Until Chinese engineers starting moving in late last year, the entire region could only boast just over 30 km (20 miles) of tarmacked road, all of it around the regional capital Jijiga. The area has also been battered by a succession of severe droughts and floods.
* Formed in 1984 amid a resurgence of separatist sentiment in the Ogaden region on Ethiopia's border with Somalia, many of its first members supported Mogadishu in its failed war with Addis Ababa over the region in the late 1970s.
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China strongly condemns attack on Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 25, 2007 (ENA) - China on Tuesday strongly condemned a violent armed attack on a Chinese oil company site in Ethiopia's Somali state, Xinhua reported.
"The Chinese government strongly condemns this atrocious armed attack, mourns for the Chinese and Ethiopian victims and expresses deep sympathies to their families and those injured in the attack," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao.
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74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
Nine Chinese and a number of Ethiopians working for the company were killed while seven other Chinese were kidnapped in the attack by more than 200 unidentified gunmen, Liu said.
Liu said the Foreign Ministry, the Ministry of Commerce, the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia and the Chinese company have formed an emergency team to deal with the incident.
The Ethiopian government has sent troops reinforcements to the site of the attack, Liu said.
The attack happened at around 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT) on Tuesday on the company's premises, which is located in Abole, a small town in southeast Ethiopia's Somali state.
Terrorist acts would not hamper development efforts: Officials
Mekele, Ethiopia April 25, 2007 (ENA) - The terrorist acts of the Eritrean government will not impede the aggressive development endeavor and peace in the country, the Chief administrator of Afar State and Mekelle city Mayor said.
The released hostages were welcomed in Abiala and Mekelle towns by the officials and residents.
Speaking at the welcoming ceremony of hostages in Mekelle town on Tuesday, Mayor Mengistu Yitbarek said the Eritrean government's kidnapping drama shows its illegal acts of invading the sovereignty of Ethiopia.
Related Links
74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
He said all Ethiopians are proud of the special efforts made by Afari elders, the Ethiopian government and the people of Ethiopia to free the hostages.
Afar State Administration Chief Ismael Ali-sero on his part said the inhabitants of the State should be alert to foil any subversive activities being perpetrated by the Eritrean government and its cliques.
He said the Eritrean government acts would not be a challenge to large scale development activities being undertaken across the nation.
The state would take care of the released hostages, who were threatened by the kidnappers, with all necessity until they unite with their relatives, he said.
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China condemns Ethiopia attack amid oil security fears
Wed 25 Apr 2007, 9:57 GMT
(Adds details of company and security issues, paragraphs 9-17)
By Chris Buckley
BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - China on Wednesday condemned the slaying of nine Chinese oil workers in Ethiopia, an attack that underscored the risks of Beijing's eager push for investment and natural resources in Africa.
Gunmen killed 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese on Tuesday in a pre-dawn raid that Ethiopia blamed on rebels backed by regional foe Eritrea. A separatist guerrilla group, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), said it carried out the attack on the oilfield staffed by the Chinese workers.
China's Foreign Ministry denounced the killings.
"The Chinese government strongly condemns this armed attack and atrocity and expresses its grief for the Chinese and Ethiopian dead," spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement issued on the foreign ministry Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn).
The ministry could not provide information about how precisely the workers died and where they were from.
Even before the attacks, a top Chinese energy official warned that the rapidly growing industrial economy faced dangers as it looks abroad for oil, the China Securities Journal reported.
Related Links
74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
74 Killed in a terrorist attack by ONLF on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
"The sources of China's oil imports are excessively concentrated in geo-politically complex and changeable regions," Xu Dingming, director-general of the Energy Bureau at the National Development and Reform Commission, told an energy forum.
China's Xinhua news agency said the Chinese staff were working for Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, which is based in central China's Henan province and is part of the much larger China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec).
Officials from Zhongyuan and Sinopec declined to comment.
The presence of Chinese companies has surged in Africa in recent years after Beijing set its sights on the continent as a destination for investment and supplier of raw materials for its booming economy.
"Chinese companies and the government are interested in just about anywhere where this is oil," said Zha Daojiong, an expert on the country's energy diplomacy at the People's University of China in Beijing.
By the end of 2006, Zhongyuan, which specialises in sub-contracting engineering work for other oil concerns, had over 3,000 Chinese staff abroad, Xinhua reported in March.
"The risks faced are not just economic," Xinhua added, noting the company's efforts to ensure workers' safety.
"In dealing with terrorist violence, we mainly depend on the proprietor and local government to establish good relations with local military forces," a company manager, Yang Bo, told Xinhua.
Ethiopia was one of the countries where the company "cooperated" with government troops to ensure security, the report said.
Beijing's growing profile in Africa compounded the risks of sending workers to isolated places, said Zha. But he saw no end to China's commercial push.
"As latecomers, we go to places where other multinationals won't go, and sometimes end up in a place prematurely, before conditions are settled," he said.
Chinese oil workers have also been kidnapped in Nigeria, and its oil workers in Sudan are heavily guarded.
Angola is now China's biggest foreign crude oil supplier, and Sudan, where bloody conflict in the Darfur region has threatened regional stability, was the sixth biggest supplier in the first three months of 2006, according to Chinese customs data.
Zhongyuan has also been active in Sudan, but the Chinese data reported no crude imports from Ethiopia. (Additional reporting by Vivi Lin and Guo Shipeng)
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What's the future for AFD?
Have your Say
BBC News reported on May 22 2006 as follow
"Ethiopia's largest opposition party has formed an alliance with four rebel groups, it has announced.
The new Alliance Freedom and Democracy (AFD) says it will focus on peaceful struggle against the government but the armed groups will still stage attacks.
The Alliance includes the rebel OLF and ONLF groups, which are campaigning for greater rights for Ethiopia's Oromo and Somali communities respectively.
Source: BBC News May 22 2006
You can read
more here
Ethiopia - State Department Daily Press Briefing Transcript April 24 2007
ETHIOPIA/SOMALIA
Readout of Secretary’s Meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Minister / Message on Somalia
Violence & Intense Fighting in Mogadishu
Regional Politics
A/S Frazer Meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Minister
Role of Ethiopian Forces in Somalia / Stabilizing Security Situation
Stabilize Security Situation / Workable Political Situation
Bellow is the Transcript
QUESTION: I have a couple different things. First, sorry if I missed it. Did you give a readout of the Secretary's meeting with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister yesterday? Can you give a sense of her message on Somalia? It's my first a question.
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, they had a good discussion about Somalia and the situation there. And the Ethiopian Foreign Minister underlined what the Ethiopian officials have underlined to us several times over and that is that they have no desire to stay there any longer than they are needed. They want to have an AU force in there that is capable of providing a secure environment where you can actually get to a political situation. And those two things are mutually reinforcing -- having a stable security environment as well as an open and inclusive political dialogue. I think progress along both of those tracks will help the other.
But we also don't want to see and they don't want to see a vacuum open up in Somalia in the wake of a precipitous withdrawal by Ethiopian forces. So what is needed now is for the AU to generate the forces necessary to go in there and supplement the Ugandan forces. And part of our job as well as the job of others with an interest in seeing a different kind of Somalia is to help with the resource end of that because you may have willing AU forces, but they don't have either the equipment or the required training in order to go into Somalia and perform the kind of mission that the Ethiopians are performing.
The Foreign Minister talked about the fact that there has been violence in Mogadishu, but he believes that the levels of violence are becoming more sporadic in that there are pockets of some of the former members of the Islamic courts who are continuing to fight Ethiopian forces. There have been unfortunately some civilians who've lost their lives in that and the Ethiopian Government assured us that they take every possible step to -- in all of their operations to ensure that there's no loss of innocent life. The Secretary emphasized that that is quite important when you're engaged in these kinds of operations. They also talked a little bit about the regional politics and they talked about the -- the Secretary underlined the importance of working with the Eritrean Government to define the border between the two countries. That was really -- those were sort of the high points.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up?
MR. MCCORMACK: Yes.
QUESTION: Did they talk about a timeframe for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops?
MR. MCCORMACK: No, they didn't talk about a timeframe. No.
QUESTION: Do you agree with the Ethiopian Foreign Minister's assessment as you just said that the violence in Mogadishu is becoming more sporadic? That seems to be a (inaudible) stretch --
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, it's --
QUESTION: -- considering what's happened over the last three days.
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, it is more -- it is -- the violence is centered in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia. It is more stable and more calm. There are still intense exchanges between the former members of the Islamic Courts, other associated with them, and the Ethiopian forces. But that isn't, you know, to say that it is more sporadic is not to say it is any less intense.
QUESTION: Does it concern you at all that your little -- your opening readout -- your opening statements with the exception of some -- of the proper names could have applied exactly to the situation in Iraq? Does that bother -- does that concern you at all?
MR. MCCORMACK: I'm not sure I see your point, Matt.
QUESTION: That the Ethiopians say that they don't want to stay there any longer than they're needed, but they don't want to leave a vacuum. It just sounds --
MR. MCCORMACK: Right.
QUESTION: -- an awful lot like they're taking a page from the Administration's thoughts on what to do in Iraq.
MR. MCCORMACK: No. I mean, they're --
QUESTION: But I guess -- so my question is, are you concerned that they might be seeing the beginning or the -- in fact, the middle of an Iraq-style insurgency going on maybe -- obviously not directed at U.S. soldiers, but the same kind of thing. Are you concerned about that?
MR. MCCORMACK: The situations are completely separate. They are -- each is sui generis but you are in each case concerned about leaving the field to a group of violent extremists who do not have an interest in building up the institutions of a democratic state, so in that sense, there are similarities. I think certainly the specifics of each situation are quite different and the histories are quite different. And I think the level of intensity of the fighting in Iraq is quite different than you're seeing in Somalia and the scale of it is a lot smaller.
That said, certainly, the types of operations that the Ethiopian troops are engaged in and the kind of outreach to communities and the importance of the political component to resolving the underlying circumstances that lead to violence are the classic counterinsurgency kinds of operations and certainly, the Ethiopians understand that as well.
QUESTION: I still have problems with your saying that it is -- or the Ethiopians saying it's more sporadic. I mean, there's been seven days of intense fighting, shelling in Mogadishu, half a million people have been forced out of the city, they're sheltering under trees, a humanitarian crisis is evolving.
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I think that there are a lot of differences over that number, Sue, over the number of displaced persons. You know I'm not in a position to tell you exactly the numbers, but I think the Ethiopians would tell you it's a quite different number. Now I point that out not to say that I know exactly what the number is, but I'm not sure that the people generating the half million figure are actually in Mogadishu at this point.
Look, there's intense fighting. It's -- I meant to -- perhaps I used the wrong word, but I meant to try to convey to you that this is not -- or as we understand it, fighting that is throughout all of Mogadishu, that it is intense fighting, yet it is limited to certain areas of Mogadishu. That doesn't mean that it hasn't created displaced -- that it hasn't resulted in displaced persons going to the outskirts of Mogadishu.
QUESTION: Did you discuss the humanitarian, sort of, crisis, as some people are saying it, with the Ethiopians and how aid could reach those who need it because there have been reports the Ethiopians have been, you know, holding up aid getting to the right people and --
MR. MCCORMACK: It wasn't a topic of conversation with the Secretary, but Jendayi Frazer had a lot of -- had extensive meetings with the foreign minister both before and after the meeting with the Secretary. And the humanitarian aid is always at the top of our list and we are quite concerned about the humanitarian situation. We have been for a couple of decades in Somalia, so that is not, in fact, new, that you have people who are wanting and suffering as a result of violence.
Look, the Ethiopian forces went in there to assist with a problem of violent extremism that was growing in Somalia. It was becoming more of a threat to the Somali people, it was becoming more of a threat to the region. And if you're going to actually get to the root causes of the problem, you need to help stabilize the security situation, which is what the Ethiopian troops are doing, but most importantly, you need to get to the underlying political conflicts that result in this kind of violence, the clan warfare.
You heard from Jendayi Frazer yesterday -- that's why she went to Baidoa, that's the message the Ethiopians are sending, that is the message that the Somalia Contact Group is sending. That the they need -- the TFG, the Transitional Government, needs to reach out and be as inclusive as it possibly can and to all of those who have an interest in a different kind of Somalia, in building up institutions of governance that are responsive to the people as opposed to dictating to the people and serving only their interest, the interest of the government.
QUESTION: Are you calling for a ceasefire in Somalia or are you urging the Ethiopians to go for these insurgents with as much intensity as they could?
MR. MCCORMACK: You don't want to see any more violence in Somalia. Everybody would like that to be the case, but there are clearly people there, individuals who are intent upon using violence in order to further a so-called political cause. And we have seen that in other areas around the world. And what can't be allowed to happen is for those forces to gain a foothold to develop a safe haven from which they could possibly launch attacks against other states in the region and further.
QUESTION: So you're not calling for a ceasefire?
MR. MCCORMACK: We want to see an end to the violence. But the real way to get an end to the violence is (a) stabilize the security situation and (b) find a political situation that is workable for the major political factions in Somalia life that have an interest in actually building a different kind of Somalia as opposed to the one we've seen for the past few decades.
Yes, Nicholas.
MR. MCCORMACK: Sean, Jendayi Frazer was very frank yesterday about Eritrea's role in opposing just about everything that Ethiopia does. I wonder if they came up with the meeting with the Secretary. And Jendayi said that she hadn't talked to Eritrean officials about this, but is there anything the United States is doing to use perhaps international, multinational fora to get Eritrea to be a more responsible player in African affairs?
MR. MCCORMACK: The most recent effort at that was I know the boundary conference discussions in London -- that was -- I can't tell you how many months ago. I'm not aware of any recent efforts, Nicholas.
QUESTION: And it didn't come up -- Eritrea as --
MR. MCCORMACK: They discussed generally the relationship with Eritrea, but it focused mostly on the demarcation of the boundary and that whole process and trying to get that process rolling again.
Officials: 74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia
By Anita Powell, Associated Press Writer
Published: 25 April 2007
Rebels stormed a Chinese-run oil field at dawn in eastern Ethiopia yesterday, killing 74 people, destroying the exploration facility and kidnapping seven Chinese workers in the first such attack against a foreign company in the Horn of Africa nation.
The attack by more than 200 rebel fighters lasted about an hour, and followed a warning the rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front made last year against any investment in eastern Ethiopia's Ogaden area.
In recent years, the front has only made occasional hit and run attacks against government troops, making Tuesday's attack its most significant one. Formed from Ethiopia's minority Somalis, the Muslim group has combatants fighting alongside insurgents in Somalia and has fought for the secession of the Ogaden region, an area the size of Britain with 4 million people, since the early 1990s.
Ethiopia - Following is the full text of the statement issued by the Ministry of Information Ethiopia on the latest terrorist attacks:
Terrorist Group ONLF massacred 74 in Ogaden, Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Anti-peace elements have massacred 65 civilian Ethiopians and 9 Chinese citizens in a terror ambush
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi spoke during a news conference in Addis Ababa Tuesday.
Andrew Heavens/Reuters
Around 5:00 A.M. yesterday (Monday April 23), the forces of terror ambushed the employees of a Chinese Company exploring petroleum at Abule area in Degehabur zone, Eastern Ethiopia, to have indiscriminately massacred 65 Ethiopians and 9 Chinese citizens, all innocent civilian victims of the attacks that befell a whole camp that was about to wake up for the day’s work. They have also kidnapped Chinese and Ethiopian civilians – seven in all. Members of the National Defense Forces who were on the look out at the area in their few numbers have also been victimized by the heinous terror ambush.
The perpetrator of the terrorist attack on the Chinese and Ethiopian workers at the petroleum exploration and development project site is the self-styled Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), a terrorist wing which is part of the front of destruction led by the Eritrean Government. This massacre of our innocent civilian citizens and Chinese development workers is an ambush of cowardice similar in its terrorist motive to that perpetrated earlier on at an area in the northeastern part of our country. This latest terrorist attacks is much more horrendous, however, than the preceding act of terrorism.
This massacre is a brainchild of those losers who, in their envy of the large-scale development activities underway in Ethiopia, are desperately bent on discouraging the flow of Foreign Direct Investment into our country, and, if they could, they would rather bring our development to a standstill. Hand-in-glove with the Eritrean Government, which hates to see Ethiopia’s development, the terrorist forces in the region have acted out this horrendous act of terror in their grudge of the development advances being gained in the Somali Regional State and the popular gains thereof.
Ethiopia has been victim of repeated, covert terror attacks. The acts of terror targeting the country have been worsening since the time the Eritrean Government, a member of the United Nations, has delved into being the leader and coordinator of terrorism being unleashed in the sub-region. The United Nations has not been seen to take the measure it is required on its member, the Eritrean Government, which has gone astray. The least the UN ought to have done to stop this rogue government from its moves of destruction was censure. Thus emboldened, the Sha’ebia-led terrorists in our region, have once again repeated their routine acts of terror on the innocent civilian Ethiopians and the Chinese citizens too far away from home in their civilian line of duty.
Our development endeavors will not be stopped by such acts of terror being masterminded by the Eritrean government and perpetrated by its cliques. In spite of such attempts of evil to detract the country’s development path, our successful struggle against poverty will continue unperturbed, and the perpetrators of such a heinous act of terror will not go unpunished. Our defense forces will sooner track down on and bring to justice those involved in massacring our citizens and the Chinese.
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is greatly distressed by this horrendous massacre of the Ethiopian and Chinese innocent victims. The Government of Ethiopia would like to express its empathy with the families affected by the indiscriminate massacre and to the friendly people of China. Condolences to the beareved!
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74 killed in attack on Chinese oil venture in Ethiopia
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Scores of gunmen attacked a Chinese-run oil field in a remote area of Ethiopia on Tuesday killing 74 people including nine Chinese after a gun battle that lasted for almost one hour.
Seven Chinese workers were also kidnapped in the attack which the government blamed on a separatist group, said Ethiopian prime minister's spokesman, Berekat Simon.
"It is a massacre. It is a terrorist act, ordered by a terrorist alliance that includes ONLF," said Simon, referring to the Ogaden National Liberation Front.
The attack echoed a spate of killings and kidnappings in recent months that have plagued Chinese workers in Nigeria, where Beijing is also aggressively seeking to develop the nation's oil reserves.
It was the first attack on an oil field in Ethiopia since the ONLF rebel group issued a threat to foreign companies against operating in the eastern region one year ago.
"They are trying to intimidate and blackmail foreigners who want to come to Ethiopia. But we will not let that happen," Simon said.
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China condemns Ethiopia attack
CHINA today strongly condemned an attack by 200 gunmen on a Chinese-run oil field in Ethiopia in which 74 people including nine Chinese were killed.
Foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said one Chinese person was also slightly wounded and seven others kidnapped in the attack, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing held a telephone conversation with his Ethiopian counterpart Seyoum Mesfin, who is on a visit to the United States, the agency said in a separate dispatch.
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74 dead in attack on Chinese oil field in Ethiopia, official says
"The two ministers talked on issues of common concern," it said, quoting a foreign ministry press release.
Around 200 unidentified gunmen attacked the oil field in Somali state where China's Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau is searching for oil, according to a company manager quoted earlier by Xinhua.
China has stepped up investment and exploration in African oil fields in recent years as its appetite for energy has boomed along with its growing economy.
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US accuses Eritrea of fueling deadly fighting in Somalia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia April 24, 2007 (ENA) - The United States accused Eritrea Monday of providing funding, arms and training to insurgents battling Somali forces and allied Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu.
The State Department's top Africa official, Assistant Secretary of State Jendaye Frazer, who visited Somalia early this month, singled out Eritrea on Monday for helping fuel the fighting in order to weaken Ethiopia.
"Eritrea has not been playing a constructive role in Somalia because they continue to fund, arm, train and advise the insurgents, especially the al-Shabab militia," AFP quoted her as saying.
Frazer also said the Ethiopians were actively trying to negotiate a truce with the Hawiya clan, which has remained estranged from the interim government.
Frazer went on to accuse the Islamist militia of trying to undermine reconciliation efforts by targeting Hawiya clan leaders willing to talk to the government.
"They are actually trying to spoil this process of political dialogue and reconciliation," she said.
Ethiopia is very quietly working closely with different clan leaders and elders.
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Ethiopian tanks pound Mogadishu
BBC News
Ethiopian tanks are pounding parts of the Somali capital, stepping up a week-long campaign against insurgents and fighters of the Hawiye clan.
Heavy shelling is also taking place near the presidential palace - guarded by Ethiopian and African Union troops.
Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi said the government forces were winning the war against insurgents.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has called for an end to clashes in which more than 250 people have died in the past week.
Ethiopian forces and insurgents are exchanging heavy fire. Mortar and other artillery shells are also landing, Khalid Haji, a resident at Fagah in the north of the capital told AFP news agency.
Rotting bodies have been left on the streets for days according to witnesses.
More on BBC
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Ethiopian Rebels Kill 70 at Chinese-Run Oil Field
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 65 Ethiopian workers were killed
- 9 Chinese were killed
- 7 Chinese workers were kidnapped
- Terrorist group ONLF claimed responsibility in a statement sent to AP
By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
The New York Times
NAIROBI, Kenya, April 24 — Separatist rebels stormed a Chinese-run oil field in eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday, killing more than 70 people, including nine Chinese workers, in one of Ethiopia’s worst rebel attacks in years.
Dozens of gunmen crept up to the oil field at dawn and unleashed a barrage of machine-gun fire at Ethiopian soldiers posted outside, Chinese and Ethiopian officials said. After a fierce hourlong battle, the rebels rushed away, taking at least six Chinese hostages with them.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi spoke during a news conference in Addis Ababa Tuesday.
Andrew Heavens/Reuters
Ethiopia, a close ally of the United States, has been racked by separatist movements for years. But the severity of this attack seemed to unnerve Ethiopian officials, who usually minimize any threats to their control.
“It was a massacre,” Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in a televised address on Tuesday night. “It was cold-blooded murder.”
The Ogaden National Liberation Front, a militant group fighting for control of eastern Ethiopia, immediately claimed responsibility, circulating an e-mail message that said, “We will not allow the mineral resources of our people to be exploited by this regime or any firm that it enters into an illegal contract.”
The front said that its primary target was the Ethiopian soldiers guarding the oil field and that the Chinese workers had been killed by explosions during the fighting.
Given China’s drive to extract oil wherever it can be found, Chinese workers are often dispatched to conflict zones, and several have been kidnapped in the volatile Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In other parts of Africa, like Zambia, China’s investments have brought resentment from local politicians and residents.
As for the workers kidnapped on Tuesday, the rebel group’s statement said: “O.N.L.F. forces rounding up Ethiopian military prisoners following the battle came across six Chinese workers. They have been removed from the battlefield for their own safety and are being treated well.” But the group did not say anything about releasing them.
Ethiopian officials, who confirmed that 65 government soldiers had been killed, said they were rushing reinforcements to the area and vowed to crush the rebels. But the country’s military is stretched thin.
Quotations
Meles Zenawi
"Such an outrage, the cold-blooded murder of people who were building roads and engaged in other development activities, is a measure of the level of barbarity involved," Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told a news conference.
"We are terribly distressed ... no stone will be left unturned until we have found the people responsible."
Bereket Simon
"This was a cold blooded killing,"
"The army is pursuing them. We will track them down dead or alive.
"The bandits entered the camp at around five a.m. and shot dead the 74 people while they were sleeping," he [Bereket Simon] told Reuters.
"The government has launched hot pursuit,"
"We believe the killing has the same pattern with the recent kidnapping ... by an Eritrean armed group (aimed at) scaring away investors and foreign firms from coming to Ethiopia."
ONLF (In a statement)
"The oil facility has been completely destroyed,""The ONLF has stated on numerous occasions that we will not allow the mineral resources of our people to be exploited by this regime or any firm."
Ali Abdo [Eritrea Information Minister]
"Ethiopia is also building a case to have a pretext for belligerent action against Eritrea," he told Reuters.Ali Abdu, dismissed the charges, which he said were meant to 'divert attention from the two nations' border dispute, over which the rivals fought a 1998-2000 war that killed 70,000 people.
Source: AP, Reuters
Thousands of Ethiopian troops are bogged down in Somalia, where they face increasingly intense resistance. On Tuesday, a suicide bomber attacking Ethiopian troops killed seven civilians in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, the second time in a week that suicide attacks were used. More than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the past month in heavy shelling between Somali insurgents and Ethiopian-led troops.
Ethiopia, with covert American help, intervened in Somalia in December to prop up Somalia’s weak transitional government and defeat Islamist forces that had controlled much of Somalia and were widely suspected of sheltering anti-Ethiopian rebel groups like the Ogaden National Liberation Front.
Ethiopian troops in Somalia recently rounded up dozens of suspected rebels, and human rights observers say the Ethiopians have also imprisoned — and tortured — innocent civilians.
Such tactics, analysts say, may now be coming back to haunt the Ethiopians.
“This is the rebels’ response,” said Ted Dagne, a specialist in African affairs for the Congressional Research Service. “They are fighting a classic guerrilla war against the government, and those widespread detentions became another one of their grievances.”
The Ogaden region of eastern Ethiopia is a hot and inhospitable place, home to Somali-speaking nomads who have always identified more with neighboring Somalia than with Ethiopia. Part of the reason is religion. Ethiopia’s leaders have traditionally been Christian, while Ogadenis are almost all Muslims.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front, formed 23 years ago, was briefly aligned with the current Ethiopian government but broke away in the mid-1990s after it was clear that the Ogaden region would not be given autonomy.
Western military analysts say the front has a few thousand lightly armed fighters, who get their weapons and training from Eritrea, Ethiopia’s neighbor and bitter enemy. In the galaxy of rebel groups roaming nearly every corner of Ethiopia, these fighters have been considered a midlevel threat to the government.
Oil, though, seems to be its new focus. In August, the Web-savvy front issued an electronic threat against a Malaysian oil company that was contemplating drilling in Ethiopia.
The oil field that the rebels raided Tuesday was run by a division of China’s government-owned energy giant, the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation. According to Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, the Ethiopian rebels briefly seized control of the oil field before kidnapping seven Chinese workers, who were among the 37 Chinese and 120 Ethiopians employed there.
In Jijiga, a nearby city, residents said Ethiopian soldiers were mustering for a huge counterstrike.
“There are federal soldiers and city police everywhere on the streets,” said a businessman named Biruk. “People are scared.”
Last month, the Ogaden National Liberation Front accused the Ethiopian government of burning an Ogadeni village to the ground. It said that government soldiers had gone after civilians, not fighters, and that “the O.N.L.F. will respond swiftly and decisively to this barbaric act.”
Will Connors contributed reporting from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Yuusuf Maxamuud from Mogadishu.
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Cabbie not guilty of dangerous driving
A cabbie who ran a red causing a crash that killed a passenger has been found not guilty of dangerous driving causing death.
After the verdict, a crying Dereje Lakew hugged friends outside the courtroom and shook hands with his lawyer, Bruce Engel.
The 25-year-old married father of two kids declined comment but told his lawyer Bruce Engel, "thanks."
Engel said his client feels awful about the accident which took the life of 20-year-old Nathalie Sylvestre.
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Fatal error doesn't make cabbie a 'criminal:' Lawyer
Fares 'pressured' fatal crash cabbi
"No one wins in a case like this," said Engel, adding his client is still dealing with the physical and emotional scars of the accident himself.
"Deep in the heart of hearts I believed he was not guilty and I would have been devastated if there had been any other verdict."
In closing arguments to the jury Engel urged the jury to acquit his client, saying that Lakew, while civilly responsible for the crash shouldn't be held criminally responsible.
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Fatal error doesn't make cabbie a 'criminal:' Lawyer
A cabbie who ran a red light is responsible for a crash that killed one of his passengers, but he shouldn’t be held criminally responsible, the driver’s lawyer told a jury this morning.
“(Dereje) Lakew is responsible, but he is not a criminal,” defence lawyer Bruce Engel said in his closing argument. He urged the jury to acquit the 25 year-old Ethiopian immigrant, who claims his drunken fare distracted him moments before the fateful Nov. 17, 2005 crash that killed Nathalie Sylvestre, 20.
“He is not criminally responsible and his driving that day was not criminally dangerous.”
Related Article
Fares 'pressured' fatal crash cabbi
Engel asked the jury to think about their own experiences driving and to ask themselves if a momentary lapse should be punished with criminal sanctions.
Seconds before the crash at the intersection of Riverside Dr. and Heron Rd. a red light camera caught Lakew’s West Way Taxi sailing through the stop light at 65 km/h. The posted speed limit was 60 km/h.
Engel argued his client wasn’t even speeding at that rate and said on his own trip down that road at the same speed this weekend meant other vehicles were sailing by him.
“My wife said, ‘what are you doing?’” Engel recounted.
Lakew’s cab was almost through the intersection when a northbound police cruiser driving through a green light T-boned the taxi, throwing Sylvestre out of the vehicle.
Sylvestre’s friend Deanna Moncion was also a passenger. She suffered cuts to her face and hand and a broken collar bone. The police officer, Const. Steve Mann, was also injured with lacerations to the face.
Crown prosecutor John Campbell urged the jurors to “Hold firm,” and convict Lakew on dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
Campbell said the jury should reject Lakew’s evidence that the women were distracting him, saying the two college students had been winding down after a night of partying and that it made little sense for them to be impatient about a five-minute cab ride.
He also said the jury should reject Lakew’s testimony that his seat had been shaken by one of the girls.
“It seemed to me he was making it up as he went,” Campbell said of the testimony.
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Ethiopia born Model Gelila Bekele is on the cover of "The African" Magazine Spring Issue.
Ethiopia - Motherland Model: Gelila Bekele
Addis-born model Gelila Bekele smiles as she recalls how she slid down a banister into modeling success. The 20-year old mannequin was taking in the Soho sights one sunny day when she happened upon an open call at Ford Model Management. Unsure if her summer look: flip flops, Bob Marley tee with big hair, was go-see friendly- she took a chance and joined the long line of modeling hopefuls.
Model: Gelila Bekele Photo By The African Magazine
Read full article
Subscription Required. Magazine has article about Ethiopian born Businessman Noah Samara
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Ethiopians on Magazine Covers
Mesert Defar is on the cover of the May 2007 issue of Running Times magazine.
Source: Local Newsstand
Liya Kebede will be on the cover of June 2007 issue of
Vanity Fair
Source: New York Post Page Six
Have you seen Ethiopians on the cover of major magazines, please let us know
"On the other hand, the black women who enjoy the greatest prominence in the industry -- Beyonce, Halle Berry, Liya Kebede, for example -- nearly always are fair-skinned with smooth hair."
Black and beautiful: African-American women haven't had an easy time in the fashion world
WFP Executive Director pledges ‘maximum positive impact’ on poor from food purchases on Africa visit
23 April 2007 - The new Executive Director of WFP, Josette Sheeran, today called on farmers, grain traders, and government officials to support WFP in developing “better models with food aid purchases” that can help poor farmers access markets and assist in solving chronic food insecurity.
Photo: Executive Director of WFP, Josette Sheeran (WFP)
Sheeran, on her first field trip as WFP Executive Director, spoke to a wide variety of economists, traders and market experts at two roundtable discussions about local food assistance procurement and its potential for making a positive impact on human development.
Food security
"WFP today buys 20 times more in Ethiopia than it did in 1990."
"Last year, WFP bought 158,214 metric tons from Ethiopa at a value of U.S. $37 million. One-third of the food WFP sources for its operations in Ethiopia is purchased in the country."
“I am convinced that strategically directed local purchase can benefit not only the hungry, but also poor farmers producing food,” said Sheeran. “Food security requires access to food and sustainable production of food.”
Sheeran started the first day of a three-country trip to the Horn of Africa with a visit to the Ethiopian capital’s central grain market, Sheeran talked with traders in the bustling market, from farmers selling a few sacks of wheat carried on the backs of their donkeys to traders dealing in tens of thousands of metric tons.
"Huge market presence"
Sheeran noted that WFP has a “huge market presence” with its cash-based purchases in Africa. WFP today buys 20 times more in Ethiopia than it did in 1990.
Related Link
WFP in Ethiopia
Last year, WFP bought 158,214 metric tons from Ethiopa at a value of U.S. $37 million. One-third of the food WFP sources for its operations in Ethiopia is purchased in the country.
“We’re hoping to take a more strategic look at our purchases to see that we are doing all we can to have the maximum positive impact on development,” she said.
Supporting farmers
Sheeran emphasised the need to support the African farmer: “How can we mitigate the risk for the African farmer, particularly the risk of waiting for rainfall that may not come?” she asked.
Sheeran, who told the grain markets experts that her intent in coming to Ethiopia was to “listen and learn,” said WFP is determined to create a “virtuous circle of food security” – from the small-scale farmers to the ultimate beneficiaries of food assistance.
Sheeran met today with Deputy Prime Minister Addisu Legesse and is scheduled to meet tomorrow with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. On Wednesday, Sheeran travels to Sudan, where WFP has its largest operation.
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Huge win for Nigeria's Yar'Adua
BBC News
Nigeria's ruling party candidate Umaru Yar'Adua has won controversial presidential elections by a landslide, according to official results.
He gained 70% of the vote but European Union observers say the elections were a "charade" and any administration that resulted would not have any legitimacy.
The EU says at least 200 people have died in poll violence in the past week.
The two main opposition candidates have told their supporters to reject the results and want a re-run.
Mr Yar'Adua gained 24.6m votes, against 6.6m for his closest challenger, Muhammadu Buhari.
Vice-president turned opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar came third with 2.6m votes.
Both men accuse the governing People's Democratic Party (PDP) of rigging the elections.
This should be the first time Africa's most populous nation replaces one elected civilian head with another.
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Fighting rages in Somali capital as bodies rot in streets
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Heavy shelling and tank fire rocked Mogadishu Monday, the sixth straight day of raging battles in the capital that have plunged the country deeper into chaos and left more than 200 people dead.
Masked Islamic insurgents clashed with Ethiopian troops backing the fragile Somali government's forces in the southern part of the battle-scarred coastal city, pounding each other with machine-gun fire, mortars, tank shells and heavy artillery.
At least four people were killed in Monday's fighting, said Khadija Farah, who saw a shell hit a residential area north of the city and kill three men and a women. Farah added a six-month-old baby was wounded.
The United Nations said the fighting had sparked the worst humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged country's recent history, with many of the city's residents trapped because roads out of Mogadishu were blocked.
Rotting bodies have been left on the streets for days, witnesses said, as it is too dangerous to try to retrieve them. At least six people were wounded early Monday, said Medina Hospital director Dahir Dhere, but he expected fatalities.
Halime Ibrahim, who fled from south of the city, which saw the worst fighting for more than 15 years, said she had seen 11 bodies. "I even failed to recognize if they were men or women," she told The Associated Press.
"Masked Somali fighters who dug in near my house are in an intensive fight with Ethiopian and Somali troops since early morning," said Hassan Mohamed Ali lives in Tawfiq neighborhood and opted to remain behind to look after his family's house. From time to time, Ali was checking the fighting from his window.
The latest fighting flared after Ethiopian and Somali government troops made a final military push to try to wipe out the insurgency, Western diplomatic and Somali government sources told the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The government and its Ethiopian backers were facing international pressure over the mounting death toll and appeared determined to bring order before a planned national reconciliation conference.
Ethiopian troops opened fire with tank shells and artillery from the presidential palace early Monday at insurgent positions in the south, said resident Osman Ali Yusuf who said one of the shells hit near his house. Yusuf, who monitors the fighting from his rooftop, said he had seen two tanks stationed at the strategic Tawfiq junction that divides the south from the north of Mogadishu where the two sides are facing off.
Ethiopians are in the north. The insurgency they are trying to end and which emerged after the defeat of the Council of Islamic Courts is operating from the south of the city of 2 million people. Clan and warlord militia have also joined the fight against the Ethiopians and government forces.
A bid earlier this month to wipe out the insurgency left more than 1,000 people dead, many of them civilians. More than 320,000 people have fled the fighting.
Elman Human Rights Organization that records casualties in the capital, said six insurgents and 41 civilians died on Sunday alone. They did not have any casualty figures for either Ethiopian or Somali government soldiers.
"The killing of civilians like this is a crime against humanity," said Sudan Ali Ahmed, the chairman of the group. "We urge the international community to send a team to investigate these crimes. They are war crimes."
The new tallies bring the death toll in five days of fighting in Mogadishu to at least 212, with more than 291 wounded, according to the human rights group.
A Somali government official warned on Sunday that his government planned a major offensive against the insurgents soon and wanted residents of the capital to move from insurgent strongholds.
"People in Mogadishu should vacate their homes that are located near the strongholds of terrorists, and we will crack down on insurgents and terrorists very soon," said Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle.
In a separate development that could increase tension in the Horn of
Africa, Eritrea suspended its membership in a regional body that mediated the Somali conflict Saturday.
The region is already tense because of the unresolved border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia that has seen the two countries go to war in the past. In recent months, the Somalia conflict has also been seen as a proxy war between the two, with each backing rival sides.
U.S. officials have named Eritrea as a supporter the months-old insurgency in Mogadishu, something Eritrea has denied.
Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.
The transitional government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help, but has struggled to extend its control over the country.
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Africa’s Crisis of Democracy
"For every successful election, like those held this year in once-troubled countries like Mauritania and Democratic Republic of Congo, there have been elections in countries that seemed on the road to consolidating democracy but then swerved, like Gambia, Uganda, Ethiopia and Zambia." NY times.
Read
complete article from NY Times and have your say
