Norway contributes development aid to all three impoverished African countries, but Oslo has said its direct aid to Ethiopia would be cut by about a t

"A thousand years from now, when Ethiopians gather to welcome the fourth Millennium, they shall say the eve of the third Millennium was the beginning of the end of the dark ages in Ethiopia," he said.

Because it was never colonised, Ethiopia has always had a special significance for the rest of Africa - which was summed up by the chairman of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konare.

"We thank Ethiopia for keeping up the flame of African unity," he said. ...more