Friday, November 30, 2007

Eritrea-Ethiopia deadline expires(BBC)

A deadline for long-time foes Ethiopia and Eritrea to agree their shared border is to expire at midnight.

The date was set a year ago by the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Commission which was created following a bloody border war between the two countries.

The commission says if it fails to hear anything it will consider the line it has drawn as the official border...more

Journalists from Zimbabwe, Mexico, Ethiopia, Iraq gain recognition (Mediaforfreedom)

The IWMF also recognized Ethiopia’s Serkalem Fasil, who was jailed and, under deplorable conditions, delivered a child prematurely. She was incarcerated because of articles her publications carried that were critical of the government during the May 2005 elections. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, only China and Cuba have a worse ranking than Ethiopia for their treatment of journalists...more

Thursday, November 29, 2007

U.S.'s Rice to visit Ethiopia in rare Africa trip(Reuter)

Tensions have been rising in recent months between Ethiopia and its neighbor Eritrea over its disputed border, with Eritrea accusing the United States of siding with Addis Ababa. (Reporting by Sue Pleming; editing by Philip Barbara)...Full Text

Ethiopia's Meles denies rights abuses in Ogaden(Reuter)

ncreasingly under pressure from the West over his rights record in recent years, Meles says the ONLF is lying, and is a terrorist group sponsored by arch-enemy Eritrea.

"Massive human rights abuses and massive deaths in the Ogaden do not and will not exist," he said.

Once a rebel leader himself, who helped topple former Ethiopian leader Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, Meles said it would be counterproductive to terrorise locals.

"After all, it is only 16 or so years ago that we ourselves were insurgents," he said. "The stupidest mistake a government does is to harass civilians."

Meles generally gets high marks from Western diplomats for his anti-poverty strategies, but is frequently criticised for authoritarian tactics handling foes inside Ethiopia...Full Text

Ethiopia accused of civilian abuse(Sacbee)

The untrained and ill-equipped draftees – including students, camel herders and tribal leaders who had never fired weapons in combat – are being thrown into pitched battles with ethnic Somali guerrillas and often suffer heavy casualties, more than a dozen refugees and ex-recruits said...Full Text

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Ethiopia:The Human Development Index - going beyond income(HDRStats)

The HDI for Ethiopia is 0.406, which gives the country a rank of 169th out of 177 countries with data ..Full Text

Somalia offensive after attacks (BBC)

At least six Ethiopian army bases came under fire:

  • In the north of the city at two former factories and at Ex-Control intersection
  • In the south of the city at the football stadium and an army camp
  • In the central Bakara market district where there are bases along the main road.

About three civilian bodies have been found on Wednesday morning around one of former factories....Full Text

Secretary of State Kenney Commemorates the Ethiopian Millennium(Canadian HEritage)

OTTAWA, November 28, 2007 - The Honourable Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity), will celebrate the Ethiopian Millennium tomorrow at an event in Ottawa.


"The Ethiopian presence in Canada dates from the 1980s," said Secretary of State Kenney. "Canada now has a population of more than 15,000 Canadians of Ethiopian heritage who have contributed greatly to our economy in the areas of finance, engineering, and particularly in medicine. It is at events such as these that we can learn from each other and about our differences while celebrating our common Canadian identity.".Full Text

UPDAE 1-UN presses Ethiopia to probe Ogaden allegations(Reuter)

Aid agencies say people in the region are suffering severe food and medical needs because of the fighting, and the United Nations says 953,000 are in need of help.

"What I was trying to do was symbolise by my visit the extent of international concern about the situation there and the depths of our concern to avert a serious humanitarian crisis there in the future," Holmes told reporters in Addis Ababa...Full Text

Starbucks to open farmer-support center in Ethiopia (SeattleTimes)

Now it is building a farmer-support center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. Like the support center Starbucks opened in 2004 in Costa Rica, it will work with farmers, exporters and others to improve the quality of their coffee so that Starbucks can buy more of it...Full Text

Soldiers continue human rights abuses in Ethiopia's beleaguered southeast, say residents (IHT)

The man also described gang rapes and public hangings in the region and said that villagers had been told not to speak to international observers. Officials in the area also said villagers had been told not to speak to outsiders, and that also was mentioned in a September report by a U.N. fact-finding mission....more

Eritrea-Ethiopia border deadline looms amid war fears (Reuter)

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Tuesday said Ethiopia had no plans of fighting another war, but would make sure Eritrea "never, ever dreamed" of conflict if Asmara unilaterally launched one.

Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu reacted to the comments on Wednesday reiterating longstanding allegations Ethiopia is planning to invade. "This is just what's been said on TV screens, but we know what's happening on the ground and behind closed doors," he said...more..

Ethiopia turns waste plastic into fuel(African News)

With the objective of replicating India’s experience in other African countries, the joint venture is also on the way of installing fuel generating plants in Ghana and Mauritius. It is also negotiating with other countries such as Tunisia...more

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

UN to visit Ethiopia trouble spot (BBC)

..There have been persistent reports of army abuse of the civilian population but for a long time no outside agencies were able to get in to the worst-affected areas to verify the claims or to act as a restraining presence....full Text

Ethiopia:Defar wins prestigious continental award (Africa News)

Ethiopia's World and Olympic 5000m champion Meseret Defar won the premier 2007 Abdou Diouf Foundation Award for Sport Virtues in Dakar, Senegal, on Wednesday...Full Text

Ethiopia 'bogged down' in Somalia (BBC)

...Their presence is unpopular in Mogadishu and earlier this month, insurgents dragged the bodies of Ethiopian troops through the city....Full Text

PM Meles: Ethiopia Prepared for War, Wants Peace With Eritrea (VOA)

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says his country is prepared for a possible war with neighboring Eritrea, and warned that an invasion by Eritrea would lead to that country's destruction. His comments came three days before a deadline for demarcating their common border. As VOA's Peter Heinlein reports from Addis Ababa, Mr. Meles also acknowledged that Ethiopia is bogged down in another conflict in Somalia....more

Monday, November 19, 2007

Remembering the martyrs of 2005(Ethiomedia)

But resistance to tyranny and oppression need not be violent or require the use of arms. Civil disobedience is a mighty weapon of patriots everywhere as they confront the repressive state, be it foreign or domestic. Gandhi defeated the mighty British army not by swords or guns, but through peaceful resistance, civil disobedience and non-cooperation. His “Quit India Movement” was the greatest challenge to British colonial rule. Martin King helped America realize the true meaning of its creed that all men are created equal through mass nonviolent civil disobedience....more

Ethiopia: Dying regime with curious supporters (Biddho)

The US Administration, through its representatives at the State Department, and most vocally through Jendayi E. Frazer, the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, has gone out of its way to publicly and aggressively defend and protect the minority regime in Ethiopia, as it violates international law, rejects the Final and Binding decision of the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), refuses to allow for the unconditional demarcation of the Eritrea Ethiopia border, invades and occupies sovereign territories of neighboring states, violates the human rights of the Ethiopian and Somali peoples, commits genocides, rapes and untold international crimes against humanity, tortures political detainees and employing Menghistu's scorched earth policies, uses food as a weapon of war against the people of Ethiopia...Full text

FEATURE-Ethiopia's Ogaden refugees recount horrors of conflict (Reuter)

Osman Omar Abdi's journey from the Ogaden district of Jarar began in May after, he says, his wife was shot dead in front of him, his six children scattered, and his house burned during a chaotic morning raid by foot-soldiers.

"The Ethiopians say that all the Ogaden people are part and parcel of the ONLF, they don't differentiate, so they kill everyone," he said, displaying a scar on his hand that he described as a bullet-wound.

"I heard the grandparents got three of my children. I don't know about the others," added Abdi, revealing at the end of an interview that he had been a "member of the ONLF resistance."....more

Ethiopia 'bombs' Ogaden villages (BBC)

n separate interviews reported by the Reuters news agency, the Ogadenis claimed Ethiopian soldiers had been entering villages over and over again to kill, rape and burn in a campaign to flush out ONLF rebels....more

Friday, November 16, 2007

European parliament calls for war crimes probe in Somalia (AFP)

The UN secretary general's special envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said Tuesday that war crimes suspects in the shattered African nation should be prosecuted at the International Criminal Court to end impunity.

In April, a European Union envoy to Kenya, Eric van der Linden, asked Brussels to investigate whether Ethiopian and Somali forces had committed war crimes in their recent crackdown on Islamist and clan insurgents in Mogadishu...more

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Big Marathon Payday Becomes More Than a Dream (Newyork Times)

Published: November 6, 2007

Gete Wami remembered the first time she earned prize money for running.

“I went to Italy and won $500,” said Wami, a 33-year-old from Ethiopia. “I took the money and built a two-room adobe back home.”

Robert Cheruiyot remembered the poverty of his youth, when he was limited to one meal a day at age 4 and had no shoes until he was 10 or 11.

“I got my first prize money when I went to Brazil, and they gave me $5,000,” said Cheruiyot, 29, from Kenya. “I went home and gave it to my mother.

“Getting this check here, I wasn’t expecting in my life to get this.”..Full txet

Students Protest Beyonce's Ethiopia Trip (Washington Post)

By ANITA POWELL
The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 6, 2007; 12:03 PM

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Students at Ethiopia's top religious college are protesting the close ties between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the government, alleged restrictions on their speech _ and Beyonce's recent meeting with their patriarch...full text

Ethiopia, Eritrea on Verge Of Border War, Report Says (Washinton Post)

Ethiopia also has been building up its air force and jamming Eritrean radar, according to a U.S. government source, who speculated that Ethiopia may strike by air in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, hoping to topple the government there....more

VOA reports on the killing of Ethiopians in Kenya (Ethiopian review)

VOA report about the recent kidnappings and killings of Ethiopians in Kenya by Woyanne gunmen. Click here to listen

10 Ethiopian students killed, 4 journalists attacked in Kenya(Ethiomedia)

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Clan elder accuses Ethiopia soldiers of killing 3 civilians (Garoweonline)

Mohamed Hassan Haad, leader of an anti-Ethiopia Hawiye elders' council, said the dead bodies of the three civilians were found today near Stadium Mogadishu, a major base for Ethiopian forces.

One of the dead victims was an old man who worked as a security guard for the independent HornAfrik radio...full history

Ethiopia rebels say killed 270 more troops (Reuter)

In its latest "military communique", the ONLF said "large numbers" of its fighters had engaged government troops in five places between Oct 26-Nov 1 due to "summary executions, detentions of nomads and senseless shooting of livestock". ...more

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Coming of Age in America: Ethiopia in the Diaspora (The Ethiopian American)

By Alemayehu G. Mariam

Scattered by the Winds of Oppression

Perhaps with the exception of those Ethiopians who arrived in the U.S. in the early 1970s, most who came to the U.S. over the past three decades partly did so for political reasons. Whether it is the militarized terror of the Derg or the wanton violence of the current regime, politics remains a principal cause of Ethiopian refugees throughout the world. For obvious reasons, the U.S. remains a preferred destination for the majority of Ethiopian refugees, as it was the preferred educational venue for the earlier arrivals....Ful Text

Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of invasion plans again(Reyter

Ethiopia has threatened to pull out of the peace agreement ending the 1998-2000 war based on what it says were repeated violations by Eritrea. Asmara, in turn, accuses Addis Ababa of violating the pact...more

Thursday, November 1, 2007

A brittle Western ally in the Horn of Africa (The Economist)

The reasons for this economic crawl are not hard to find. Beyond the government-directed state, funded substantially by foreign aid, there is—almost uniquely in Africa—virtually no private-sector business at all. The IMF estimates that in 2005-06 the share of private investment in the country was just 11%, nearly unchanged since Mr Zenawi took over in the early 1990s. That is partly a reflection of the fact that, despite some privatisation since the centralised Marxist days of the Derg, large areas of the economy remain government monopolies, closed off to private business.


...This is where Ethiopia misses out badly. Take telecoms. While the rest of Africa has been virtually transformed in just a few years by a revolution in mobile telephony, Ethiopia stumbles along with its inept and useless government-run services. Everywhere else, a plethora of South African, home-grown and European providers has leapt into the market to provide Africans with an extraordinary array of cheaper and more efficient services, now used even by the poorest of farmers, for instance, to check spot prices for agricultural goods in markets miles away. And the mobile-phone revolution has created thousands of new livelihoods; at times it seems as if every boy on a street corner is hawking a top-up card. Not in Ethiopia.


...The Ethiopian government's efforts at political control are supported by a wide network of informers and secret police. Critics say it is exploiting the jihadist terror threat to link many legitimate opposition campaigners and supporters with terrorist groups and take them off the streets. The threats from Eritrea, where a new border war could erupt at any time, and the Islamists in Somalia are real. But at this rate, argues Mr Demeksa, “the ethnic groups are on a collision course.”...Click here to read more






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