Ethiopia Airlines Confirms Interest In New National Airline

Ghana International Airlines and officials of the Ghana government are indeed talking to Ethiopian Airlines.

Officials of Ethiopia Airlines have confirmed to Joy News that they are in negotiations.

The talks are about the possibility of Ethiopian Airlines having a stake or owning part of the new airline company to be set up when Ghana airways officially winds up.

A report in the Statesman Newspaper had indicated that an Ethiopian team, which was in the country last week to negotiate with government officials, reached an understanding which may see the Ghana government with a 25% share in the new airline and 40 percent to Ethiopian Airlines and GIA.

The move has become necessary following Ghana International Airlines’ inability to raise the almost 3 million dollars, as part of its 30% stake to help the new national airline begin operations in June.

The Public Relations Manager of Ethiopian Airlines, Kagnew Fesaha, says the issues on the negotiation table are broad but the discussions concentrated on how the two airlines can cooperate in various areas to possibly acquire a share in Ghana Airways.

Asked if Ethiopian Airways is interested in a 40 per cent share in Ghana Airways he says, “ I cannot comment on the exact number of shares Ethiopian Airlines is buying but generally I will say that it is one of the things on the table.”

ghanaweb.com

Four Injured by Landmines Along Border with Eritrea

Four Ethiopians have been injured along the disputed border with Eritrea after a spate of blasts from freshly planted landmines, a senior UN official said on Thursday.

Phil Lewis, head of the UN’s Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC), said three anti-tank mines had exploded and damaged vehicles in the last month. Another landmine was discovered before it exploded.

They were the first of newly planted landmines along the 1,000 km contested frontier that has separated Ethiopia and Eritrea since early 2004.

"These are all newly laid landmines," Lewis told reporters in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. "They are of a concern because there have been four of them in the last month. These weapons are indiscriminate so anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time could be killed."

He said they were unaware who had planted the landmines.

All of the incidents had taken place close to Humera, in the far western border region, some 850 km north of Addis Ababa.

One landmine was planted on a road used as a supply route for the Ethiopian army, who are dug in opposite Eritrean forces along the border. The others were planted on side roads.

"There have been four of these anti-tank mines discovered since 25 March," he said. One was discovered freshly covered. Three others detonated under a water truck and a truck picking up stones, Lewis said.

"They are all on side roads," he noted. "They have not been put on main roads; they have been put on agricultural roads."

The landmines are Belgium-made and were used during the two-and-a-half year conflict that broke out in May 1998 and claimed tens of thousands of lives.

IRIN Africa

Crocs, Floods, Hit Ethiopia

Ethiopian authorities on Friday pleaded for help in dealing with devastating floods that have swept through the country's southeast as the death toll from water and crocodiles rose to at least 107.

At least 99 people have drowned in the flooding that began at the weekend and another eight have been devoured by crocodiles that have taken to raging waters of the Wabe Shebell river since it burst its banks on Saturday, officials said.

"We need some support mainly in small boats to move people to safe and high lands, more blankets, plastic sheeting and cooking utensils, including cups and plates," said the regional disaster chief of Ethiopia's southeastern Somali state, 1 380km from Addis Ababa.

In one area alone, near Kelafo in Somali state's Godie district, eight people were eaten by crocodiles and seven washed away by the waters which submerged 84 villages, said the official, Abdullahi Mahdi, from the regional capital of Jigiga.

"Due to the continuing of heavy rain in the highland up north and within the affected areas... the death toll has increased in the lowland areas down stream in Deghabur," he said.

Deghabur is about 800km southeast of Addis Ababa.

About 60 000 people have so far been displaced in the region, but continued heavy rains and breakdowns in communications have hindered updates from humanitarian teams so the death toll and number of homeless may be higher, officials said.

The downpours have also affected travel as roads have been closed and bridges cut off, they said.

news24.com

How You Can Help
Contribute to the World Food Programme.

Did You Know?
The Wabe Shebelle stretches for over 1,340 km and is Ethiopia's largest river, with a water catchment area of 200,000 km.

Previous post: The Destruction of the Blue Nile Falls

Human Rights Should Be on the Election Agenda

Amnesty International is calling for the 15 May 2005 elections to be a new start for respect and protection of human rights in Ethiopia

In a report published on 29 April 2005 about the imminent Ethiopian elections and human rights issues, Amnesty InternationaI urges the government and its security forces, election officials and all political parties, to make clear commitments to respect and protect the human rights of all Ethiopians during the elections, including the human rights of women. The organization calls for impartial investigation by the authorities and election observers of continuing reports of human rights abuses against members of opposition parties.

On 15 May 2005 Ethiopians will elect a new federal parliament and regional and city councils, with elections in the Somali Region to be held in August. It will be the third general election under the 1995 Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

Amnesty International is not an election observer, either in Ethiopia or elsewhere, but it calls for human rights to be protected in the election process and for human rights issues to feature prominently in it.

Amnesty International's representatives visited Ethiopia in February-March 2005 to assess the human rights situation impartially and independently in relation to the upcoming elections. They met the chair of the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia, the Minister of Justice, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and the National Human Rights Commissioner. They also met opposition party representatives, UN officials, diplomatic representatives, Ethiopian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, women's organizations and other human rights defenders.

Amnesty International's representatives visited certain rural areas to investigate allegations of election-related human rights violations. In East Gojjam in the Amhara Region, two opposition party members had recently been killed by local government militia, and in the Southern Region there were reports of arrests and intimidation of opposition members. Opposition parties have recently reported two more killings and many arrests of opposition supporters in these regions, which Amnesty International is unable so far to confirm.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition and its affiliated parties control the current federal parliament and regional and city councils, having gained over 95 percent of all seats in the previous elections in 2000. In the May 2000 elections, there were several reliable reports of election-related human rights abuses.

In the current elections, the contest is between the EPRDF group and two opposition coalitions, the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) and the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), and independent candidates. The Prime Minister has said that the EPRDF will work alongside opposition parties and the international community to ensure a "flawless election". Opposition parties claims their members have encountered human rights and politically-motivated restrictions on their activities in recent months and during the election campaign.

The government has allowed election observation by invited or accredited election observers. In addition to the diplomatic community, there will be international election observers from the European Union, the African Union and the Carter Centre in the USA. However, not all those who want to observe, assist or study the elections have been accepted by the government. It is still unclear whether Ethiopian NGOs and human rights groups, who are currently engaged in voter education, will be accredited as election observers.

The elections take place against a background of widespread violations of human rights in Ethiopia in recent years. Amnesty International has been concerned about the prolonged detention without charge or trial of several thousand people arrested for political reasons, particularly on account of suspected links to armed opposition groups in the long-running armed conflicts in the Oromia and Somali Regions. There have been cases of imprisonment of prisoners of conscience, and reports of torture, "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions. Journalists of the private print media have been frequently imprisoned under the 1992 Press Law. No journalist is currently in prison under this law, but over 20 journalists who were earlier freed on bail might yet be brought to trial. A new Press Law is being prepared which could be used to arrest, try and imprison editors and reporters in violation of their right to freedom of opinion and expression. Human rights defenders have also been at risk.

In Gambella Region in south-western Ethiopia, the right to freedom of opinion and assembly is still severely affected by the killing of large numbers of members of the Anuak ethnic group (or "nationality") by civilian mobs and soldiers over three days in December 2003. In March 2005, six soldiers were charged with involvement in the killings.

The report concludes with Amnesty International's recommendations to the government, election observers and political parties:

* The government should make a clear public statement that human rights violations in the election context will not be tolerated. The security forces at all levels including local militia should act with due impartiality to protect voters' rights and the rule of law.

* Election observers, both international and local, should include a human rights component in their mandate. They should observe and report impartially, accurately and publicly on any election-related violations of human rights, including the human rights of women, and bring these to the attention of the appropriate authorities for investigation and prosecution of those responsible.

* All political parties and candidates, whether pro-government, opposition or independent, should publicly commit themselves to promoting and protecting human rights, participating in the elections peacefully and fairly, and not tolerating any abuses by their supporters.

Read the report on Amnesty International USA

Ethiopia Opposition Accuses State of Abuse

Ethiopia's largest opposition group accused security forces on Wednesday of killing eight of their supporters and arresting 240 during a campaign to scare their supporters ahead of May 15 elections.

The group of five parties and coalitions said it was also concerned that the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi may try to rig the results of the polls in the country of almost 70 million, which his party is widely favoured to win.

Hailu Shawel, chairman of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy, told a joint news conference held with the other four main groupings that they would not bow to threats.

"We would like to tell the ruling party that we are not the running type. If the worst comes we are ready to die for our principles and causes," he said.

There was no immediate reaction from the government, which has always denied harassing opposition members.

A statement issued by the grouping said government militia were killing, beating or arresting people who refused to denounce opposition parties and join the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.

"We are not here to conspire, to boycott the election. What we are demanding is that the government stops its supporters obstructing the election process and rectifies the situation, which makes peaceful campaigning impossible," said Beyene Pedros, vice-chairperson of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, one of the five parties in the group.

IOL: Africa

Authorities Sound Alarm as Non-stop Rain Pounds Southeast Ethiopia

Ethiopian authorities warned of new deaths and damage as non-stop rains pounded parts of southeastern Ethiopia where devastating weekend floods have left at least 88 people dead and nearly 60,000 displaced.

The rain, which started early Thursday barred humanitarian assessment teams deployed in the affected Godie region of Ethiopia's remote Somali state, 1,380 kilometers (860 miles) southeast of Addis Ababa, from returning to compile reports, officials said.

"It has been raining since morning and this has complicated the efforts of the assessment teams that was sent to the affected areas," regional disaster prevention chief Abdullahi Mahdi told AFP from the regional capital of Jigiga.

"At the same time, the volume of the river is increasing in some areas and we are afraid that areas such as Mustahin, Kelafo and Ferfier (in Godie) will be submerged by water and this could bring the damage and deaths to people and now," he said.

At least 66 people were killed, 36,000 made homeless and more than 4,000 goats, 2,000 camels and several hundred cattle swept away in 36 villages in the two districts by raging waters from the Wabe Shebell river that burst its banks at the weekend after days of heavy rains, according to official figures.

In the Kebri Dahra area, some 1,040 kilometers from Addis Ababa, where 15 villages were submerged, 16 people have been confirmed dead, 900 others displaced and 1,000 domestic animals missing in the floods.

Around Mustahil, 1,480 kilometers from Addis Ababa six people were killed, several villages completely destroyed, some 20,000 people displaced and 317 head of cattle and 17 donkeys washed away, the figures, released on Wednesday, showed.

At least two people, among the dead, have been devoured by crocodiles the appearance of which are posing a new threat to the displaced, with survivors in some parts of the region still clinging to trees in desperate attempts to avoid being eaten.

Yahoo! News

Brad Pitt Meets Orphans of AIDS Pandemic

Photo Courtesy: AP

Actor Brad Pitt spent three days in Ethiopia meeting with orphans of the AIDS pandemic that is devastating Africa, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The star of "Troy" and "Fight Club" also visited projects offering AIDS treatment as part of a campaign to get more lifesaving drugs for victims of the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Pitt's trip was organized by DATA, a Washington-based lobby group co-founded by rock star Bono, which campaigns to improve trade and debt terms for poor countries and raising awareness about AIDS in poor countries.

Pitt was in Ethiopia from Saturday to late Monday.

"We have met some incredible people, incredibly poor people who are fighting back against AIDS and extreme poverty with help from Americans," said DATA Executive Director Jamie Drummond.

It is 41-year-old Pitt's second visit to Ethiopia, where 1.5 million people are infected, making it the fifth highest population in the world living with the HIV virus.

The country has 540,000 children who have been orphaned because of AIDS.

"We have seen lifesaving anti-AIDS drugs in action, drugs that are only here because of the action of concerned people from all walks of life in the USA, from churchgoers to punk rock fans," Drummond said.

"Now we must turn the trickle into a flood of effective aid to help Ethiopians and poor people across Africa help themselves," he said.

ABC News

Ancient Tomb Network Found in Ethiopia

Experts have discovered a major network of underground funerary chambers and arches near the original site of an ancient obelisk in Ethiopia, UNESCO said.

The discovery was made last week during a surveying mission in the east African country in preparation for the return of the final piece of the 1,700-year-old Axum obelisk from Italy, the agency said.

Teams from the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation found the chambers using high-technology imaging equipment.

"It is likely that some of the tombs identified through underground imaging are intact," said Koichiro Matsuura, UNESCO's director-general, in a statement.

The Axum site was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980. The obelisk - a symbol of African civilisation - was stolen in 1937 under orders from Italy's fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

The vast chambers, part of a royal necropolis predating the Christian era, are located beneath a parking area built on the site in 1963, UNESCO said.

Italian researchers were examining images and were creating three-dimensional models of the royal tombs, the agency said.

seven.com.au

Update
An archaeologist has warned that re-erecting Ethiopia's ancient obelisk in the northern city of Axum could endanger the area's many royal tombs.

A new vast network of burial chambers has been discovered under a car park near the site where the Axum obelisk was to be restored in September.

(continued on BBC News)

Ethiopians Say They Can't Get into TAU, Hebrew University

The Hebrew University in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University are closing their doors to Ethiopian students, especially those wishing to study in prestigious programs, Ethiopian activists and university graduates say.

These two universities consider the psychometric exam as the decisive factor in accepting students, thus significantly reducing the number of Ethiopian students compared to the other universities.

Immanuel Hadana, a prosecutor in the military advocate general's office, graduated in 2000 with a first degree in law from TAU. The law program initially refused to accept him because his psychometric grade was lower than required by the entrance threshold. Only after repeated appeals - appearing before a committee and approaching the top university officials - did the program agree to accept him.

"My attempts to enter the law study program in TAU took more time than the studies themselves," he says.

Hadana was recently invited to speak at the Knesset's Immigration and Absorption Committee about the success in the absorption of the Ethiopian immigrants.

He told the committee that the university management had asked him to praise its success in accepting immigrants from Ethiopia at a talk to university contributors and trustees.

"I was the second student (of Ethiopian origin) at the university. I remember a conference where they wanted me to say there was a 100 percent rise in the number of Ethiopian students at TAU. I objected," he says.

TAU, with its 28,000 students, is the largest university in Israel. In 2002-2003, only 32 Ethiopian students studied there. At Hebrew University, the second largest, there were 26 Ethiopian students at that time. The number of students at the Technion in Haifa, which is considered a relatively small, elitist institution, was 49. Altogether, 441 Ethiopian students studied at the six large universities in 2002-2003, 30 percent (128) at Bar Ilan and some 40 percent (174) in Haifa.

"I am not ashamed to say that Hebrew University and TAU are `snobbish' universities that refuse to accept the immigrants from Ethiopia," Israel Radio's Amharic program director Zaga Malko told the Knesset committee.

Haaretz

Make Poverty History

The G8 summit: In July 2005 the UK will be hosting the G8 summit in Gleneagles, in Scotland. Poverty in Africa will be a main topic for discussion and we plan to ensure your voice is heard there.

The EU Presidency: In the second half of this year the UK will be holding the chair of the European Union.

20th Anniversary of Live Aid: takes place on 13th July and will draw the public's attention back to issues of poverty in Africa and encourage western governments to take urgent action. The original Live Aid has been described as the greatest musical event of all time and the simultaneous concerts in London and Philadelphia raised millions for famine relief.

The Commission for Africa: launched by Tony Blair in February 2004 to help generate action for a strong and prosperous Africa. Its report released in March 2005 forms a key focal point of the British Chairmanship of the G8. Read the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY statement on the Commission for Africa report here.

UN General Assembly Special Summit on the Millennium Development Goals: takes place 1st - 5th September 2005 to review the progress since the 2000 Millennium Declaration of the MDGs to halve the proportion of people living in poverty by 2015.

www.makepovertyhistory.org

WorldSpace Sets Stock Offering

Seeking to piggyback on the growth of satellite radio in the United States, WorldSpace Inc., a District-based satellite radio service provider with licenses to broadcast in Asia and Africa, last week registered an initial public offering of $100 million of stock with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Founded in 1990, WorldSpace sells subscriptions to its radio service and receivers and leases broadcast capacity on satellites it owns. It does not compete with XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., based in the District, and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. of New York, which hold the only two U.S. satellite radio broadcast licenses.

WorldSpace aims to apply the business model pioneered by XM and Sirius in the United States to India and China, both markets with burgeoning middle classes.

The date and target price for the offering will depend on an SEC review and investor response to the company's presentation of its business plan, said Donald J. Frickel, WorldSpace's general counsel.

Last year, WorldSpace reported revenue of $8.5 million, down from $13 million for 2003, according to SEC filings. It posted net losses of $577 million in 2004 and $217 million in 2003.

WorldSpace was one of XM's original investors in the mid-1990s and licensed technology to XM. It sold its stake in XM in 1999 for $75 million. WorldSpace continues to program four channels for XM, Frickel said.

washingtonpost.com

Kenya Looks Underground for Power

Photo courtesy: BBC News

On a chilly hilltop high above Kenya's Rift Valley, Jackson Chipyagon, 40, chops up wood to keep a small fire smouldering outside his shack.

Modern amenities like electricity have not yet reached his home. But even if he had power, he is not sure how useful it would be.

"Sure, we want electricity," he says.

"But it's expensive for us. We only have meagre earnings. So even if we get electricity, it's hard to afford it."

Mr Chipyagon's farm overlooks Africa's Rift Valley, a giant fissure in the earth's crust running 6,000 miles from Lebanon to Mozambique. The plumes of escaping steam, and bubbling lakes, hint of volcanic turmoil beneath the surface.

Experts from the United Nations say if this geothermal energy were harnessed, it could provide power to some of the world's poorest nations.

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Uganda, even Zambia have the potential to tap in. But so far, Kenya is the only nation which has made headway.

Some 200 kilometres from Mr Chipyagon's farm is the Hell's Gate National Park, with its strange rock formations and spouts of hissing steam.

But even stranger is the mixture of wilderness and industrialisation.

But the fumes belching from the chimneys are not polluting petrochemical smoke. They are eco-friendly water vapour, which drifts off into the blue sky.

The Ol Karia station is the continent's biggest geothermal power-generating plant. It takes its name from a nearby volcano, which erupted 150 years ago and is still active.

There are 22 wells across the site, piercing the earth's crust, and tapping into molten rock as hot as 345C, deep below the surface.

Water pumped into the well produces steam, which powers the turbines.

BBC NEWS

Minnesota's Anuak, Worry About Conditions In Homeland

Abang Ojullu can't stop crying when she thinks of two of her brothers, killed by the Ethiopian military.

Ochwor Ojulu calls relatives in his native Ethiopia every week to check on his brother, who has been jailed and tortured by the government for more than a year.

Obang Okello worries whenever he thinks of his parents, forced to live in a shed they built under some trees after their home was taken by soldiers.

All three are Anuak, an ethnic minority from western Ethiopia, who now live in Minnesota. They say their stories of family and friends being terrorized by the Ethiopian government are part of a larger picture outlined by a Human Rights Watch investigator last month.

That report said Ethiopian troops have committed widespread killings, rapes and torture of the tribal Anuak population in the southwestern corner of the country since late 2003. Hundreds were killed and thousands driven from their homes after numerous attacks by soldiers and civilians from other ethnic groups, it said.

WCCO

Up to 40 Dead as Ethiopia River Bursts Banks

A river swelled by non-stop rain burst its banks in eastern Ethiopia, killing up to 40 people and leaving many homeless, officials said on Sunday.

"Many are still hanging on to trees for dear life," Mohammed Admi Abdi, district administrator of West Emi in Ogaden province, said by telephone.

He said the Wabe Shabelle river had burst its banks on Saturday night after 48 hours of continuous heavy rain, flooding or washing away 35 villages in one of the most remote regions of the Horn of Africa country of more than 60 million.

Government officials and voluntary organisations were trying to move the survivors by helicopter, as all roads leading to the area 700 km (440 miles) east of Addis Ababa were under water and impassable. "

The flood caught the people in 35 villages along the banks unawares," Abdi said. "Up to 40 died in their sleep while those were were awake were able to escape."

He said officials of the government, the United Nations and voluntary organisations were meeting in the Ogaden capital of Gode to plan relief operations.

Ethiopia, which was hit by intense droughts during the 1980s that killed nearly a million people, is in the midst of a rainy season.

Reuters AlertNet

Previous post: The Destruction of the Blue Nile Falls

More on Hydropolitics in the Horn of Africa...

Thompson Devastated at African AIDS Toll

Actress Emma Thompson told yesterday how she was moved to tears by the plight of Aids victims in Ethiopia.

The Oscar-winning star visited the country on a fund-raising visit for the charity ActionAid.

Emma, 45, spent a fortnight in the country, devastated by famine and now gripped by an HIV and Aids epidemic.

She said meeting the country's prime minister Meles Zenawi humbled her.

he said: 'He thanked me for taking time off from making millions of dollars. I told him he was overestimating my earning capacity.'

The actress, who became an ActionAid ambassador last year, said she had also been amazed by the determination of a people intent on helping themselves.

Emma, who has a five--year-old daughter Gaia, said: 'A 17-year-old girl told me how her mum had died from HIV.

'On the day she died, the teenager went out to look for people who used to be her mother's friends but they all refused to bury her.'

The star, whose films include Howard's End and Love Actually, was delighted to discover schoolchildren being taught the facts about HIV.

She said: 'They all know how it is transmitted - even the little ones - and it is such a relief to hear and see them discussing it so openly.

sundaymail

"These people are not just the have-nots, they’re the haves as well. They have resilience, the like of which you or I could never dream of. They have commitment, drive, grit, they have intelligence and they have ideas," said Emma.

ActionAid’s Head of Individuals Marketing, Imelda McGuigan said: "Emma spent time with the community explaining what it was we were trying to do. She asked them how they would like to be represented, what issues they wanted to highlight and who they wished to speak on their behalf. The result is a moving, yet positive appeal with 100 per cent involvement from the community."

One of the villagers, who featured in the commerical, Fanaye Woju said: "Our pregnant women used to walk miles to reach hospital. Many gave birth on the way. Now, thanks to support from ActionAid, our women are training as midwives."

Emma has been an ambassador for ActionAid since 2001 and has spoken out publicly about her support for the work the charity is doing, in particular, to address the HIV and Aids epidemic that continues to sweep across Africa. She has travelled to Uganda, Mozambique and Ethiopia to find out what poverty means for men, women and children and the steps they are taking to overcome it.

ActionAid is part of MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY – the largest coalition ever assembled in the UK – which is calling for an end to global poverty. Over 200 charities, trade unions and celebrities are demanding that world leaders deliver trade justice, debt cancellation and more and better aid.

VISIT www.emma-thompson.net; MAKE Poverty History.

Ben & Jerry's Sports 'Fair Trade' Label

Products offer consumers peace of mind

Ben & Jerry's newest product arrived in supermarket freezers this week, offering a less-guilty pleasure for consumers who worry about who labored to make their ice cream.

Their Coffee; Coffee Heath Bar Crunch; and Coffee, Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz! flavors have been designated "Fair Trade Certified' by Transfair USA, an Oakland-based nonprofit group that audits the books of U.S. companies to ensure that ingredients come from farmers who get fair prices for their goods

"Fair trade is about making sure people get their fair share of the pie,' said Ben Cohen, co- founder of the Burlington, Vt. ice cream maker. "The whole concept of fair trade goes to heart of American values and the sense of right and wrong. Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else.'

...Even a small price premium means a lot to the producers, who are mostly small family farmers. While most bean growers receive about 20 cents per pound, the fair trade price is $1.26 a difference that can provide a decent life in countries such as Colombia, Ethiopia and Indonesia.

SGVTribune.com

Previous post: Java War -- Ethiopia Challenges Brazil

China, Ethiopia Ties Further Consolidated

Visiting Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Lu Guozeng said in Addis Ababa Friday that the bilateral cooperation between China and Ethiopia has been further consolidated.

During his talks with Ethiopian State Minister of Foreign Affairs Tekeda Alemu, Lu said the cooperation between the two countries in various sectors have been strengthened in particular after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawei's visit to China.

The increasing trade volume between the two nations and the success of the development activities being carried out by Chinese investors operating in Ethiopia are some indicators for the enhancement of bilateral cooperation, he said.

The relations between the two nations have been strengthened since the first ministerial meeting of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2000, said the Chinese official.

People's Daily Online

United States Adds $19.5 Million to Food-Aid -Support for Ethiopia

The United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced an additional pledge of 47,320 metric tons (MT) of wheat valued at over $19.5 million (168,675,000 birr) to Ethiopia through the World Food Program (WFP) to meet the needs of Ethiopia’s Emergency Appeal.

The pledge responds to the joint appeal of the Government of Ethiopia’s Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) and the United Nations, which estimates that 2.2 million people will require emergency assistance in 2005.

To date in 2005, the U.S. Government has responded with a total of 103,999 MT of food aid valued at $49 million (423,850,000 birr).

Earlier commitments, provided through WFP and non-governmental organizations, included cereals, pulses, vegetable oil, and corn-soya blend.

USAID provides food assistance to vulnerable populations through direct distribution, food-for-work programs, maternal and child health programs, and therapeutic and supplementary feeding programs.

CommunityDispatch.com

Ethiopia Says Somali Insurgents Killed

A security chief said his forces had killed 41 men and captured 36 more over the past five days while they were crossing the border into Ethiopia's Somali state.

"We are still chasing the remaining ones," Jemiel Hajji Mohammed, the chief security officer for Ethiopia's Somali state, said on Saturday.

He added that hundreds of firearms had been recovered from the fighters.

Mohammed said the insurgents were allied to two groups from neighbouring Somalia: Al-Ittihad, a religious group based in Somalia, and the National Liberation Front (ONLF), which is based in southeastern Ethiopia.

According to Mohammed, the captured insurgents all claimed they were trained by Eritrea, a country that fought a two-year border war with Ethiopia that started in 1998 and claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides.

Aljazeera.Net

Ethiopia May Seek Return of 19th-Century Child Prince's Body from Britain

thiopia may soon demand the repatriation of the remains of an 19th-century prince who died in Britain after being spirited away by invading British troops, a senior official said Friday.

Encouraged by its success in winning the return from Italy of the stolen third-century BC Axum obelisk, Ethiopia is hoping other European countries will send back similarly plundered pieces of its heritage, including the body of the prince, the official said.

"Prince Alemayu is still in Great Britain," Deputy Information Minister Netsannet Asfaw said. "I would like to get the body back."

She said she was not making an official request but felt it was now time for the prince, who was taken to Britain at the age of eight in 1868 after the overthrow of his father emperor Theodor of Ethiopia, to come home.

"As a mother, I think he should come home," she said. "He was a child when he died and he was far away from his country."

Sudan Tribune

Voting is a Duty, a Right, Ethiopian Catholic Bishops Say Ahead of Polls

Catholic bishops in Ethiopia have urged their faithful and fellow compatriots to exercise their "responsibility" to vote in elections slotted for May 15, 2005.

They said that eligible voters should not be swayed in their conscientious choice, neither by political indifference nor by political or economic persuasion.

Their 'Message of the Catholic Bishops on the Occasion of the Third Elections in Ethiopia 2005' is signed by Abune Berhaneyesus D Souraphiel CM, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Addis Ababa and President of the Assembly of the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia.

"Some might be tempted to adopt. . .an attitude of political indifference and apathy because they are skeptical about the utility of their individual vote," the bishops said, explaining that "to abstain oneself from voting is not to fulfil one's responsibility as citizen."

They reminded voters "of policies which safeguard their noble human values such as the sanctity of life from conception, family integrity" as well as "freedom of conscience, respect for human life, freedom of religion and freedom of human rights."

allAfrica.com

Second Obelisk Part in Ethiopia

The second part of a 1,700-year old stone obelisk looted by Italy nearly 70 years ago has arrived back in Ethiopia.

The Axum obelisk is regarded as one of Ethiopia's national treasures and there were huge celebrations when the first piece arrived on Tuesday.

The final piece is expected on Monday but the monument is not due to be re-erected until September.

Italian troops took the obelisk to Rome in 1937, where it stayed despite a 1947 UN agreement for its return.

The top arrived in Axum on Friday, after the middle piece was sent on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is expected to travel to Axum to lead national celebrations on Monday, when the final, bottom, section is due to return, reports the AP news agency.

BBC News

Humanitarian conditions to get worse in Ethiopia - UNICEF

Humanitarian conditions in Ethiopia are set to get worse now that a scheme to end aid dependency has been delayed, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Thursday.

According to UNICEF, malnutrition was increasing due to "difficulties" with the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP), and funding shortfalls were holding up measles and polio vaccination campaigns.

A lack of support from the international community in areas like health, water and nutrition was also hampering the humanitarian response, it added.

Thursday's warning came as the Ethiopian government prepared to make a new appeal for support on 2 May, to help the growing numbers needing food aid and emergency assistance. It expected to announce an increase in the number of people needing aid this year – which currently stands at around seven million.

In December, the UN and the Ethiopian government appealed for US $112 million for health, nutrition, water and sanitation, but have so far received less than a quarter of that. Some $159 million was also requested to help feed 2.2 million people facing hunger.

Reuters AlertNet

Ethiopia Says Kills 32 Eritrea-Trained Raiders

Ethiopia said on Friday its army killed 32 armed men sent by former foe Eritrea to raise havoc before Ethiopia's May elections, a charge Eritrea denied saying its policy was to stay out of other countries' affairs.

There was no independent word available on the motives and identity of the 32 dead, nor of the 33 other people an Ethiopian security official said were captured in the clashes on Monday.

Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000. An independent commission awarded Eritrea a disputed border town, but Ethiopia has only accepted the ruling in principle and the frontier has yet to be demarcated.

In recent months rhetoric over the border situation has been heating up and the United Nations said Ethiopia had moved troops closer to the U.N.-patrolled security zone separating the two.

Reuters AlertNet

Celebrate Earth Day

Friends of Ethiopia:: Celebrates Earth Day
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Liya Kebede, WHO's Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, January 2005

Video: VIEW Liya Kebede's WHD message

Washington DC Rally Denounces Expulsion of U.S. Groups from Ethiopia

Ethiopians in the United States will stage a rally in Washington DC to protest against government expulsions of three U.S. democracy groups and the rising tide of government attacks on members of the opposition parties in Ethiopia, rally organizers have announced in a press release.

Supporters of the popular opposition United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), a coalition of 14 opposition parties, reported the April 27 rally would also call for US Congress members to expedite the passage of Hr 935, a bill if endorsed would enable the U.S. Congress to monitor Ethiopian elections would be free and fair.

Concerned by the growing popularity of the opposition parties, the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has continued to harass, imprison and kill opposition party supporters in various parts of the country. Such crimes are committed in the company of sudden expulsion orders of democracy groups from the U.S. and a senior election observer from the European Union.

The Ethiopians called for legal action against the perpetrators of state-sponsored crimes, the release of imprisoned opposition activists, and the return of expelled groups to Ethiopia.

Ethiomedia

How Poverty is Pushing Teenagers to Prostitution

She was approaching her teens when her elder sister came up with a suggestion. "Why don’t we use the beauty we are blessed with to make money and grow rich?" Rahe, who only wishes to be identified by her first name, recalls her sister asking her.

They were fetching firewood on a hill overlooking Moyale Town, sweat dripping down their young faces. The two girls marvelled at each other’s beauty as they digested the idea.

They had seen their agemate and neighbour cross the border every evening and within a short time, her family members all had new clothes.

Now aged 17, Rahe and several of her friends from their remote village in southern Ethiopia joined some local girls in selling their bodies at the Kenyan border town of Moyale.

Rahe’s father was killed on suspicion of being a member of the proscribed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) fighting the Ethiopian Government. Their mother is a peasant farmer barely able to put food on the table.

About three years into the business, Rahe’s decision on that hot afternoon has often returned to haunt her.

The Standard

"The major factor fuelling the worst forms of child labour is poverty. And when you have unemployment here of around 25 percent, the parents themselves sometimes force their children into this as a survival strategy. So you can see living in Addis Ababa there are a lot of children living on the streets and there is child prostitution."

-Michel Gozo is the head of the UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Ethiopia, 2003

Ethiopia Rejoices as Italy Returns Plundered Obelisk

Ethiopians yesterday welcomed home the first of three giant sections of the 1,700-year-old Axum Obelisk, one of their most prized antiquities looted by Italy's fascists in the 1930s.

Priests chanted and church bells rang out as a huge Antonov cargo jet returning the monument's first 60 ton chunk landed safely after flying over the runway four times, watched anxiously by a crowd of thousands.

The 80 ft obelisk has stood in Rome's city centre since it was plundered in 1937 but is being returned piece by piece. Italy is paying the entire £4.3 million bill ($7.7m) for the operation.

Telegraph



Courtesy: Reuters

Did you know?
Benito Mussolini's Italy used mustard gas in Ethiopia and Libya. SEE the effects of mustard gas.

Ethiopia never received an official apology. The question that begs an answer is: Where was the Vatican during this time?

Also, the late Pope John Paul II has visited more than 125 countries in his 26 years as the Pope, but never visited Ethiopia...

Ethiopian NGOs to Sue Electoral Board over Restrictions on Local Observers

Over 30 nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations (CSOs) working in Ethiopia announced Tuesday they are to sue the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) over a new directive, excluding some of them from sending domestic observers.

They said that the new directive, issued six week before the May 15 national elections, has restricted the definition of " domestic observers" given in the recently amended electoral law and clearly infringes the constitutional right of Ethiopians to monitor election in their country.

According to the directive, only Ethiopian NGOs and CSOs that have specifically listed election observation as one of their objectives up on registration before the Ministry of Justice can be considered for accreditation.

"Where the very concept of election monitoring by domestic observers is just starting to gain some momentum and where most local CSOs and NGOs are less than ten years old, such requirement is simply illogical," they said.

Heads of the coalition of the NGOs and CSOs told journalists that the decision was made at a general assembly meeting of the coalition held on Saturday.

China's People's Daily

Veterans Want Skulls of Heroes Returned

Ethiopian veterans demanded Sunday that Rome return heads severed from their fallen heroes by fascist Italian invaders in the 1930s, saying the expected return of an obelisk this week was not enough.

Ethiopian and Italian officials in the northern Ethiopian city of Axum say the first part of the obelisk, plundered nearly 70 years ago, is due to be flown back to the city in a giant cargo plane Tuesday after repeated delays.

"We welcome the belated return of the Axum obelisk, but the present Italian government must return the skull of Hailu Kebede and of others which Italian fascist forces brutally severed from their dead bodies and displayed in Italian military museums in Rome," Workineh Tegegne, vice president of the Ethiopian Patriotic Association of guerrillas, told Reuters.

"The return of the obelisk is a historic occasion because it heralds the final defeat of fascism and its relegation to the dustbin of history," he said.

Reuters.com

Ethiopia's Negussie Wins Boston Marathon

Hailu Negussie of Ethiopia ended Kenyan men's dominance of the Boston marathon on Monday by becoming the second Ethiopian winner in the history of the world's oldest annually contested marathon.

In the women's race, defending champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya became the first four-time winner of the marathon, coming from behind to overtake Ethiopia's Elfenesh Alemu.

Negussie, fifth last year, finished the 109th edition of the Boston marathon in an official time of 2 hours 11 minutes 45 seconds. The course record of 2:07:15 was set by Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya in 1994.

Yahoo! News

Mubarak, Ethiopian PM Discuss Joint Nile River Projects

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Sunday discussed joint projects to allow their respective countries to benefit from the waters of the Nile River, Ethiopia's ambassor to Egypt said.

The two leaders agreed to "encourage the formulation of joint development projects to ensure the optimal exploitation of hydraulic resources within the framework of the Nile Basin Initiative, notably involving countries east of the river: Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan," Amare Girma said after the talks in in the Egyptian Red Sea resort.

Colonial-era agreements imposed by Britain prohibited Nile basin states other than Egypt from undertaking projects that would reduce the river's flow.

But in 1999 Egypt finally agreed with the other nine littoral states to thrash out a new framework for sharing the river's resources.

More than 95 percent of Egypt's water needs are covered by the Nile but according to official estimates the country, whose population has increased at least three-fold since 1959 bringing it up to 72 million, now registers a deficit and needs to develop new hydraulic resources.

Some 85 percent of the Nile's flow comes down the Blue Nile from Ethiopia.

Egypt's independent press regularly writes about dam construction projects underway in Ethiopia, allegedly in cooperation with Israel, which could slacken the flow of water and affect Cairo's Nile water supply.

A meeting gathering all 10 Nile basin states is scheduled for May in Uganda, Amare said.

Sudan Tribune

Previous post: The Destruction of the Blue Niles Falls


Courtesy: AFP

Ethiopian Opposition Vows to Change Constitution if Elected

The opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), the umbrella organization of four multinational opposition parties, has proposed sweeping changes to the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (FDRE) as one element of its election platform in the Election Manifesto it released on Wednesday April 6, 2005.

The proposed changes are said to have been made with the view to making the constitution more friendly to human and democratic rights, curbing the powers of the executive and ensuring the independence of the judiciary.

The coalition, which is composed of the All Ethiopia Unity Party (AEUP), the Ethiopians Democratic Union Party-Medhin (EDUP-Medhin), the Ethiopian Democratic League (EDL) and Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Social Justice and Democracy (Rainbow), has proposed an extensive list of amendments to make in the current constitution, including the most obvious one to Article 39 which provides for the rights of peoples, nations and nationalities, including and up to secession.

CUD's Election Manifesto says that the way these rights are provided for in the present constitution fails to take into account and balance the multitude desires, interests and views of the Ethiopian people.

"Therefore," says the manifesto, "it will be amended in a way that will ensure the rights of citizens both in their individual and collective capacity to self-determination with the view of making it consonant with the desires not only of those who want to secede but also those who want to stay together."

The coalition intends to modify the regional administrative arrangement that is being followed by the present government and which has subsequently been enshrined in the constitution as well. According to the manifesto, the basis for these modifications would be the observance of the wishes, interests and desires of the people. The criteria, thus, would be the wishes of the people, the strength or otherwise of historical and cultural commonalties, language, settlement patterns and geography, etc.

The manifesto also makes clear that the leaders of the coalition will definitely go on to scrap the constitutional provision that makes land, both urban and rural, the property of the state as they have promised repeatedly to do.

CUD's proposals also include changing the voting system to proportional representation, stripping the power to interpret the constitution off the House of the Federation, limiting the tenures of the prime minister to two terms, amending the various constitutional stipulations to ensure the independence of the judiciary, and so on. CUD also promised the scrapping of laws proclaimed in violation of the supremacy of the constitution (Article 9).

The coalition's Election Manifesto deals also extensively with the various reform programmes in the social, economic, political and other spheres.

Sudan Tribune


Ethiopian artists gathered together at fund raising event on March 12, 2005 at the Washington Convention Center, Washington DC.

Ethiopian Human Rights Organization Reports Pre-Election Abuse

The Ethiopian Human Rights Council Friday released a report accusing local government and election officials of harassing members and supporters of opposition parties ahead of next month's general elections.

The head of investigation at the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, Birhanu Tsigu, tells VOA his group has documented what he calls "election abuses and irregularities," which he says were committed mostly by low-level government officials operating in local communities.

"Most of these abuses have been committed against members, candidates and supporters of the opposition parties,” he said. “The kinds of violations range from extra-judicial killings, unlawful imprisonments, beatings and eviction from land, and different sorts of abuses. Most of the abuses have been investigated by our investigators who have been deployed to the sites of these violations, and we do have first-hand information, first-hand evidence, on all of these incidents reported."

The most serious incident described in Friday's report occurred in January in the Amhara region, where, Mr. Tsigu says, two people were killed and six others injured by local government officials. Mr. Tsigu says the victims were members of an opposition party and were deliberately targeted.

VOA News

More on Human Rights Issues in Ethiopia (Human Rights Watch)

SUPPORT H.R. 935 – FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN ETHIOPIA
The bill (H.R. 935) introduced in the House of Representatives of the U.S. Congress on February 17, 2005 by U.S. Representatives Michael M. Honda (D CA) and Edward R. Royce (R CA) and referred to the House Committee on International Relations urges the Government of Ethiopia to hold orderly, peaceful, and free and fair national elections in May 2005 and authorizes United States assistance for elections-related activities to monitor the Ethiopian national elections.

Past experiences as well as recent developments indicate that the Ethiopian Government would do everything possible to derail and defraud the upcoming national elections and the democratic process. To achieve lasting peace and democratic progress in Ethiopia, the United States and other democracies around the world need to put pressure on the regime to respect human rights, restructure the National Election Board in a manner that makes the Board impartial and independent, allow independent international observers to monitor the May 15, 2005 elections, respect the rule of law, and help ensure a genuine and transparent election process.

Democracy-loving people around the world respectfully request, with utmost urgency, that all efforts be made to ensure the passage of H.R. 935 by the U.S. Congress as soon as possible so that the noble and democratic purpose of this bill is realized and Ethiopia begins a new, fresh path toward peace and democracy.

Please sign this petition and also write to President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. Congress, the House Committee on International Relations, and the Congressional Black Caucus, in support of H.R. 935 (Free and Fair Elections in Ethiopia) and the spread of genuine democracy around the globe.

Sign This Petition

Malaysians Ask Ethiopian Government for Oil Exploration License in Ogaden

Representatives of the Malaysian oil company, Petronas, last month asked the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines for oil exploration rights that would enable them to prospect for crude oil in the Ogaden basin in the Somali Regional state.

Petronas, one of the top ten leading international oil companies in the world, signed a petroleum exploration and development agreement with the Ministry of Mines to prospect for oil in the Gambella basin, western Ethiopia. The agreement was signed in April 2003. And the Chinese company contracted by Petronas began to undertake geological survey in the Gambella basin last September.

Two years ago Petronas signed another agreement with the MoM that granted it a one-year exclusive study right in the Ogaden basin, which latter was extended for another one year. In the past two years, experts of Petronas were analysing the geological data collected from the Ogaden basin in the company’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. The MoM has been assisting the company in providing all the necessary information.

Ethiopian Reporter

Djibouti: Incumbent Wins One-Man Presidential Poll

Djibouti’s incumbent president, Ismail Omar Guelleh, won 100 percent of the vote in Friday’s presidential election - in which he was the sole candidate – according to the official news agency, Agence Djiboutienne d'Information (ADI).

Guelleh will now serve a second and final six-year term as leader of the tiny Horn of Africa nation.

ADI reported that 78.9 percent of approximately 197,000 registered voters cast their ballots - at 200 voting booths - across the country. Some 5.7 percent of the votes cast were reported void.

International news agencies said that police had used tear gas on Friday morning to disperse a crowd of between 300 and 500 pro-opposition demonstrators outside the headquarters of the umbrella opposition movement, the Union of Democratic Alliance.

IRIN Africa

EU Concerned Over "Harassment" Ahead of Ethiopian Elections

The European Union on Saturday expressed concern over reports of "harassment" in the Horn of Africa nation, ahead of general elections scheduled for next month, officials said.

"Reports of harassment, imprisonment, and other activities of intimidation are worrysome," said Rob Vermas, the Dutch ambassador, representing the EU in Ethiopia, while welcoming about 50 EU observers who arrived on Friday.

EU official