By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The stalemate between Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea is a major threat to stability that could trigger renewed war in the volatile region, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
"Not only does the overall situation remain unsettled, but it has also continued to worsen over the last month," Ban said in his latest progress report to the U.N. Security Council on the long-stalled Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process.
"The potential for this situation to deteriorate further or even to lead to renewed hostilities is real, especially if it is allowed to continue indefinitely."
Ban's warning as the 15-nation Security Council heads for a vote at the end of the month on a resolution expected to cut the peacekeeping mission to 1,700 U.N. troops from 2,300.
Last May the council trimmed the peacekeeping force to 2,300 troops from 3,300.
Ban's report recommends that the council extend the mission's mandate for another six months but is silent on whether it should further reduce the number of troops. Without a council vote, the mandate would expire January 31.
U.N. troops were first sent to Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2000 to enforce a cease-fire ending a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people.
As part of the peace agreement, both countries pledged to accept a new border as set out by an international commission.
But the new border was never marked out after Ethiopia rejected part of it and Eritrea objected that Ethiopia was not being held to its word, leading to a four-year impasse.
More recently, Eritrea has piled restrictions on the U.N. force, arbitrarily arrested U.N. staff, ordered some humanitarian relief groups to leave the country, and sent armed personnel into a buffer zone set up by the United Nations between the two countries, Ban said.
"The current impasse is a serious source of instability for the two countries as well as the wider region," Ban said, pointing to the recent brief war in neighboring Somalia pitting government forces reinforced by the Ethiopian military against Islamist troops backed by Eritrea.
"The two governments need to take the political decision to put the conflict behind them, for the sake of their own people," Ban said.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Ethiopian-Eritrea impass could lead to New war, UN
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The stalemate between Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea is a major threat to stability that could trigger renewed war in the volatile region, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
"Not only does the overall situation remain unsettled, but it has also continued to worsen over the last month," Ban said in his latest progress report to the U.N. Security Council on the long-stalled Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process.
"The potential for this situation to deteriorate further or even to lead to renewed hostilities is real, especially if it is allowed to continue indefinitely."
Ban's warning as the 15-nation Security Council heads for a vote at the end of the month on a resolution expected to cut the peacekeeping mission to 1,700 U.N. troops from 2,300.
Last May the council trimmed the peacekeeping force to 2,300 troops from 3,300.
Ban's report recommends that the council extend the mission's mandate for another six months but is silent on whether it should further reduce the number of troops. Without a council vote, the mandate would expire January 31.
U.N. troops were first sent to Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2000 to enforce a cease-fire ending a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people.
As part of the peace agreement, both countries pledged to accept a new border as set out by an international commission.
But the new border was never marked out after Ethiopia rejected part of it and Eritrea objected that Ethiopia was not being held to its word, leading to a four-year impasse.
More recently, Eritrea has piled restrictions on the U.N. force, arbitrarily arrested U.N. staff, ordered some humanitarian relief groups to leave the country, and sent armed personnel into a buffer zone set up by the United Nations between the two countries, Ban said.
"The current impasse is a serious source of instability for the two countries as well as the wider region," Ban said, pointing to the recent brief war in neighboring Somalia pitting government forces reinforced by the Ethiopian military against Islamist troops backed by Eritrea.
"The two governments need to take the political decision to put the conflict behind them, for the sake of their own people," Ban said.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The stalemate between Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea is a major threat to stability that could trigger renewed war in the volatile region, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
"Not only does the overall situation remain unsettled, but it has also continued to worsen over the last month," Ban said in his latest progress report to the U.N. Security Council on the long-stalled Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process.
"The potential for this situation to deteriorate further or even to lead to renewed hostilities is real, especially if it is allowed to continue indefinitely."
Ban's warning as the 15-nation Security Council heads for a vote at the end of the month on a resolution expected to cut the peacekeeping mission to 1,700 U.N. troops from 2,300.
Last May the council trimmed the peacekeeping force to 2,300 troops from 3,300.
Ban's report recommends that the council extend the mission's mandate for another six months but is silent on whether it should further reduce the number of troops. Without a council vote, the mandate would expire January 31.
U.N. troops were first sent to Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2000 to enforce a cease-fire ending a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people.
As part of the peace agreement, both countries pledged to accept a new border as set out by an international commission.
But the new border was never marked out after Ethiopia rejected part of it and Eritrea objected that Ethiopia was not being held to its word, leading to a four-year impasse.
More recently, Eritrea has piled restrictions on the U.N. force, arbitrarily arrested U.N. staff, ordered some humanitarian relief groups to leave the country, and sent armed personnel into a buffer zone set up by the United Nations between the two countries, Ban said.
"The current impasse is a serious source of instability for the two countries as well as the wider region," Ban said, pointing to the recent brief war in neighboring Somalia pitting government forces reinforced by the Ethiopian military against Islamist troops backed by Eritrea.
"The two governments need to take the political decision to put the conflict behind them, for the sake of their own people," Ban said.
Ethiopian-Eritrea impass could lead to New war, UN
By Irwin Arieff
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The stalemate between Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea is a major threat to stability that could trigger renewed war in the volatile region, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
"Not only does the overall situation remain unsettled, but it has also continued to worsen over the last month," Ban said in his latest progress report to the U.N. Security Council on the long-stalled Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process.
"The potential for this situation to deteriorate further or even to lead to renewed hostilities is real, especially if it is allowed to continue indefinitely."
Ban's warning as the 15-nation Security Council heads for a vote at the end of the month on a resolution expected to cut the peacekeeping mission to 1,700 U.N. troops from 2,300.
Last May the council trimmed the peacekeeping force to 2,300 troops from 3,300.
Ban's report recommends that the council extend the mission's mandate for another six months but is silent on whether it should further reduce the number of troops. Without a council vote, the mandate would expire January 31.
U.N. troops were first sent to Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2000 to enforce a cease-fire ending a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people.
As part of the peace agreement, both countries pledged to accept a new border as set out by an international commission.
But the new border was never marked out after Ethiopia rejected part of it and Eritrea objected that Ethiopia was not being held to its word, leading to a four-year impasse.
More recently, Eritrea has piled restrictions on the U.N. force, arbitrarily arrested U.N. staff, ordered some humanitarian relief groups to leave the country, and sent armed personnel into a buffer zone set up by the United Nations between the two countries, Ban said.
"The current impasse is a serious source of instability for the two countries as well as the wider region," Ban said, pointing to the recent brief war in neighboring Somalia pitting government forces reinforced by the Ethiopian military against Islamist troops backed by Eritrea.
"The two governments need to take the political decision to put the conflict behind them, for the sake of their own people," Ban said.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The stalemate between Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea is a major threat to stability that could trigger renewed war in the volatile region, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
"Not only does the overall situation remain unsettled, but it has also continued to worsen over the last month," Ban said in his latest progress report to the U.N. Security Council on the long-stalled Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process.
"The potential for this situation to deteriorate further or even to lead to renewed hostilities is real, especially if it is allowed to continue indefinitely."
Ban's warning as the 15-nation Security Council heads for a vote at the end of the month on a resolution expected to cut the peacekeeping mission to 1,700 U.N. troops from 2,300.
Last May the council trimmed the peacekeeping force to 2,300 troops from 3,300.
Ban's report recommends that the council extend the mission's mandate for another six months but is silent on whether it should further reduce the number of troops. Without a council vote, the mandate would expire January 31.
U.N. troops were first sent to Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2000 to enforce a cease-fire ending a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people.
As part of the peace agreement, both countries pledged to accept a new border as set out by an international commission.
But the new border was never marked out after Ethiopia rejected part of it and Eritrea objected that Ethiopia was not being held to its word, leading to a four-year impasse.
More recently, Eritrea has piled restrictions on the U.N. force, arbitrarily arrested U.N. staff, ordered some humanitarian relief groups to leave the country, and sent armed personnel into a buffer zone set up by the United Nations between the two countries, Ban said.
"The current impasse is a serious source of instability for the two countries as well as the wider region," Ban said, pointing to the recent brief war in neighboring Somalia pitting government forces reinforced by the Ethiopian military against Islamist troops backed by Eritrea.
"The two governments need to take the political decision to put the conflict behind them, for the sake of their own people," Ban said.
al-Zawahri warning Ethiopia
Change policies or face reprisal, Zawahri tells U.S.
Agencies
Dubai, Jan 25: Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri warned Americans of a reprisal "far worse than anything they have seen" unless Washington changed its policies towards Muslim states.
"You are facing the Islamic rage ... what awaits you, should you press on (with current policies), is far worse than anything you have seen," Zawahri said in a video posted on the Internet on Wednesday.
Leaders of al Qaeda, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in U.S. cities, argue that "terrorism" is justified as a way to change pro-Israel U.S. policies and to punish Washington for its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"I will talk to you in a language you understand; if you want to live safely you have to accept reality and reject the illusions that (U.S. President George W.) Bush is trying to deceive you with," he said in the video.
"If we are struck and killed then, God willing, you would most certainly be struck and killed."
Zawahri said Americans should study "faiths and history as they really are and not as portrayed by the clowns of Bush".
He continued: "You have to try your utmost to reach an understanding with the Muslims, only then you will enjoy security. But if you continue with the policy of Bush and his gang then you won't dream of it."
Zawahri was wearing a white turban and a black robe but he did not have his usual AK-47 assault rifle by his side. Part of the video, which was not dated, was posted earlier this week on the Web site of the U.S.-based SITE institute.
Zawahri vowed retaliation against Ethiopian troops for helping Somalia's interim government rout rival Islamist.
"The mujahideen will break their backs with God's power and help," Zawahri said, adding that Bush had pushed Ethiopians into "a definite disaster" to be killed in place of U.S. soldiers.
Ethiopia said on Tuesday its forces began leaving the Somali capital. It has said it does not plan to keep its troops in the Horn of Africa country after their mission is completed.
The Egyptian militant urged Palestinians to abandon President Mahmoud Abbas and key aide, Mohammad Dahlan, and said they were "secularists who sold Palestine and are enemies of Islamic law, traitors and agents of America and Israel".
Zawahri said holy war was the only way to liberate Palestinian land.
He also criticised Lebanon's government and politicians who backed a U.N. resolution ending a 34-day war between Israel and Shi'ite Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah in mid-August and beefed up a U.N. peacekeeping force.
"Those who approved of resolution 1701, endorse the...presence of crusaders in south Lebanon and of the isolation of the mujahideen in Palestine...accepting this resolution is a historic mistake that cannot be justified or apologised for."
He said Muslims should stop their compliance with international law and quit secular organisations and parties to take up arms under the banner of Islam.
Zawahri urged support for fighters in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestinian territories, Somalia, Algeria and the Russian region of Chechnya.
"It is the duty of every Muslim today to carry a weapon or to serve and support those who do so."
After the terrorist warning to break the back of Ethiopian military, the government of Ethiopia seems worried about the terrorist attack and it seems to me that they hastily trying to leave Somalia before they encounter confrontations, it looks like it is a smart move however this is a serious threat from the international terrorist mouth. So the woaynes government trying to see to the different directions, it worried more about Eritrea than somlia now, and also the Eritreans government looking at Meles nervously, maybe looking for some reason to kick the dictator out, well the rest of the oppositions are waiting to see the next move? Wow it is critical time for our country?
Monday, January 22, 2007
A young man gunned down by the Ethiopian goverment
Police shot dead a young political dissident on Wednesday at Rufael, one of the northern suburbs of Addis Ababa.
Four federal police officers dragged Tesfaye Tadesse, 25, from his friend's home at 9:45 pm and shot him thrice on his chest and twice on his back. His family found his bullet-straddled body latter.
Tesfaye a notable kinijit organizer at his neighborhood had been arrested in June and November 2005 when EPRDF embarked upon massive crack down of dissent in the country. His friends said security men had repeatedly harassed him after he was released from detention in November.
Tesfaye's autopsy revealed that he had lost three of his front teeth and one eye due to severe beating. The police officers took him to a dark area in the village and beat him, eyewitnesses claimed. "When people living in the village started surrounding the police officers who were beating him, they shot him and drove away," one witness said.
Tesfaye's friend from whose home the deceased was taken said that he was instructed to stay at the house when he asked the police officers where they were taking his friend.
Tesfaye is the sixth Kinijit organizer killed in Addis Ababa in the past week
http://seminawork.blogspot.com/2007/01/political-dissident-shot-to-death.html
Sunday, January 21, 2007
The Cry of Ethiopian peoples!
The future of my country is so dark, because of the lack of good political leadership, I asked many question for a lot of Ethiopians politicians but this one keep nagging me, why is it we lack a good political leaders, the one with a vision, the one who denied himself or herself and stand firmly to the Ethiopian cause, the leader who can see what is coming, the one who can make a good sound decision on all Ethiopian domestic and international affairs.
In one hand we have a bitter enemies around the world a country like Egypt does not want to see a stable and strong Ethiopia and the other hand we have anti Ethiopia elements and in fact nowadays it become extremely difficult to make a distinction amongst those political groups to see who have a good agenda or who are the imposter with a hidden agenda.
Ethiopia is the source of the Blue Nile but we are known as a land plagued by terrible droughts. Peoples are dying and our country is not improving and yet we have luxury to act irresponsibly while other dying for all kind of reasons and we widen the tragedy, why is it so much easy for the government to kill someone on our own back yard simply because we have a political differences? or Why is so much easy for us to go out messing up someone name because we have a political differences?
Why is it so difficult to work it out our differences? Why we are always vulnerable for the enemies, and we go out as far as to cooperate and work with known Ethiopian enemies? I wish if I have solutions but I know something wrong with this picture. Or Is something wrong with Ethiopia? What is going on?
I know for sure Meles is not going to live forever, he is lucky if he live the next ten years and according to UN human development indicator 2006, average life expectancy for Ethiopia is 47.8, actually I consider this man lucky because he lives more than the average Ethiopians.
And also maybe he eats one or two injera a day like anybody else, whatever comfort he gives for his flesh, he will die wither he likes it or not, he is not going to live forever, therefore he is not going to take to his grave the money he accumulate or this world wealth, but his name and legacy will be tinted with Ethiopian blood, it is good for any Ethiopian political leaders a good name and legacy, unfortunately Meles will have only bad legacy, last week the Ethiopian first interview his wife and she tried to portrait Meles as saint, she is trying to tell us, how poor she is, it is just laughable, when the satan trying to portrait himself as saint, that clearly showed me that they are fighting for the good name, nevertheless he did not accomplish nothing for the last 16 years.
A couple years ago, I visited Ethiopia after 18 years when I was a young boy, I remembered my mother used to send me to Keblle to buy sugar or something, I was maybe 11 years old at that time, I have to go there and keep a line till I got my turn, I remembered I paid maybe 1.50 Ethiopian birr to buy one kilo sugar, in that particular period of time the only problem was food rationing, you have to wait on this long weird line for long time but now no rationing but if you want to buy one kilo sugar maybe I am not sure how much it was someone told me it cost you maybe 6-7 Ethiopian birr, sometimes you cannot find sugar, this is just one example so Meles has achieved nothing. Ethiopian peoples life did not change at all.
But this man is so rigid not willing to give a chance to other peoples opinions, and worst of all they just keep killing and acting irresponsibly.
They say they win the large majority of the rural peoples, they think Ethiopian farmers are fools, they are shameless, all those Ethiopians who fighting against them in the western world came from these majority of Ethiopians, they are their children, the Ethiopian colleges and universities students are Ethiopian farmers children too, the fact is, Meles cannot cheat the Ethiopians farmers.
The problem with this man is that he got a slave mentality, peoples who knows him well they know his behavior, he loves to hear the western advisor rather than the Ethiopian shemagles, all what he is doing is fulfilling the desire of his boss, as far as I am concerned he is askaris. He is not even back down to arrest and kills his own comrades.
Now so far I talked and trashed out the Ethiopian leader now let’s see what is going on in the camp of Ethiopian oppositions leaders, look the Kinjit leaders are in prison and yet our peoples are here robbing the organizations and fighting each other and each one of them want to be the leader and jump to one another throat, not to mentioned they don’t seem worried about the leader in jail nor the peoples who suffered under this brutal regime.
It seems that they forgot the reason of their political struggle and preserve our rich culture and heritage all what we see right now is fighting each other and the struggle goes backward instead of going forward.
Now I ask you, Can you see Ethiopian future in this fog?
The future of my country is so dark, because of the lack of good political leadership, I asked many question for a lot of Ethiopians politicians but this one keep nagging me, why is it we lack a good political leaders, the one with a vision, the one who denied himself or herself and stand firmly to the Ethiopian cause, the leader who can see what is coming, the one who can make a good sound decision on all Ethiopian domestic and international affairs.
In one hand we have a bitter enemies around the world a country like Egypt does not want to see a stable and strong Ethiopia and the other hand we have anti Ethiopia elements and in fact nowadays it become extremely difficult to make a distinction amongst those political groups to see who have a good agenda or who are the imposter with a hidden agenda.
Ethiopia is the source of the Blue Nile but we are known as a land plagued by terrible droughts. Peoples are dying and our country is not improving and yet we have luxury to act irresponsibly while other dying for all kind of reasons and we widen the tragedy, why is it so much easy for the government to kill someone on our own back yard simply because we have a political differences? or Why is so much easy for us to go out messing up someone name because we have a political differences?
Why is it so difficult to work it out our differences? Why we are always vulnerable for the enemies, and we go out as far as to cooperate and work with known Ethiopian enemies? I wish if I have solutions but I know something wrong with this picture. Or Is something wrong with Ethiopia? What is going on?
I know for sure Meles is not going to live forever, he is lucky if he live the next ten years and according to UN human development indicator 2006, average life expectancy for Ethiopia is 47.8, actually I consider this man lucky because he lives more than the average Ethiopians.
And also maybe he eats one or two injera a day like anybody else, whatever comfort he gives for his flesh, he will die wither he likes it or not, he is not going to live forever, therefore he is not going to take to his grave the money he accumulate or this world wealth, but his name and legacy will be tinted with Ethiopian blood, it is good for any Ethiopian political leaders a good name and legacy, unfortunately Meles will have only bad legacy, last week the Ethiopian first interview his wife and she tried to portrait Meles as saint, she is trying to tell us, how poor she is, it is just laughable, when the satan trying to portrait himself as saint, that clearly showed me that they are fighting for the good name, nevertheless he did not accomplish nothing for the last 16 years.
A couple years ago, I visited Ethiopia after 18 years when I was a young boy, I remembered my mother used to send me to Keblle to buy sugar or something, I was maybe 11 years old at that time, I have to go there and keep a line till I got my turn, I remembered I paid maybe 1.50 Ethiopian birr to buy one kilo sugar, in that particular period of time the only problem was food rationing, you have to wait on this long weird line for long time but now no rationing but if you want to buy one kilo sugar maybe I am not sure how much it was someone told me it cost you maybe 6-7 Ethiopian birr, sometimes you cannot find sugar, this is just one example so Meles has achieved nothing. Ethiopian peoples life did not change at all.
But this man is so rigid not willing to give a chance to other peoples opinions, and worst of all they just keep killing and acting irresponsibly.
They say they win the large majority of the rural peoples, they think Ethiopian farmers are fools, they are shameless, all those Ethiopians who fighting against them in the western world came from these majority of Ethiopians, they are their children, the Ethiopian colleges and universities students are Ethiopian farmers children too, the fact is, Meles cannot cheat the Ethiopians farmers.
The problem with this man is that he got a slave mentality, peoples who knows him well they know his behavior, he loves to hear the western advisor rather than the Ethiopian shemagles, all what he is doing is fulfilling the desire of his boss, as far as I am concerned he is askaris. He is not even back down to arrest and kills his own comrades.
Now so far I talked and trashed out the Ethiopian leader now let’s see what is going on in the camp of Ethiopian oppositions leaders, look the Kinjit leaders are in prison and yet our peoples are here robbing the organizations and fighting each other and each one of them want to be the leader and jump to one another throat, not to mentioned they don’t seem worried about the leader in jail nor the peoples who suffered under this brutal regime.
It seems that they forgot the reason of their political struggle and preserve our rich culture and heritage all what we see right now is fighting each other and the struggle goes backward instead of going forward.
Now I ask you, Can you see Ethiopian future in this fog?
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