Sheik Al Amoudin "I will give my life to EPRDF Government"

EMF (February 28,2006)- Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudin, Ethiopian's number one business tycoon, donated 5.5 million Ethiopian birr to Tigray People's Liberation Front, TPLF,at the Sheraton Addis on the 31st anniversary of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's dictator party. (To read more click title)

Ethiopian National United Patriotic Front elects Col.Asrat Bogale......
http://ethiopianreview.homestead.com/ENUPF_PR4_022006.pdf
Picture gallery from Oromo Liberation Army by Jonathan Alpeyrie
http://oromoliberationfront.org/News/OLA_Pictures_Jonathan.htm

Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin Passed Away

EMF (25February 2006)- Ethiopian's Poet Laureate Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin passed away today at the age of 69 at Hospital in New York.His family from New York is expected to publicly announce the death soon."A funeral ceremony of Laureate Tsegaye will be held in New York and the Laureate will be buried in Ethiopia",source close to his family said."Although he was suffering from kidney infection,his death was accidental to his family.He was in normal condition yesterday.He was dead while he arrives in Hospital" source said.
His wife W/o Lakech Bitew and his three daughters;Yodit,Mahlet and Adey Tsegaye will go to Ethiopia on Saturday for burial ceremony. (To read short biography and interview Click title)

Church held service for Dr Yacob HaileMariam imprisoned in Ethiopia

By Philip Walzer, The Virginia-Pilot
February 25,2006
Berhanu Mengistu,a Professor of urban studies and public administration at Old Dominion University,was reminded of an Ethiopian saying-"in times of difficulty,a brother is born". ( Click title)
Bono among Nobel Peace Prize nominees
http://ethiomedia.com/courier/bono_for_nobel.html
A call for a grand rally in Brussels
http://ethiomedia.com/courier/rally_in_brussels.html
Student clash with notorious Federal Police
http://ethiomedia.com/courier/student_clash_022406.html
US board condemns charges against VOA journalists by Ethiopia
http://sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=14247
British reporter unwelcome in Addis Ababa
http://cpj.org/news/2006/africa/ethiopia23feb06na.html

A 5 days protest in Ethiopia

Tegbar League Chapter in Ethiopia are launching a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience through out Ethiopia from March 20 to 24 (Megabit 11 to 15). The plan is for tegbar league chapter in Ethiopia,in collaboration with other organizations,to conduct various opposition activities in city,town and village.

FLYER IN AMHARIC (click title)
For full Press Release log in" www.tegbar.org".

Police brutality in Ethiopia

As an Ethiopian what do you feel when you watching this type of pictures ????? daily life in Ethiopia became full of harassment....youngboys,girls,mothers and fathers have been crying every day.
Red Terror again....Yes !!!!! (click title)

Prisoners of conscience prepare to face "trial"

Mengistu HaileMariam....Warned

Rebel group claims killing 25 Ethiopian soldiers

Freedom of the press fighter, Kifle Mulat invited to attend the World Conference in Belgium

Ethiopian Free Press Journalists Association,EFJA, president Mr.Kifle Mulat( Amnesty International's Award Winner) will be at the International Freedom of Expression Exchange conference in Brussels,Belgium next week.Kifle Mulat,charged with treason and plan to commit genocide by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi Government was in exile,Uganda.

"One of the most leaders in African journalism,Mulat was named by the Vienna based International Press Institute,IPI, as the Freedom Fighter of the year 2000". World Free Press Institute
(Click title)

Two journalists jailed after press law convictions

Committee to protect journalists (New York)...(Click title)

Ogaden rebels claim killing 96 Government solidiers

Heavy fighting on Ethiopia-Somalia border kills at least 12

Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 17 Feb 2006

MOGADISHU, Feb 16, 2006 (AFP) - Rival Somali sub-clans battled over pasture
and wells just inside Ethiopia leaving at least 12 dead and more than two
dozen wounded in a second day of fighting Thursday as competition for water
and pasture heats up in the drought-stricken region, officials said.

The clashes in the Ethiopian village of Yamarug began Wednesday between
heavily armed militia members from the Marehan and Majereteen factions of
the larger Darod clan in a dispute over the precious resources, they said.

Yamarug is a remote and desolate outpost in southeastern Ethiopia only
about 30 meters (yards) from the border with central Somalia and eyewitness
accounts of the fighting were sketchy.

At least 12 and as many as 17 people were reported to have been killed,
according to officials in nearby towns in Somalia where the wounded from
the two factions were brought for treatment.

A nurse at the hospital in Galkayo, where the Majereteen casualties were
brought, said the facility was treating 17 injured fighters who spoke of
the same number being killed on both sides in the two days of fighting.

"They are saying the same number were killed," the nurse told AFP on
condition of anonymity.

In the town of Abudwaq, where the Marehan casualties were brought, a
district official said the nine wounded spoke of 12 people being killed
although he said the actual number would likely rise.

"The fighting has not stopped and miltiamen from both sides heading to
reinforce the area," the official told AFP.

In the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, an official with the information
ministry confirmed the clashes but could not confirm their seriousness or
any casualties.

"There were clashes between Somali subclans at the border," the official
said. "We have sent out a fact-finding mission and are waiting for the
results of the investigation."

Tensions between the two factions have run high for some time but they have
managed to live together in the Yamarug area for years without violence,
according to Somalia observers.

They said those tensions likely erupted into fighting due to the scorching
drought that has hit east Africa, threatening more than eight million
people with starvation in four countries, including Ethiopia and Somalia.

About 3.4 million people -- 1.7 million each in southeast Ethiopia and
southern and central Somalia -- are at-risk and in need of dire assistance
to stave off famine, according to UN agencies.

str-amu/mvl/jmy AFP 162233 GMT 02 06

Copyright (c) 2006 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 02/16/2006 18:00:58

The long journey of Prof.Beyene Petros

Hailu Shawel seeks immediate medical help

Army headed from Addis Ababa to Gonder

EPRDF army headed from Central Ethiopia to Gonder on February 13, 2006.( Amharic news from Ethiopia Media Forum.org...(Click title )

DC church offers Ethiopian orphan hope

The Washington Times (Click title)

Blair turned his back on friend who failed him

(Click title)

Prof Mesfine goes on hunger strike

ADDIS ABABA:- Ethiopia's leading human rights activist,Prof Mesfine Woldemariam,has gone on hunger-strike to protect against Government injustice through out the country.(Click title)

FREZER NEGASH UPDATE

A pregnant, Ethiopian Review web site Reporter, who has been jailed ........update from ELIAS KIFLE,Publisher. (Click title)

Pregnant Internet Journalist Held for 13 days Without Charge

Reporter Without Borders has criticized Ethiopian authorities for "Illegally" holding online Journalist Frezer Negash....RSF press Release...allafrica.com, (Click title)

Human rights groups critic Ethiopian PM attendance to summit

Progressive Government Summit

The inclusion of Zenawi prompted criticism from human rights groups over his sometimes violent crackdown on opponents after elections. ( Click Title )

Unidentified Forces Headed From Armacho To Gonder

EMF (10 February, 2006)- Meles Zenawi has called his Cabinet ,TPLF Polit Bureau, for emergency meeting today after part of Gonder is reportedly fall under unknown military forces,EMF reporter said from Addis Ababa.

According to the report,thousands of Government solders ,including army officers ,have been defected to join the guerilla rebel forces who took arms against the repression by the Ethiopia tyrant.

According to the report, an unidentified forces headed from Armacho to Gonder City of Fassiledes. They ,then ,attacked the Federal Police together with local Police and the general public. The raid operation began today around 12:00pm local time. The army has surrounded Gonder from outside and inside layer,according to the source.The Ethiopian Patriotic Forces claimed the operation but some report indicate that the movement is carried out by the army of Amhara National Democratic Movement, ANDM,one of the affiliate of the ruling, EPRDF.

Similar civic unrest is reported in Gojjam,Wolega,Ambo,Dessie,Harar and Arsi.

Addis Ababa is very tense. Meles' Special Forces armed with heavy machine guns patrolled Addis Ababa again, especially, at Bole air port and 4-killo area.

College and High School students in Addia Ababa,BahDar,Gojjam,Dessie,Jima
Ambo,Gimbi,Nekemt,Harrar,Arsi and a number of other towns have boycotted Schools ,demanding for the release of all political prisoners. Students peaceful demonstration has been strongly repressed by an armed assault of the regime.

The military operation is carried out amid Meles' arrogant speech in the Parliamentary session. During his report to Parliament, last week,Meles Zenawi rejected International calls for the release of the jailed elected leaders.

Meles Zenawi was discussing with his TPLF members today about the way out of these uncontrolled crisis.

Source:www.ethioforum.org(2/10/2006,Click title)

Arkebe Equbay in Washington,DC

Mr.Arkebe Equbay,unelected mayor of Addis Ababa (the Capital),high level member of the slaughters group of TPLF,is now in Washington,DC for mayors of Cities around the World meeting.Mr.Arkebe,who appointed by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi as a Minister to serve him for the next 5 years had made un successful run for the City Council as member of EPRDF, the ruling party.

Dr.Berhanu Nega,elected mayor of the Capital City has been in jail since November 7,2006.

After may 2005 the House of Representative and Regional Council National Election ,the Prime minister Meles Zenawi Government charged 131 people, including Dr. Berhanu,with treason and plan to commit genocide.However;the International Community and Donor Countries have been pressuring the EPRDF Government to release all political prisoners with out preconditions.

The meeting will be finished on February 10,2006.

Source:ethiopianreview.com

Reporter and Opposition members in court

On February 06,2006, a Journalist for the U.S.-based website Ethiopian Review , Frezer Negash,CUD central committee member Ato Ayele Angelo and, CUD office representative from Sheka Zone Ato Berhane Haile appeared in court.

Source:Addis Ferengi(blog)

Almaz Mequanint's voice!!
Nazareth,Metehara,Wonji & Wonjishoa say some thing.

In recent years I have read articles posted on several website written by human right activist, Almaz Mequanint,concerning on pollution,excess flouride and segregation in Ethiopia.I don't know her in person but she was there (Wonji,Wonjishoa) in the 1960's as a kid,grew up in Wonji,and her two children were born and raised there untile the age of 6&7,according to her letter.
Her concern have touched me and I will post her letter some times next week for anyone who have interested, concerned or have moral duty about pollution,excess flouride and segregation in Wonji,WonjiShoa and Metehara. Please post your idea for open discussion.
Thanks,
Abostojoni.

EPRDF OFFICIALS : Do you need direct diplomatic language budget aid ???

I am not going to give you a lectures.I think my English language ability is 50 percent better than Mr.Berhane Haile,the current information minister of Ethiopia. Have you listen him?...He has a problem to lie or couldn't speaks well. Please listen our honorable minister of information an interview with VOA's correspondent James Butty (February 2,2006).

His Excellency,Kassahun Ayele also has similar English language or information problem. His expression performance about the Ethio-Eritrea border dispute on cable news network or other international media with Eritrean ambassador Mr. Girma Asmerom was so weaker as we Ethiopians expected. We should not forget about Prime Minister Abebe,too. Watch an interview with Cable News Network(CNN) diplomatic license program (November 30,2006)

In reality ,the ability of international language is necessary for the success of diplomatic mission. Diplomatic reality of EPRDF group members have been walking in opposite direction and gives priority to ethnical ration than success.

Article forwarded to you from The Monitor

The way forward for East African Community is to take in the Sudan Okodan Akwap Kampala To move this region forward, I suggest we revisit the Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community. The time is ripe for us to address some of the outstanding challenges facing the EAC. This is a good time for us to reposition ourselves in the rapidly globalising economy. However, we first need to have the courage to admit that sheer nostalgia was part of the reason we went into all the trouble to revive a relatively small regional market. Apparently, we reasoned that since we had done this before, we could dispense with the basics and get on with the serious stuff. That is how we made the mistake of jumping to the level of a customs union as the entry point for deeper economic integration. This rush has brought us close to a crisis of overlapping memberships in regional blocs. Corrective action To correct the mistake we made in haste, we must take a decisive step back from the customs union to a point where we should have started - a free trade area. I have three arguments - all closely linked - to support this position. First, the EAC population of 95 million, comprising a big percentage of poor, underemployed and unemployed people, is still an inadequate market. Comparatively, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has 380 million people; the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) has 430 million; and the European Union has 460 million people. Productivity and intra-regional trade can be better stimulated in such larger regional markets, driven by considerably bigger middle class private sectors. The growing demands of globalisation require that we look beyond the little hamlet that the EAC has become. Back in 1967 when the former EAC became operational, the regional grouping did indeed represent a force to reckon with. Some scholars like Prof. Sam Tulya-Muhika, who have studied its rise and fall, say that even the then European Community (EC) had something to learn from East Africa. That was then. The explosion of information technology, which went into full throttle in the 1990s and took globalisation to new heights, has introduced an altogether different ball game favouring bigger and more dynamic regional trading blocs such as Comesa. Kenya and Uganda are members of Comesa. Much of their external trade takes place within this bloc. Indeed, information from Uganda Export Promotion Board shows that Comesa overtook the EU as the lead destination of Uganda's exports in 2003. The two major markets almost tied up in 2004. Tanzania's withdrawal from Comesa in 2000 - the very year the EAC Treaty came into force - brings me to my second argument. East Africa is verging on a crisis of overlapping loyalties occasioned by Tanzania's decision and its dual membership in the EAC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). This has brought an element of uncertainty to the EAC and its regional and global relationships. For example, last year Tanzania had to choose between EAC and SADC as a platform for participating in negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU. Tanzania chose SADC. You can see how somewhat dubious Tanzania's position in the EAC already is. I suspect that when SADC sets up its own customs union in the near future, Tanzania will choose to withdraw from EAC as it will be impractical for it to belong to both customs unions. It would probably be better if Tanzania withdrew sooner rather than later. All that rhetoric about East African countries having strong bonds based on a common history, a common culture, a common language, a common aspiration etc, is hogwash. In international relations, notions of "brotherhood" or "sisterhood" are secondary. National interests are paramount. That is how things have been since as early as 1648 when the Treaty of Westphalia ended the 30-year-war in Europe (1618-1648), bringing into being a new and aggressive actor on the global stage - the nation-state. This actor remains distinguished by its unabashed pursuit of selfish national interests. Better for all If Tanzania feels that SADC serves its national interests better, it may well be that Comesa provides a better option for the national interests of Kenya and Uganda. Comesa too will in the near future set up its own customs union. Tanzania's departure from EAC would make it very easy for Kenya and Uganda to fit into this larger arrangement, along with other neighbours like Sudan. Here I get to my third argument. When negotiations for reviving the EAC were going on in the 1990s, Sudan was in the middle of a long, bloody civil war between the Khartoum government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Relations between Uganda and Sudan were at an all-time low. Kampala accused Khartoum of supporting the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. Khartoum accused Kampala of supporting SPLA. The bad blood disrupted trade between the two neighbouring states. However, circumstances have changed. The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Nairobi on January 9, 2005 brought peace to Sudan and flung open doors of possibilities in that oil-rich country. For Kenya and Uganda, in particular, a new frontier has opened that demands a closer look. Currently, businesspeople from the two countries are making big profits in Southern Sudan, where everything - including alcohol - is in very high demand. Kenya has had its eye on strong partnership with Sudan for a long time. Twenty-three years ago, Nairobi rooted for Khartoum to be included in plans to set up a new East African Community. Perhaps the moment has arrived for that goal to be realised. With Tanzania out of the picture, Kenya, Uganda and Sudan could become the nucleus of "a brand new EAC" that probably would include Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea and Ethiopia. All of these countries are Comesa members. They would not find it too difficult either to retain the EAC or to get rid of it altogether and just be in Comesa. The former EAC died in 1977. The current EAC should give way to a brand new arrangement. Contact: okodanakwap@yahoo.com Click here to visit The Monitor website: http://www.monitor.co.ug

Article forwarded to you from The Monitor

Is Bob Marley the black Man’s prophet?


The reggae legend would have been 61-years-old today. Timothy Kalyegira looks at the man who promoted reggae music with a message of African unity and the beginnings of his Rastafarian “One Love” religion This year's anniversary of Bob Marley's birthday is all the more poignant because it is also the year of the 25th anniversary of his death, on May 11, 1981. If Bob Marley was very popular in life, in death he was transformed into a virtual prophet of the Black cause and an idol forever. He is to reggae what the late Tupac Shakur is to rap. His warm, nasal vocals are among the most recognisable in pop music. In 1998, Time magazine voted The Wailers' 1977 album Exodus as the Album of the Century and in 1999 a BBC World Service radio survey of its presenters listed Exodus as one of the top 20 best albums of all-time. The African continent and the Black world that Bob Marley left behind is still very much a suffering, prostrate society - oftentimes, oppression brought on by Africans themselves to their fellow Black men. For many millions of Black people, it still a painful truth that they are probably safer and their lives have better prospects living in White people's nations than in their own lands. Since Bob Marley's death in May 1981, Africa has gone through the kinds of crises that have brought into question our viability as a people. The Rwandan genocide, the Dafur crisis, northern Uganda, the Liberia and Sierra Leone bloodbaths and the disintegration of Somalia have all had a profound effect on Africa. In the Caribbean, the world's oldest Black republic Haiti echoed the chaos in Liberia and Jamaica remained steeped in poverty and squalor. The Ethiopia to which Rastafarians turn their face with respect and a sense of identity is on the brink of all-out chaos in 2006 and has been for several years now. Africa's share in world trade volume has gone down from three percent in 1981, to two percent in 2006. The question to all this is, why? Somewhere in the heart of Reggae lies an intersection of two worlds - the spirit of Nyabinghi, the legendary Amazon queen who it is believed took possession of a Ugandan woman named Muhumusa in the 19th century, and the Abrahamic Christian faith of the Judeo-Christian tradition. The marriage of traditional African beliefs and Christianity is our starting point. Next week, we shall try to understand what is taking place in Africa in terms of world events and Biblical prophesies. Bob Marley and his band the Wailers proclaimed a message aimed at lifting the spirits and hope of the Black man. The limit to their music was its failure to tackle the hard realities of geopolitical forces at work. It underestimated the level of disorganisation in Africa and the fact that other previously marginal world centres like East Asia and parts of the Arab world would rise, leaving the Black World further to the margin. While it is critically important that the Black man finds in himself some pride and self-belief, the crisis and hurdles that face Africa and the Black Caribbean nations is more than what can be undone by newly discovered "maximum respect" and "One love." Some of the most self-aware Black people in the world can be found in Jamaica, Ethiopia, and Cuba, but their conditions and prospects are still a cause for concern. What does the Bible say about Africa's future, as the contest for world domination between the West, Islam and the Arab world, and such powers as China and India continues to grow? This will be examined next week. Click here to visit The Monitor website: http://www.monitor.co.ug

information

MARCHERS OPPOSE ETHIOPIAN REGIME
By Keyonna Summers
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Hundreds of Ethiopian civic, political and religious activists rallied yesterday in the District for U.S. support in stopping the slayings and jailings of friends and relatives who oppose the African country's leader.

Since November, more than 40,000 journalists, professors, students and opposition party leaders have been jailed on charges of treason and genocide, and at least 80 have been slain by the regime of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, according to Amnesty International.

Mr. Zenawi ordered the arrests after a dispute over results of the May elections.

Opposition leaders from the Coalition for Unity and Democracy and the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces yesterday said dozens of women and children also have been slain or thrown into concentration camps.

"We are trying to get the attention of the U.S. government, who gives major assistance to the [Ethiopian] government," said Merchaw Senshaw, a member of the Ethiopiawinet National Movement. "If you are fighting for democracy in the Middle East, if you are fighting terrorists all over the world, then why not Ethiopia?"

The march began with a rally at Freedom Plaza and went along Pennsylvania Avenue to another rally on the U.S. Capitol lawn. Protesters from as far away as Canada and Europe attended the event.

Earlier, about 300 Ethiopians from seven political and civic groups hand-delivered to the State Department a letter addressed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The Rev. Joseph Lowery, a civil rights activist and co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, called on the U.S. government to hear the Ethiopians' plea.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican and a member of the House International Relations Committee, said he was drafting a bill that would help the cause.

Many demonstrators said they were frustrated that the United States had helped Iraq and Zimbabwe create democratic governments but ignored Ethiopians' pleas.

"It is sad to preach democracy all over the country and then ignore us," said Dejene Assaye, 45, of Dallas. "As an Ethiopian-American, I don't want my tax money to go to this terrorist government to kill my own people."

Hareg, a 49-year-old from Maryland who declined to give her last name, called on the United States to exert pressure on the Zenawi regime.

"I get e-mails, telephone calls [saying] so-and-so has been killed," she said. "The country's under siege, and it's just unbelievable. ... All we want is democracy.

"The Ethiopian people voted for the opposition; they exercised their democratic right. The price for voting is being killed."

Mr. Zenawi yesterday told Reuters that rights groups' charges of widespread abuse of political opponents had no basis in fact and were the result of "sloppy" reporting.

He also said the arrests and trials of opposition leaders were strictly lawful.

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This article was mailed from The Washington Times (http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20060201-111621-3568r.htm)
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