ወደ አሜሪካና አውሮፓ ጉዞ የሚያደርጉት የቅንጅት አመራሮች ቪዛ አላገኙም
ወደ አሜሪካን አገር ጉዞ ለማድረግ በዝግጅት ላይ የነበሩት አምስት የቅንጅት አመራሮች ኢትዮጵያ ከሚገኘው የአሜሪካ ኢምባሲ የመውጫ ቪዛ ባለማግኘታቸው ጉዞአቸው ሳይዘገይ እንደማይቀር ተገምቷል፡፡ ወደ አውሮፓ የሚጓዙት ሌሎቹ አምስት አመራሮችም እስካሁን ቪዛ እንዳላገኙ ምንጮቻችን ጠቁመዋል፡፡
ባለፈው እረቡ የግብዣ ወረቀታቸውን በመያዝ ኢትዮጵያ በሚገኘው የአሜሪካ ኤምባሲ ያመሩት ኢ/ር ኃይሉ ሻውል፣ ወ/ት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ፣ ዶ/ር ኃይሉ አርአያ አቶ ብሩክ ከበደ እና ኢ/ር ግዛቸው ሽፈራው በአጠቃላይ አምስት የቅንጅት አመራሮች የአሜሪካ መንግሥት የመግቢያ ፍቃድ ስላላከልን እሱን ከላከልን እንሰጣችኋለን ሲሉ መልሰዋቸዋል፡፡ እስካሁን ባለን መረጃ የአሜሪካ መንግስት የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስቴር የሚፈለገውን ክሊራንስ ያልላከ ሲሆን እሱ ተልዕኮ ቪዛ እስኪሰጣቸው ድረስ እየጠበቁ መሆኑ ታውቋል፡፡
በሌላ በኩል ወደ አውሮፓ ጉዞ የሚያደርጉት አቶ ሙሉነህ ኢዩኤል፣ ዶ/ር ያዕቆብ ኃ/ማርያም፣ አቶ አባይነህ ብርሃኑ፣ አቶ አስቻለው ከተማና አቶ ክፍሌ ጥግነህ የግብዣ ወረቀት የደረሳቸው ባለፈው ሳምንት ሲሆን ትክክለኛውን ምላሽ የሚያውቁት የፊታችን ሰኞ መሆኑን ለማወቅ ችለናል፡፡
VOA News
The United States says it is providing nearly $19 million in emergency aid for Ethiopia’s volatile Ogaden region.
The State Department said Friday Washington is working with the Ethiopian government, international partners and non-governmental organizations in responding to concerns over humanitarian conditions in the eastern region.
The U.S. says most of the $18.7 million will help provide food assistance through the United Nations World Food Program. Some funds also will help pay for health, nutrition, and livelihood programs.
Years of drought, flooding, civil conflict, disease and food shortages have left residents in Ogaden vulnerable to poverty and famine.
Ethiopia’s Ogaden, also known as the Somali region, is an oil-rich, but poor area that is ethnically Somali. It has long sought autonomy from Addis Ababa.
AP reports that Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi has promised to invest in the country’s telecommunications network in a speech he gave at a technology conference that was held in Addis Ababa Wednesday. The fact of the matter is that the Meles dictatorship has purposefully kept Ethiopia’s telecommunications network underdeveloped. For example, unlike most countries in the world, the Meles Woyanne regime doesn’t allow private companies to operate Internet and cellular phone services. As a result, there are more mobile phones in the anarchic Somalia than in Ethiopia. The cellular phone networks in Mogadishu, operated by private companies, are more reliable and less expensive than in Ethiopia. It is therefore disingenuous for Meles to say that his regime will invest in the Ethiopia’s telecommunications network. Read the AP report below.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP)–Ethiopia’s dictator prime minister Wednesday promised to invest in the country’s telecommunications network, long hampered by corruption, bad service and high tariffs.
“Rapid progress for countries such as Ethiopia in this area is not a choice, but a necessity,” Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said at the opening of a three-day technology conference in the capital, Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia plans to double the size of its network within the next three weeks by putting 1.2 million new phone numbers on the market.
Abdurahim Ahmed, a spokesman for Ethiopia’s state-owned telecommunications corporation, said the expansion, along with technological improvements, will cost $21.7 million.
The expansion is in addition to a $200 million contract to upgrade the mobile network the government signed last May with a Chinese telecoms company.
Ahmed said improving telecommunications was “ammunition to reduce poverty.” He said the government regretted not putting greater effort into its telecommunications sector until a decade ago. “We didn’t give it due attention,” he told the Associated Press.
A call from Ethiopia to neighboring Kenya costs $1.47 a minute, as does a call to Australia. International calls on one of Kenya’s largest mobile networks, Celtel, vary widely, but can cost a tenth of the price, at less than 15 cents a minute, or up to $1.50 a minute.
Ethiopian newspapers have reported that several senior officials at the state telecoms company have been fired for corruption in the past months.
Text messaging in Ethiopia is forbidden, after a spate of post-election violence in 2005 when opposition protesters were accused of using the service to arrange pro-democracy rallies.
አለቃ አያሌው በአራት አመታቸው በምስራቅ ጎጃም ዞን ዲማ ጊዮርጊስ ቤ/ክርስቲያን የቤተክህነት ትምህርት የጀመሩ ሲሆን በእድሜ ዘመናቸው ቤተ ክህነትን ሲያገለግሉ የነበሩና በኋላም የሊቃውንት ጉባኤ ሰብሳቢ በነበሩበት ወቅት በ1988 ዓ.ም ከአባ ገ/መድህን (የቀድሞው አቡነ ጳውሎስ) ጋር ቤተክርስቲያኒቱን በሚመለከት ጠንካራ የሃሳብ ልዩነት በመፈጠሩ ወጥተዋል፡፡ ሊቀጠበብት አያሌው ወያኔ በጠመንጃ ሃይል ካስቀመጣቸው ጳጳስ ከአባ ገ/መድህን ጋር ያለመግባባቶች የነበራቸው እንደነበር ወዳጆቻቸው ሲናገሩ በተለይ በ1988 ያለመግባባታቸው ጎልተው መተው ነበር ይላሉ፡፡ ልዩነቶቻቸውም የቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ ተጠሪነቱ ለፓትሪያርኩ ይሁን በሚል አባ ገ/መድህን ሲወስኑ አለቃ አያሌው በበኩላቸው ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ መመራት ያለበት በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ነው፡፡ ጰጳሳቱ በእኩል ተቀምጠው በመግባባት በእኩልነት ነው ሊወስኑ የሚገባቸው በቅዱስ ሲናዶስ ማንም የበላይ ሊሆን አይገባም፡፡ ኃይማኖቱም የሚያዘው ይህንኑ ነው በማለት ሲከራከሩ እንደነበር ለጉዳዩ ቅርበት ያላቸው ገልፀውልናል፡፡
በተጨማሪም ተጠሪነቱ ለፓትሪያርኩ ተደርጎ የነበረው ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ “የኢትዮጵ እምነት ስርዓት አምልኮና የውጭ ግንኙነት” በሚል በእንግሊዝኛና በአማርኛ ያሳተመው መጽሃፍ “ክብር ድንግል ማርያምን የሚነካና ሚስጥረ ስላሴን የሚያፋልስ አንቀጽ አለበት” በማለት አለቃ አያሌው ተቃውመትም ሰላማዊ ሰልፍ ተወጥቶበትም ነበር፡፡በዚህ መፅሃፍ ላይ የአለቃ አያሌው ሌላው ልዩነት በወቅቱ እሳቸው የሊቃውንቱ ጉባኤ ሰብሳቢ የነበሩ በመሆናቸው መፅሃፉ የወጣው በሊቃውንቱ ሳይታይ በፓትሪያርኩ ትዕዛዝ ነው የሚልም እንደነበር የሚያስታውሱ ይናገራሉ፡፡ሊቀጠበብት አያሌው ታምሩ ከፆም ብዛት ከፍተኛ የአንጀት ድርቀት ህመም የነበረባቸው ሲሆን ፕሮፌሰር አስራት ወ/የስ ከዚህ አለም በሞት ከመለየታቸው በፊት ሁለት ጊዜ ቀዶጥገና አድርገውላቸዋል፡፡ በተጨማሪም በሌላ ሃኪም ለሶስተኛ ጊዜ ቀዶ ጥገና ተደርጎላቸው እንደነበር የቅርብ ወዳጆቻቸው ይናገራሉ፡፡በተለይ ከፕሮፌሰር አስራት ወ/የስ ጋር ጠንከር ያለ ወዳጅነት እንደነበራቸው በቅርብ የሚያውቋቸው ያስታውሳሉ፡፡አለቃ አያሌው መጋቢት 23/1916 ዓ/ም ተወልደው በ1920 ዓ.ም የቤተክህነት ትምህርት መማር የጀመሩ ሲሆን በህፃንነታቸው በአካባቢያቸው በገባው የፈንጣጣ ወረርሽኝ ለዓይነ ስውርነት ተዳርገዋል፡፡በብፁእ ቅዱስ ፓትሪያርክ ዘኢትዮጵያ በአቡነ ባስሊዮስ ግዜ ሊቀጠበብት አያሌው በአዲስ አበባ ከተማ በተለምዶ ተ/ኃይማኖት እየተባለ በሚጠራው አካባቢ የሚገኘው የደብረ አማን ፃዲቁ አቡነ ተክለ ሃይማኖት ቤ/ክርስቲያን አስተዳዳሪ ሆነው ሰርተዋል፡፡አለቃ አያሌው “የኢትዮጵያ እምነት በሶስቱ ህግጋት”፣ “መች ተለመና ከተኩላ ዝምድና”፣ “የፅድቅር፣ ምልጃ፣ ዕርቅና ሰላም”፣ “መልዕክተ መንፈስ ቅዱስ፣ ወላዲት አምላክ ኢትዮጵያ፣” “አባትና መሠረት” እና “የኑሮ መሠረት ለህፃናት” የሚሉ መፅሃፍቶችን ፅፈዋል፡፡አለቃ አያሌው የ12 ልጆች አባት ሲሆኑ የአብዛኞቹ ልጆቻቸው ኑሮ ከኢትዮጵያ ውጪ እንደሆነ ለማወቅ ተችሏል፡፡
By Jack Kimball
ASMARA, Aug 20 (Reuters) – Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki accused the United States of fuelling conflicts in the Horn of Africa and urged Washington to change its policies in the latest round of finger-pointing between the two nations.
The comments, published on Monday, came days after Washington said it was considering placing Eritrea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism for allegedly aiding Islamists battling the Ethiopian-backed Somali government.
“The U.S. attempt to put into effect its strategy of monopoly and dominance through fomenting confrontation among peoples is leading the world to a dangerous path,” the Ministry of Information Web site, shabait.com, quoted Isaias as saying.
“U.S. Administration officials need to change their frame of thinking and put an end to their acts of adventurism, as well as weaving conspiracies to undermine our national interests.”
Asmara’s ties with Washington steadily worsened after an Ethiopian-backed Somali government offensive over the New Year ousted Islamists from Mogadishu. Diplomats said Washington tacitly backed Ethiopia, while Eritrea supported the Islamists.
The United Nations accused Asmara last month of sending large amounts of arms to the Islamists, echoing a similar report by the U.N. arms body last year. Eritrea denies this.
“The latest developments witnessed in Eritrea-U.S. relations emanated on the one hand from the existing situation in Somalia, and (are) connected with the Eritrean people’s steadfastness and resistance on the other,” Isaias said.
After its 30-year independence war with Ethiopia ended in 1991, Eritrea initially had blossoming ties with Washington. But relations quickly soured after a 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia, the top U.S. counter-terrorism ally in the region.
Asmara says the United States has done little to force Ethiopia to accept a 5-year-old border ruling marking the nations’ shared frontier.
Over the last year in Asmara, a tit-for-tat diplomatic battle has been raging.
Washington says Eritrea is holding up diplomatic pouches, denying visas for U.S. diplomats and supporting the Islamists in Mogadishu whom, the United States says, have links to terrorists. Eritrea denies these claims.
Heightening tensions, Washington said early last week it was shutting down an Eritrean consulate in Oakland, California.
And U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer said last week Washington could make a case to put Eritrea on the terrorism list with the likes of Iran, North Korea and Syria.
By VOA News
A senior Eritrean minister Saturday criticized U.S. consideration to put his country on a list of state sponsors of terrorism for providing support to Islamist insurgents in Somalia.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer [who is supporting Meles Zenawi’s war crimes in Somalia] said Friday the U.S. is considering the move, which would impose sanctions on Eritrea.
Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu responded by saying his country “would like to thank … Frazer for exposing … her ill will toward the Eritrean people.”
A U.N. report issued last month says Eritrea has shipped large quantities of weapons to Islamist insurgents fighting the Ethiopian-backed Somali government. Eritrean authorities deny the report’s findings. But Frazer called the report “fairly convincing.”
Eritrea and Ethiopia have tense relations stemming from a border dispute.
The U.S. has also ordered Eritrea to close its consulate in California out of concern for the African country’s role in Somalia. Frazer says the U.S. will consider further action if Eritrean behavior does not change.
Washington is also concerned about restrictions placed on the U.S. Embassy in Eritrea’s capital.
The U.S. says Eritrea has refused to grant visas to officials assigned to work at the Asmara embassy.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
