The Butcher of Addis Ababa, Meles Zenawi, is in a Belgium hospital receiving medical treatment for high blood pressure, according to Ethiopian Review sources. He flew to Belgium a few days ago in the middle of the night.
A few months ago, Meles was in Dubai to get treatment. Sources say his condition is getting worse.
Meanwhile, Meles is also said to be clashing with his wife, Azeb Mesfin, over her aggressive move against Sebhat Nega and other senior members of the Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne).
Azeb, who is a central committee member of Woyanne, has recently pushed out Sebhat Nega and became deputy chairperson of EFFORT, a multi-billion-birr business consortium. Sebhat is also ousted from the Woyanne politburo. Azeb’s power struggle with other Woyannes is causing political problems for Meles within the tribal organization.
Berlin (CNN) — Kenenisa Bekele once again laid claim to being the greatest distance runner in history by completing the 5000 – 10,000 meters double at the world championships in Berlin.
The Ethiopian star outkicked defending champion Bernard Lagat of the United States to claim gold in the 5000 on the final day of the championships on Sunday in a time of 13 minutes 17.09 seconds.
A slow run race appeared to play into the hands of Lagat, who had taken a bronze medal in the 1500 meters, but the incredible Bekele showed his determination to hold him off in the home straight.
James Kwalia C’Kurui of Qatar took bronze.
Kenenisa Bekele, who holds the world records for the longest distance events on the track, backed up the double he achieved at last year’s Beijing Olympics.
It was his first victory over 5000 at a world championships to back up his four titles over his stronger 10,000 distance.
Bahrain’s 1500m world champion Yusuf Kamel later failed in his bid for double gold, taking a bronze in a scrappy men’s 800m final.
South Africa’s Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who took silver at the 2004 Olympics, held off a clutch of medal contenders in the home straight to win in one minute 45.29 seconds with Kenya’s Alfred Yego claiming the silver.
Malaudzi’s gold followed the controversial victory of compatriot Caster Semenya in the women’s 800.
The IAAF revealed that Semenya is having to undergo a gender verification test, but with Malaudzi is set to receive a warm welcome on return to South Africa later this week.
There was also a controversial finish to the women’s 1500m as Natalia Rodriguez of Spain was disqualified for tripping favorite Gelete Burka of Ethiopia.
It left defending champion Maryam Jamal of Bahrain with the gold medal.
She edged Lisa Dobriskey of Britain on the line with Shannon Rowbury of the United States taking bronze.
Rodriguez clearly shoved the diminutive Burka with 200m to go, sending her sprawling to the track.
SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA — Two men are in custody after police say they terrorized at least two victims, putting a gun inside one man’s mouth, pouring gasoline on him and threatening to set him on fire.
The attacks – which involved a semi-automatic handgun and an AK-47 assault rifle – were the result of a drug deal gone bad, Sioux Falls police said in a news release Friday. The suspects were to have received $18,000 for marijuana sales but never were paid, police said.
Now, police think there are more victims and are hoping to hear from them, or anyone else who has information.
“These victims had guns put to their heads, and they threatened to kill them and their families if they did not receive their money,” Lt. Bruce Bailey said in the release.
The suspects were identified as Amanuel Gebrengus Atsemet, 21, of Sioux Falls and Aklilu Fessehage Kidane, also 21, of Seattle.
Both men face two counts of aggravated assault, one count of second-degree aggravated kidnapping and one count of first-degree robbery for Wednesday’s crime spree.
They were arraigned on the charges Thursday, and are being held on a $500,000 bond. Their next court hearing is set for Sept. 4, according to court records.
The case began when the suspects gave an unidentified man 15 pounds of marijuana to sell, and the drugs changed hands multiple times as the man enlisted the help of other adults and juveniles to help sell it, police said.
But the suspects never were paid their $18,000, so they began tracking down every person involved in the drug sales, police said.
After one victim was pistol-whipped and had gas poured on him, he was forced into the trunk of a car and driven to several ATM machines in the Sioux Falls area to get money for the suspects, police said. That victim, a 21-year-old man, eventually was released near Madison Street and Sycamore Avenue. Police found both suspects a few hours later in the 1600 block of Rock Creek Drive, where they were apprehended.
It’s not clear from the police statement where the crimes took place. However, police said they began investigating after responding to a call of a disorderly person in the 2600 block of South Judy Avenue, near Morningside Park, at 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Shawn Thennis said he saw a couple of police officers drive up Judy Avenue and stop at a nearby house the night of the incident.
“They took one kid with them, but not in cuffs or anything,” he said.
Ato Ahmed Abagisa, a high-level official of Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ), unleashes a verbal salvo on the Ethiopian independent press, particularly Ethiopian Review. In his 13-page article, Ato Ahmed calls Ethiopian Review editor “timkehtegna” (chauvinist), among many other things. Click here to read [pdf, Amharic].
LONDON, UK — An immigrant from Ethiopia has been charged over the robbery of £40million (USD $60 million) worth of jewels in Britain’s biggest-ever jewelery heist.
Solomun Beyene, 24, has been charged with conspiracy to rob and possession of a firearm.
Another man, Craig Calderwood, of no fixed address, was also charged over the armed raid during which two smartly dressed men took a cab to Graff Jewellers in Mayfair before producing handguns and grabbing 43 jewels.
Both men appear before Wimbledon Magistrates Court today.
A third man has been charged in connection with the £40m raid at Graff jewellers in central London.
Two shots were fired and 43 pieces of jewelery taken during the raid
Clinton Mogg, 42, from Bournemouth, was arrested following the daylight break-in on August 6. He is accused of conspiracy to rob, Scotland Yard said.
Earlier, two men appeared in court in Wimbledon following the raid in New Bond Street. Solomun Beyene, 24, of northwest London, and Craig Calderwood, 26, of no fixed abode, were both charged with conspiracy to rob and possession of a handgun.
Detectives launched a huge manhunt for two men who were captured on CCTV. Footage showed them both on the day of the raid and also visiting the jeweler two days earlier.
A £1 million reward has been offered on behalf of Graff’s insurers for information leading to the prosecution of the robbers.
The pair are accused of undertaking the audacious robbery at the New Bond Street store on August 6. They are also charged with possessing handguns.
The two men appeared in the dock flanked by five prison officers amid heightened security.
Both Beyene and Calderwood spoke only to confirm their names, addresses and dates of birth.
Calderwood, who has short straight red hair combed flat on his head, wore a long-sleeved white T-shirt.
Beyene, who wore a grey short-sleeved T-shirt and has heavily-tattooed forearms, looked briefly at his parents who sat in the public gallery.
Presiding magistrate Anne Packer remanded the two men in custody and ordered them to appear at Kingston Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on September 1.
Solicitors acting on behalf of the two alleged robbers made no representation in court. There was no application for bail.
Speaking after the hearing, defense solicitor Antonie Xavier, who represents Beyene, said his client denies any involvement in the robbery.
He said: “It is totally denied. The CCTV shows quite clearly he could not be the person. He has always denied that he was ever near there.
“This is a shot in the dark.”
A huge manhunt was launched after the audacious raid on the central London jeweler two weeks ago.
CCTV pictures of two men talking their way past security guards before robbing the shop have been beamed around the world.
The gang forced a woman member of staff to fill a bag with 43 pieces of jewellery, including earrings, necklaces and watches, worth almost £40 million.
They used a series of getaway cars and a motorcycle to escape across the capital, firing two shots in the process.
A 50-year-old man who was held last week in Ilford, east London, has been released on bail pending further inquiries.
When did Somalis overthrow Siad Barre? It must be 20 years now or there about. After Siad Barre, came one General Aideed. He is the Somali warlord credited with disorganizing the America humanitarian marines deployed to bring food supplies, law and order into war-torn Somalia in the early days of Bill Clinton’s presidency.
The encounter left the Americans with blood on their noses and a humiliating experience that saw a dead body of one marine dragged along Mogadishu streets as barefoot Somali fighters celebrated America’s humiliation. These horror pictures were so devastating to the American public back home that Bill Clinton ordered the operation stopped and the rest of the marines evacuated.
The only remaining super power had been badly humiliated by a wretched ragtag army in the Third World.
For close to 20 years, successive American administrations have been weary of meddling in Somali conflict. More importantly, America has thought it wise not to engage Somalis directly as they have done with Iraqis, Afghans, Koreans and Vietnamese in recent years. Instead, they have used neighbouring countries like Ethiopia and Uganda to contain the alleged Osama bin Laden influence in that chaotic lawless country.
The American involvement in the current Somali conflict is something that has confused analysts on the scene. More curiously, it has not been the kind of involvement that would be considered humanitarian. It is more to do with arms supplies to one side of the conflict than anything else. One wonders what will happen if the present good boy of Mogadishu turns against the hands that fed him just like Osama bin Laden did after the Russian-Afghan conflict. It is obvious to us that when Ethiopia’s [tribal junta] decided to invade Somalia in support of the ousted Abdulahi Yusuf regime, it was to defeat an Islamic “terrorist” group then led by the current president. The Ethiopian regime’s air power scattered the Islamic courts insurgents forcing their commanders to take refuge in Yemen. Now, hardly a year later, this former Al Qaeda sympathizer has suddenly become the good boy worthy of American arms supply.
America’s involvement in the Horn of Africa’s conflict is not something new. It is as old as our independence. We remember that at one point when Siad Barre’s regime was the darling of the Soviet Union,
Americans were the biggest supporters of Emperor HaileSelassie. However, when Mengitsu HaileMariam’s regime overthrew the monarch and established a communist regime on the model of the Kremlin with full backing from Moscow, Americans quickly filled the vacuum the USSR had left in Mogadishu.
Therefore as the Ogaden war erupted between Ethiopia and Somalia, it was really a war of influence between Moscow and Washington. Yet, both super powers achieved their primary objectives. Their arms industries found ready-made markets in the Horn of Africa. And even after the Ogaden war, other civil wars had to continue in both countries for decades with Ethiopian one being conducted in two phases. The first phase had to do with getting rid of Mengitsu’s regime, while the second phase pitted former allies against one another.
It was Eritrea’s war of cessation. As Ethiopia continued to slide deeper and deeper into protracted civil wars, Somalia never rested after the Ogaden war either. More prolonged conflicts finally threw Siad Barre out in the early 1990s. One would have expected a new regime, more humane to replace Barre and restore sanity into the country. It was not to be. The era of warlords had arrived.
We all know that very few African countries are in the business of manufacturing arms of any kind save for South Africa. We are all net importers of military armaments we deploy in our conflicts. We don’t even manufacture gas masks, teargas, bullet-proof vests and helmets. All we export to industrialized Europe, America and China are raw materials like oil, diamonds, gold, uranium, tea and coffee, most of which they extract themselves and pay us peanuts for! In exchange, our countries have huge and secretive military budgets that we must spend year in year out whether we are at war or not.
This state of affairs has been made worse by our selfish, unfocused and uncaring political leadership from our region for nearly half a century. At the center of it all is deep-seated corruption and insatiable greed for individual wealth. This is the greed that has enslaved our countries to the industrialized nations with occasional belief that we can depend on them in our hour of need when hunger ravages our neighborhoods. It is a slave-master relationship that will take time to break.
Berlin (CNN) — Kenenisa Bekele once again laid claim to being the greatest distance runner in history by completing the 5000 – 10,000 meters double at the world championships in Berlin.