(Press TV) – At least six Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers have been killed after a remote-controlled landmine hit their military convoy north of Somali capital.
The Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers were escorting Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein, Somali transitional federal parliament speaker Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur Madoobe and the Ethiopian Woyanne Foreign Minster Seyoum Mesfin to a meeting in Baidoa when their vehicle was hit by a landmine in Towfiikh district, Press TV correspondent reported Wednesday.
Eight other Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers were also wounded in the attack.
The explosion caused fear in the district and all markets and businesses closed shortly after the attack.
Somalia has been mired in anarchy since warlords toppled military dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The interim government’s attempts to restore central rule have largely been paralyzed by infighting and insurgency.
The Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) has rejected a move by FIFA to reinstate the group’s ousted president calling the decision biased and one-sided.
The EFF’s general assembly fired former President Dr Asheber Woldegiorgise in January for what they said was the “dismal” record of Ethiopian football.
On 22 Febrary FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) released a road-map to normalize the problems within the EFF.
The road-map said that Dr Asheber and his executive committee are the only leadership that FIFA and CAF would recognise but that an extraordinary meeting of the EFF should be held on 29 March.
The agenda of the meeting would simply be a “motion of dismissal” of the current executive committee.
According to the EFF statutes for this motion to be approved it would have to supported by two thirds of the valid votes cast by the official delegates in a secret ballot.
“Fifa officials have taken a hasty decision before properly assessing the facts and documents submitted by us,” the EFF said in a statement.
“Their decision was biased and one-sided.”
“We are now trying to develop a sustainable project that would enhance the standard of football in Ethiopia from the current dismal position to a high level, and we hoped Fifa would stand at our side.”
FIFA is yet to react to the latest news from Ethiopia.
By Duncan Miriri and C. Bryson Hull
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s president and opposition leader signed a deal to create a power-sharing government on Thursday, hoping to end a post-election crisis that plunged the country into its worst turmoil since independence.
After a month of often bitter negotiations interspersed with violence around the east African country, President Mwai Kibaki and rival Raila Odinga inked an agreement and shook hands to a roar of applause.
“We have a deal,” mediator Kofi Annan said. “Compromise was necessary for the survival of this country … they kept the future of Kenya always in their sights and reached a common position for the good of the nation.”
Kibaki and Odinga were under intense pressure from the international community and Kenya’s 36 million people to find a solution to forestall more violence and help restore the country’s reputation as a stable, prosperous regional anchor.
Kibaki’s disputed re-election in a December 27 vote triggered ethnic clashes that killed at least 1,000 people and forced 300,000 more to flee their homes.
Under the deal, a new prime minister’s position will be created for Odinga, who has sought that job since he first helped elect Kibaki in 2002. He claims the president reneged on a deal to give him the job after that vote.
The deal will also give cabinet posts based on each party’s strength in parliament and create two deputy prime ministers’ jobs, one for each side of the coalition. Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has the largest number of seats.
Later, Kenya will undertake a full review of the constitution, a 45-year-old document which many Kenyans have pushed to change since the 1990s since it gives the president nearly unchecked authority over the affairs of state.
Many Kenyans want a new charter to help address rifts over land, tribe and wealth that have plagued the nation since before independence from Britain in 1963.
‘NEW CHAPTER’
Thursday’s talks brought Odinga and Kibaki to the same table for the first time in a month, after an exasperated Annan suspended negotiations on Tuesday and said the two leaders had to strike a deal themselves.
“As a nation there are more issues that unite than divide us. We’ve been reminded we must do all in our power to safeguard the peace that is the foundation of our national unity … Kenya has room for all of us,” Kibaki said in his speech afterward.
Kibaki ordered parliament to convene next Thursday to pass a constitutional amendment to push through the changes.
A beaming Odinga said after the signing: “We have opened a new chapter in our history, from the era of confrontation to the beginning of cooperation.”
“We should begin to ensure that Kenyans begin to celebrate and love each other, that we destroy the monster that is called ethnicity,” he said.
Shortly afterward, riot police fired several canisters of teargas at rowdy Odinga supporters celebrating just near president’s downtown office where the signing took place.
In his opposition stronghold Kisumu, on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya, residents took to the streets celebrating and ululating over the deal, witnesses said.
The immediate effect on Kenya’s economy was not clear as markets had closed, but the shilling currency had strengthened in anticipation of a deal this week.
“The closer you get to a resolution, the better. The question is now the magnitude of the damage done to companies and the economy,” said Matthew Pearson, head of African equities research at Renaissance Capital Management in London.
‘COMMON SENSE PREVAILS’
The crisis exploded after Kibaki was sworn in on December 30 and Odinga claimed the election was rigged.
Kibaki said he won fairly and blamed his rival for inciting violence and unrest instead of going to court to challenge the result — the closest in Kenya’s post-independence history.
Protests turned into riots and looting sprees met with a forceful police response and simultaneously, ethnic attacks by opposition backers on Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe exploded and later unleashed reprisal killings that left at least 1,000 dead.
The United States, Britain and the European Union applauded the deal, which they had pushed very hard to get finished as quickly as possible.
“We are pleased … It allows the Kenyan people to move forward with a very basic issue of governance,” U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said “common sense has prevailed … Real leadership, patience and tolerance is necessary to ensure that the agreement sticks.”
(Additional reporting by Wangui Kanina, Jack Kimball, Daniel Wallis, George Obulutsa and Bryson Hull in Nairobi, Adrian Croft and Sebastian Tong in London, and Susan Cornwell in Washington; Writing by Bryson Hull; Editing by Giles Elgood)
Founded in February 2007, EthioTube is the leader in Ethiopian online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos related to Ethiopia worldwide through a Web experience. EthioTube allows people, mostly Ethiopians, to easily upload and share video clips on www.ethiotube.net and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.
Everyone can watch videos on EthioTube. People can see first-hand accounts of current events, find videos about their hobbies and interests, and discover the quirky and unusual. As more people capture special moments on video, EthioTube is empowering them to become the broadcasters of tomorrow.
EthioTube is a way to get your Ethiopia-related videos to the people who matter to you. With EthioTube you can:
* Show off your favorite Ethiopia-related videos to the world.
* Blog the videos you take with your digital camera, cell phone or any other device.
* Securely and privately show your videos to your friends and family around the world.
* Chat with friends, communicate, watch video clips… and much, much more!
The Team at EthioTube – Broadcast Ethiopia is delighted to announce the launching of Ethiopia’s answer to the very popular video sharing site – YouTube.
Dear editor, we kindly urge you to promote EthioTube by linking your visitors to our site and use our free service for your video sharing interests. Please help us in our endeavor of making EthioTube the platform for videos pertaining to Ethiopia.
Disclaimer: EthioTube is owned by Ethiopians and not affiliated with YouTube in anyway.
Alemayehu Gemeda
EthioTube – Broadcast Ethiopia
Founder and CEO
http://www.ethiotube.net
በመላው አገሪቱ በሚገኙ የቅንጅት አስተባባሪዎችና ለፓርቲው ከፍተኛ አስተዋጽኦ በሚያበረክቱ ግለሰቦች ላይ የተከፈተው ያለ ህግ ስርአት የማሰርና የማንገላታት ጥቃት መቀጠሉን አንድ የአመራር አባል ለዜና አገልግሎቱ ገለጹ፡፡
በደቡብ ኦሞ ዞን የጂንካ ወረዳ የቅንጅቱ አስተባባሪ የነበሩት አቶ ከተማ በላቸው በተመሳሳይ መንገድ የጥቃቱ ሰለባ በመሆን ላለፉት ሶስት ቀናት በእስር ላይ ከቆዩ በኋላ ዛሬ ከሰአት በኋላ በዋስ ተለቀዋል፡፡ በእስር የቆዩባቸውን ቀናት አስመልክቶ የነበራቸውን የፖሊስ ጣቢያ ምርመራ አስመልክቶ በስልክ በሰጡን አስተያየት ‹‹የፈጠራ ክስ መስርቶ የሃሰት ምስክሮችን ለማቅረብ ከፍተኛ ጥረት ሲካሄዱባቸው የቆዩባቸው አስነዋሪ ቀናት ነበሩ፡፡›› በማለት ገልጸዋል፡፡ አስተባባሪው የክልሉ ተወላጅ እንደሆኑ ቢታወቅም ብሄር ላይ ያተኮረ አሉታዊ ቅስቀሳ አድርገዋል የሚል ክስ እንደቀረበባቸውና ፍርድ ቤቱ የቀረበው ክስ ተጨባጭ መረጃ የሌለው ነው በማለት በዋስ እንዲሰናበቱ ማድረጉን አብራርተዋል፡፡
እንደ አቶ ከተማ አባባል በወረዳዋ ያሉት አብዛኞቹ አባላት በየጊዜው በሚደርሱባቸው እስር፤ ዛቻና ማስፈራርያዎች ራሳቸውን ከፓርቲ አባልነት በማግለል ላይ መሆናቸውን በሃዘን በማስታወስ በተለይ ሊቀመንበሩ ወስደዋቸው የነበሩት አስገራሚ የእግድ ውሳኔዎች ለበርካታ አባላት ፓርቲውን መልቀቅ መንስኤ እንደሆኑ ጠቁመዋል፡፡ በክልሉ ያሉት የፓርቲው አባላትና ደጋፊዎች በወ/ሪት ብርቱካን ሚደቅሳ ከሚመራው የስራ አስፈጻሚ ቡድን ጋር ቀጥተኛ ግንኙነት እንደሚያደርጉ በመግለጽ ፈታኙ ትግል ፍሬ እስከሚያፈራ በጽናት ለመቆም ቁርጠኝነታቸውን ጠብቀው እንደሚቆዩ ያላቸውን እምነት ጨምረው ገልጸዋል፡፡
