Ato Hailu Shawel’s enderassie in Addis Ababa had called a meeting of the Kinijit supreme council today, but it could not be held because only about six of Ato Abayneh Berhanu’s friends showed up. The empty chairs saga continues… Read more by zikkir News Service.

የቅንጅት አርማና ስያሜ ለሌላ በመሰጠቱ በፓርቲው ስም ከዚህ በኋላ መንቀሳቀስ አይቻልም በማለት ምርጫ ቦርድ በማስጠንቀቁና ‹ቀጣዩ የትግል ጉዞ› ምን መሆን አለበት በሚሉት አጀንዳዎች ዙርያ ለላእላይ ም/ቤት አባላት በዛሬው እለት አቶ አባይነህ ብርሃኑ ያቀረቡት የስብሰባ ጥሪ ጥቂት የቀድሞ መኢአድ አባላት ብቻ በመገኘታቸው ሳይሳካ ቀርቷል፡፡

በተጠባባቂ ሊቀመንበርነት ስልጣን ከፓርቲው ህገ ደንብ ውጭ በተሾሙት በአቶ አባይነህ የሚመራው ቡድን በርካታ ደጋፊዎች አሉን ባለው ደሴ፤ ባህር ዳርና ጎንደር በመሄድ በምርጫ 97 ወቅት የቅንጅት ተመራጭ የነበሩ ግለሰቦችን በየቤታቸው በመሄድ ለማነጋገር እያደረገ የነበረው ጥረት ተቃውሞ በገጠመው ማግስት የጠራው የላእላይ ም/ቤት ስብሰባ የተወሰኑ አባላትን ብቻ ማግኘቱ የቡድኑን ዘላቂነት አጠያያቂ አድርጎታል፡፡

MOGADISHU, Somalia Jan 16 (Garowe Online) – A huge blast in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu targeted an Ethiopian a Woyanne army convoy as it drove through a major intersection Wednesday, killing seven soldiers on board, witnesses reported.

The Ethiopian Woyanne convoy left the old pasta factory when the hidden landmine exploded in Yaaqshiid district, targeting an army transport truck full of soldiers.

“I saw soldiers on the ground and many others shrieking…there was a lot of smoke,” said witness Abdulkadir, who lives in the vicinity.

Ethiopian Woyanne army reinforcements rushed to the scene and fired bullets into the air to disperse crowds. Unconfirmed reports said a young boy was wounded in the subsequent gunfire.

Today’s deadly explosion follows fierce overnight battles in parts of Mogadishu, especially around Industry Road, where Somali-Ethiopian -Woyanne soldiers stand guard around the clock.

There were no confirmed reports on casualties from last night’s battle, since most civilians have fled the area, but area residents told Garowe Online they could hear loud explosions and the ceaseless exchange of gunfire.

Suspected insurgents, armed with rockets and grenades, initiated two separate attacks on the same position, starting at around 7pm local time, sources said.

Government officials did not provide details from the battle, but one official privately claimed that government troops “killed some insurgents and captured others.”

The Somali government and its Ethiopian Woyanne military backers have faced a deadly insurgency in Mogadishu, where roadside bombings and rocket attacks have become common since the beginning of 2007.

By Douglas Mpuga, VOA

There are reports that Ethiopian Woyanne authorities are jamming some international radio broadcasts, a charge the Ethiopian Woyanne government denies. The stations allegedly affected are the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) and the Voice of America (VOA).

The chairperson of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, Hassan Shire Shiek, says the Ethiopian government has created stations to deliberately disrupt the signals of DW and VOA’s Amharic and Oromifa programs.

Shiek, who is currently in Toronto, Canada, told VOA reporter Douglas Mpuga that the Ethiopian authorities are denying the people what he called their basic right to know what is going on in their country.

He says the situation centers on the coverage of the controversial May 2005 elections, the Ogaden crisis and the Ethiopian government’s involvement in Somalia.

“The government has been cracking down on democratic forces, including legitimate voices of the Ethiopian people, such as civil society, political leaders and media houses,” he said. He added, “To deny the Ethiopian people the right to information, they (the Ethiopian government) have started targeting international broadcasters — the only source of independent information.”

Shiek said, “Ethiopian Woyanne involvement in Somalia is increasingly being questioned following the displacement of close to a million people and the highlight of grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Mogadishu. So the (Ethiopian) government has become jittery.”

But the Ethiopian Woyanne government spokesperson, Zemedkun Tekle, described the allegations as baseless. Zemedkun told VOA that jamming international radio broadcasts is against [Ethiopian] government policy. “Maybe it is technical problems, but we are not aware that any broadcasts are being jammed. Those are utterly baseless allegations.”

Together, VOA’s and DW’s Amharic language broadcasts reach some 20 million listeners in Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea and hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians in the United States, Europe and other parts of Africa. VOA also broadcasts to Ethiopia in the Orofima and Tigirinyi languages.

Toronto police are concerned for the well-being of a teenager from the Bloor West neighborhood who went missing on New Year’s Day.

Teddy Kebede, 15, was last seen as his residence in the area of Bloor Street West and Keele Street on Tuesday, Jan. 1.

He is described as five-foot-three, 125 pounds, with short, afro-style hair.

The Toronto Police Service is requesting the public’s assistance in locating him.

Anyone with information on Teddy Kebede’s whereabouts is asked to contact police at 416-808-1105, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or online at www.222tips.com.