WASHINGTON (AFP) — An unprecedented year-long exhibition at the prestigious Smithsonian Institute aims to demystify the mystique of Rastafarism exploring the roots of what has become a global emerging religion.

“Rastafarism has never been in any major museum,” said Jake Homiak, curator of the exhibition “Discovering Rastafari” which runs until November 2008 at the institute’s National Museum of Natural History.

The movement traces its origins to the 1930s and the teachings of the Jamaican black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey, viewed as a Rasta prophet who advocated that the African diaspora should reclaim Africa from the colonizers.

The movement came to believe that former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, as the only monarch of a truly independent African nation, was god and that Ethiopia is the Biblical promised land.

Rastafarism, with its resistance to colonialism and racism, is at once a philosophy, a religion and a way of life, which grew in international popularity largely thanks to the music of Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley.

It is “an emergent global religion spread by the diaspora,” said Homiak, adding “it’s all over the world now.”

The Simthsonian asked 17 Rastafarian elders to act as advisors to the small exhibition which draws on the museum’s archives as well as items the leaders donated to the institute.

It includes artifacts, ritual objects, clothing and drums as well as rare photos and newspapers from the early days of the movement, recounting the coronation of Haile Selassie as well as his visit to Jamaica in 1966.

Other exhibits include original shares sold by Garvey for his “Black Star Line” a shipping company conceived as part of his back-to-Africa project but which went bankrupt shortly after being launched.

“We are excited to bring aspects of this fascinating yet often misunderstood cultural movement to the public,” said the Natural History museum’s acting director Paul Risser.

The exhibition however remains discreet on the Rastafarian use of cannabis, merely stating that “ganja is used for reasoning.”

The name Rastafarian came from the word “Ras” for chief and “Tafari,” the first name of the Haile Selassie before he was crowned king.

Today Rastafarism is practiced not just in Jamaica, but also in Europe, Latin America, Africa and Japan, Homiak added.

(AFP) – ‘They shot any moving creature … including children’

SOME of the most dangerous neighbourhoods of Mogadishu were almost empty yesterday as heavy fighting resumed between insurgents and Ethiopian Woyanne-backed Somali forces. Another 16 bodies were found in the Somali capital, bringing the death toll from some of the worst fighting in months to 60 since Thursday.

Residents picking through destroyed houses found nine bodies near a mosque and another six in the nearby Black Sea district of southern Mogadishu, where Ethiopian Woyanne forces clashed with Islamist insurgents this week. The body of an Ethiopian a Woyanne soldier was also found in the Black Sea.

“It was a very gruesome scene. They indiscriminately shot innocent civilians who were fleeing the fighting,” sad Ali Muse Mohamed, a local elder, referring to Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers.

Another resident Osman Keysaney said the six civilians whose bodies were found in the Black Sea district had gunshot wounds in the head.

“They shot any moving creature around the neighbourhood,” said Hassan Sugule, another elder. “They also killed children.” Heavy fighting between Ethiopian Woyanne forces and militants erupted on Thursday, resulting in the death of several people, including Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers.

The body of an Ethiopian Woyanne soldier was dragged on the streets by civilians on Thursday, sparking reprisal attacks the following day.

On Friday, the Ethiopian Woyanne troops shelled suspected Islamist hideouts in Mogadishu’s southern districts in a bid to flush out pockets of insurgents who have carried out months-long attacks against them.

The Ethiopian Woyanne army came to the rescue of the embattled Somali government last year to help it oust an Islamist militia that briefly controlled large parts of the country and sought to impose Islamic law.

The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) was defeated earlier this year, but its remnants and allied tribes have since waged a guerrilla war targeting government officials, Ethiopian Woyanne troops and African Union peacekeepers.

Yesterday, journalists said the vast Bakara market area in the south of the capital was deserted, as those who had remained through the past week of fighting fled by the thousands.

The latest fighting comes as President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed is engaged in intensive consultations to find a new prime minister, following the resignation late last month of Ali Mohamed Gedi.

Gedi was accused of failing to break the back of the insurgency and rebuilding the Horn of Africa country’s institutions.

Two weeks of clashes in Mogadishu had already displaced at least 90000 people, according to the United Nations, worsening the humanitarian crisis that has blighted the nation for 16 years.

Towns and districts just outside Mogadishu have struggled to cope with the latest influx of refugees.

The Shabelle region – known as Somalia’s breadbasket – has suffered its worst crop in 13 years and aid agencies have warned of major food shortages that immediately threaten the lives of thousands of children.

Relief workers have also said that the few people who stay behind in the worst-affected parts of Mogadishu are out of the relief net’s reach and face dire conditions.

Mirchaw Sinishaw’s Urael Church in DC. The two story
house doesn’t look any thing close to a church.

Dissatisfied with Shaleqa Yoseph and Dr Taye, the estranged chairman of Kinijit, Ato Hailu Shawel, is increasingly relying on former Derg cadre Mirchaw Sinishaw to mobilize support for him in the Washington DC area. The main tactic deployed by Guad (or Gudu) Mirchaw to recruit supporters for Ato Hailu is a propaganda campaign on his weekly radio program against the Kinijit delegation led by Wzt. Bertukan Mideksa. His strategy seems to be that for Ato Hailu to be revived, the Kinijit delegation must be politically destroyed through fabricated accusations and propaganda. As a trained, experienced Marxist cadre, he feels he is equipped to do the job.

ER’s Research Unit has been gathering some information about Ato Mirchaw to understand what drives him to wage an all out campaign against the Kinijit delegation. We will have more report later about his other activities and connections, including his close and wide-ranging family ties with high level officials of the Woyanne regime. Here we will focus on his activities in relation to the church he owns.

Yes, Ato Mirchaw Sinishaw owns a church named ‘Urael’ in Washington DC. This is not news, of course. What the ER Research Unit uncovered is that Ato Mirchaw has been collecting money from his congregation for the purpose of buying a building for the church, and his members, mostly elderly ladies, have contributed generously. A few months ago, he announced to the congregation that he bought a building and moved the church to the new address, from the Catholic Church where he was renting a room to run Urael. The building is a two story house, and doesn’t look any thing close to a church. Yet the members did not mind since they thought it is better than renting.

What the members do not know is that Ato Mirchaw has been lying to them. According to the information obtained by ER, the building that is located at 5716 16th Street and currently being used as ‘Urael’ Church is owned by an individual named Ato Berhane N. Abraham. The building was sold to Ato Berhane by Ato Mirchaw as a real estate agent at the price of $886,000.

Mirchaw Sinishaw holding a microphone for Hailu Shawel
at the Reagan Airport in DC, Sep. 15, 2007

Contrary to what Ato Mirchaw told the congregation, the building is not owned by the church. It is bought and now owned by Ato Berhane, who turns around and rents the building to Ato Mirchaw to be used as a home for Urael.

Urael’s priest, who is on Ato Mirchaw’s payroll, has been getting suspicious lately and started to ask some questions, such as why the church doesn’t have a board of trustees like the other Ethiopian churches.

Since Ato Mirchaw established Urael church a few years ago, he has branched out from driving a taxi to real estate investments, buying commercial buildings and rental properties. He has also bought a brand new $50,000 Hummer recently.

What is significant about this story is that Ato Mirchaw is Hailu Shawel’s close confidant. He has recently became Ato Hailu’s point person in the Washington DC area. He is a leading member of the 11-man special task force Ato Hailu created last month.

Ato Hailu’s close association with Ato Mirchaw, as well as Shaleqa Yoseph, Ato Moges, Dr Taye and other swindlers — goes to show that he has surrounded himself with incredibly corrupt individuals whose fraudulent activities are not limited to politics.

Yoseph Yazew — diverted and squandered over $1.2 million of Kinijit’s funds.

Moges Brook — diverted to an unknown account at least $60,000 from the Los Angeles chapter of Kinijit.

Taye Woldesemayat — failed to report (or may have pocketed) substantial amount of money and other forms of assistance donated to the Ethiopian Teachers Association from sister associations in Europe.

Ato Hailu Shawel himself is said to be deeply involved in corruption. More on that another time.

Mirchaw Sinishaw’s Urael Church in DC. The two story
house doesn’t look any thing close to a church.

Dissatisfied with Shaleqa Yoseph and Dr Taye, the estranged chairman of Kinijit, Ato Hailu Shawel, is increasingly relying on former Derg cadre Mirchaw Sinishaw to mobilize support for him in the Washington DC area. The main tactic deployed by Guad (or Gudu) Mirchaw to recruit supporters for Ato Hailu is a propaganda campaign on his weekly radio program against the Kinijit delegation led by Wzt. Bertukan Mideksa. His strategy seems to be that for Ato Hailu to be revived, the Kinijit delegation must be politically destroyed through fabricated accusations and propaganda. As a trained, experienced Marxist cadre, he feels he is equipped to do the job.

ER’s Research Unit has been gathering some information about Ato Mirchaw to understand what drives him to wage an all out campaign against the Kinijit delegation. We will have more report later about his other activities and connections, including his close and wide-ranging family ties with high level officials of the Woyanne regime. Here we will focus on his activities in relation to the church he owns.

Yes, Ato Mirchaw Sinishaw owns a church named ‘Urael’ in Washington DC. This is not news, of course. What the ER Research Unit uncovered is that Ato Mirchaw has been collecting money from his congregation for the purpose of buying a building for the church, and his members, mostly elderly ladies, have contributed generously. A few months ago, he announced to the congregation that he bought a building and moved the church to the new address, from the Catholic Church where he was renting a room to run Urael. The building is a two story house, and doesn’t look any thing close to a church. Yet the members did not mind since they thought it is better than renting.

What the members do not know is that Ato Mirchaw has been lying to them. According to the information obtained by ER, the building that is located at 5716 16th Street and currently being used as ‘Urael’ Church is owned by an individual named Ato Berhane N. Abraham. The building was sold to Ato Berhane by Ato Mirchaw as a real estate agent at the price of $886,000.

Mirchaw Sinishaw holding a microphone for Hailu Shawel
at the Reagan Airport in DC, Sep. 15, 2007

Contrary to what Ato Mirchaw told the congregation, the building is not owned by the church. It is bought and now owned by Ato Berhane, who turns around and rents the building to Ato Mirchaw to be used as a home for Urael.

Urael’s priest, who is on Ato Mirchaw’s payroll, has been getting suspicious lately and started to ask some questions, such as why the church doesn’t have a board of trustees like the other Ethiopian churches.

Since Ato Mirchaw established Urael church a few years ago, he has branched out from driving a taxi to real estate investments, buying commercial buildings and rental properties. He has also bought a brand new $50,000 Hummer recently.

What is significant about this story is that Ato Mirchaw is Hailu Shawel’s close confidant. He has recently became Ato Hailu’s point person in the Washington DC area. He is a leading member of the 11-man special task force Ato Hailu created last month.

Ato Hailu’s close association with Ato Mirchaw, as well as Shaleqa Yoseph, Ato Moges, Dr Taye and other swindlers — goes to show that he has surrounded himself with incredibly corrupt individuals whose fraudulent activities are not limited to politics.

Yoseph Yazew — diverted and squandered over $1.2 million of Kinijit’s funds.

Moges Brook — diverted to an unknown account at least $60,000 from the Los Angeles chapter of Kinijit.

Taye Woldesemayat — failed to report (or may have pocketed) substantial amount of money and other forms of assistance donated to the Ethiopian Teachers Association from sister associations in Europe.

Ato Hailu Shawel himself is said to be deeply involved in corruption. More on that another time.

Story by NATION Correspondent

Kenya and Ethiopia Woyanne have agreed to flush out Oromo Liberation Front insurgents on their common border.

The deal was hammered out during a security meeting held at Hidi Lola Town in Ethiopia.

The rebels have been sneaking into Kenya across the porous boundary.

The Kenyan delegation was led by the Moyale district commissioner, Mr Victor Okioma, while the Ethiopian Woyanne team was led by Region Four provincial commissioner Abdulkadir Abdi Nura.

Mr Okioma said that the rebels destabilised security on the border and that Kenya had resolved to smoke them out of their hideouts.

He expressed satisfaction that communities living on the border were willing to provide information on the rebels to the authorities.

Mr Okioma said the meeting also assessed achievements by border security committees.

Mr Nura said they had granted amnesty to insurgents who surrendered themselves to Ethiopian Woyanne authorities.