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Theology students protest the Beyonce-Aba Diabilos relationship

Posted on , Updated on by EthiopianReview.com

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Students at Ethiopia’s top religious college are protesting the close ties between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the government, alleged restictions on their speech, and American singer Beyonce’s recent meeting with the patriarch.

Beyonce Knowles with self-appointed, gun-totting pop Aba Gebremedhin (aka Aba Diabilos) in Ethiopia

The 26-year-old performer met with the [illegitimate] Ethiopian patriarch, Abune Paulos Aba Gebremedhin, before performing in skimpy sequined outfits as part of celebrations of the country’s millennium, which fell in September according to the church’s calendar.

Daniel Techale, a 28-year-old Theological College of the Holy Trinity alumnus who lives at the college, said he was not protesting but that around 30 of his friends had been hospitalized after a hunger strike they began on Sunday. He said students were upset by the church’s closeness to the ruling party and restrictions on their speech, but that they also were upset over the Beyonce-Paulos meeting.

Beyonce Knowles back at home in the U.S.

“She provoked the whole situation,” he said, accusing the patriarch of “practically a non-religious act. It’s unacceptable, or inappropriate, to say the least.”

Authorities were trying to persuade the students to end their hunger strike, he said.

Another 26-year-old college student from the northern town of Gonder, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation by Ethiopian authorities, said that in addition to the meeting, students were protesting what they saw as the politicization of the church.

The Orthodox Church is Ethiopia’s largest, claiming 45 million out of 77 million citizens as members. It is considered to be very close to the government. It is stringently traditional _ banning modern musical instruments from services, which are conducted in the archaic language of Ge’ez.

The 26-year-old student said he and 14 friends had joined a hunger strike that began on Sunday night. On Monday, ambulances were seen at the campus and on Tuesday, the college was closed and students staged a sit-in.

Not all the students were concerned with the singer, or even politics. Student Kinetibebeu Assefa, 25, said that he had joined the protest to demand an improvement in cafeteria food and demand the firing of some college officials.

“There is no problem with Beyonce,” he said. “But the (cafeteria) food is poisoned.”

College official Bedilu Assefa confirmed that students had complained, but said: “What they have done is they have raised some administrative issues regarding food and clinical facilities. Nobody has protested against Beyonce. Never.”

There are 196 students at the college, training to work at the church, although not as clergymen.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Woyanne may strike Asmara by air – U.S. Govt. Source

Posted on by Elias Kifle

Ethiopia, Eritrea on Verge Of Border War, Report Says

By Stephanie McCrummen
Washington Post

NAIROBI, Nov. 5 — Ethiopia and Eritrea, stubbornly hostile neighbors for years, are possibly weeks away from a renewed border war that could engulf the volatile Horn of Africa region, according to a report released Monday by a foreign policy research group.

The two countries have been on the brink for some time. But the current military buildup along their border has reached “alarming proportions,” with opposing troops separated in some areas by only a dry riverbed, according to the report by the International Crisis Group, based in Brussels.

“The risk that Ethiopia and Eritrea will resume their war in the next several weeks is very real,” the report says, adding that the United States could play a vital role in averting a conflict.

Eritrea, a tiny country with one of the largest armies in Africa, has about 12,000 troops near the disputed border, as well as 4,000 positioned inside a demilitarized zone that was established by a peace agreement that ended a 1998-2000 border war, according to U.S. government estimates cited in the report.

On its side of the border, Ethiopia, a U.S.-backed military powerhouse, maintains an estimated 100,000 troops who have been carrying out large-scale training exercises in recent months.

Ethiopia also has been building up its air force and jamming Eritrean radar, according to a U.S. government source, who speculated that Ethiopia may strike by air in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, hoping to topple the government there.

In strictest terms, the conflict focuses on ownership of a dirt-road, mud-hut border village called Badme, which a U.N.-backed border commission ruled is inside Eritrea. Eritrea has endorsed that decision; Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has refused to accept it.

Analysts say the dispute is more about the internal political calculations of two political elites determined to remain in power. Although Meles and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki once had close ties as rebels fighting together in the bush against Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam, they have in recent years become mortal enemies.

Ethiopia has for years backed a variety of groups inside Eritrea aiming to destabilize Isaias’s government. Likewise, Eritrea has continued to funnel weapons and money to separatist rebels in Ethiopia’s Ogaden region.

Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia last December was in part a proxy war with Eritrea, which retains close ties to the Islamic movement that Ethiopia ousted. Since the invasion, Eritrea has hosted many of the deposed Islamic leaders who are thought to be behind insurgents battling Ethiopian troops in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

In the context of a U.S. foreign policy driven primarily by counterterrorism objectives, Ethiopia has remained a key U.S. ally. Washington supported Ethiopia’s invasion of Somalia and has roundly condemned Eritrea for hosting the Somali Islamic leaders. Given that support, Meles may decide that now is the time to try to get rid of the Eritrean leadership, the report says.

An Orthodox Church priest shot to death in North Shoa

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

An Ethiopian Orthodox Church priest named Aba Tekle-Mariam, who is the administrator of Kidus Mikael Church in Shenkora Woreda, North Shoa, was shot to death by unknown individuals last week. Aba Tekle-Mariam’s body was hurriedly buried without autopsy.

More in Amharic >>

በሰሜን ሸዋ አገረ ስብከት አንድ አባት በጥይት ተደብድበው ተገደሉ

በሰሜን ሸዋ አገረ ስብከት በሸንኮራ ወረዳ የባልጭ ቅዱስ ሚካኤል ቤ/ክርስቲያን አስተዳዳሪ የሆኑት አባ ተ/ማርያም በአሰቃቂ ሁኔታ በጥይት ተደብድበው መገደላቸውን ሪፖርተራችን ዘገበ፡፡

ጥቅምት 15 ቀን 2ዐዐዐዓ.ም. ከቀኑ በ8፡ዐዐ ሰዓት ላይ የደብሩ አስተዳዳሪ የሆኑት አባ ተ/ማርያም ባልታወቁ ግለሰቦች የተገደሉ ሲሆን የሕክምና ምርመራ ሳይደርግላቸው መቀበራቸው ታውቋል፡፡

ጉዳዩን አስመልክቶ ለፓትሪያሪኩ ጽ/ቤት ማመልከቻ የቀረበ ቢሆንም እስካሁን የተወሰደ እርምጃ የለም፡፡

Source: ዝክር የዜና አግልግሎት

Haile and Meseret made it to the IAAF finalists

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

Source: IAAF

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) have announced the athletes shortlisted to pick up the 2007 World Athlete of the Year.

The male contest is between American sprint-sensation Tyson Gay, new marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie and Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang.

Ethiopian 5000m world champion Meseret Defar, Swedish heptathlete Carolina Kluft and Croatian high-jumper Blanka Vlasic, who won 18 of the 19 events she entered this year, will compete for the women’s prize.

The winners of the 2007 World Athlete of the Year Awards will be announced live, on stage, during the 2007 World Athletics Gala, which will take place in Monaco, on November 25.

America’s Sanya Richards and Asafa Powell of Jamaica took the 2006 awards.