Ethiopian Airlines, one of the largest carriers in Africa, is set to launch new routes and increase service in existing markets.

Effective from 28 October, the airline will introduce daily roundtrip flights between its home base of Addis Ababa and the east-African archipelago of Zanzibar, Tanzania, using new Boeing 737-700 aircraft.

From the same date, the airline also will increase from three to six the number of weekly services it operates between Addis Ababa and the European hub of Brussels.

These increases follow the recent introduction by Ethiopian Airlines of three weekly flights between Addis Ababa and Abu Dhabi, and a new code share agreement with Gulf Air between Ethiopia and Bahrain.

Several other new routes have also been inaugurated this year, including Sana’a, Yemen, and Libreville, Gabon.

The expansion of services by Ethiopian Airlines is part of an ongoing plan by the company to develop substantial air transport links to, from and within Africa.

Recently, the airline leased two additional Boeing 767-300 aircraft for long haul passenger flights, and a Boeing 757-200ER for services between Addis Ababa and the Middle East.

These acquisitions are in addition the airline’s order for 10 new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the first two of which will be delivered in September, 2008, making Ethiopian the first carrier from Africa to operate this long range aircraft.

The airline has also purchased a Boeing MD-11 freighter, with 88 tonnes of cargo-carrying capacity, to be introduced in January, 2009. Negotiations are also underway for a second MD11 to be delivered later that year.

Statement of the Oromo Liberation Front on H. R. 2003, the “Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007”

The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) welcomes the passage of H.R. 2003, “The Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act of 2007″by the US House of Representatives.

The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has been struggling, since its inception in 1973, to end the marginalization of the Oromo people, who make up upwards of 40% of the population in Ethiopia, and realize their inalienable political, social and economic rights. We believe the Oromo people would have everything to gain and nothing to loose from the advancement of human rights, democracy, independence of the judiciary and the supremacy of the rule of law and freedom of the press, which H. R. 2003 calls for.

The passage of H.R. 2003 is a major step in the right direction. The Bill brings to the forefront the political crisis in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian government’s large-scale human rights violations. Moreover, the Bill sends a clear signal that promoting democracy and human rights are the ways to defeat international terrorism. To the contrary, the support of undemocratic regimes actually creates conditions on which extremism could thrive.

We are particularly heartened by the H. R. 2003’s call for the unconditional release of all political prisoners, over whom 80% are Oromo detained under fabricated charges of being members or supporters of the OLF. There are currently over 40,000 Oromo political prisoners in Oromia and Ethiopian regime’s federal prisons. Many of these prisoners have been in detention for over 15 year without charge or trial.

The OLF welcomes the call by the House for the Ethiopian regime to enter into negotiation with all opposition groups. The OLF has long maintained that a comprehensive political solution in Ethiopia needs dialogue among all the stakeholders.

Finally, The OLF commends the noble efforts of the co-sponsors of H. R. 2003, Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Congressman Smith (R-NJ) and their capable staffs for conceiving and bringing to fruition this important and timely bipartisan bill, H.R. 2003. At the same time, the OLF calls on the USA Senate to pass the Bill and the United States President to sign it in into law. The OLF believes that if the Bill becomes law, it would go a long way in paving the way for peace, respect for political, economic and social human rights and it lays foundation for sustainable economic development and contributes to regional stability.

Victory to the Oromo People!
Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)
October 5, 2007

NAIROBI, 5 October 2007 (IRIN) – Concern is mounting about the humanitarian situation and human rights in Ethiopia’s Somali region, which threatens to affect 1.8 million people unless remedial action is taken soon, according to the UN.

“We will see a major crisis develop in the next month unless there is a resumption of livestock trade and export, commercial and humanitarian food distribution, urgent healthcare, and access by government service providers and humanitarian
partners,” stated Paul Hebert, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia, in a report issued on 5 October. Hebert led a mission to the Somali region between 30 August and 5 September.

Meanwhile, legislative moves in the United States to cut aid to Ethiopia are unlikely to have a dramatic impact on its internal policies, an analyst with a leading think-tank said.

“It is going to have some limited effect,” Tom Cargill of Chatham House said of the Ethiopia Democracy and Accountability Act, which has been passed by the House of Representatives but has yet to be approved by the Senate or President George W Bush.

“It is symbolically important because it shows there is a range of views in the US about Ethiopia, but we should not read too much or too little into it.”

If the bill were to become law, the US could stop military assistance to Ethiopia and impose travel restrictions on some government officials unless Addis Ababa released “political prisoners” and people detained without trial, prosecuted officials “involved in the unlawful killings of demonstrators” after elections in May 2005, and ensured the independence of the judiciary and the press.

US humanitarian assistance, food aid, support to combat HIV/AIDS and other healthcare assistance would not be affected by the legislation.

“Special” relationship

Cargill was doubtful the bill would be enacted. “The relationship between Ethiopia and America is so important,” he said. “The question is – does Ethiopia need America more than America needs Ethiopia?”

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi blasted the bill: “It is an unfair decision. It is the result of a vendetta,” he told reporters in Addis Ababa on 4 October. “We have excellent relations with the USA, I hope they’ll stay like that. But it is a two-way thing,” he added.

Elements of the opposition in Ethiopia welcomed the legislation, however.

“The US House of Representatives has shown that executing the global war on terrorism is not incompatible with the forceful promotion of human rights and democracy,” said the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), an armed group described by Ethiopian authorities as a “terrorist” organisation.

Clashes between the ONLF and government forces in the Somali region are the main cause of the humanitarian crisis there.

Food crisis

“Humanitarian conditions within the conflict areas have deteriorated substantially over the past several months,” according to OCHA.

“The nutritional status of the population will rapidly worsen within two or three months if only limited quantities of commercial food continue to be available,” the report added, noting that the price of food in Ogaden had already almost doubled.

The joint mission also called for an independent investigation into allegations of “serious violations of human rights” in the Ogaden.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a statement to the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, said both the government and rebels were responsible for atrocities in the remote region.

“There are no clean hands among the hostile parties in the Ogaden conflict,” HRW said, adding that it had documented serious abuses of civilians, including summary executions by the ONLF. “The Ethiopian military had also systematically committed atrocities and violated the basic laws of war,” it said.

According to HRW, civilians in Ogaden were being targeted intentionally and villages burnt as part of a campaign of collective punishment, while public executions, sexual violence, arbitrary arrests and torture in military custody were rampant, forcing hundreds of thousands to leave their homes.

Security concerns

“We recognise that Ethiopia has legitimate and serious domestic and regional security concerns and that all of the warring parties share responsibility for atrocities against civilians,” HRW’s Sam Zafiri said. “Nevertheless, nothing justifies the severe violations we are witnessing today in the Ogaden.”

In Washington, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Jendayi Frazer, who recently visited the Somali region, also told the committee that all sides had contributed to civilian hardship there.

“Regrettably, the actions of rebel groups, extremists, and government troops alike have all taken a damaging humanitarian toll on the local civilian population,” she said. “The challenge for the [government] and international partners is to mitigate the civilian impacts of these events.”

Kinijit delegates Wzt. Bertukan Mideksa, Dr Hailu Araya and Ato Brook Kebede went to Minneapolis yesterday to meet with the party’s estranged chairman, Ato Hailu Shawel. The meeting took place at a Minneapolis hospital. The date and time of the meeting were picked to accommodate Ato Hailu’s treatment schedule.

Before flying to Minneapolis, the delegates were told by Solomon Bekele (a self-proclaimed member of the Shaleqa gang) that Ato Hailu’s son, Anteneh, would be the contact person who would take them to the hospital where Ato Hailu is receiving treatment.

On Thursday morning, upon arriving in Minneapolis, the delegates called Ato Anteneh from the airport. Anteneh told them to call him when they get closer to the hospital.

They called him when they arrived near the hospital. He gave them a number they can use to reach his father. They made several calls, but no body would answer the phone.

The delegates called Anteneh again and told him about the difficulty they are facing in reaching Ato Hailu. He promised to call them back after he talked to his father or his handlers.

A few minutes later he called them back and told them that he, too, could not reach Ato Hailu.

The delegates did not give up. They asked Anteneh to tell them the exact place where he is at. He was not willing to give that information right away.

After wasting three and half hours trying to reach Ato Hailu, finally the handlers (Dr Taye’s agents) allowed them to meet him — with only less than twenty minutes left before they had to rush back to the airport.

When the delegates entered Ato Hailu’s room, they gave him flowers, and he received them warmly. After exchanging greetings, they got right down to business.

Since they had already wasted over 3 hours trying to find Ato Hailu, they had only 15 minutes with him. But they were very important 15 minutes, for it was their first face to face meeting since they left Addis Ababa. They asked Ato Hailu to give them unrestricted and direct access to him, and told him that they want to meet with him again as soon as possible for further discussion. Ato Hailu agreed.

Both Ato Hailu and the delegates where in good spirits as they left the hospital room.

But this morning the good spirit turned into disappointment once again when the delegates saw in a web site (kinijit.org) that is controlled by Ato Mogus Brook this (click here to read).

It is clear that Taye, Mogus, Yoseph and cohorts are bent on keeping the leadership crisis in Kinijit going as long as they can. But the Kinijit delegates’ patience is slowly bearing fruit. If they some how manage to spend enough time with Ato Hailu, there is a good chance that they can bring him back to the Kinijit leadership fold.

The Shaleqa-Taye-EPRP gang has organized a fund raising event in Washington DC on Sunday, Oct. 14. We cannot wait to be there and confront this thieves who stole our money, and now took our chairman hostage.

Kinijit leaders arrive in Seattle [photo: Kinijit Seattle]

3:50 PM PST / 6:50 PM EST
The Seattle town hall meeting is now over. Next is the fund raising dinner. From the town hall meeting and the dinner event last night over $50,000 have been collected. We will update the figure after tonight’s dinner party. There is no place where the Shaleqa-Taye-EPRP group tried as hard to derail the Kinijit delegation’s visit. They had even interviewed the party’s estranged chairman from his hospital bed last week urging Ethiopians in Seattle not to participate in today’s events. The Kinijit support committee in Seattle, the only Kinijit support group that refused to welcome the leaders, had allied itself with the corrupt Shaleqa. So Kinijit North America chairman Ato Aklog Lemeneh took a decisive measure in disbanding the group and in its place created an hoc committee lead by a prominent Ethiopian attorney in Seattle, Dr Shakespeare Feyissa, who quickly formed a 31-member team that organized the amazingly successful event today…