Gulf Air and Ethiopian Airlines have entered a strategic code-sharing agreement opening up routes and services to each other in their respective networks effective July 1, this year.
PRESS RELEASE
‘We have entered a new era of operational efficiency with the implementation of our new refined network and the code share agreement with Ethiopian Airlines is a key strategy as we are constantly looking at ways to strengthen our reach, and building alliances (codesharing) with other airlines,’ says Executive Vice President Network Hashim Mahmood.
The agreement, which will cover as a first phase the routing between Addis Ababa and Bahrain, comes as Gulf Air introduced a totally revamped flight schedule beginning July. The new network offers as many as 588 flights every week in the Middle East with more non-stop flights than any other airline in the region.
‘We have the strongest network in the Middle East and our counterpart, the Ethiopian Airlines, have the strongest network in Africa, allowing both carriers to tap into each others’ markets,’ says Mr.Mahmood.
Gulf Air already has code-sharing agreements with American Airlines, Thai Airways, BMI, Cyprus Airways, Egyptair, Philippine Airlines, Indian Airlines, KLM, Malaysian Airlines, Oman Air, Royal Jordanian, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Yemenia Airways, Bangladesh Airlines Biman.
Mr.Busera Awel, VP Commercial Ethiopian Airlines says on his part that ‘Ethiopian Airlines already has different cooperation agreements with other African and European carriers even though this is the first code share it has with a Gulf region carrier. The partnership with Gulf Air will allow our customers to have easy connection to other Gulf, Middle East and Asian points from Bahrain and at the same time enable us to strengthen our presence in the region.’
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By Abdulkadir Abdirahman
The Middle East Times
WASHINGTON — For some, everything that could go wrong for Somalia has now come to pass. For others, considering how rapidly Mogadishu is turning into Baghdad, the worst – both for the country and the region – is yet to come. However, there is no disputing that, with each passing day, it is becoming more and more evident that Somalia’s Ethiopian [Woyanne] occupation is neither paving the road toward a reconciliation, nor forging a way forward.
Seven months after disrupting what was widely recognized as a “semblance of peace” that enabled Mogadishu to experience glimpses of normalcy, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) that rode into the Somali capital on Ethiopian [Woyanne] tanks is continuing on its brutal and self-sabotaging path.
Nonetheless, Somali Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Gedi will probably remember June 26 – the date of his recent unofficial visit to Washington, DC en route to New York to address the UN Security Council – as the most politically-challenging day of his three-year career.
Gedi’s visit opened with an off-the-record meeting hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Along with the Somali prime minister, the center had invited a number of academicians, policy researchers, prominent Somali activists, and organizational leaders.
At the gathering Gedi was rigorously scrutinized on three specific issues: “security, governance, and reconciliation.” He scrambled desperately to provide cogent answers to some of the questions. At several points, he had to rely entirely on his non-Somali spin-doctors who passed him notes.
Asked whether or not his government – in light of the renewed violence and chaos – was capable of expanding its power beyond Mogadishu, and if it possessed the capacity and vision to move Somalia out of its current turmoil, Gedi’s response was, expectedly, “yes.”
“It was our strategic position to control the city in a peaceful manner,” he noted, leaving many in the audience in a state of disbelief and dismay by adding: “We have succeeded in bringing peace to the city with the support of the Ethiopian government.”
When asked how Ethiopia [Woyanne] could play a part in resolving the crisis, considering its lingering political animosity and suspicion in relation to Somalia, Gedi answered that while it was “true that there was a [hostile] history between Somalia and Ethiopia … that history has changed, and that is the perception of the Somali people.”
Gedi was also challenged on the corruption rife in his “warlord-infested government” and how these militia chiefs — such as Abdi Awale Qaybdiid, with a 17-year record of killing, displacing, and starving countless Somalis, who allegedly led the fighting resulting in the deaths of 18 US Rangers and more than 1,000 Somalis, as depicted in the film Black Hawk Down — could ever be part of the solution.
Additionally, he was questioned about Mohammed Dheere, a particularly brutal warlord and close relative of Gedi’s, who vacated his parliament seat to enable Gedi — who was never elected via clan representation — to become prime minister, in return for Dheere being appointed mayor of Mogadishu, responsible for restoring peace and order there.
Brushing off such queries, Gedi told the CSIS gathering that only time would tell if the TFG had become a warlord-infested government.
Naturally, he did not remind the audience of a statement he had made when he appointed the ruthless Dheere Mogadish mayor that “This is not the time for soft, reflective consensus builders … We need strong leaders who can implement their programs. Mohammed Dheere is the right man at the right time.”
Indeed, the mayor of Mogadishu has his own private militia to implement his program.
But perhaps the question that politically cornered Gedi the most, lending a human face to what has become a routine abuse of power, was the one raised by one of the Somali activists present at the CSIS meeting.
“Mr. prime minister, since the Ethiopian [Woyanne] invasion, Somalis have suffered; young men, businessmen, and the leaders of the civil society [have become] a daily target. People were, and still are, being taken out of their homes in the dead of the night. NGO [non-governmental organization] officers are being detained and their basic rights violated.
“A member of our organization is currently in Somalia and has, sadly, detailed to us the violation of your personal security forces that invaded their NGO and took everything that was movable. You know these people as they are your neighbors. My question is: when will these violent efforts of silencing the civil society [organizations] end?”
In response, Gedi resorted to his routine equivocation and baseless accusations claiming that “some of these NGOs had thousands of tons of weapons which we found, and that should not be.” He failed to point out that no one has since been charged or convicted on such grounds.
Later that same day, a coalition of 11 diaspora-based Somali groups organized a rally outside the US State Department, marking the first time since the bloody fratricide that such a body, transcending Somalia’s clan and regional divisions, had been formed.
Six coalition delegates later met with US Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs James Swan, expressing their concerns regarding Somalia’s Ethiopian [Woyanne] occupation, the recent massacre and continued brutality in Mogadishu, the violation of the system of checks and balances that had led to the unconstitutional termination of the “free parliamentarians” (opposition members of parliament), the humanitarian and human rights abuses, and the “extraordinary renditions” taking place in Somalia that had been condemned by the human rights group Amnesty International.
The coalition delegates stressed that genuine peace and reconciliation in Somalia hinged upon resolving these problems – something they said they would reiterate in an official letter to the UN secretary-general and members of the Security Council.
Abdulkadir Abdirahman is a Somali-American Community Activist based in Washington, DC. He submitted this commentary to the Middle East Times.
BBC
The United States has said it is “surprised” at the call by an Ethiopian prosecutor for the death penalty for 38 opposition leaders.
A US spokesman urged the Ethiopian government and the High Court to “promote much-needed reconciliation” in final sentencing.
The US is a close ally of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and helped his forces oust Islamists in Somalia.
Ethiopia’s government has always stressed that the courts are independent and denies that the trial is political.
Relatives of the 38 Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) leaders say they have signed a document which might pave the way for them to be freed.
The BBC’s Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa says this could be some form of apology or plea for mercy.
“We call on the Ethiopian government and High Court to take action in making a final sentencing determination, which is consistent with the greater objectives of bolstering the rule of law and promoting much-needed reconciliation,” said US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Armed rebellion
Among the 38 are the entire CUD leadership, several of the capital’s elected MPs and city councillors, including Berhanu Negga, mayor-elect of Addis Ababa.
Prosecutor Abraham Tetemke said they had tried to bring down the government when he called for the death penalty on Monday.
Some 193 people were killed in protests at alleged vote-rigging.
Most of the dead were protesters, killed by security forces.
The judge had been due to pass sentence on Monday but he adjourned the hearing for a week to allow those convicted the chance to respond to the prosecutor’s statement.
They have so far refused to recognise the court or enter any defence – the reason why the judges said they were forced to find them guilty as charged last month.
Their offences included outrage against the constitution and, in the case of party leader, Hailu Shawel, and four others, inciting, organising and leading armed rebellion.
Hundreds of thousands took part in demonstrations complaining of fraud and rigging in the elections won by Prime Minister Meles’ party.
An independent inquiry carried out by an Ethiopian judge concluded that the police had used excessive force.
He went on to accuse them of carrying out a massacre. The judge later fled Ethiopia, saying he had been put under pressure to change his findings and had received death threats.
Tarnished
The government points out that it introduced multiparty elections to Ethiopia after years of military rule.
In the elections, the opposition made huge gains but says it was cheated out of victory.
Three months ago, a judge threw out controversial charges of attempted genocide and treason against another 111 people arrested after the election protests.
The violence and the charges of election fraud have tarnished Mr Meles’ image as a favourite of Western donors and one of a new wave of reforming African leaders.
Some donors have reduced aid over the case.
By Mohamed Abdi Farah, SomaliNet
Five government soldiers including the commander of the police station in Dharkenley district, southwest of the capital were wounded in a bomb explosion which occurred in the settlement overnight, sources say on Tuesday.
A bomb was hurled at a car carrying the police station commander and a number of his security guards as they were patrolling near Macmacanka tea-shops in Dharkenley district, according to the district commissioner Abdulahi Moalim.
“The injury of the commander was not serious and now he is in hospital, we will find those who were behind the attack,” said Moalim. The security forces reached the area of the blast and began investigations to find the attacker.
Meanwhile, around 8:00pm local time last night two explosions happened in Bulo-Hubey area near the main airport of Mogadishu.
Residents told Somalinet that the target of the blast seemed to be on the Ethiopian soldiers who yesterday searched several houses and found weapons.
There is no immediate casualty on the Ethiopians.
Early this morning the Ethiopian forces raided a mosque near the area of the last night’s explosion arresting several worshipers.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s champion distance runner Haile Gebreselassie will make his New York racing debut in the NYC Half-Marathon on August 5, the New York Road Runners said on Tuesday.
Gebrselassie, fresh off a double world record effort last month when he established world bests for the one-hour run and 20,000 meters on the track at the golden Spike Grand Prix in Ostrava, has set 22 world records in his career.
The 34-year-old Ethiopian has won all seven of his previous 13.1-mile races, including a world-record time of 58 minutes, 55 seconds in 2006 in Tempe, Arizona, that was later surpassed by Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya.
“I’m so happy to run my first half-marathon in the Big Apple next month. I’m sure I will like the race and the atmosphere,” said nine-times world champion Gebrselassie, the 1996 and 2000 Olympic 10,000-metre gold medalist.
More than 10,000 runners from around the world have entered the race, which will also have a women’s field in what will serve as a tune-up for top international runners ahead of the world athletics championships August 25-September 2 in Osaka, Japan.
