In another blow to the fast decaying regime of the Woyanne tribal junta in Ethiopia, the director of Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency, Ato Eshetu Alemu, has defected in the U.S., according to The Reporter.

Eshetu came to the U.S. to attend a 15-day training in executive telecommunication management. He is the second high level Woyanne regime official to defect in the U.S. this month.

In early July, propaganda chief Bereket Simon’s deputy, Ato Ermias Legesse, has disappeared after arriving in the U.S. on a business trip.

More from The Reporter:

የቴሌ ኤጀንሲ ዳይሬክተር አሜሪካ ቀሩ

ከኬሚስትሪ በተጨማሪ በኢንፎርሜሽን ሳይንስ የማስትሬት ዲግሪ እንዳላቸው በፕሮፋይላቸው ላይ የጠቀሱት አቶ እሸቱ የቴሌኮሙኒኬሽን ኮርፖሬሽን ቦርድ አባል ሆነው ያገለገሉ ሲሆን ቀደም ሲል በሳይንስና ቴክኖሎጂ ኮሚሽን የተለያዩ ኃላፊነቶች ላለፉት 7 ዓመታት ሰርተዋል፡፡

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — The Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) has been readmitted to world football after elections for a new leadership were held on Saturday.

A three-man delegation from world football’s governing body, Fifa, said that they were “satisfied with the result”.

In-fighting at the EFF led to Ethiopia being thrown out of the qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations last July.

Sahlu Gebrewold Gebremariam was voted in as president of the EFF, replacing Dr Ashebir Woldegiorgis, who resigned in May.

Sahlu was the only candidate for president in Saturday’s elections for a new executive, as the two other contestants pulled out the previous day.

He said that his priority is to heal the rift in the game in the country and to “facilitate a renaissance in Ethiopian football”.

There was a mood of relief at the meeting, and loud clapping when the head of the Fifa delegation handed over a Fifa flag to the newly-elected president of the EFF.

– By Uduak Amimo | BBC

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — Unity for Democracy and Justice Party (UDJ), whose leader {www:Birtukan Mideksa} is currently in jail, has been engulfed with internal crisis even before it was officially formed. In the past few weeks, the crisis has reach at a critical level where the party is heading toward a split up, one side headed by the acting chairman, Ato Gizachew Shiferraw, and the other, a dissident group led by Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam. Awramba Times and The Reporter have the following reports:

UDJ to take measures against dissident members

Addis Ababa (The Reporter) — The Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) Party will hold a meeting today to take measures on council members accused of distributing “defamatory document” on executive members of the party. The party has suspended 21 members of the party on Tuesday, and today’s decision by the party expected to be harsher than ever.

Dr. Hailu Araya, vice president and public relations head of the party said that they suspended certain members of the standing committee members of the council, and the party will deliberate on other members, including Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam.

The disagreement in the party was a turning point after a document was distributed among the party members by Prof. Mesfin and other members. The document, entitled “abusing power”, accused members of the executive committee of the party. The authors of the document said that the leadership of the party was abusing the power entrusted to them.

Dr. Hailu said that the content of the distributed document was full of unsubstantiated allegations. If there is a problem within the leadership of the party, they should present their disappointment through the party’s proper channel.

The document was distributed to members last Sunday at a meeting called by the party to brief members about joining the opposition parties’ coalition, Forum, and to discus current affairs within the party.

Prof. Mesfin and other members said in the document that since Birtukan Midekssa, president of the party, was detained, the party under Eng. Gizachew Shiferaw, who is now acting leader, had failed to show effective leadership. Instead, it said, the executive committee does not want to discuss issues with members, was not welcoming criticisms, does not want to acknowledge the efforts of youth members and is not fit to lead the party.

In addition to that, they said, the executive committee is squandering the money collected form members to recruit supporters, harassing members who are challenging them and acting in contravention of the statutes of the party, which is against the principles of the party.

Except for minor differences and disappointments with the executive committee of the party, the distributed document did not reflect major differences of opinion. However, some party members have begun to show disappointment that their party would not stand firm if things are carried out in this manner.

Dr. Hailu said that the basic difference between the party leadership and Prof. Mesfin and others is the issue of collaborating with the Forum. Joining the forum will strength the party to sustain its agenda in Ethiopian politics during and beyond elections, he said, adding that if members were not happy there is a party discipline to discuss issues in appropriate way rather than brewing differences by propagating false allegations.

የስብሰባውን አላማ በመቃወም 10 የአንድነት

አዲስ አበባ (አውራምባ ታይምስ)፡- ‹‹የፓርቲው አባላት ያለህገ ደንብ ይባረራሉ፤ በአመራሮቹ ዘንድ አምባገነንነት ሰፍኗል›› የሚል አቋም አንግበው ተቃውሞአቸውን በማስተጋባት ላይ የሚገኙት ፕ/ር መስፍን ወ/ማሪያም፣ዶ/ር ሽመልስ ተክለጻድቅና አቶ ደበበ እሸቱ ፓርቲው በዛሬው እለት የሚያደርገውን ስብሰባ በመቃወም ሳይሰበሰቡ መቅረታቸውን የአውራምባ ታይምስ ምንጮች ገለጹ፡፡

በተያያዘ ዜና ፕሮፌሰር መስፍን ወልደማሪያም ‹የአንድነት ስራ አስፈጻሚ ውስጥ አብዮታዊ ጡንቻ ነግሷል› በሚል ርዕስ ዛሬ ይፋ ባደረጉት ጽሁፍ ‹‹… የሰብዓዊ መብቶችን እናስከብራለን ተብሎ የተቋቋመው ፓርቲ ሰብዓዊ መብቶችን እየጣሰ፣የፓርቲው ገንዘብ ለመደለያ ወይም ለማስፈራሪያ እየዋለ ነው›› ሲሉ የገለጹ ሲሆን ስራ አስፈጻሚው በጥቅም በተሳሰሩ ሰዎች አንድ አካል አንድ አምሳል ሆነው የተለየ አስተሳሰብ ያላቸውን ሁሉ እየመነጠረ በማስወጣት ላይ ነው ሲል የፕሮፌሰር ጽሁፍ ያትታል፡፡

By Mark Rodden | RFI

Three women – Kerron Stewart in the 100 metres, Sanya Richards in the 400 metres and record-breaking pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva – are also in the running for the prize.

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele missed the cross-country and indoor seasons through injury but wins at Golden League meetings in Berlin, Oslo and Rome suggest he is nearing his best form again.

At Friday’s event in the French capital though, the Olympic champion and world-record holder over 5,000 and 10,000 metres will be presented with a different challenge. Unlike the previous meetings this year, there is no 5,000 metre race in Paris. Instead Bekele will have to win over 3,000 metres if his pursuit of the jackpot can continue.

This means Bekele should face stiff competition from Kenyan-born US athlete Bernard Lagat at the Stade de France, but the 27-year-old is not too disappointed at having to run over a shorter distance.

“I don’t want to run every week 5,000 metres,” Bekele said on Thursday. “I’m feeling good, I’ve prepared well and my condition is really good. I think I will have a good result tomorrow.”

When it comes to athletes as consistently groundbreaking as Bekele, it’s inevitable that questions about world records will come up. The news that Bekele’s manager, Jos Hermens, requested that a number of fast pacemakers be included in Friday’s line-up suggests his race will be worth watching.

“I will try to break a record,” Bekele said. “If a record is not [possible] maybe I can run my personal best. But to run a personal best, it’s not easy. My personal best is 7:25 so I will see tomorrow.”

After Friday’s race, Bekele will return to Ethiopia to continue his preparations for the World Championships in Berlin next month. Chances are he’ll be leaving Paris with a million other things on his mind as well.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — The Appeals Court in Addis Ababa on Thursday ruled in favor of Teddy Afro (Tewodros Kassahun), according to sources close to the family.

The Court rejected the prosecutor’s appeal to reverse the previous court decision to lower Teddy’s prison sentence from 6 years to 2.

Teddy has already served over 14 months in jail and will be released next month.

Related:

* Woyanne throws Teddy Afro in jail
* Teddy Afro gets a 6-year jail sentence
* Teddy Afro – a victim of ruthless dictatorship
* The celebration of Teddy Afro’s ideals and vision
* VIDEO: Teddy Afro steals Beyone’s show in Addis

Co-host of the Washington DC-based Netsanet LeEthiopia Radio, Ato Esayas Lisanu, has published a new book in Amharic, “Kenahu Bechereka” (I Envy the Moon). There will be a book signing ceremony at the Unification Church in Washington DC on July 24, 2009, starting at 6:00 PM. See the poster below for more information.