Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are set to spend Christmas in Ethiopia, according to a new report.
The Hollywood super-couple will fly out to the country’s capital, Addis Ababa – which is the birthplace of their adoptive daughter Zahara, reports Britain’s Sunday Mirror.
As well as Zahara, Pitt and Jolie have five other children – Maddox, Pax and Shiloh as well as twins Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline.
Meanwhile, Brad and Angelina have been forced to deny recent reports they have hammered out a $200 million prenuptial agreement.
It was claimed Pitt wanted something in place that spells out everything – the couple’s finances, their property and who will raise their children in case something happens.
But Tomb Raider star Jolie’s rep said, “There is no truth to any of these claims.”
It was gratifying to see the disclosure regarding the contributors to the former president Clinton’s foundation. It is the price he paid to have his wife nominated to be Secretary of State. As a private citizen the law does not compel him to make his contributors public. He only had to tell the IRS which by law would keep it confidential.
To be Secretary of State requires confirmation by the Senate. That entails answering a lot of question regarding competency, temperament and financial situation. There should be no hint of conflict of interest and personal gain. The appearance by itself is a sign for caution. It requires a strong argument to win over skeptics.
The Clinton Foundation disclosure shows a name that is very familiar to all Ethiopians. It is no other than Dr. Sheikh Mohammed H. Al-Amoudi. He is reported to have given from one to five million dollars range. The fact that the so-called “the Unofficial Mohamed Al Amoudi” web page claims that he donated $20 million is a lot of hot air. Looks like all his other purported donation to regions and groups back home. The bark is louder than the bite at least that is what is being reported by our newfound friend “The Reporter” from Ethiopia. We are always hasty in declaring someone friend or foe.
The fact that government officials in the US have to go through such a grueling process to assume power to serve the people is a good sign. The legislative branch takes its duties seriously. The people’s representatives have a responsibility to make sure that officials understand the gravity of the office they assume in the name of the nation. They are not a rubber stamp to the wishes and demands of the executive body.
What is the significance of this news to us Ethiopians is a good question to ask? That will require us to answer the question why the Sheikh felt compelled to donate such a large sum to the Clinton Foundation. Of course as a rich international mogul he definitely have many reasons to support the foundation. He has business interests across the globe requiring intervention and support from the former President. We are not privy to that.
Our one and only interest is if our country is part of this equation. Did the TPLF regime somehow manage to be part of the understanding in this alliance? Or is it possible that as usual we are making a mountain out of a molehill? We as a people have an inbred love of paranoia.
It is a fact that the individual plays a very significant role in both the economic and the political life of our nation. He has managed to build a formidable economic empire. Some claim it is positive and honorable. They mention the thousands of jobs he has created and his philanthropy that includes gifts to our very own ESFNA. On the other hand there are a lot that are uncomfortable by the cozy relationship between a government and a single corporation. His close relationship with an illegal undemocratic regime is a cause for concern. His investments have emboldened the tyrants to ride rough and practice their apartheid system with impunity. His wealth gives him undue advantage to the up coming new local budding capitalists. Capitalism requires a level playing field. It is futile to ask a small businessman to compete with an international financier. That is not fair. It is unequal competition. The US discovered the pearls of monopoly capitalism and enacted laws to safeguard society from predators. It is old news.
It is also true that the Sheik’s investments are geared towards developing an unsustainable economy. It is good to the TPLF mafia since it generates immediate cash, but our country does not need lavish hotels and Soviet style concrete buildings. Money generated from Ethiopians in the Diaspora and used to build monstrous villas with imported concrete, metal, glass is not our idea of building the future Ethiopia. I am sure our Universities are capable of graduating able Ethiopians that will utilize local material and resources and build beautiful habitats cheaper and better. Our foreign exchange will be used to buy computers, solar panels, tractors, harvesters and other useful products instead of vanity items with little or no vale. The one and only item mentioned by all Ethiopians that visit the homeland is the proliferation of buildings everywhere you go. We now read reports that over 90% is paid for by the Diaspora themselves. Why is Woyane taking credit for that as if it is some accomplishment? Where is the double-digit economic miracle?
It looks like it was all smoke and mirrors like other TPLF pronouncements. It is surprising to all of us that the billionaire friend was using our own money to finance these worthless projects. When our banks lend those millions to Midroc Corporation it dries up the money supply to local small business that is the main engine of economic progress. When Woyane was showcasing the miracle they just forgot to mention it was the product of the dreaded Diaspora. Our investment was fueling the inflation and hurting our own friends and relatives at the same time creating foreign exchange for the regime to buy guns to silence our people. That is what is called being pistol-whipped by your own gun.
The question is what do we do with our newfound knowledge? Our options are one to inform the Obama administration regarding the presumed conflict of interest regarding the Clintons or waste our energy being an alarmist or impinge on her new assignment. I believe we should give her the benefit of doubt but at the same time keep our eyes open to point out any undue influence. Our job is to inform the Obama administration that if the US stands for freedom and democracy then both are lacking in our homeland. Our duty is to unite and present a true picture of the dire situation in Ethiopia for all to see. The war against our Somali citizens, the plight of peasants all over the country, the suppression of freedom of speech and media and the imprisonment of political dissidents should be exposed for all to see.
This brigs us to the case of former Prime Minister the infamous Tamrat Layne’s release from Kaliti prison. He is informing us that he has found religion and will not be part of the political process no more. Our response, “not so fast Ato Tamrat, we are not done yet.” There is this little matter of the Ethiopians you have caused harm and misery. If you remember when our liberators arrived in the capital and set up shop, Ato Meles took the office of the Presidency and Ato Tamrat was crowned 2nd in charge. Ato Meles was representing the Tigrai tribe and Ato Tamrat supposedly stood for the Amharas. Ato Meles has his army while Ato Tamrat has his big mouth. We will not forget his despicable acts in Harar, Arsi and Bale among other Southern regions. Ato Tamrat was inciting the local population to rise up against ‘Neftegnas” the TPLF code word for Amharas, Gurages and others and settle perceived wrongs done against them in the years past. Many of our innocent citizens were murdered and others were forcefully evicted from their ancestral homes with nothing but their cloth on their back. It was done with the tacit approval and support of the TPLF regime. Dr. Asrat paid the ultimate price with his life fighting this catastrophe brought on his people by despicable bastards like Tamrat and company.
It was strange to see Ato Meles telling us he was the son of the “golden” people of Tigrai while Ato Tamrat was seeking others to kill and hurt the Amharas he represented. It is great that he found religion to cleanse his troubled soul, but on the other hand we require a little bit more from Ato Tamrat to put a closure on his crimes. It is not much to ask Ato Tamrat to confess to his crimes and ask for forgiveness from his victims. It will be good for us if all those TPLF converts will give us a little bit detail regarding the skeletons in the closet. If he was to atone for his ugly actions in the past we suggest full confession so we learn and set up safeguard for the future. In the mean time if I was Ato Tamrat I will sleep with my eyes wide open. His past associates are watching him like a hawk regarding the knowledge he has of their illegal deeds. He knows where the bodies are buried, and that is knowledge full of liability. Start praying, Ato Tamrat!
ONLF Statement on Massacre in Mooyaha Village, Ogaden
The Woyanne army in Ethiopia has carried out a wanton massacre in the village of Mooyaha near the town of Ararso 50 Km north west of Dagahbur, Ogaden on the 17th of December 2008.
The Woyanne troops rounded up the villagers and started gunning them down indiscriminately. Forty eight civilians mostly comprised of children, women and elderly died on the spot and at least fifty are gravely wounded.
There were no ONLF forces in the area to justify an attack on the village making this a deliberate and planned massacre. On the same day, the Woyanne army also killed six civilians in Galalshe town near Fik.
The Woyanne troops have now sealed off the area and are preventing surrounding communities from coming to aid their compatriots with the wounded and to bury the dead. They are working hard to eliminate the evidence of this massacre.
The ONLF believes this is the beginning of a new round of genocide in the Ogaden where there has been an increase civilian attacks by the Woyanne regime, including attacks using helicopter gunships against civilian targets.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) calls upon the United Nations to send an urgent mission to the village and investigate this massacre while providing necessary aid to the remaining survivors.
Furthermore, the ONLF calls upon the Security Council to hold the Ethiopian regime of Meles Zenawi accountable for its crimes against Humanity and Genocide in Ogaden.
The ONLF is once again informing the world that Genocide continues in Ogaden and further delays in a direct international intervention will result in the continued loss of innocent civilian lives.
ADDIS ABABA, Dec 22 (Reuters) – The African Union called on the Woyanne regime in Ethiopia on Monday to delay a move to withdraw its forces from Somalia to allow for reinforcements, but Ethiopia Woyanne said the decision was irreversible.
Ethiopia Woyanne said last month it would pull its troops out by the end of the year despite fears in some countries that Somalia could descend into anarchy unless more peacekeepers are sent.
“We appeal to Ethiopia Woyanne to consider phasing out withdrawal, until such time (when) more troops from Nigeria, Uganda and Burundi are deployed in Somalia,” the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the AU said in a statement at a meeting in Addis Ababa.
“The security situation in Somalia is alarming … piracy is escalating against the background of weakening leadership and insurgents control nearly all the country with the exception of Mogadishu and Baidoa.”
Ethiopia’s Woyanne minister of state, Tekeda Alemu, said: “The decision to withdraw troops from Somalia was a commitment made by the country’s authorities to parliament and will not be changed.”
About 850 Nigerian troops are expected to strengthen the 3,200 AU peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi, to prevent a security vacuum when the Ethiopians Woyanne leave. The AU said they were expected soon but no concrete time has been given.
Feuding between Somalia’s President Abdullahi Yusuf and Nur Hassan Hussein, who he sacked as prime minister, has brought the weak transitional government to the brink of collapse.
The Council asked the ministers to consider extending the mandate of the AU force for an additional period of six months, with effect from 17 July 2008.
Imprisoned for almost his entire adult life, a Sioux Falls man was released on parole only three months before he was arrested again Friday for the brutal rape of a 22-year-old woman from Ethiopia.
Christopher Kryger, 34, made his first court appearance Monday on charges of first-degree kidnapping and burglary, aggravated assault and forcible rape.
Bond was set at $250,000 cash.
Police say Kryger broke into the woman’s apartment Friday evening in the 600 block of West Bennett Street and assaulted her physically and sexually.
“We don’t have any clue how he picked that house,” police spokesman Sam Clemens said. “It’s fairly rare; we don’t have rapes that occur when the victim and suspect have no idea who each other are.”
The past three months of Kryger’s life have been the first of relative freedom since age 18.
He spent almost 16 years in prison before he was paroled Sept. 3 – 11 years before his full prison term was up – under the Community Transition Program, which helps offenders find work and save money.
He had been in prison on two aggravated assault convictions, the arrest for which came in October 1992, only weeks after two other arrests for starting a fire in an occupied home and grand theft and burglary.
Friday’s apparently random attack came to an end when the victim’s brothers arrived at the apartment, chased Kryger down the hallway and detained him until police officers arrived.
Officers had to resuscitate the woman, who did not appear to be breathing. She was taken to a hospital, but her injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
Tesfaye Balcha, who lives in an neighboring apartment building, said he and the woman worked together for several months at a nearby plastics business.
Balcha and the woman both are Ethiopian, he said.
“She is a nice woman,” he said. “She is a good girl.”
Balcha said the assault scares him.
“We’re a little afraid now,” he said. “We get worried that maybe something like this might happen to us.”
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 23, but the date could change if Kryger is indicted.
