VIDEO: Dollaru begwaro – by Shambel Belayneh
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Ethiopia
Historic concert by Ethiopian nun pianist and composer in D.C.
Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru
WASHINGTON DC (Tadias) – A benefit concert featuring a live performance for the first time in 35 years by the Ethiopian Nun Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru, a world reknowned classical pianist and composer, is taking place on Saturday, July 12, 2008, at The Washington DC Jewish Community Center (16th & Q streets NW).
Emahoy’s first record was released in Germany in 1967 with the help of Emperor Haile Selassie. Other recordings followed with the help of her sister Desta Gebru; the proceeds were used to help an orphanage for children of soldiers who died fighting at the Italo-Ethiopian war… Read more >>
Tirunesh Dibaba in top form ahead of Beijing
PARIS: Tirunesh Dibaba will arrive in Beijing for the Olympic Games as hot favourite for gold in the women’s 5,000m or 10,000m, or both if she decides to double up, after a stunning start to her season.
The diminutive 22-year-old, the reigning two-time world 10,000m champion, in June smashed the world record for 5km previously held by compatriot and archrival Meseret Defar.
During that record run at the Bislett Games in Oslo, Dibaba once again demonstrated the fighting spirit she has become known for, upping the lap times as the pace setters fell by the wayside.
She displayed the same grit in coming from behind to win both the 10,000m at last year’s world championships in Osaka and the world cross-country in Edinburgh in March.
Dibaba, whose medal haul includes three other golds and one silver in the world cross-country championships, two world golds over 5000m in 2003 and 2005 and Olympic bronze in the same distance at the Athens Games, has not ruled out doubling up in Beijing.
“I’m thinking about the double,” Dibaba said after her record-setting run in Oslo. “What happened makes a case for me to consider that.”
Dibaba, who trains at high-altitude in Ethiopia, up to 4,000m, heads up a remarkable family of runners — and medal contenders — in the Chinese capital.
Her sister Ejegayehu is the Olympic 10,000m silver medallist, while younger sister Genzebe, 17, won the junior women’s world cross-country race in Edinburgh.
“My sister was out first and it was partly in order to match her achievement that I dug in and put everything I had into it to win,” Tirunesh said after her cross win in Edinburgh.
“When Genzebe was competing, I was warming up. I was very anxious for her, indeed more so for her than myself. I’m happy we’ve brought home two gold medals, and I’m happier for her gold than mine.”
Dibaba added that her preparations for the Olympics were passing off well. “Training compared with past years has been better,” she said, adding that there was no bad blood between her and Defar. “During races we are rivals of course, but after the race we are friends,” she said.
Rebels attack Somali government headquarters
By Mohamed Ahmed
BAIDOA, Somalia (Reuters) – Heavily armed Somali rebels have attacked the presidential palace and key installations in the Somali government’s Baidoa headquarters, killing at least four soldiers, officials said on Tuesday.
Witnesses said mortar bombs fired by the insurgents late on Monday also hit the airport and a large refurbished warehouse that serves as the parliament of the Western-backed interim administration.
“Several mortar shells landed on us, killing three troops,” Ibrahim Ali Isak, a guard at Baidoa’s high-walled presidential palace, said by telephone.
Seven of his colleagues were injured and taken to hospital, where medical sources said one of them died.
A spokesman for the rebels, Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, told Reuters their target was the presidential guards and Ethiopian Woyanne forces supporting the interim government.
Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein told reporters in Addis Ababa on Monday that the international community must deploy U.N. peacekeepers in his country without delay, or risk worsening insecurity across the Horn of Africa.
He said the U.N. troops were needed to replace Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers, under the terms of a tentative peace deal reached with some of the opposition last month at U.N.-led talks in Djibouti.
DENIAL
The latest high profile victim was Osman Ali Ahmed, local country director of the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), who was killed by unidentified gunmen in Mogadishu on Sunday.
Robow told Reuters al-Shabaab fighters were not to blame.
“We strongly condemn the killing of important people in our community and declare that we are not behind it,” he said. “We believe Ethiopian Woyanne troops and the government are behind it.”
Government officials and the Ethiopian Woyanne military could not immediately be reached for comment.
The assassination of the U.N. official has raised fears among aid workers, who say worsening insecurity has stopped them from reaching many victims in a humanitarian crisis that may be the worst in Africa.
Fighting has killed more than 8,600 civilians since early last year, local rights activists say, and a million people out of population of 9 million have been forced from their homes.
BS ALERT: Sudan accuses Ethiopia of deadly attack
EDITOR’S NOTE: This could be a fabricated news by Sudan and Woyanne in order to divert attention from the secret land deal. This has all the marks of Woyanne propaganda artist Bereket Simon (BS).
KHARTOUM (AFP) — Sudan on Tuesday accused neighbouring Ethiopia of launching a cross-border military raid against police in which 19 Sudanese people were killed.
“The Ethiopian army attacked a police base 17 kilometres (11 miles) from the Sudan-Ethiopian border killing 19 people, including a police officer. Ten people were injured,” said army spokesman Othman Mohammed al-Agbash.
A joint committee between the Sudanese government and Addis Ababa has been established to investigate the matter, Agbash told state news agency SUNA.
The army spokesman provided no reason for the attack in the Jabal Hantub area of Gedaref state, which lies on the northern part of the long international border.
Sudan says Ethiopia attacked military base
By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s army accused Ethiopian troops on Tuesday of attacking a military camp in northern Sudan and killing about 19 people.
A senior Ethiopian official played down the allegation, saying any “minor incident” on the border could be easily resolved.
Sudan’s military spokesman said the attack took place early on Monday in the Jabel Hantub area of Sennar state.
“They hit a camp belonging to the central reserve police and they killed about 19 people,” the Sudanese army spokesman said. He did not know how many people were injured.
The central reserve police are a heavily armed military unit and are often deployed along border areas or to defend the capital Khartoum.
“This was an attack and we don’t know the reason — we have no problem with Ethiopia and there are no border disputes or tribal clashes in that area,” the army spokesman said.
Bereket Simon, special adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, told Reuters in Addis Ababa the problem was that the long frontier was not properly demarcated.
“Sometimes locals from both sides trespass and minor incidents do happen,” he said, denying troops were involved.
“If there was a minor incident involving local inhabitants … Ethiopia is confident both governments will solve the problem in accordance with the prevailing peaceful norms we maintain.”
Sudan signed a north-south peace deal in 2005 which ended Africa’s longest civil war and also improved relations with its east African neighbours.
One Sudanese security source and another government official said the attack may have been because Sudan had given refuge a to local Ethiopian officials few weeks earlier and had refused to hand them over to Addis Ababa.
It was not clear why the officials sought refuge in Sudan. Ethiopia is fighting rebels from the Oromo region which borders Sudan and who want greater autonomy for their areas.
The Sudan army spokesman said a joint Ethiopian-Sudanese committee had been formed to investigate the attack.
Additional reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa; Editing by Matthew Tostevin
What’s Professor Mesfin’s mission (Amharic)
This article is an appeal to our respected scholar and human rights advocate Prof. Mesfin Woldemariam to leave Ethiopian freedom fighters alone, stop ridiculing their sacrifices, and instead focus on the Woyanne fascist regime.
ፕ/ር መስፍን፣ ልብዎትን አዩሁት
ከጽናት ፍቅሩ
ድሮ፣ ፕ/ር መስፍንን የአገሬ ማንዴላ ነበር የማደርጋቸው። እስር ቤት ውስጥ ከተገናኘን በሁዋላ ግን የማንዴላን የክብር ስም ውድ ነገር መሆኑ ይበልጥ ገባኝ። ስሙን በማባከኔ አልጸጸትም፣ ጭፍን አምላኪነቴን አውቃለሁና። ለነገሩማ ልደቱንስ ማንዴላ ብለነውም አልነበር። ትንሽ ፕሮፌሰሩን እንዴት እንዳወኳቸው ብናገር ጥሩ ነው።
በመጀመሪያ ያወኳቸው የመንፈስ ተማሪያቸው ሆኘ ነው፣ ማለቴ የጂኦግራፊ ትምህርት ስንማር መጽሀፋቸውን አንብቤ ነው። መቼም ለጉድ የፈጠራቸው ናቸው። ያንን ሁሉ ተራራ፣ ሜዳ፣ ወንዝና ምንጭ ሳይቀር በወረቀት ላይ ቁጭ አድርገውታል። ያኔ የተራሮችን ስም መሸምደድ ሲያቅተኝ እረግማቸው ነበር፣ ግን ደግሞ ለችሎታቸው ኮፍያየን ሁሌም እንዳነሳሁ ነው። የመጀመሪያ አመት ትምህርት ካለቀ በሁዋላ እረሳሁዋቸው። እንደገና ከእምስት አመት በሁዋላ እንዳስታውሳቸው የሚያደርግ አጋጣሚ ተፈጠረ። አንድ ጓደኛየ ለሁለተኛ ዲግሪው የማሟያ ወረቀት ሲያቀርብ፣ ፕሮፌሰሩ ከጻፉት መጽሀፍ ውስጥ ሀሳብ ወስዶ ተናገረ። አስተማሪያችን በቁጣ “እንዴት ከዚያ ቆሻሻ መጽሀፍ ትጠቅሳለህ” ብሎ በጓደኛየ ላይ ጮኸበት። ኮፍያየን የማነሳላቸው ሰው እንዲያ ሲጣጣሉ ሳይ እንደምናምን አደረገኝ። በሌላ ጊዜ ደግሞ ሌላ አስተማሪ ተመሳሳይ ነገር ተናገረ። ከዚያ መጽሀፎቻቸውን ለማንበብ ወሰንኩ። ሳነባቸው የተወሰኑት በጣም ግሩም ናቸው፣ የተወሰኑት ደግሞ የሳቸውን ችሎታ የማይመጥኑ ሆነው ተሰሙኝ። ስሜቴን ተናገርኩ እንጅ ትክክል ነኝ ማለቴ አይደለም።
ጋዜጠኛ ከሆንኩ በሁዋላ በአካል ተዋወቅሁዋቸው። ወደ ቤታቸው እየሄድኩም ስራ እሰራ ነበር። ሱባኤ ላይ ካልሆኑ በቀር ከሰዎች ጋር ለመወያት ዝግጁ ናቸው። እንደገና ደግሞ ወያኔ ቃሊቲ ሲወረውረን ተገናኘን። የእሳቸው መታሰር ለወጣቱ ጽናት እንደሚሰጡ ሁላችንም እናምን ነበር። እንደታሰበው ግን አልሆነም። ከቅንጅት መሪዎች ጋር ይጣላሉ። የሚጣሉትም በሌላ በምንም አይደለም ሰዎችን ስለሚንቁ ነው። ስድባቸው በመጽሀፍ ቅዱስ ሳይቀር የተወገዘው “ደደብ” የሚል ነው። እርሳቸውን የሚቃወም ሁሉ ደደብ ነው። በዚያች አገር ያሉት ምሁር እርሳቸው ብቻ ናቸው። የሚገርመው ግን ሲጽፉና ሲናገሩ “እኔ ብቻ አዋቂ ነኝ” የሚል ሰው እጠላለሁ ይላሉ። እርሳቸው በተግባር የዚህ በሽታ ተጠቂ መሆናቸውን ግን ገና አላውቁም። ማንም ደፍሮ ባህሪያቸውን አይነግራቸውምና፣ ተሰድቦ ሲበሳጭ ከመዋል ውጭ። አንድ ደፋር ሰው ነበር ፊት ለፊት የሚነግራቸው። እርሱንም በራዲዮ ማሳደዱ አልበቃ ብሎዋቸው አሜሪካ ድረስ መጥተው ሊገድሉት ይፈልጋሉ። ሰውየው ግን ከተራራ ላይ እንደተቀመጠች መብራት ሆኗልና ሊያጠፉት ቢሞክሩ አይደርሱበትም። ሰሞኑን በዋሽንግተን ባደረጉት ስብሰባ ላይ “እውነቱን ለመቀበል አለመዘጋጀት የሁዋላ ቀርነት ምልክት ነው” ብለው ነበር። እውነቱ ምን እንደሆነ ሲናገሩ ደግሞ ሰላማዊ ተግል ነው አሉ። “በኢትዮጽያ ወያኔን ማስወገድ የሚቻለው በሰላማዊ ትግል ነው፣ እውነቱም ይህ ነው” ብለውናል። እስርቤት እያለን የእነ ኦነግን የጦርነት የድል ዜና ሲሰሙ እንዳልጨፈሩ በአንዴ ዘነጉት መሰለኝ። ለነገሩ እርጅናውና ፊርማውም የሚያስረሳ ነው።
ከሰላማዊ ትግል ጋር ሙጭጭ ያላለው ሁሉ እንደ ሁዋላ ቀር ከተቆጠረ፣ እነማንዴላ፣ አፍሪካን ነጻ ያወጡ ፓን አፍሪካኒስቶች፣ ለነጻነት የታገሉ የኢትዮጽያ አርበኞች እና በአለም ያሉ የነጻነት ተዋጊዎች ሁሉ ሁዋላቀሮች ናቸው ማለት ነው። እንደዚህ ከመመጻደቅ፣ ሰዎችን ሁዋላ ቀር ብሎ ከመጥራት ውጭ ሌላ ምን ሁዋላ ቀርነት አለ?
እስቲ ሰላማዊ ትግል የሚሉትን እንመልከተው። ፕሮፌሰሩ እንዲህ ነበር ያሉን “ወያኔ፣ በቁንጮው መሪ በኩል ድርጅታችን ፈሪ ሆኗል ብሎ ያመነው በሶማሊያ ወይም በኤርትራ ጥንካሬ አይደለም፣ ከግንቦት 7፣1997 ከተፈጠረው የሰላማዊ ትግል እንቅስቃሴ በሁዋላ እንጅ …ወያኔ በደም የተነከረ፣ ብዙ ሀብትና ንብረት የዘረፈ በመሆኑ ስልጣን መልቀቅ የሚችለው የማርያም መንገድ በመስጠት ነው”። ታዲያ እንዲህ ከሆነ ወያኔ ለምን ከግንቦቱ ምርጫ በሁዋላ የማሪያም መንገድ ሲሰጠው እምቢኝ አለ? ላደረሰው ጥፋት ተጠያቂ እንደማይሆን ማረጋገጫ ካገኘ ለምን ስልጣን አልለቅም ይላል? ደግሞስ ስልጣን የማይለቀው የማሪያም መንገድ የሚሰጠው ስላጣ ነው? እንኳን ወያኔ፣ ሀያ አራት ሰአት ነጮቹን ደፋ ቀና ብሎ ያገለገለው ቀርቶ በፈረንጆቹ ላይ ሲጨማለቅ የነበረው መንግስቱም ሀይለማሪያምም የማሪያምን መንገድ አግኝቷል። ወያኔ በስልጣን ላይ በመቆየት ሊያገኝ የሚፈልገው አላማ ከስልጣን እና ከገንዘብ በላይ ነው። አገር የማፍረሱ ስራ እስካላለቀ ድረስ ስልጣን አይለቅም። እየፈራ ያለውም ጠንካራ ሀይል በግንቦት 7 በኩል እየመጣ መሆኑን ስላየ ነው እንጅ ሽባ ያደረገውን የሰላማዊ ተግል እንቅስቃሴ አይደለም።
በነገራችን ላይ በሰላማዊ ትግል ውስጥም የአመጽ ትግል መኖሩን አንርሳ። ንብረት ማውደም፣ ፖሊሲ መግደል ምንድነው? ከጦርነት ጋር የመጠን ካልሆነ ምን ልዩነት አለው?
ፕሮፌሰሩ ሲናገሩ በጣም ያሳቀኝ ደግሞ “ሰዎች ሲፈሩ ሽማግሌና አደራዳሪ ይሆናሉ” ያሉት ነገር ነው። አቤት! ፕሮፌሰሩ በእስርቤት ውስጥ ስለሽምግልና የተናገሩትን እረሱት መሰለኝ። በጊዜው ይዘውት የነበረው አቋም አሁን ሰላማዊ ትግል የማድረግ ሀቅማቸውን እንደገደለው የተገነዘቡት አልመሰለኝም። ያኔ ከሽምግልና ውጭ ምንም ነገር አይሆንም ይሉ የነበሩት ፈርተው ነበር ማለት ነው። ብዙ ባልኩ፣ ለወያኔ አሳልፌ ባልሰጠሁዎ።
እኔ የምመክራቸው የትግሉን ቃታ በወያኔ ላይ እንዲያነጣጥሩ ነው። እርሳቸውም እንደወያኔ በአንድ ሰው ላይ ቢያነጣጥሩ ለዚያ ሰው ጥንካሬን ከመስጠት ያለፈ ነገር አይፈይዱም፡፤ ብረት ሲደበደብና ሲነድ አይደል የሚጠነክረው። ብቻ ፕሮፌሰሩ እንዳጠኗቸው ተራሮች እየተናዱና እየተሸረሸሩ ሲሄዱ እያየሁ ነው። እርከን በመስራት መሸርሸሩን ማቆም የሚቻል ይመስለኛል።