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Month: December 2008

Ethiopians in Norway demand the release of Teddy Afro

(EMF) – Ethiopians residing in Oslo, Norway, held a rally on Dec. 10, 2008, demanding the release of the popular artist Teddy Afro. The demonstration was held in front of a city hall where the 2008 Noble peace prize was awarded.

Demonstrators chanted: “Free Teddy Afro!” “Free all political prisoners in Ethiopia!” “Justice and democracy in Ethiopia!” They denounced the dictatorial regime of Meles Zenawi and the unjustified arrest and of Teddy Afro.

Government officials and diplomats from different countries, journalists, and guests of the Noble prize ceremony observed the demonstration. Leaflets describing the politically motivated court drama against Teddy Afro, and the injustice in Ethiopia were distributed to the public.

The protest rally was organized by Kinijit Support and Development Organization in Norway

Kenya govt blocks Obama family from talking to the media

Nairobi — The government has blocked Kenyan members of President-elect Barrack Obama’s extended family from talking to the media.

Family members will have to ask permission from government before issuing making any statement concerning Obama.

The government will also vet all those seeking information about the family.

“We are doing this because we want to ensure better flow of information.

The government has decided that you should inform its officers who will be based here if you want to address the media,” Athman Said, an Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Heritage, told the Obama family in Kogelo yesterday.

A proposed Obama Cultural Home comprising of a museum, a gallery, a library and a leadership centre will be put up in Kogelo, Said told the family. A cultural officer, Dorcas Obege, will be assigned to Kogelo to vet visitors and others seeking information about the family.

Said, who was leading a delegation from the Department of Culture, said the government had set aside Sh30 million to upgrade the proposed Obama cultural home.

Athman said his department was liaising with the United States government to have both published and un-published materials by President-elect Obama on display at the proposed library. The government was also planning to produce a video of Mama Sarah Obama, the President elect’s step-grandmother, telling the history of the Obama family.

The government has graded all the roads leading to Kogelo and set up a police station within the home to protect the Obama family after there was an attempted robbery.

Kenya Power and Lighting Company has also connected power to what used to be a sleepy village. The value of land has doubled in the last few months and several investors are understood to be planning to build hotels in the area to provide for the many tourists who are expected to visit Kogelo on what will be known as the Presidential Heritage Tourism Circuit.

Heritage minister William Ole Ntimama confirmed that the government had decided to make Obama’s fathers home in Kogelo , Siaya district into a national heritage site.

“This is a great opportunity to open up the western tourism circuit and we have asked Treasury to find us some money so that we can roll out a number of projects that will make this a truly memorable cultural site,” said Ntimama.

He however expressed surprise at the veto on the family talking to the media. “I am not aware of that ban because my officers have not told me about it. It will be surprising if they have done that because it is not right. The Obama family should be allowed to say whatever they want to without any bureaucracy,” said Ntimama.

The location of the proposed heritage centre has caused a row in the family with some Obama relatives from Kendu Bay insisting it should be built at Kanyadhiang which was Obama Senior’s ancestral home before the family moved to Kogelo.

The family made the claims last week to Gender and Culture Minister Esther Mirugi who unveiled a signpost showing where the museum will be built in Kogelo.

– Nairobi Star

80 percent of Somali govt soldiers and police desert

(BBC) – More than 80% of Somalia’s soldiers and police – about 15,000 members – have deserted, some taking weapons, uniforms and vehicles, the UN says.

The head of the UN monitoring group on Somalia, Dumisani Kumalo, said Islamist insurgents got many of their weapons and ammunition from the deserters.

The head of the Somali police rejected the UN’s report.

Meanwhile, the African Union wants peacekeepers from Burundi and Uganda to stay when Ethiopian troops leave soon.

In the UN report, Mr Kumalo, the South African ambassador, also said most of the Somali government’s security budget – supposedly 70% of its total budget – disappeared through corruption.

The Somali police chief, Abdi Awale, said all the money had been properly spent, and only a few soldiers and police officers had deserted.

Peacekeeper pledge

With Somalia’s fragile transitional government facing a growing insurgency, the African Union’s top diplomat said he hoped the 3,400 peacekeepers currently stationed in Mogadishu would stay – despite claims by the Ethiopian prime minister that they would leave.

“We have asked the African countries to increase their participation in Somalia, asked the UNSC (UN Security Council) to join us there, and to the AU partners to help us financing this force,” Jean Ping said.

“A withdrawal from Somalia is something we cannot accept, not only the AU, but also the rest of the world,” he said, according to AFP news agency.

Mr Ping’s comments come in response to a statement in the Ethiopian parliament by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi that African Union peacekeepers wanted to leave Somalia.

The AU force, from Uganda and Burundi, had been expected to stay and even beef up its presence to make up for the planned Ethiopian pull-out at the end of the month.

Ethiopia has said Burundi and Uganda have asked its army to help their peacekeepers pull-out, but Burundi and Uganda have denied this.

The United Nations Security Council is due to consider a US proposal to send a full UN peacekeeping force to Somalia – something the AU has been pressing for.

Ethiopia troops intervened two years ago to oust Islamist forces from the capital, Mogadishu.

But different Islamist factions are again in control of much of southern Somalia.

Ginbot 7 launches worldwide fund raising drive

Ginbot 7 Movement for Justice, Freedom and Democracy has launched a worldwide fund raising campaign today. In a statement released to the media, Ginbot 7 said that the fund will be used to carry out an all inclusive strategy that it has devised to remove the Woyanne tribal dictatorship in Ethiopia. Read the full statement below in Amharic:

በመላው አለም ለሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያውያን የቀረበ የወገን ጥሪ

ከግንቦት 7 ለፍትህ ለነጻነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ – (ታህሳስ 2 2001) ሃገራችን ስላለችበት ጭንቅና መከራ ህዝባችን ስለሚኖርበት የምድር ሲኦል፣ ብዙ ተብሏል። የወያኔ ኢህአዴግ መሪዎች፣ የመለስ ዜናዊንና የኩባንያውን ጸረ-ኢትዮጵያዊነት፣ በሃገርና በወገን ላይ የፈጸሙትን በደልና ግፍ እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ ጠንቅቆ ያውቀዋል። እያንዳንዱ ኢትዮጵያዊ የሚፈልገውና የሚመኘው ነገር ቢኖር በእዛች ደሃና መከረኛ ሃገራችን ላይ ሰላም ሰፍኖ፣ የህዝብ መብት ተጠብቆ የዜጎች አንድነትና የሀገርና ህልውና ተከብሮ፣ በአለም እያዋረደን ካለው የድህነት፣ ችጋርና የስደተኛነት መለያችን መገላጋል እንደሆነ እናውቃለን።

ይህ በጎ የህዝብ ምኞት እንዲሰምር ብዙ ኢትዮጵያውያን ህይወታቸው፣ ሃብት ንብረታቸውን፣ የተረጋጋ ኑሮዋቸውን፣ የቤተሰቦቻቸውን ደህንነት ገብረዋል። እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ ኢትዮጵያን ከተከመረባት ዘረኛና አምባገነናዊ ጸረ-ኢትዮጵያ ሃይል ለመገላገል ቆርጬ ተነስቻለሁ ለሚል ድርጅት የሃገራችን ዜጎች ያላበረከቱት ድጋፍ፣ ያልተመኙት በጎ ምኞት የለም። በተለያዩ ምክንያቶች ድርጅቶች ሲነሱ ሲወድቁ፣ ገበናቸው ሲጋለጥ፣ እንኳን ህዝብና ሃገርን የሚያክሉ ታላላቅ ነገሮች ነጻ የሚያደርግ ትግል እንቅስቃሴ ማደራጀት ቀርቶ እርስ በርሳቸው ተስማምተው መሄድ የማይችሉ ስብስቦች መሆናቸው ሲታይ፣ የህዝብ ስሜት በሃዘን ሬት ሲበከል አይተናል። አደራና ቃል የማያከብሩ፣ ለኢትዮጵያ ትንሳኤና ለህዝቧ የመከራ ቀን ማሳጠሪያ፣ ህዝብ ተቸግሮ በአመኔታ የሰጣቸውን ጥሪት ቀኑ መሽቶ የሚበላ የማይገኝ እንደሚመስለው ጅብ ተስገብግበው ውጠው፣ ያለምንም ሃፍረት አይናቸውን እያጉረጠረጡ በህዝብ ውስጥ ሲሹለኮሉ በማየት አንጀቱ የበገነው ብዙ እንደሆነ እናውቃለን።

የሃገር ጉዳይ ሆነና አንዱ ድርጅት ሲከዳ፣ ቃሉን ማክበር ሲያቅተው፣ በሌላው አዲስ ቃል ኪዳን በሚገባ፣ በሌላ ጥሩ ተናጋሪና ጥሩ ጸሃፊ ባለው ድርጅት እየተተካ፣ አዲሱም እንደ አሮጌዎቹ ያንኑ የቆየ የክህደት ቡቱቶ ሲላበስ፣ በህዝብ እምነትና በድርጅቶች ከህደት መሃከል ያለው የአዙሪት ቀለበት ሳይሰበር እዚህ ደርሰናል። ህዝብ ተስፋ ከማድርግ ሌላ ምርጫ የሌለው ነውና፣ አንድ ቀን ምናልባት አንድ ቀን ምኞቴ ይሳካ ይሆናል በሚል ቀጥሏል።

የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ራሱም ሆነ ሃገሩ ያሉበት አስቸጋሪና ፈተኛ ሁኔታ እንዲቀየር ይፈልጋል። ይህንን ለውጥ ግን በተናጠል ማድረግ እንደማይችል፣ ለውጡን የሚያደራጅና የሚመራ ድርጀት እንደሚያስፈልገው ይረዳል። የድርጅት ጉዳይ ደግሞ ደጋግሞ የህዝቡን ቀልብ የሚስበው ለእዚህ ነው። ድርጅት ለለውጥ አስፈላጊ በመሆኑ እንጂ ህዝብ እንደታዘባቸው የተለያዩ ድርጅቶች ማንነትና ድርጊት ቢሆን ኖሮ የድርጅት ጉዳይ ሲነሳ ጆሮዎቹን በጣቶቹ ደፍኖ አትድረሱብኝ ሊል ይችል እንደነበር እናውቃለን።

ይሁንና በእዚህ አስከፊ ክፉ ዘመን፣ ከረሃቡም ከችግሩም ከግድያውና ከእስራቱም በላይ፣ የኢትዮጵያችን ህልውና፣ የአገዛዙን ስልጣን በያዙ ጸረ-ኢትዮጵያ ሃይሎች ለከፍተኛ አደጋ በተጋለጠበት ወቅት፣ የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ በፖለቲካ ድርጅቶችና በፖለቲካ ሰዎች ላይ ተስፋ መቁረጥ በኢትዮጵያ ላይ ተስፋ መቁረጥ አድርጎ ስለሚያየው ጣቶቹን ጆሮው ጫፍ ላይ አስቀመጠ እንጂ አልሰማም ብሎ አልጠቀጠቃቸውም። አሁንም፣ ፈራ ተባ እያለ ቢሆንም አዲስ ቃል ኪዳን ለሚገቡ፣ አዲስ ራእይና ቁርጠኛነት አለን ለሚሉ ድርጅቶች ጆሮውን ለማዋስ እድሉን ለመስጠት ከመሞከር አልቦዘነም። ይህም ሆኖ ግን በድርጅቶች መሪዎች ድክመት፣ መዝረክረክና ማንአለብኝነት የባከነው የህዝብ ህይወት፣ ሀብት፣ እውቀትና ጉልበት የተጎዳው ቀናና በጎ ስሜት በቀላሉ የሚታይ እንዳልሆነ እናውቃለን። በእዚህ በኩል ለደረሰው ጉዳት የፖለቲካ ሰዎች ነን የምንል ሁሉ በቀጥታ ይሁን በተዘዋዋሪ ለተፈጸመው ጥፋት ተገቢ የሆነውን የየራሳችን የጥፋት ድርሻ መቀበል ይኖርብናል።

ይህንንም ብለን ግን ድርጅቶችንና የድርጅቶች መሪዎችን ብቻ ወቅሰን ጉዳዩን ብናልፈው ሰለአለንበት ችግር የተናገርነው ግማሽ ሃቅ ይሆናል። ህዝብም ቢሆን በተለይ አቅሙና ችሎታው ያለው ወገናችን የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶችን መረን በመልቀቅና መሪዎችን በማቅበጥ ለደረሰው ጥፋት የራሱን ሃላፊነት መቀበል የሚገባው መሆኑን ሳንጠቁም ማለፉ ግብዝ ያደርገናል። በስልጣን ላይ ያለው አስከፊ አገዛዝ የሚያዋርደን እኛ እስከፈቀድንለት ድረስ እንደሆነ ሁሉ የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች መሪዎች በህዝብ ላይ መቀለድ የሚችሉት ህዝብ እስከፈቀደላቸው ድረስ መሆኑን ልንስተው አይገባም። የፖለቲካ ድርጅቶች የህዝብን አደራ እንዳይበሉ፣ የህዝብ ቅስም እንዳይሰብሩ፣ በማንአለብኝነት ያሻቸውን እንዳይፈጽሙ ምን ያህሎቻችን ነን ከዳር ቆመን ከማውራት አልፈን በውስጣቸው ገብተን ልንቆጣጠራቸው በህዝብ ስሜት መቀለድ አትችሉም ያልናቸው? ስንቶቻችን ነን ሁሉንም የፖለቲካ ሰዎች በድፍን ካማማትና አይረቡም ከማለት አልፈን፣ ከግብዝነትና ከአድርባይነት በላይ ተሻግረን አጥፊዎቹን ፊት ለፊት ለመናገር ድፍረቱን የተላበስን? ስንቶቻችን ነን ሊደገፉ የማይገባቸውን ደርጅቶችና የፖለቲካ መሪዎች፣ ሃገራዊና ህዝባዊ ከሆነ ጉዳይ ምክንያት ውጭ በጭፍን በመደገፍ የጥፋት ስራ የሚሰሩበትን እድሜያቸውን እየቀጠልናቸው ያለነው? እያመንን ተከዳን ብቻ ሳይሆን ሁሉም ይህንን የእምነት ክህደት አዙሪት ለመስበር ምን ሰርቼአለሁ የሚል ጥያቄ ማነሳት ተገቢ እንጂ ነው እንላለን።

ግንቦት7 የተመሰረተው፣ በህዝብ ውስጥ የተጎዳ ስሜትና በአመክኖ ላይ የተመሰረተ የፖለቲካ እንቅስቃሴ ለማድርግ ለሚፈልጉ ሃይሎች ሁኔታው በጣም አስቸጋሪ መሆኑን እያወቀ ነው። በእኛም ውስጥ በህዝብ ውስጥ የሚነሳው ስሜት ተነስቶ ነበር። “ተሰባስበን ለመስራት ያደረግነው ሙከራ ከሽፏል። የፖለቲካ ድርጅት ውስጥ መግባት፣ የፖለቲካ ድርጅት መስርቶ መንቀሳቀስ ተስፋ የሚያስቆርጥ ነው። ትርፉ ውሎ አድሮ በራስና በቤተሰብ ላይ መከራ ማብዛት ነው። እኛም ማህበራዊ ስነልቦናው ብዙ የባህል ችግሩ ለሰለጠነ ፖለቲካ ታላላቅ ፈተናዎች እያመጣ የሚደነቅርበት ህብረተሰብ አካል በመሆናችን እኛም እንዳለፉት ድርጅቶች ድንገት ልናሳየው በምንችለው ድክመት ህዝብን ልናስቀይም እንችል ይሆናል” ብለን በመተከዝ አሰላስለናል። ይሁንና እኛም እንደ ኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ተሰፋ እንዳንቆርጥ ያደረገን፣ “አባት የሞተ እንደሁ በሃገር ይለቀሳል ሃገር የሞተ እንደሁ ወዴት ይደረሳል” በማለት እጅግ አሽቸጋሪ ፈተናዎች አልፈውና መስዋእትነት ከፍለው ይችን ውድና ክቡር ሃገር ለኛ ያስተላለፉ ቀደምቶቻችን ጩኸት ከየወደቁበት ፈፋና ፈረፈር፣ በረሀና ጫካ፣ ተራራና ሸለቆ፣ ዱርና ገደል እያሰገመገመ ስለሰማነው ነው። ሀገርን የሚያክል ነገር፣ በተለይ ኢትዮጵያን የሚክል፣ ዙሪያችን እንደምናያቸው ሃገሮች ማንም ጠፍጦ ያልሰራትን ሃገር፤ ትውልድ በደሙ ዋዥቶ ያቆያትን ምድር፤ መለስ ዜናዊን ለመሰለ በጸረ- ኢትዮጵያነት በቀል ለሚንቀሳቀስ ከሃዲ አስረክበን መቀመጥ የማይቻል የማይታሰብ ስለሆነብን ነው።

ትግሉ ሃገርን የማዳን ብቻ ሳይሆን እራስንም፣ ልጆቻችንና ቤተሰቦቻችንም ነጻ ለማውጣት የሚደረግ መሆኑን እያወቅን፣ በተለይ እኛ ግንቦት 7ን የመሰረትነው አባላት ሌላ ነጻ አውጪ ጠባቂዎች ሆነን ብንገኝ አሳፋሪ ብቻ ሳይሆን በሞራል ወንጀል የሚያስጠይቅ መሆኑን በማወቃችን ነው፤ እኛም ምርጫችንን በትግሉ መቀጠል ብቻ ያደረግነው። ይህ በመሆኑ ነው፣ ስለወያኔ/ኢህአዴግ ማንነት ያለን እውቀት፣ ወያኔን/ኢህአዴግን ለመታግል ከሚያስችለው ህዝብን በስፋት ለማንቀሳቀስ ካለን ተመክሮዋችን፣ ማሰባሰብ ከምንችለው በዘመናዊነትና በእውቀት የታጠቀ የሰው ሃይል፣ በጥናትና ምርምር በተደገፈ የትግል አቅጣጫና መገንባት በምንችለው የደርጅት አቅም፣ መንድፍ በምንችለው የተጋድሎ ታክቲክና ስትራተጂ፣ ሁላችንምና ሀገራችን አዋርዶ ለመግዛት የሚፈልገውን እብሪተኛ አገዛዝ ለማስወገድ ባላን እልህ፣ በተለይ ከነበርንበት ድርጅትና ከሌሎችም ድርጅቶች ጥፋቶች በሚገባ ከቀሰምነው ትምህርት ተነስተን፣ የህዝብን ስሜት ማደስ፣ ምኞቱን ማስፈጸም የሚችል ንቅናቄ ማቆም፣ ሁሉንም የሃገሪቱን ዜጎች በነጻነትና በእኩልነት የሚያስተናግድ አንድነታቸውን ለማስጠበቅ አልሞ የተነሳውን ራእያችንን ማስፈጸም አያቅተንም ብለን ነው፤ የግንቦት 7ን ለፍትህ ለነጻነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ንቅናቄን ያቆምነው።

በሩቁና በቅርቡ በሆነው ተከፍቶ፣ በሃገሩ ላይ ተስፋ እንደማይቆርጠው የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ፣ እኛም ምንም አይነት ፈተና ቢገጥመን በሃገራችን ላይ ተስፋ አንቆርጥምና ከወደቅንበት ቆሻሻ ስፍራ አብሮን የተነሳውን ትቢያ አራግፈን በድፍረት ቆመናል።

ብዛታችንን፣ የትግላችን ፍትሃዊነትና የአላማችን ርቱእነት፣ ድል አድራጊነታችን አስቀድሞ የተነበየው ነውና እንደ ቀደምቶቻችን ሃገራችንን በመታደግ ለልጅ ልጆቻችን፣ ለቤተሰቦቻችንና ለትውልድ የሚተላለፍ አኩሪ ታሪክ በጋራ እንስራ እንላችኋለን።

ግንቦት 7 ንቅናቄ ላቀደው ሁለ-ገብ ትግል ማካሄጃ የሚሆን አለምአቀፍ የገንዘብ ማሰባበስብ ስራ ጀምሯል። በየሃገሩ የንቅናቄያችን አላማ የሚደግፉ ግለሰቦች፣ ሃገር ወዳድ ኢትዮጵያውያን በግል እንዲያነጋግሩና ንቅናቄው ከማእከል በጥንቃቄ ባዘጋጀው ሰነድ አማካይነት ገንዘብ እንዲያሰባስቡ አሰማርቷል። ለነጻነት ለሀገር ህልውና የሚደረግ ተጋድሎ በቂ የገንዝብ አቅም ሳይኖረው የትም እንደማይደርስ አውቀው የተቻለዎትን በሙሉ በመለገስ ይተባበሩ። ሌሎችም በአካባቢዎ የሚገኙ ሃገር ወዳድ ወገኖቻችንም ለእዚህ የተከበረ አላማ አስተዋጽኦ እንዲያደርጉ ያስተባብሩ።

የኢትዮጵያ ጠላቶች ሃገራችንን ለማፍረስ ላቀዱት እኩይ አላማ ካሰባሰቡት ጉልበት እውቀትና ሀብት በላይ እጅግ የላቀ ጉልበት እውቀትና ሃብት እኛ ለሃገራችን ህልውና የምንቆረቆር ዜጎቿ በማሰባሰብ ሴራቸውን ለማክሸፍ ቆርጠን እንደምንታገላቸው፣ ታግለንም እንደ ቀደምቶቻችን እንደምናሸንፋቸው ይወቁት።

ግንቦት 7 ለፍትህ ለነጻነትና ለዴሞክራሲ ንቅናቄ
www.ginbot7.org

Meles Zenawi declares ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Somalia

EDITOR’S NOTE: Hahahahahahahah

By Peter Heinlein | VOA

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi has declared “mission accomplished” in Somalia, and told parliament Ethiopian Woyanne troops will be home from their controversial two-year military mission within weeks. Mr. Meles also pledged Ethiopia Woyanne would guarantee the safety of African Union peacekeepers in Somalia, should they choose to withdraw. [The dumb Woyanne cannot even guarantee the safety of his own troops.]

The Ethiopian Woyanne leader admitted it has been impossible to crush the Islamist extremist al-Shabab forces and establish a stable government in the two years since he dispatched troops to neighboring Somalia. But he said that was not Ethiopia’s Woyanne’s objective.

That, he said, is the job of the United Nations, which gave legitimacy to Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government; the African Union, which initially pledged to send 8,000 peacekeepers that he thought would quickly replace Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers; and the international community.

But in answering questions in parliament, Mr. Meles said he was bringing the troops home confident they had accomplished the twin missions of preventing the establishment of a militant Islamic regime, and giving the international community time to intervene. [Woyanne is getting out of Somalia with its tail between its legs.]

“Our main mission was to defuse the plan orchestrated by Eritrea, accompanied by al-Shabab, and anti-peace elements in Ethiopia, he said. “We have defused it in a way that it cannot come again. That is, if we feel there are signs it is coming back again, we can take action. We did that in the first two weeks. Our second mission was to give the international community and Somali peace forces time to accomplish their mission of bringing lasting peace to Somalia. We consider two years enough time. So we have accomplished both our missions. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to bring lasting peace to Somalia.” [What a clown!]

Urgent efforts are underway to bolster the 3,400-member AU force known as AMISOM, and possibly transform it into a U.N. peacekeeping mission. If that fails, however, and the international community abandons Somalia, Mr. Meles said he has assured Burundi and Uganda, the two AMISOM troop contributors, that Ethiopia Woyanne will guarantee safe departure of the peacekeepers.

“When we intervened in Somalia, there were forces that stood by our side,” he saidi. “So when we think of withdrawing from Somalia, we also think about how those countries will withdraw their troops. When we withdraw, the Burundi and Uganda forces have told us that if we withdraw, they might like to withdraw. They have told us they would need our assistance to withdraw form Somalia. They say it would be better if we escort them first, then we withdraw.”

AU Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra is in New York for talks with U.N. secretary-general and Security Council ambassadors about ways of preventing a collapse of Somalia’s transitional government after Ethiopia Woyanne leaves.

African Union diplomats in Addis Ababa said the international community is showing a heightened awareness of the severity of Somalia’s crisis. The U.N. Security Council is said to be preparing a ministerial-level meeting on Somalia next week. The African Union Peace and Security Council will hold a similar session the following week.

Even so, diplomats said it would take months to replace the several-thousand Ethiopian Woyanne troops who are going home, much less to bring the AMISOM force up to its authorized strength of 8,000, or to transform it to a more robust U.N. peacekeeping mission.

In what are seen as significant political developments, the leader of the opposition Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia returned to Mogadishu this week after a two-year absence, and the transitional government’s parliament is assembling for a meeting Saturday aimed at affirming a power-sharing deal.

Israeli Defense Forces' first Ethiopian battalion commander

By Yechiel Spira

Major Tzion Shenker, who currently serves as the operations officer of the northern Gaza brigade, will soon be promoted to lt.-colonel, thereby becoming the army’s first-ever Ethiopian battalion commander.

Commander of IDF Ground Forces Major-General Avi Mizrachi already approved the appointment, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi is expected to sign off without any objections. Shenker is expected to serve in the army’s Kfir infantry brigade, where he spent most of his career.

Shenker came to Israel with his parents when he was four. He walked with his family from Ethiopia to Sudan, and from there they were air-lifted to Eretz Yisrael. He began his life in Israel in Beersheva and later attended a dati school.

After being promoted he will be the highest ranking Ethiopian officer in the IDF, and he has already signaled he plans to continue, hoping to become the army’s first major-general.

IDF officials report that enlistment among the Ethiopian community is higher than in most other sectors of society, but the numbers entering elite combat units and officers school are relatively low.

(YWN Israel)