(CNN) — Some athletes earn the right to be considered a sporting legend. Few, in truth, are truly deserving of such an honor. But there can be no quarrel over the greatness of Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie who, in a career spanning 16 years, has redefined the art of long-distance running.
Born in the rural town of Asela in the central province of Arsi, Haile Gebrselassie was seven years old when the Ethiopian Miruts Yifter triumphed in the 10,000 meters final at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
Listening to the victory on the family radio the feat implanted not only a desire to run, but also a belief that it was possible for Ethiopian athletes to succeed at the highest level.
Gebrselassie soon took up running. Poor transport services in Ethiopia necessitated that he regularly run 10 kilometers to school and back with his books tucked under his left arm.
When he began to run competitively — he won his first 1500 meter race at primary school when he was eight years old — he ran with a crooked arm, as if the books were still there. But the bent arm didn’t hinder him and it has remained a distinctive feature of his running style ever since.
Spurred on by his physical education teacher, Gebrselassie started training after school. Extra sessions running around his father’s farm soon reaped rewards as he began to win not only local but regional races. When he was 15 years old, he and his brother joined an athletics club in Addis Ababa and tried to make the national team.
The young Gebrselassie’s devotion to running initially annoyed his father, who implored his son to forge a career as a doctor or a teacher, but he kept up his training schedule and the more he practiced, the faster he got.
In 1992, the same year he met his future wife Alem, a 19 year-old Gebrselassie won the 5,000 and 10,000 meter finals at the World Junior Athletic Championships. The following season his senior career would take off in spectacular fashion.
At the World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany he claimed the 10,000 meter title. The following year he broke his first world record — 5,000 meters at a meet in Hengelo, Holland — surpassing the time set by the Moroccan Said Aouita seven years earlier.
1995 produced further extraordinary success. Not only did Gebrselassie retain his World 10,000 meter crown — he would eventually win four — but he clocked three world records in just 71 days.
Still only 23 years old, his fledgling career reached its pinnacle when he won the 10,000 meter Olympic gold at Atlanta in 1996. In doing so, Gebrselassie had emulated his boyhood hero Miruts Yifter.
The next four years saw Gebrselassie go unbeaten over 5,000 and 10,000 meters, smash records indoors and out — taking his career world record tally to 15 — and star in the 1999 Disney movie “Endurance” which chronicled his life.
His triumph over his great rival, Kenyan Paul Tergat at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 is perhaps his most famous race. Gebrselassie — who had spent the weeks prior to the games struggling with an Achilles tendon injury — piped Tergat on the line by 0.09 seconds to retain his 10,000 meter Olympic title in dramatic fashion.
The victory secured him national hero status at home in Ethiopia, and hundreds of thousands of fans cheered him through the streets of Addis Ababa in a homecoming parade.
His attempts to win an unprecedented third Olympic title in Athens in 2004 were dashed by a recurrence of the Achilles tendon injury. Any sense of personal disappointment — it is difficult to tell as Gebrselassie has always worn a smile in triumph or defeat — was replaced with elation as his protégé and countryman Kenenisa Bekele took the gold medal. The previous year Gebrselassie had finished runner-up to Bekele in the World Championship 10,000 meters in Paris.
Gebrselassie soon turned his attentions away from the track and began to focus on road running, in particular the half-marathon and the marathon. In 2006, he duly added the half-marathon world record to his collection and in September 2007 he broke the marathon world record in Berlin to register his 25th world record mark.
Now 34 years old, his body shows no signs of fatigue — physical or mental — and he retains a hunger to achieve. Whatever happens in the future, his performances merit a permanent place in the pantheon of truly great sportsmen.
Off the track, Gebrselassie has maintained his links with Ethiopia, choosing to live and work in Addis Ababa. He remains committed to promoting the Ethiopian cause, not always through charity — although he lends his vigorous support to numerous projects — but by repeating the mantra of reward through hard work. There can be few better role models for sport and life than he.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Friday urged “maximum restraint” by Ethiopia and Eritrea amid concern over a new border war between the two east African foes.
“We are concerned about the military build-up and tension on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
“We call on the governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia to exercise maximum restraint and avoid any actions that might further heighten tension or reignite conflict,” he said.
Ethiopia, which Washington sees as one of its closest allies in the region, said on Friday it had no plans to invade Eritrea, even as Asmara claimed for the fourth time in two weeks that Addis Ababa was preparing to launch an assault.
The United States has difficult relations with Eritrea, which it accuses of backing Somali Islamists. Eritrea, for its part, accuses the United States of fueling conflicts in the Horn of Africa region.
A 1998-2000 war on the border between the two neighbors killed 70,000 people and both sides accuse the other of preparing for a new war by moving troops closer to their disputed frontier area.
“We urge both governments to disengage militarily from the most critical locations along the border and to cooperate with the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea,” said McCormack.
McCormack said both governments must respect commitments made in a 2000 cease-fire deal, adding that they must embrace efforts by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to resolve their boundary impasse and normalize relations.
The United Nations has a peacekeeping force of 1,700 people charged with monitoring a security buffer zone on Eritrea’s side of the 1,000-km (620-mile) frontier. Under the terms of a June 2000 cease-fire, the zone is meant to be demilitarized.
(Reporting by Sue Pleming; editing by Todd Eastham)
Woyanne is currently engaged in a shooting war on multiple fronts. The worst fighting is going on in Ogaden with ONLF and in neighboring Somalia with the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The news coming from these fronts are encouraging — the Woyanne military is getting its nose bloodied by the ICU and the ONLF freedom fighters. Woyanne is now about to open another front in the north — Badme. Woyanne and Shabia are amassing hundreds of thousands of troops in the area. According to various sources, a major war could start any time. The question for Ethiopians, particularly those of us who wish to see a united Ethiopia free from the Woyanne tribal junta, is what should be our stand?
There are two options:
1) Do not take side in the absolutely senseless war, or
2) Take an active stand against Woyanne by helping Eritrean, ONLF, OLF, and all the other anti-Woyanne forces. An active stand against Woyanne includes agitating troops not to fight, causing damages to Woyanne supply lines, etc. Blockading the road from Addis Ababa to Tigray alone would cripple the Woyanne military machine.
Ethiopian Review encourages the second option. Here is why:
1) Woyanne is the real enemy of Ethiopia that has left us land-locked. On top of that, it has been committing one atrocity after another against the people of Ethiopia for the past 17 years. In several parts of Ethiopia, such as Ogaden and Gambella, Woyanne forces annihilated whole villages of people. What is going on currently in Ogaden is a genocide by any standard. Not looking at the pictures of dead women and children whose heads are splattered by high caliber bullets from Woyanne helicopter gunships, whose bodies pulverized by Woyanne rockets does not lessen the horror of Woyanne atrocities. Woyanne must be stopped from carrying out these atrocities by any means necessary.
2) It is not the Eritrean regime, not the ONLF, not the OLF, not the ICU that had thrown over 100,000 Ethiopians in Zeway, Shoa Robit, Donkoro Chaka and other disease-infested concentration camps after stealing the May 2005 elections. It is Woyanne that ignored the will of the people and enslaved 70 million Ethiopians through its blood thirsty military machine that is currently busy wreaking havoc in Ogaden and Somalia. Woyanne has no mandate to govern Ethiopia, has no right to enslave us and must be removed by any means necessary.
3) As Woyanne moneyman Sebhat Nega himself said a few months ago on a Woyanne radio station, Woyanne has done more than Shabia for the separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia, leaving 70 million people landlocked. Notwithstanding the Woyanne propaganda, the impending Woyanne-Shabia war does not advance the national interest of Ethiopia an iota. It is war over a small plot of land that has no strategic significance for Ethiopia. It is a war that is intended to divert attention from Woyanne’s internal political crisis and the Somalia quagmire. Ethiopia can get back her sea outlet through a negotiated, mutually beneficial settlement with Eritreans. The only obstacle to such a negotiated settlement with Eritreans is the illegitimate Woyanne regime. For this reason alone, Ethiopian pro-unity forces need to help Shabia defeat Woyanne.
Let’s ignore the Woyanne propaganda for a moment and be frank with each other. Which is the lesser evil? Shabia or Woyanne? Both are brutal dictators, but who is currently tormenting Ethiopians? Both will not bring democracy to Ethiopia, but whose defeat will present an opportunity for change in Ethiopia?
If Woyanne wins against Shabia and all its opponents, for the people of Ethiopia it would mean more slavery at the hands of an emboldened Woyanne. If Shabia wins, it would mean no more Woyanne’s brutal rule. The best case scenario is for Shabia to break the backbone of Woyanne, which will force it to:
1) Immediately pull out of Somalia,
2) Pull its forces out of Ogaden, Oromia, and other regions of Ethiopia and rush them to Tigray to protect its base of power,
3) Seek reconciliation with Ethiopian opposition forces.
The most likely outcome
If Woyanne starts war with Shabia, this time it will lose for the following reasons:
1) Those troops who are not hardcore members of Woyanne will not fight the way they did in the 1998-2000 war. They will surrender or put down their weapons and run to Sudan. Even better, they could turn their guns against Woyanne officers.
2) Shabia will not engage Woyanne in a conventional battle of troops against troops, and thanks against thanks this time. What Shabia will do is let Woyanne come deep into the Eritrean territory, even all the way to Asmara. Then engage Woyanne’s over-stretched military in a protracted, guerrilla style warfare. With a well-coordinated propaganda campaign, most non-Tigrean soldiers could desert in massive numbers. Even Tigreans who are not hard core Woyannes would hesitate to fight. After all, what did Woyanne bring to the people of Tigray except more suffering, more war, more repression, and more poverty? Most of the developments in Tigray are benefiting only Woyanne members who are not more than 200,000 Tigreans. By all accounts, the 7 million Tigreans have not benefited from the Woyanne rule what so ever.
Most dictatorships have terrible ends. Hitler, Mussolini, Saddam, Chauchesku, Charles Taylor, to mention a few. With the way things are going on in Somalia, Woyanne’s end is already becoming messy, ugly and horrifying.
Ethiopian Review sources are reporting that the Woyanne junta cut telephone services to Badme and other nearby towns in the past few days and moved all civilian government employees to Mekele over the weekend. The reason for cutting telephone services is to keep military movements in the area secret, according to ER sources. Eye witnesses also informed Ethiopian Review that hundreds of buses filled with soldiers are heading to the border. Yesterday, over 50 buses carrying new recruits left the city of Nazreth (Adama), according to residents.
Meanwhile, the American embassy in Addis Ababa has issued this warning to U.S. citizens:
In light of the recent increase in tensions along the Ethiopia-Eritrea border, the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa strongly advises American citizens to exercise caution when traveling to areas along Ethiopia’s border with Eritrea. The U.S. Embassy continues to restrict all travel of Embassy personnel to this region and recommends that American citizens residing in Ethiopia follow similar guidelines.
U.S. Embassy personnel have been advised to remain 60 miles from the Ethiopia-Eritrea border in the area east of Adigrat (Ethiopia) to Bure (Ethiopia), and the Djiboutian border; and 30 miles from the Ethiopia-Eritrea border in the area west of Adigrat to the Ethiopia-Sudan border, with the exception of the town of Axum.
American citizens who must travel in these areas are encouraged to avoid travel between urban areas at night, and to return to well secured locations in developed urban areas before nightfall. Travel into rural and undeveloped areas in close proximity to the above areas should be executed only when essential and with extreme care.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs internet website at http://travel.state.gov/, where the current Worldwide Caution, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada, or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8 AM to 8 PM Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. Federal Holidays.)
The U.S. Embassy is located at Entoto Avenue, P.O. Box 1014, in Addis Ababa. American citizens with questions or concerns may telephone the Consular Section at 251-11-124-2424; emergency after-hours telephone: 251-11-124-2400; consular fax: 251-11-124-2435; website: http://addisababa.usembassy.gov/.
Almost a year ago, a buried church was unearthed in Ethiopia.The church has invaluable historical and cultural value. Striking is that the unearthing is initiated by a man with a dream, as Africanews reporter Tedla Desta found out.
However, he had to persue his mission and walk from the upper to the lower official’s chest of drawers but to no avail until finally he went to journalists (the 4th estate). It was then that he realized that media has actually the power to bring about change.
From this time onwards the ears and eyes of the executives, congregates and the society at large started to open very widely.
Following his insistent claim that he is being haunted by a recurrent dream, that the Virgin Mary was speaking to him about a buried temple, Kasim Alemu Ahmed, with the assistance of the government, interested people and residents of Bole Sub City, Kebele 19, finally unearthed a year ago a buried church, human remains and artefacts.
Kasim, a Muslim in his mid forties, said he has been having the same dream for the past seven years.
“I have had to go to all government offices which I thought are responsible and accountable to the matter”, Kassim said during the inauguration of the church rebuilt in a modern way, some eight months ago.
Upon reaching the area this reporter was able to see land full of trees and no sign showing there could be remains in that area.
With the help of some residents living near by, after a few days of the announcement on the media, they dug out features of a well-constructed semi-circular fence made of stones and recovered by human skeletons, giving some clue that there actually is something in that area.
These were evidences of the existence of a ‘Tsilat’ and a church at the same site, he said.
After these few sightings residents of the area, however, have not taken the matter lightly on the people who made the unearthing and on him. According to Kasim, his statements were not welcomed then.
“Most residents have been adamant to believe what I have been saying. They fear the discovery of the church and whatever is in it would lead to their eviction from the area. It was not to lose their possession, and also with some secular beliefs that they were opposing us,” he asserts.
On the other hand there were many guys who stood by his side. Some gave him moral encouragement while there were others who went on paying the money he was asked by the Government in order to excavate.
“Every night in my dream, I was being directed by the Virgin Mary to uncover this house of God,” says Kassim, reminiscing about those times.
Some residents have dismissed the man’s claim of “divine guidance,” and state whatever has been uncovered could have been something left at the time of the Italian occupation.
“Community elders had accepted that I was telling the truth. I have brought the issue to the attention of the city administration, police and the Tourism Commission but none of them were willing to consider my words. The only ones to respond were journalists.”
Kasim had taken the initiative to collect the signature of willing residents for the excavation and reconstruction of the church.
“I am willing to risk my neck, that what I say is the truth and that whatever is buried here is not Italian era. Buried here, and revealed to me by the Virgin Mary is a Holy tablet (Tsilat). I may be a Muslim, but the Virgin Mary has revealed this to me,” Kasim said two years ago.
“This dream has haunted me enough. I am now asking all that are in a position to do something about this, to act and help me put this to rest,” Kasim pleaded.
Another resident of the same neighborhood, Birhanu Belachew (a Christian) also claimed that he had also dreamt similar dreams.
He bizarrely claims that certain people living closely to the area suffer from physical and mental disorders.
Long time residents of the area that Capital spoke to say that the ground over the uncovered structure was fully covered with grass and there was no clue that something else existed below it.
Church people who had come to dig out the Tsilat had reportedly gotten into disagreement about how to go on with the process.
Kasim also spoke of “inscriptions written in a foreign language” on the sword that he says was found during the excavation.
After a year and tiresome activities the said church first built in the 4th century during the time of Abreha WeAtsebeha, was dug out and officially consecrated on January 13, 2007 in the presence of high church officials, and named Dagmawi Eyerusalem Yerer Sellasie Gedam.
Now that the church is fully reestablished, tourists visit it every day in large numbers.
The church holds a number of historical and spiritual articles that are invaluable to the country.
History has it that Ethiopia was christianized in the 4th century AD by two brothers from Tyre—St. Frumentius, later consecrated the first Ethiopian bishop, and Aedesius. They won the confidence of King Ezana at Aksum. It was this church that was built during this century which lasted hidden till today and came out phenomenally.
In addition to Ethiopia being one of the earliest civilizations, it is also one of the oldest Christian nations in the world. The Ethiopian court (governing officials) was first introduced to Christianity in approximately the year 42.
“Then the angels of the Lord said to Philip, start out and go south to the road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he set out and was on his way when he caught sight of an Ethiopian. This man was a eunuch, a high official of the Kandake (Candace) Queen of Ethiopia in charge of all her treasure.”
A visitor who first went to the place said that he was really astonished by the man’s (Kassim) gift from the Lord and the things that were found in the place.
Like this monastery many others are found all over the country, the miracles that were revealed in this location are puzzling to all. The courageous man’s attempts finally bestowed fruit.
“I have a great belief that this place has a blessing for the whole Ethiopia and even to the world. All of us have to come to this historic and fascinating place and visit it. For this to come true around 800,000 birr was invested, including labor, material and cash contributions,” he told Capital.
There are other miracles that remain to be revealed yet. But Kassim is still facing problems and discrimination from the residents of the area (farmers) who fear eviction.
The entire event has been filmed and recorded, and endeavors to make it public are underway.
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Eritrea must withdraw its troops from a supposedly demilitarized zone on its border with Ethiopia and both countries should show the “utmost restraint,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday.
A 1998-2000 war on the border between the two Horn of African neighbors killed 70,000 people and brought untold hardship to two of the world’s poorest countries.
Now analysts are warning of a repeat as troops build up ahead of an end-November deadline by an independent boundary commission for Ethiopia and Eritrea to mark out their border.
“The continued military buildup in the border area is a cause of serious concern, which has already resulted in shooting incidents that underscore the risk of further miscalculation,” Ban said in a report to the Security Council.
The United Nations has a peacekeeping force of 1,700 people charged with monitoring a security buffer zone on Eritrea’s side of the 1,000-km (620-mile) frontier. Under the terms of a June 2000 cease-fire, the zone is supposed to be demilitarized.
Ban said in his report that since early September, Eritrea had moved an estimated 1,000 additional troops and 10 heavy machine guns into a section of the buffer zone called Sector Centre, bringing troops in that sector to more than 2,580.
In a sector labeled Subsector East, Eritrea has around 600 troops, Ban said, while in Sector West, Eritrea moved in some 2,025 troops, tanks and artillery in October, adding to some 2,000 it had already in place.
“I … call on Eritrea to withdraw its forces and military equipment from the zone,” Ban said, adding that Eritrea should also lift restrictions it has imposed on the U.N. force.
Ethiopia, for its part, conducted training exercises and has been adding troops on its side of the border, Ban said.
On Saturday, Eritrea accused Ethiopia for the third time in a week of planning an invasion, an allegation Addis Ababa has termed an “absurd” fabrication.
“Although the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea have repeatedly stated that they do not intend to initiate hostilities, the build-up of the forces on both sides of the border area is a cause of serious concern,” Ban said.
WARNINGS OF WAR
Earlier this week, the influential think tank International Crisis Group warned that war could erupt within weeks if there is no major international push to stop it.
Washington sees Ethiopia as its best ally in the region and accuses Eritrea of backing Somali Islamists.
Despite an offensive against insurgents in its east, and a foreign mission in Somalia where it is helping the government fight Islamist rebels, Ethiopia maintains 100,000 troops on its border with Eritrea, the group said, quoting U.S. estimates.
Ban’s report did not give an estimate of troop numbers on the Ethiopian side.
The neighbors have been in dispute since the independent boundary commission awarded Eritrea the town of Badme in a 2002 ruling. Although it now says it accepts the ruling, Ethiopia is still insisting on dialogue over implementation.
The boundary commission brought the two sides together for talks in September aimed at pushing forward measures to physically demarcate the border along the line established in 2002, but Ban said the talks made no progress.
Frustrated by the stalemate, the boundary commission says the countries have until the end of this month to mark the border physically or it will fix the border on maps and let it stand. (Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
