EDITOR’S NOTE: The people of Ethiopia will stand with the Eritrean army if the Woyanne regime starts another one. Meles Zenawi’s tribalists junta will find that out.
Every morning these Ethiopian Woyanne soldiers inspect the road which connects the town of Badme to the rest of the country. They fear commandos sent by neighboring Eritrea may have hidden land-mines. The threat is real: a few weeks ago three civilians died as their car was blown-up by an anti-tank mine.
Since the withdrawal in July of the United Nation’s Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the two countries’ armies find themselves in a dangerous face-off. The memory of the 1998-2000 war, which caused the death of about 80,000 150,000 people, is still on everyone’s mind.
Checkpoints, roadblocks, vehicles systematically searched: the Ethiopian Woyanne army is everywhere in Badme. And this despite a UN Boundary Commission’s ruling that Badme belongs to Eritrea. In Badme it is still the Ethiopian Woyanne flag adorning the top of official buildings.
For the local authorities there’s no question: this was and will always be Ethiopia. Tilahun Guebremedhin, President of the Badme district council says: “For all times, Badme has been Ethiopian. It has a massive significance for us Ethiopians Woyannes; it is the symbol of the integrity of our country.”
“I would rather die than to see a portion of my land going to the other side.” [What did you do when Woyanne gave land to Sudan?] The wounds left by the Eritrean occupation are still on everyone’s minds. Many lost a relative or a friend during the surprise attack led by the troops of Asmara in 1998. Many here are afraid of another war, yet they openly back up their army.
Mamite Guebresarkan, a farmer says: “Of course I’m worried. They conduct frequent infiltration missions here. But whatever happens we will remain here, it is our land, our country. Victorious or not we’ll live and die here.”
Negussa Guebreselassie, farmer and member of an Ethiopian a Woyanne militia, says: “We always expect the war to start again. During the war my wife was shot by Eritrean soldiers. She suffered a lot and it was very difficult to have her treated.”
By the time the UN local mission ended its operation here more than six months ago, it no longer had the means to keep up with its peacekeeping initiative: the Eritrean authorities were doing all they could to hinder its action. And despite what it had declared, Ethiopia Woyanne was refusing to acknowledge the new borders. Despite the fact that ten thousand residents before the war now only number 4,000, Badme has resigned itself to endure another war.
Letay Kidane, a shopkeeper [and Woyanne cadre], says: “It’s good if the border problem is solved through a peaceful dialogue. Otherwise, I myself will support and help our soldiers up to the frontline.”
People are psychologically gearing up for war. An entire division of the Ethiopian Woyanne Army has taken position in a nearby fortified hill… Only a few kilometers away, the Eritrean Army is waiting.
Insurgents in Somalia captured a town on the outskirts of the capital, Mogadishu, in at least the sixth incident this week in which the nation’s transitional government was unable to defend territory it controlled.
Elasha Biyaha, 17 kilometers (11 miles) southwest of Mogadishu, was seized late yesterday by members of al-Shabaab, the militant wing of the Islamic Courts Union, Faadumo Khali Siad, a resident, said by phone today. The town is strategically important because it is situated on a route that connects Mogadishu to Baidoa, seat of the nation’s parliament.
“Our forces took control of Elasha Biyaha last night after we received complaints from residents about insecurity there,” Sheikh Abdi Rihin Isse Adow, a spokesman for the Islamic Courts, said in a mobile-phone interview today. “We removed a checkpoint in the area from the regional administration.”
Yesterday, al-Shabaab captured the port of Marka, 90 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu. The town is used as an entry point for humanitarian agencies, such as the World Food Programme, that provide assistance in the country. The UN estimates as many as 3.25 million people, or 43 percent of the population, will need food aid until the end of 2008.
Towns Captured
On Nov. 11, the towns of Koryoley and Buulo Mareer, near Marka, were seized by al-Shabaab. Yesterday, the town of Janaale, 90 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu, was captured by the militia, Salad Ibrahim Muhiden, a local elder, said by phone. Awdheegle, 80 kilometers south of Mogadishu, was captured by Jabha al-Islamia, a faction of the Islamic Courts, Elmi Shino Farey, a local elder, said by phone from the town.
“Clearly the transitional federal government doesn’t have the capacity to defend its territory on its own,” Roger Middleton, Africa researcher at Chatham House, a London-based research group, said by phone today.
The transitional government, or TFG, was created in 2004 with a mandate to create a central administration. Last month, it completed a peace agreement with a splinter group of the Islamic Courts, known as the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia. The accord, which calls for power sharing between the two sides and for the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops, has been rejected by al-Shabaab.
`Lack of Capacity’
The government “has exhibited, since its creation, a lack of capacity in terms of defending territory and ability to establish itself as a significant force in Somalia,” Middleton said. “The government hasn’t brought stability, it hasn’t brought development.”
Al-Shabaab will impose Shariah in Marka, Sheikh Abubakar, a spokesman for the group, said in remarks broadcast today on Radio Shabelle. Shariah is a system that operates under a code of Islamic principles first established in the Arab world by the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century.
“From now on, you have to close all business centers at prayer time,” Abubakar said. “We have to modify the behavior of the youth in the town.”
Ethiopia’s Woyanne Foreign Ministry spokesman Wahde Belay said the withdrawal of troops from Somalia would be done in accordance with last month’s peace agreement, which was signed in neighboring Djibouti.
“We will stick to the Djibouti agreement,” Belay said by phone from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. “There is not any change of policy on our side.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi said in October his country would support any government that could bring stability to Somalia, as long as it didn’t include al-Shabaab.
Zimbabwe’s economy has all but collapsed, leaving it’s currency worth far less than the paper it’s printed on. The hyperinflation is now estimated at over a quintillion percent, although no one really knows.
Most Zimbabweans are switching to barter and the Zim dollar is virtually useless. The South African rand and the US dollar are now the most common forms of currency. For the many who are unable to access forex, this means they will be unable to survive. Purses and wallets have become redundant; people are now using shopping bags, suitcases, sacks and other large containers to carry cash.
Bank tellers are hidden from view by huge piles of the increasingly worthless currency. Nearly all businesses have stopped accepting cheques for payment – creating an absolute nightmare for everyone, because of the absurd cash withdrawal limits at the banks.
All these because one 80-year-old one greedy dictator and his parasite cronies what to loot the country a few more years. Meles Zenawi & Co. are doing the same thing to Ethiopia.
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA – Meles Zenawi’s troops in Mogadishu have indiscriminately opened gunfire on unarmed civilians killing three people on Tuesday, witnesses told Mareeg.
Eyewitnesses confirmed to Shabelle that they saw the dead bodies killed by the soldiers in Hamar Bile area of Wardhigley district in Mogadishu.
It’s yet unknown the motives behind the killing of the civilians by the Woyanne regime troops.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (Xinhua) — To the sound of horns, the revving of engines by the assembled construction vehicles and much applause from the delegates, the start of the construction of the new conference center of the African Union (AU) in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa was officially declared on Monday by Wu Bangguo, chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC).
Wu was in Addis Ababa to mark the start of the construction of the conference center and the 25-storey office block, which will provide much-needed working space and conference facilities for the pan-African body. His trip also included an official visit to Ethiopia.
The conference center complex will house a 2,550-seat big conference hall, 500 office spaces, a medium conference hall, five meeting rooms, 30 caucus rooms, a multipurpose hall with a capacity of accommodating 3,000 people, an amphitheatre with 3,000seats, a digital library and archives center, a medical center and various public spaces for utilities such as banks, post and airline ticket offices, among other features.
At the ceremony to mark the occasion, AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping hailed the new construction as a symbol of the strong cooperation and friendship that exists between Africa and China.
” It is an honor and privilege for him to welcome you all to this historical occasion to mark the start of the construction of the AU conference center project,” Ping said.
He said African leaders have long cherished the idea of having a facility which can accommodate the needs of the AU, and which befits the organization’s status.
“The idea of endowing the AU Commission with a modern conference center and office building facilities befitting its status has always been in the hearts of African leaders for long.”
Ping said in this connection they should therefore be proud of having the assistances of the Chinese government for its commitment to design, construct and fully finance such big facilities as a gift to Africa.
The gift from the Chinese government comes at an opportune time when the AU Commission needs more space, he said. “Indeed, this is a wonderful gift from a true and long time friend of Africa. The presence of the high-level Chinese delegation on this occasion is a testimony of the fact that China has attached great importance to its commitment to the success of this project and to its historical and long time friendly relations with Africa,” said Ping.
“We are indeed very grateful for that.”
Ping thanked Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian government and different government departments for facilitating the construction of the center through the provision of land and other services.
He also expressed his gratitude for former AU Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare, who initiated the process with the Ethiopian and Chinese authorities.
The idea of the construction was first discussed three years ago.
He pledged the AU Commission will do everything possible to ensure the successful completion of the project as scheduled and would facilitate its tasks.
“Africa will highly value this gift as a special one and honor it with heartfelt appreciation and, it will definitely set the relations of Africa and China on a solid foundation in bearing more fruits of interests for both sides.”
In his speech, Wu Bangguo said the start of construction of new AU conference center is another symbol of closer China-Africa friendly relations.
He recalled the historical 2006 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, saying that the summit strengthened the partnership, friendship and cooperation between Africa and China.
At the summit, Chinese President Hu Jintao announced China would build a conference center for AU to support African countries in their efforts to strengthen themselves through unity and support the process of the African integration.
The design of the complex, which includes historical aspects of African culture and tradition, was presented to the 2007 AU summit in Ghana’s capital Accra.
The foundation stone for the new conference center was laid in the same year. The work of construction is expected to take three years.
LONDON UK – The chairperson of Unity for Democracy and Justice, Wzt. Birtukan Mideksa, and executive committee member Ato Akilu Girgire, held a public meeting in London on Sunday, Nov. 9. In a dramatic shift from a similar meeting last year, a small number of Ethiopians attended the meeting. (Only 60 people showed up, versus last’s years 450.) The few who attended the meeting had grilled Wzt. Birtukan and Ato Akilu on a number of issues, including why UDJ allows itself to be used by the Woyanne tribal junta that is rejected by the people of Ethiopia.
The meeting in London on Sunday was a fiasco for UDJ. It exposed not only the party’s lack of sound strategy on how to operate as an opposition party, it also exposed it’s chairperson’s shallow knowledge about politics and world affairs. At one point, Wzt. Birtukan compared Ethiopia with Pakistan and said that the Pakistani government under Pervez Musharaf used to do the same thing that Meles Zenawi is doing now. Of course there is no comparison between Musharaf and Meles. Musharaf had never unleashed his special forces on unarmed civilians to gun down women and children. Musharaf did not round up over 100,000 young people and detain them in disease-infested concentration camps. Musharaf did not carry out genocide against his people. After a brief, relatively peaceful uprising by lawyers and others following the dismissal of the supreme court justice, Musharaf allowed a free and fair election. He then resigned as demanded by the parties who won the election. How could a leader of an opposition party compares that to the extremely brutal fascism that is terrorizing the people of Ethiopia? Even Sarah Palin is not that uninformed.
Wzt. Birtukan went on to preach about the virtues of peaceful struggle. But the fact on the ground in Ethiopia is that there is no such thing as peaceful struggle. UDJ leaders cannot move an inch without the will of Woyanne thugs. Where there is complete lawlessness on the part of the government, people have the right to defend themselves. The likes of Wzt. Birtukan, who run to American embassy for cover when ever Woyannes harass them, have no moral authority to tell the people of Ethiopia how to defend themselves.
While preaching about peaceful struggle, UDJ is too scared to even speak out against Woyanne’s scorched earth policy against the people of Ogaden where troops burn entire villages, commit summary executions, gang rape women and block food distribution. If UDJ cannot talk about such issues, it cannot be seen as a genuine opposition party.
During the London meeting Sunday, Wzt. Birtukan conducted herself with servile deference toward the Meles regime by calling it “our government” and other similar terms that accord legitimacy to the ruling junta. This is the same regime that had gunned down in cold blood several teenagers who had tried to prevent Meles Zenawi’s death squads from arresting her during the post-2005 elections unrest. How betrayed the parents of those young Ethiopians may be feeling now when she calls the fascist regime “our government.” Woyanne is not our government. It is the enemy of the people of Ethiopia.
UDJ is not a useless organization like Beyene Petos’ UEDF or Lidetu Ayalew’s UEDP. Those discredited groups are of no consequence. Far from being useless, UDJ provides valuable service to the Woyanne regime. When the UDJ leader calls the regime that was rejected by the people of Ethiopia “our government,” it is indeed a valuable service provided to Meles & Company. The cost is to those of us who had helped Wzt. Birtukan become a popular politician. She is allowing herself to be used against the cause of freedom that we stand for and labor day and night to achive. More importantly, she is being used against the people of Ethiopia by Woyanne to make it look good in the international scene.
The damage that is being inflicted on the opposition camp by UDJ is far reaching. It is more than reviving Woyanne’s image. Because of UDJ, it is becoming difficult to convince the U.S. and European governments to impose sanctions against Woyanne. In many European countries these days it is becoming difficult for those Ethiopians who escape persecution to be granted political asylum. These governments give UDJ as a primary example of how political dissent is allowed in Ethiopia.
UDJ is not getting away with this. Ethiopians are angry, and they are showing their disappointment by boycotting UDJ public meetings and fund raising events. Because of the growing opposition, UDJ was forced to bypass its own support committees in Germany and Switzerland and ask unknown individuals to organize meetings. In Holland, fearing no body would show up, the organizers have abandoned the plan to organize a meeting. In Frankfurt, where most Ethiopians in Germany live, there will be no meeting. Instead, a meeting is organized by unknown individuals in a small town called Nürnberg. In Switzerland, a public meeting is being organized by an individual who is known to have close links with Woyanne. The legally established Kinijit support committee in Switzerland is being bypassed for raising concerns about UDJ’s position.
That is what those who betray public trust deserve. Rejection.
UDJ is not without supporters in the diaspora. It is able to rally a few lumpens (mostly in Internet Paltalk) who don’t know, or are too dumb to understand, what they are supporting. That is why they lash out against ER and others who criticize UDJ. Join the discussion on this topic. Click here to comment.
