ENTC requests diplomatic relations with Australian government
The Ethiopian National Transitional Council (ENTC) has sent a communique to Mr. Bob Carr, Foreign Affairs Minister of Australia, requesting a diplomatic recognition. The letter was submitted to Mr. Carr by ENTC’s diplomatic representative in Australia, Ms. Minisha Girma.
The letter Ms. Minisha Girma submitted explains ENTC’s mission, and discusses the worsening political, economic and security crises in Ethiopia, as well as the need for the Australian government to help with a peaceful transition to democracy.
The Australian Government is among the first countries that the Transitional Council has asked for diplomatic recognition since it was founded at a 3-day conference in Dallas, Texas, that was convened from July 1 – 3, 2012, with the participation of representatives from over 30 cities and countries.
The Transitional Council plans to submit similar requests to several countries through its diplomatic representatives in the coming few weeks.
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For more info:
ENTC Foreign Relations
85 S. Bragg St. Alexandria VA, 22312 USA
Tel: 202-735-4262
Email: [email protected]
Website: etntc.org
(CPJ) — Ethiopian authorities blocked the publication of a prominent independent newspaper over the weekend in connection with its stories on the health of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, according to local journalists.
The state-run printing company Barhanena Selam told the weekly Feteh on early Sunday morning that the government had ordered that week’s edition of the paper, about 30,000 copies, to be blocked on grounds of inciting national insecurity and endangering the government and the public, local journalists said. The paper had prepared pieces citing reports from the BBC and the exiled opposition group, Ethiopian National Transitional Council, local journalists said. A government spokesman did not return CPJ calls seeking comment.
News accounts have reported that Meles has been hospitalized in Brussels with an undisclosed condition.
“The ban on Feteh’s latest issue illustrates the depth of repression in Ethiopia today, and authorities’ determination to suppress independent coverage of the prime minister,” CPJ East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes said. “Every citizen has a right to be informed about the well-being of their leader and the conduct of their government. Authorities should reverse their decision and allow the publication of Feteh’s weekend edition to proceed.” … [read more]
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By now most of you have most probably heard of the peaceful questions that we Ethiopian Muslims are raising. In simple terms we are asking for independent religious representatives (known us Mejlis) to be elect by us in the mosques . The seventeen committee members elected as representatives in this quest have tried to persuade the government to solve this easy problem. In the process, we have strongly supported them by signing petitions from cities and villages from all over Ethiopia and abroad.
The committee and the protestors have made it clear that our questions are religious and religious only. We never asked anything that can threaten or even can be in the disadvantage of the Ethiopian non-Muslims. In fact, our wise committee members and the protestors at large have made sure that even in the very outrageous situation, we keep peaceful methods as our only means of struggle. Like any other citizens, we are citizens, hence no other group, including the government itself has a basis to claim that they are better concerned about our country’s peace and stability.
Despite this, the protestors had to endure deliberate false accusations from the unelected Mejlis and the government. They call the protestors “a few terrorist individuals who want to overthrow the constitution by force”. The imaginary “terrorist” word does not need explanation, we have recently witnessed journalists being called “terrorists”. As you might have seen the videos of last Friday, the more than a million protestors cannot be considered “a few”. And at this moment who is unconstitutional: the people who are going to the mosque and showing their disapproval of the Mejlis in a peaceful manner or the people in power who authorize brutal means including using teargas and lethal weapons against innocent citizens in the mosque? How do you feel if your young child, helpless old mother or father was a victim of such an attack?
No political party taught us Ethiopian Muslims and Christians how to be tolerant amongst one another. Our parents and grand parents did not have ETV and Federal police as a peace-keeping force. What they had was the beautiful culture that we inherited, exercise today and proudly talk about.
The divide and rule method is an old strategy that colonial powers applied against the citizens of their colonies. Sadly, we see this method being applied by people who claim to protect the constitution against their people. There is no need to explain the damage of the divide and rule strategy if we were not the people we are. But they seem relentless and they keep on trying.
No one is immune from being part of history, it is only a matter of how good or bad. The question is: are we going to persist in our unity, or fall for the lies of politicians and disintegrate. We have the opportunity to make a shiny history, to join hands and root out dictatorship once and for all.
Dear Christian Ethiopians,
I would like to call upon you to independently seek for information on the matter. It is my strong belief that you will easily understand our peaceful question and can contribute to change it from an Ethiopian Muslims only question to an Ethiopian question. After all, we are part of the motherland who share its joy and pain.
At this historic moment, please let us discuss the manners and the means to express support. An example is to create awareness to strengthen unity, influence relatives who are part of security forces not to cooperate in illegal and brutal suppression, spread the word so that the outside world hears it.
The Woyanne junta security forces on Saturday savagely attacked unarmed peaceful Ethiopian Muslims who were protesting the regime’s intervention in their religion. Watch the video below:
(Reuters) – Ethiopian Woyanne junta police clashed on Saturday with scores of Muslims protesters complaining that the state is interfering in their religion, witnesses and officials said.
The protesters, some wearing masks, blocked the entrance of the Anwar Mosque in the west of the capital Addis Ababa and hurled stones at riot police who had surrounded the compound after noon prayers.
“Police broke inside the mosque and arrested many people, including several members of the (protest organising) committee. They also fired teargas at protesters outside,” said an activist who declined to be named for fear of reprisals.
Another witness said he had seen empty tear gas canisters strewn on the ground. It was not immediately possible to verify these reports.
Thousands of Muslims have staged sporadic street protests in the capital since late last year, arguing that the government is promoting an alien branch of Islam, the Al Ahbash sect, which is avowedly apolitical and has numerous adherents in the United States.
The government denies promoting Al Ahbash, but is determined to prevent Islamic militancy spilling over from neighbouring Sudan or lawless Somalia.
Around 60 percent of Ethiopians are Christian and 30 percent Muslim, mostly of the moderate, pragmatic Sufi tradition.
Diplomats and analysts say there could be potential for any militant groups to exploit sectarian divisions and trigger violence.
The government accuses “extremist elements” of sparking violence at the protests.
Government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said police had arrested ‘several’ people on Saturday but denied that police had used teargas.
“These were masked assailants from extremist groups that prevented mosque attendants from leaving the compound after the completion of noon prayers,” he said.
“They tried to incite violence, they threw stones and damaged property.”
Activists have reported several deaths during previous clashes, but no casualties were reported on Saturday.
Al Ahbash, also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, was founded in the early 1980s by Sheikh Abdullah al Harrari, an Ethiopian cleric who was forced to leave his country for Lebanon in 1950.
The protesters say the government is promoting the ideas of the group through Ethiopia’s highest Muslim body, the Supreme Council on Islamic Affairs, and preventing overdue elections that could bring alternative views onto the Council.
Shimeles denied that the government was trying to influence Muslim affairs. “Our constitution bans any government interference in religion,” he said.
The protesters, some wearing masks, blocked the entrance of the Anwar Mosque in the west of the capital Addis Ababa and hurled stones at riot police who had surrounded the compound after noon prayers.