ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (APA) – Some 7,000 Ethiopian pilgrims will travel to Saudi Arabia for the 2008 Haji, Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Council said on Monday.
The council said that it has begun proving services for the largest number ever of pilgrims by introducing better working procedures to avoid congestion. Last year, around 5,000 pilgrims traveled to Saudi Arabia.
The council has established committees in Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia.
The council said the selection of the pilgrims would be carried out through all Islamic Affairs Offices. Pilgrims would get passport services from the Ethiopian Immigration and Civic Affairs offices in Mekelle, Bahirdar, Dessie, and Diredawa as well as in Addis Ababa.
Currently, the council is giving its services to 700 pilgrims per day.
The council has also opened 11 offices in Saudi Arabia to provide services to the pilgrims.
The deadline for the registration for the pilgrimage is November 15, 2008. The first batch of the pilgrims will leave Ethiopia on the 18 November.
About 40 percent of Ethiopia’s estimated population of 80 million is Muslim. Ethiopia is also home for Al-Negashi, the first mosque in Africa.
This is the second part of the article that explains why The Reporter editor Amare Aregawi was attacked in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last week.
The article gives detailed background information and analysis, as well as possible motives. The person with the strongest motive to attack Ato Amare, it seems, is Sheik Ato Mohammed Al Amoudi, a billionaire businessmen who is a self-proclaimed member of the ruling Tigrean People Liberation Front (Woyanne).
EDITOR’S NOTE: Companies owned by Woyanne (the ruling party in Ethiopia) want to export meet — bought below market prices from poor farmers — to Egypt while over 6 million people in the country have nothing to eat.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – The Ethiopian Woyanne Foreign Ministry is into hard lobbying in Egypt to revive its lucrative exports of meat and live cattle, which were halted in early 2006.
According to the Ethiopian Woyanne Embassy in Egypt, Ethiopia the Woyanne regime is currently “exerting efforts to improve the trade relations between the two countries.” Ambassador Ibrahim Idris in particular is pushing Cairo authorities to lift a ban on meat and livestock imports from Ethiopia.
Ambassador Idris is arguing that trade relations needed to be “fair” and points to the “significant volume of commodities” being imported from Egypt to Ethiopia, while Egyptian imports from Ethiopia currently are minimal. “The embassy is working hard to address the negative balanced trade relations between the two nations,” the Ambassador said.
He then made special reference to the meat and cattle trade, saying that “the embassy is making efforts to facilitate the recommencement of livestock and meat products export to Egypt.” Ethiopia’s livestock and meat exports to Egypt were ceased in early 2006 “due to various reasons,” the ambassador said. In fact, the highly infectious foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) was found in Ethiopian cattle already on the Egyptian market in January 2006, causing Cairo authorities to immediately stop all imports. Ethiopia Woyanne now claims to have the animal disease outbreak under control.
The ban came only a few years after Ethiopia’s large meat and cattle export companies had gained entry to the Egyptian market, in fierce competition with cattle from Sudan. Ethiopian meat and live cattle was already sold at large scale in several Middle East countries, and was marketed as both cheap and healthy on the Egyptian market.
The cattle industry is one of the Ethiopian economy’s quickest growing export industries and turning into one of the country’s leading foreign currency earners. The industry had particular high expectations in the large Egyptian meat market, where consumers and authorities cried out for more and cheaper meat.
The ban therefore came as a great setback for Ethiopian exporters. Shortly before the ban, arrangements had been made for the development of a meat package industry in Ethiopia to ease exports to Egypt. After the ban, Addis Ababa authorities have focused on programmes to improve animal health, hygiene standards and meat quality to avoid further interruptions in the lucrative trade. Now, they hold, they are ready to return to the Egyptian market.
NEW YORK – An Ethiopian Federal High Court judge convicted an editor today on criminal charges of “inciting the public through false rumors” over a reporting mistake, local journalists told CPJ. Editor-in-Chief Tsion Girima of the private weekly Enbilta is being held in Kality prison, outside the capital, Addis Ababa, pending sentencing on Tuesday.
Charged under article 486 of the revised penal code; Girma faces up to one year in prison, according to her former lawyer, Kassahun Asefa, who had worked for her pro bono. The October 3 edition of Enbilta mistakenly identified the judge overseeing the high-profile trial of Ethiopian pop musician Tewodros Kassahun as Judge Mohamed Amin instead of Judge Mohamed Umer, Girma told CPJ last week. Enbilta did not write a correction but used the right name in the following edition, she said.
Enbilta is one of a few politically critical independent publications that still exist in Ethiopia after a government crackdown on the independent press in the aftermath of the 2005 elections.
“It is outrageous that a journalist can be convicted over a reporting error,” said CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes. “This conviction cannot stand. Tsion Girma should not be sent to prison.”
Girma, Deputy Editor Habte Tadesse, and editor Atenafu Alemayehu were arrested on October 22, the morning after reporting to police for questioning, according to local journalists. Girma was released the next day on bail of 2,000 birr (US$200) and Tadesse and Alemayehu were released on October 24 without any charges, Girma said.
Girma is the second journalist to face criminal charges this year over coverage of Kassahun’s trial. Editor Mesfin Negash of the leading weekly Addis Neger was sentenced to a one-month suspended prison term for publishing an interview with the singer’s lawyer that was critical of the former judge overseeing the trial.
Ethiopian authorities routinely use police detentions, threats, and legal and administrative restraints to censor reporting. CPJ named Ethiopia the world’s worst backslider on press freedom in 2007.
Ethiopian Airlines was presented with the prestigious 2008 “Best Airline in Africa Award” at the African Travel Award gala in Lagos, Nigeria on October 25, 2008. The award was conferred to Ethiopian for its excellent network and convenient connections in Africa.
“Ethiopian provides the traveling public with the best service possible, and the quality of its service has contributed to the growth of travel and tourism in Africa,” said Mrs. Ikechi Uko, who organized the 4th Akwaaba travel market. The award was presented to Mr. Busera Awel, Vice President-Commercial for Ethiopian Airlines, at the award dinner held at Expo Centre Eko Hotel in Lagos. Upon receiving the award, Mr. Busera said, “The award marks a joyous moment for all of us at Ethiopian which more than ever before reaffirms that our customers are standing with us and share our endeavor for excellence.”
Akwaaba Travel Market is the only international travel exhibition in West Africa recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). It is organized annually by African Travel Quarter (ATQ) magazine, the first international travel magazine in West Africa.
In addition to the latest award, Ethiopian won the 2008 corporate achievement award in Johannesburg in August 2008, and Brussels Airport Award for long haul services on October 23, 2008.
Ethiopian Airlines will commence new flight services to Ouagadougou effective October 26, 2008. With six weekly flights, Ethiopian will link Ouagadougou to all the major capitals of Asia, as well as the cities throughout Africa. Ouagadougou is the capital and the largest city in Burkina Faso and is known as the center for the yearly African Film Festival events. Effective November 12, 2008, Ethiopian Airlines will introduce nonstop service from Addis Ababa to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. This flight will be Abuja’s first direct link to East Africa.
“Our new service to Abuja is part of our strategy of expanding to more destinations in Africa, particularly West Africa,” said Mr. Busera. “We have a dedicated client base in Nigeria, and by offering new service we are giving our passengers additional options complementing our Lagos service with three weekly flights to Abuja.”
Ethiopian Airlines established itself as the leading African carrier in the 1960s and over the years has grown to serve most cities in Africa. In July 2008, Ethiopian Airlines celebrated its 10-year anniversary of direct U.S.-to-Ethiopia service. In March 2008, Ethiopian Airlines launched Ethiopian Airlines Journeys, a new collection of vacation packages showcasing the best of East Africa. Ethiopian Airlines Journeys brings together the most awe-inspiring experiences of East Africa, packaged in tours that have been designed especially for the U.S. travel consumer.
Reporters Without Borders condemns a violent attack on leading journalist Amare Aregawi on 31 October in Addis Ababa, in which he sustained serious head injuries. Aregawi edits The Reporter, a big-circulation newspaper published in Amharic and English-language versions.
“The Ethiopian police must investigate this attack thoroughly in order to identify both the perpetrators and the instigators,” Reporters Without Borders said. “A show of firmness will convince others who might be tempted to use physical violence to settle scores with the press that such behaviour would not go unpunished.”
Aregawi was dealt blows to the back of the head with a stone by one or several men as he was leaving his son’s school in the capital’s Bole district at about 4 p.m. on 31 October. He lost consciousness immediately and, bleeding heavily from his injuries, was rushed to Hayat hospital in a serious condition.
Journalists at The Reporter said one of his assailants was arrested, as was the driver of a taxi they were going to use to get away. The police are investigating.
The newspaper’s staff said the motive for the attack was not yet known. Aregawi had received threatening phone calls. He was arrested on 22 August after a large privately-owned brewery brought a libel complaint against the newspaper and was released five days later on payment of a small bail amount. The libel suit was withdrawn soon afterwards.
The Reporter is owned by Media & Communication Centre, a company created and run by Aregawi, who used to head Ethiopia’s public television broadcaster. He is one of the country’s best-known journalists.
