DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania wants the International Criminal Court (ICC) to suspend moves to arrest Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for genocide in Darfur, its foreign affairs minister said on Monday.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Monday charged Bashir with masterminding a campaign of genocide in Darfur, killing 35,000 people and using rape as a weapon of war. He asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir.
“We would like ICC to suspend its decision to seek al-Bashir’s arrest for a moment until we sort out the primary problems in Darfur and southern Sudan,” Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Membe told Reuters, speaking on behalf of Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete who chairs the African Union.
“We are asking ICC to re-examine its decision.”
Membe added that it was “not the right time” to seek Bashir’s arrest.
“If you arrest al-Bashir, you will create a leadership vacuum in Sudan. The outcome could be equal to that of Iraq. There would be an increase in anarchy, there would be an increase in civil war. Fighting between Chad and Sudan would increase,” he told Reuters.
A statement issued by the AU headquarters in Ethiopia said the pan-African body was holding consultations on the indictment and planned to send a top official to Khartoum.
“The commissioner for peace and security, Ambassador Ramtane Lamara, will be travelling tonight to the Sudan to meet with President Omar al-Bashir and other senior officials of the government of Sudan,” the statement said.
Reporting by Ezekiel Kamwaga; Additional reporting by Tsegaye Tadesse in Addis Ababa; Editing by Andrew Dobbie
(IAAF) – Addis Ababa, Ethiopia- The Ethiopian Olympic Committee (EOC) today announced its strong squad of 36 athletes for the Olympics Games in Beijing, China.
Bekele and Dibaba to double
The pick of the announcements is the selection of Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba to both the 5000m and 10000m squads. After weeks of speculation, distance running star Haile Gebrselassie’s place in the 10,000m has now been confirmed, while Gete Wami and Berhane Adere, veterans of previous Ethiopian Olympic teams, make a historic return after missing the 2004 edition.
A star-studded squad is hopeful of matching or surpassing the country’s best medal tally in the Olympic Games – eight medals (4 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze) – set in Sydney 2000.
Long Distance Men
The cream of the squad is perhaps concentrated in the men’s 10,000m where Kenenisa Bekele hopes to defend his 10,000m title in Beijing and will be accompanied by countrymen Sileshi Sihine and Haile Gebrselassie.
The ambition in naming the three stalwarts of Ethiopia’s major championship teams is to replicate a clean sweep of the podium places similar to the 2003 World championships in Paris.
Thanks to his unbeaten streak over the 10,000m that now runs more than ten races, Bekele is the overwhelming favourite in the 10,000m and baring no ill effects is scheduled to run in the 5000m where he hopes to improve on his silver medal from Athens four years ago.
Not for the first time in major championships, he will be challenged by Sileshi Sihine who now has a set of major championship silver medals (one in the Olympics and three in the world championships).
Gebrselassie injury doubt
Haile Gebrselassie hopes to complete a sensational return to the 10,000m in Beijing. The 35-year-old stunned many by running 26:50 in May over the 10,000m and claimed that he could have run faster under better weather conditions and better pace-making.
Gebrselassie had planned a 5000m in Milan this month to sharpen his speed ahead of Beijing, but pulled out due to an Achilles heel injury. Although he has resumed training, there is no official word yet if his latest injury scare could harm his chances in the Chinese capital.
In the men’s 5000m, the older Bekele will lead a strong team of young runners. Younger brother Tariku finally won senior gold this year when taking 3000m victory in the World Indoors. He will be joined by recently-minted World junior champion Abraham Cherkos and African bronze medallist Ali Abdosh.
Long distance Women
Double World 10,000m champion Tirunesh Dibaba is facing the same situation and equally-motivated challengers as she attempts an unprecedented double in Beijing following her 5000m bronze in Athens.
After a third World Cross country gold and a first African 10,000m title, Dibaba sliced four and half seconds off compatriot Meseret Defar’s World 5000m record in Oslo and is the favourite in both the 5000m and 10,000m in Beijing.
This year Defar has won a third successive World Indoor 3000m title but suffered her first 5000m defeat since September 2006 when going down to Meselech Melkamu at the African Championships.
But any meeting of the Duelling D’s is music to the ears of track fans. The pair will go head-to-head in the 5000m should Dibaba feel no after effects after the 10,000m.
In addition to Defar, Dibaba will have the improving Meselech Melkamu in the 5000m, while Belaynesh Fekadu is on stand-by should Dibaba fail to recover from the 10,000m.
Dibaba at 10,000m will be challenged by a reinvigorated Mestawet Tufa. The leader of the Ethiopian lists with 30:38.33 – no other Ethiopian has run sub 31:00 this year – Tufa is back to form after a spate of injuries in 2007 and along with Ejegayehou Dibaba, the reigning Olympics silver medallist, should give Tirunesh a tough race.
Marathon women
Ethiopia will pit two veterans and two newcomers here. 2000 Olympic Games 5000m bronze and 10,000m silver medallist Gete Wami returns over the marathon after missing the 2004 Games due to injury.
The 33-year-old has enjoyed an incredible marathon career since returning from maternity leave. She has run sub 2:25 on five occasions and won the inaugural world marathon majors as a reward for her consistency in major city marathons.
Fellow veteran Berhane Adere was controversially dropped from the 2004 team for disciplinary reasons. The 35-year-old has also enjoyed a successful, but inconsistent marathon career the heights being an Ethiopian record in the 2006 London Marathon and the lows a disappointing 2:42 on the same course last year. Despite taking part in the 1996 and 2000 Games, Adere, the 2003 World 10,000m champion has never medalled in the Olympics.
Recently-minted world one-hour record holder Dire Tune and Bezunesh Bekele (second in the Dubai Marathon) will fight out the remaining spot in the marathon team.
Marathon Men
Following Gebrselassie’s decision to skip the Beijing marathon and concentrate on the 10,000m, Ethiopia will look to two young runners who could be the surprise package of the summer in Beijing.
Both Tsegaye Kebede (2:06.40 winner of the 2008 Paris International Marathon) and Deriba Mergia (2:06.38 for 6th in the 2008 Flora London Marathon and 2:06.50 for 2nd in the Fukuoka Marathon) have never competed over the full marathon in Ethiopian colours. In fact, only Mergia (All-African Games half marathon gold medallist and fourth in the 2007 world half marathon championships) has any kind of major championship experience.
They will be joined in Beijing by either Gudisa Shentema or Gashaw Melese who will be fighting for the last automatic qualification slot.
Middle Distance – Men and Women
For all their dominance in long distance events, Ethiopia has never won an Olympic medal in an event shorter than the 3000m Steeplechase. But if Gelete Burka has the chance of changing matters.
Burka won the All-African Games 1500m gold in Algiers, but then chose to contest the 5000m at the World championships and paid the price for it with a disappointing eighth place finish. But this year, the 23-year old has transformed herself into a major contender at 1500m. She ended her barren streak in global championship track events with bronze at the World Indoor championships in Valencia, Spain and then took her first African 1500m title on home soil.
Burka will be joined in Beijing by Meskerem Assefa, who was second to Burka in Addis Ababa in May. Having just dipped under the IAAF Olympic A standard for the 1500m, Assefa will be delighted about making the Ethiopian team in only her second international competition year.
The Ethiopian men’s 1500m is an interesting mix of the old and new. Three of the four athletes making the final selections are set to make their debuts in Beijing. Among them, World Indoor champion Derese Mekonnen will feel he can run well against world class opposition.
After his breakthrough in 2007, Mekonnen surprised many by beating Daniel Kipchirchir Komen on the way to World Indoor gold in Valencia. In the outdoor season, he has lowered his PB by a massive four seconds to 3:32.99.
Seasoned campaigner Mulugeta Wondimu, ninth in Athens 2004, makes a dramatic return to the Olympics following three inconsistent seasons where he competed over a range of events from the 1500m to the marathon.
And selectors will wait until the last moment to select between Osaka semi-finalist Mekonnen Gebremedhin and World junior bronze medallist Demma Daba.
Elshadai Negash for the IAAF
Ethiopia’s squad for Beijing 2008
MEN
1500m: Derese Mekonnen, Mulugeta Wondimu, Mekonnen Gebremedhin, Demma Daba
3000m Steeplechase: Nahom Mesfin, Roba Gari, Yacob Jarso
5000m: Kenenisa Bekele, Tariku Bekele, Abraham Cherkos, Ali Abdosh
10,000m: Kenenisa Bekele, Sileshi Sihine, Haile Gebrselassie, Ibrahim Jeylan
Marathon: Tsegaye Kebede, Deriba Mergia, Gudisa Shentema, Gashaw Melese
(Bloomberg) — Nurita Kadir huddles with dozens of women and babies in a fly-infested white tent in the southern Ethiopian town of Senbete and waits for a meal for her starving five-month old child.
Kadir, clad in a black headscarf, is among as many as 4.6 million people the World Health Organization estimates have been left hungry after spring rains failed. The drought is draining grain stores in villages across a third of the country. She’s depending on foreign aid as criticism mounts that the government isn’t doing enough to tackle the crisis.
“The rains didn’t come,” Kadir, 36, said in a June 11 interview, as her child lay on a brown blanket beside her. “I had nothing to eat so the milk stopped.”
While people like Kadir are getting help, the number in need of food is growing, the Geneva-based WHO says. Aid has been hindered by the government’s attempts to downplay the crisis as a famine in the mid-1980s, the worst on record, still sullies the country’s image today, according to Gus Selassie, an Africa analyst at London-based political risk consultancy, Global Insight.
The famine two decades ago caused a million deaths, sparking a global charity effort led by Bob Geldof’s “Do They Know it’s Christmas,” hit song and the Live Aid concerts.
“The issue has been a source of friction between the government and the aid community,” Selassie said. “They feel the issue has been detracting from their economic success. They are trying to downplay it.”
Estimates Dismissed
Estimates in May by the United Nations Children’s Fund, or Unicef, that 6 million children need food aid have been dismissed by Ethiopia’s health ministry. With 78 million people, Ethiopia is the second-most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria.
The government has guaranteed electricity to export businesses such as flower farms. At the same time, power outages at factories that produce children’s porridge have reduced their output in recent months by as much as 50 percent, according to the United Nations’ World Food Programme’s Country Director, Mohammed Diab.
“We can’t forget about other activities” such as flower farms, Simon Mechale, the director of Ethiopia’s Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. “I don’t think we should compare this to 1984-1985.”
The IMF in April forecast economic growth of 8.4 percent this year. Even so, surging food prices pushed the annual inflation rate to 39.1 percent in May, the latest data available, according to the national statistics agency.
Fighting Rebels
From January to June the WFP said it distributed more than 45,000 metric tons of food to 2.6 million people. Still, in Ethiopia’s Somali region, where the military is fighting against ethnic Somali rebels, less than a third of the 9,600 tons of food allocated by the UN for relief has actually been distributed, the organization says.
No official statistics on the number of deaths caused by the famine have been released by the government.
“We don’t have the right figure now on deaths,” Tewordos Adhanom, the country’s health minister, said at a June 3 press conference in Addis Ababa. “We don’t need to beat the drum of hunger for Ethiopia every year. Ok, there is a drought in some parts, but we shouldn’t exaggerate.”
The government in May announced plans to buy 150,000 tons of wheat from South Africa. No wheat has left South Africa for the east African country since then, according to the Web Site of the South African Grain Information Service. The Addis Fortune newspaper today reported that the government will also buy 30,000 tons of corn from South Africa.
Food Shortages
“Currently 4.6 million people are affected by food and water shortages,” the WHO said in a July 11 statement. “Food insecurity is increasing.”
Government grain stocks are now below 100,000 tons, less than a quarter of their normal level, the WFP’s Diab said. About 391,000 tons of grain is needed by November, he added.
“It’s desperate,” Bjorn Ljungqvist, country director for Unicef, said in an interview in Addis Ababa. At risk are “50,000 to 100,000 kids over the next four months. If these kids don’t get support, between 25 percent and 50 percent will die.”
This year’s drought in February and March, which cut some harvests by 95 percent, came after a poor harvest in the country’s autumn season. Farmers in the area often feed families of eight from half hectare (1.24 acre) plots and reap two harvests a year, according to Kadir.
Rains Have Fallen
While rains have now fallen across fields that were planted in late May the next crop won’t be ready for at least three months, aid workers including Ljungvist say.
“We have lost all hope,” Larago Barisa, a farmer in the village of Lencho, south of Senbete, said. “In the surrounding areas you see green plants you wouldn’t think there is hunger, but when you step into the houses you will find nothing.”
The government is sensitive to criticism because the 1980s famine occurred under the rule of the Derg, the military regime that ruled between 1974 and 1987.
A comparison with the 1980s famine is to say the current government is “not better than the Derg,” Ljungqvist said. “That’s why this is so sensitive. As long as they agree there are a significant number of lives at risk I am not going to argue that they are wrong and we are right.”
Kadir has little interest in the squabbling. Her family sold four of their eight cows to raise money for food while the others died.
In the past two days, shortages of gas and diesel in Addis Ababa has forced several service stations to shut down. Truck drivers are now waiting several hours in line to fill up diesel in those few stations that are still open.
The shortage occurred due to the disturbance at the Ethiopian border with Sudan last week. The local population and rebel forces, in coordination with some army units, have started to block roads and attack Sudanese army that is occupying lands that was given to Sudan by the Meles regime.
Rebel forces in the boarder area also cut fiber optics lines that come through Sudan. This has caused interruption of Internet connections to many government offices, embassies, NGOs and the prime minister’s offices.
The fiber optics lines are used for broadband (high speed) Internet service that the state-owned Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) provides for 3,000 birr per month.
Woyanne Transportation and Telecommunications minister Junedin Sado sent technicians to the boarder area by military planes to fix the fiber optics lines.
Only embassies, government departments, some international NGOs and few very rich people are currently using the 3,000-birr-per-month broadband service. Internet service through telephone dial-up has not been affected.
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia Woyanne’s foreign ministry said Sunday it maintained healthy ties with Sudan after accusations that its troops had crossed their common frontier, killing 19 people.
“Ethiopia Woyanne and Sudan have an excellent and strategic relationship,” said the Ethiopian foreign ministry in a statement. Their ties were “healthy, strong and steadily expanding,” the statement added.
“This does not mean, as in all border areas, that incidents may not occur. It does mean that when they do arise, as happened on Monday, they can be handled promptly and at the highest level, with both sides making every effort to ensure they should be contained and dealt with quickly.
“That is why a Sudanese presidential envoy has arrived in Addis Ababa,” it added.
Addis Ababa has denied claims made on Tuesday by Sudan’s army spokesman that Ethiopian forces had attacked a police base 17 kilometres (11 miles) inside Sudanese territory, killing 19 people, including a police officer.
The army spokesman gave no reason for the attack in the Jabal Hantub area of Gedaref state, which lies on the northern part of the long international border.
EDITOR’S NOTE: There is no doubt that the Meles regime itself is behind the bombings.
ADDIS ABABA (Xinhua) — Suspects of terrorist bombings have been seized over the past months at a few places in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, said the Federal Police (Meles Zenawi’s private death squad) on Saturday.
Police said in a statement that they put under control some of the suspects while activities to track down on the others continued.
A mini-bus exploded on May 20 in central Addis Ababa, in which six passengers were killed and five injured, police said.
Police said they have managed now to identify the remaining suspects. Meanwhile, they said suspects of bombing at two filling stations in the capital city on May 14 have been seized.
One of the seized ones who goes by the name of Yisak Gute is the most notorious terrorist who coordinated terrorists acts, solicited money, faked documents, among other things, said the police statement.
Yadessa Serbessa Bonsa, who had received training outside Ethiopia, coordinated both bombings, police said.
