Ethiopia and Eritrea: Statelessness and state succession
By Katherine Southwick | May 25, 2009
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There is a need to strengthen international law on nationality rights and avoidance of statelessness in the context of state succession and international conflict.
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The experiences of people of Eritrean origin in Ethiopia and of those deported to Eritrea during the 1998-2000 border conflict illustrate the need for an initiative that would help prevent arbitrary loss of nationality and the resulting risks to other human rights in the Horn of Africa or elsewhere. Border changes may then occur – reflecting evolving group identities – without necessarily being precursors to statelessness.
While relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea are tense today, the two countries’ heads of government used to be great allies. Both led rebel movements which joined forces to overthrow the brutal dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam. After Mengistu was deposed in 1991, the two leaders established separate provisional governments in Addis Ababa and Asmara.
In 1993, after 30 years of struggle, Eritrea peacefully seceded from Ethiopia following a referendum. But the citizenship status of persons of Eritrean origin, particularly of those living in Ethiopia, was unclear. Almost 16 years later, nationality rights of individuals in both countries remain fragile.
Voting in the referendum was open to “any person having Eritrean citizenship.” The Eritrean nationality law provides that anyone who qualifies for citizenship by birth or through naturalisation and who wishes to be recognised as an Eritrean citizen must apply for a certificate of nationality. Numerous people of Eritrean origin – living in Eritrea, Ethiopia or elsewhere in the world – accordingly obtained Eritrean ID cards and nearly all voters chose independence.
Ethiopian law does not permit dual citizenship but at the time of the referendum and Eritrean independence, with the nationality laws of both countries still unresolved, the two countries’ ministries of internal affairs declared that “until the issue of citizenship is settled in both countries, the traditional right of citizens of one side to live in the other’s territory shall be respected.”
The Ethiopian government also continued to issue passports and other identification documents to those who had voted in the referendum. Eritrean officials later contended that people holding Eritrean IDs at the time of the referendum were not Eritrean citizens because the Eritrean state was ‘provisional’ and had not yet come into existence.
The Ethiopian Constitution of 1995 also provides that “[n]o Ethiopian national shall be deprived of his or her Ethiopian nationality against his or her will.” In 1996, both governments agreed that “Eritreans who have so far been enjoying Ethiopian citizenship should be made to choose and abide by their choice.”
Implementation was nonetheless postponed pending resolution of trade and investment issues. Perhaps because both countries initially felt much mutual goodwill, difficult subjects such as citizenship and border demarcations were left unresolved. Finally in 2004, the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (EECC), which was established to decide, through binding arbitration, claims brought by the two governments and their nationals, determined that those who had qualified to participate in the referendum had acquired dual nationality because both states continued to treat them as nationals.
Denationalisation and deportations
Despite the amicable start, simmering tensions over port access, currency exchange and border disputes erupted into armed conflict in May 1998. By the end of the fighting in December 2000, both sides had lost tens of thousands of soldiers and around one million people were displaced.
In 1998, an estimated 120,000 to over 500,000 persons of Eritrean origin were living in Ethiopia. During the course of the war the Ethiopian government sought to justify denationalising and deporting them on the basis that they had acquired Eritrean citizenship by voting in the referendum.
Individuals had not been informed that participation in the referendum would amount to renunciation of their Ethiopian citizenship. Around 70,000 people were expelled, initially individuals deemed to be security threats (including those prominent in business, politics, international organisations – including the UN – and community organisations with links to Eritrea).
In July 1999, the Ethiopian government declared that all those who had been expelled to Eritrea were Eritrean citizens, having acquired citizenship by voting in the 1993 referendum. In August 1999, all those who had voted in the referendum and remained in Ethiopia were ordered to register for alien residence permits, which had to be renewed every six months.
Those who were to be expelled were interrogated at police stations, where their identification documents were destroyed. Their assets were frozen and business licences revoked, and most of them were unable to dispose of their property before being deported. They were detained for days, weeks or months before they were bussed up to the Eritrean border or forced to flee through Djibouti.
The EECC determined that loss of nationality and expulsion of individuals identified through Ethiopia’s security review procedures were lawful “even if harsh for the individuals affected.” However, deprivation of nationality and expulsion for any other reasons were deemed illegal.
Eritrea also deported around 70,000 Ethiopians during the conflict, although the nationality status of persons of Ethiopian origin in Eritrea was never in dispute. Most of them were resident aliens working in urban areas. They too suffered discrimination, violence and harsh conditions during deportation.[1]
Eight years after the war’s end, relations still remain very tense. The Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission’s 2002 decision awarding disputed territory to Eritrea has not been enforced and the UN peacekeeping mission departed from the region months ago.
Both governments appear to be fighting by proxy in Somalia, and their leaders’ entrenched personal animosity afflicts thousands of lives in the region. Eritrean society remains highly militarised and both sides have troops stationed along the border. In this insecure environment, nationality rights – among others – remain vulnerable.
Today, the International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that 10,000 to 15,000 Ethiopian nationals still reside in Eritrea, most of whom have not been given permanent status or citizenship in Eritrea.[2]
On the fate of people of Eritrean origin in Ethiopia, reports are mixed. Between 2000 and 2004, individuals of Eritrean origin or from mixed families were allegedly arrested, detained and sometimes beaten or raped by Ethiopian authorities on suspicion of collaborating with or spying for Eritrea.[3] To its credit, the Ethiopian government quietly introduced a new nationality proclamation in 2003, which apparently enabled many Eritreans living in Ethiopia to re-acquire Ethiopian citizenship.
With a national ID card, persons of Eritrean origin are presumably no longer restricted from work, travel, education and other social services. However, many individuals still conceal their Eritrean background for fear of discrimination and harassment.
Families of mixed heritage continue to suffer from prolonged separation as the war ended all travel and communication between the two countries. In 2008 on a research trip for Refugees International, a colleague and I met one woman in Addis Ababa who recently visited her father in a third country, having not seen him in the ten years since his deportation. An elderly Ethiopian widow cannot visit the grave of her husband in Asmara.
We also met Ethiopians who had lost touch with Eritrean friends and loved ones after the deportations. A 2006 study of Ethiopian-Eritrean refugee families in Cairo found that “people who are of mixed parentage have often found it impossible to gain recognition of either nationality on account of their parentage or administrative obstacles,” concluding that such persons “are at least de facto if not de jure stateless.”[4]
Nationality rights
Beyond general efforts to strengthen the rule of law, fortifying the right to nationality and avoidance of statelessness within the context of state succession are essential. Violations of the right to nationality were (and continue to be) at the root of other human rights issues in the Horn of Africa. Other parts of Africa and the world are vulnerable to similar problems.
Lack of clarity on nationality status following Eritrea’s creation, along with weak norms against statelessness, enabled Ethiopia to deprive thousands of persons of Eritrean origin and mixed families of numerous human rights. Weak norms have also apparently emboldened Eritrea to obstruct citizenship for Eritrean-Ethiopian families and certain deportees now living in Eritrea are denied access to employment and social services and are vulnerable to governmental and social harassment and abuse.
Constructing a framework
Although neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea is party to the two Statelessness Conventions, key principles on statelessness and state succession can be drawn from several sources and recently statelessness in the context of state succession has gained further prominence. The breakup of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and the split of Czechoslovakia have highlighted the need for a clear framework. Certain international instruments provide guidance on how to handle nationality issues in state succession.
In 2001, the UN General Assembly adopted the International Law Commission’s (ILC) Articles on the Nationality of Natural Persons in relation to the Succession of States. The Preamble “recognize[es] that in matters concerning nationality, due account should be taken both of the legitimate interests of States and those of individuals.” States concerned are to “take all appropriate measures to prevent persons who, on the date of succession of States, had the nationality of the predecessor State from becoming stateless … .”
States should enact nationality legislation and “should take all appropriate measures to ensure that persons concerned will be apprised … of the effect of its legislation on their nationality, of any choices they may have thereunder, as well as of the consequences that the exercise of such choices will have on their status.” The Articles emphasise respect for the wishes of the persons concerned and for family unity.
They prohibit discrimination and arbitrariness in denying rights to retain, acquire or choose a nationality. When a state separates from another, a predecessor state cannot withdraw its nationality from persons who qualify to acquire the nationality of the successor state if such persons have habitually resided in or “have an appropriate legal connection with” the predecessor state.[5]
The 2006 Council of Europe Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in relation to State Succession is rooted in the notion that “the avoidance of statelessness is one of the main concerns of the international community in the field of nationality.” The Convention obliges the successor state to grant nationality to persons who would become stateless as a result of the succession if they habitually resided or had “an appropriate connection with the successor state.”
The predecessor state also “shall not withdraw its nationality from its nationals who have not acquired the nationality of a successor state and who would otherwise become stateless.” Like the ILC Articles, the European treaty underscores respect for the wishes of those affected and stresses that states must take all steps necessary to “ensure that persons concerned have sufficient information about rules and procedures [regarding] the acquisition of their nationality.”[6]
In the case of Ethiopia and Eritrea, the judgments of the EECC are binding regarding international law violations in connection with the border war. Significantly they do not derogate from the fundamental obligation to prevent statelessness and for all decision-making processes to be reasonable and to avoid arbitrariness. Even in cases where loss of nationality was considered reasonable under the circumstances, those individuals who lost Ethiopian nationality must still be assured Eritrean citizenship.
While the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights does not explicitly address avoidance of statelessness, it does prohibit mass expulsion of non-nationals on discriminatory grounds and identifies the state’s duty to protect and assist the family, as “the natural unit and basis of society.”[7]
Guided by these principles, we can imagine a different scenario for nationality rights in the course of Eritrea’s secession. Resolution of citizenship issues should have been a top priority when both countries established provisional governments in 1991. Before the referendum, both countries should have clarified and informed all who might qualify to vote about the consequences voter registration could have on their citizenship.
Once conflict broke out, Ethiopia should have confined loss of nationality and expulsion only to those individuals who had undergone a transparent security review process. People, and their families, should have received fair notice of their expulsion orders.
Spouses and children of people being deported should have had the option to stay in Ethiopia or accompany their loved one to Eritrea and, along with other persons of Eritrean origin, should not have lost Ethiopian citizenship without having acquired Eritrean citizenship. Eritrean nationality laws should have facilitated speedy acquisition of citizenship in such cases.
To strengthen nationality rights and avoidance of statelessness in state succession, concrete steps should be taken. Ethiopia and Eritrea should:
protect individuals and ethnically mixed families from statelessness, by internalising standards set forth in the UN Statelessness Conventions and by becoming party to them [8]
promote full integration of Ethiopians of Eritrean origin in their respective countries reunite families by reestablishing interstate travel and communications
devise plans to compensate victims of the 1998-2000 conflict, consistent with the EECC decisions.
The international community should:
collectively articulate clear standards for avoiding statelessness in state succession, such as by creating an Optional Protocol to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness using as a basis the ILC Articles and the Council of Europe Convention support UNHCR efforts to advise countries on developing nationality laws which incorporate nationality rights principles in state succession
promote overdue accession to UN Statelessness Conventions.
Notes:
[1]. See for example Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission, Partial Award: Civilian Claims, Ethiopia’s Claim 5 (Dec. 17, 2004), pp. 30-31, http://www.pca-cpa.org/upload/files/ET Partial Award Dec 04.pdf (stating liability for violations of international law against Ethiopians in Eritrea).
[2]. Human Rights Watch, The Horn of Africa War (2003), p47.
[3]. Louise Thomas, ‘The Son of a Snake is a Snake: Refugees and Asylum-Seekers from Mixed Eritrean-Ethiopian Families in Cairo’, FMRS Working Paper No 7 (2006), p31-32.
[4]. Thomas ibid, p22.
[5]. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,INTINSTRUMENT,,,4512b6dd4,0.html
[6]. http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/200.htm
[7]. http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/z1afchar.htm
[8]. These recommendations are drawn in part from Refugees International, ‘Ethiopia-Eritrea: Stalemate Takes Toll on Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean Origin’, 30 May 2008, available at http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/10668/
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
President BO National Security Speech
Barack Obama's national security remarks
Transcript of the president's May 21 speech as prepared for delivery
NBC News and msnbc.com
updated 11:47 a.m. ET, Thurs., May 21, 2009
WASHINGTON - These are extraordinary times for our country. We are confronting an historic economic crisis. We are fighting two wars. We face a range of challenges that will define the way that Americans will live in the 21st century. There is no shortage of work to be done, or responsibilities to bear.
And we have begun to make progress. Just this week, we have taken steps to protect American consumers and homeowners, and to reform our system of government contracting so that we better protect our people while spending our money more wisely. The engines of our economy are slowly beginning to turn, and we are working toward historic reform of health care and energy. I welcome the hard work that has been done by the Congress on these and other issues.
In the midst of all these challenges, however, my single most important responsibility as President is to keep the American people safe. That is the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It is the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.
This responsibility is only magnified in an era when an extremist ideology threatens our people, and technology gives a handful of terrorists the potential to do us great harm. We are less than eight years removed from the deadliest attack on American soil in our history. We know that al Qaeda is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time, and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it.
Already, we have taken several steps to achieve that goal. For the first time since 2002, we are providing the necessary resources and strategic direction to take the fight to the extremists who attacked us on 9/11 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are investing in the 21st century military and intelligence capabilities that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy.
We have re-energized a global non-proliferation regime to deny the world's most dangerous people access to the world's deadliest weapons, and launched an effort to secure all loose nuclear materials within four years. We are better protecting our border, and increasing our preparedness for any future attack or natural disaster. We are building new partnerships around the world to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates. And we have renewed American diplomacy so that we once again have the strength and standing to truly lead the world.
These steps are all critical to keeping America secure. But I believe with every fiber of my being that in the long run we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values. The documents that we hold in this very hall - the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights -are not simply words written into aging parchment. They are the foundation of liberty and justice in this country, and a light that shines for all who seek freedom, fairness, equality and dignity in the world.
I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to our shores in search of the promise that they offered. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn of their truth when I lived as a child in a foreign land. My own American journey was paved by generations of citizens who gave meaning to those simple words - "to form a more perfect union." I have studied the Constitution as a student; I have taught it as a teacher; I have been bound by it as a lawyer and legislator. I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never - ever - turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake.
I make this claim not simply as a matter of idealism. We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe. Time and again, our values have been our best national security asset - in war and peace; in times of ease and in eras of upheaval.
Fidelity to our values is the reason why the United States of America grew from a small string of colonies under the writ of an empire to the strongest nation in the world.
It is the reason why enemy soldiers have surrendered to us in battle, knowing they'd receive better treatment from America's armed forces than from their own government.
It is the reason why America has benefited from strong alliances that amplified our power, and drawn a sharp and moral contrast with our adversaries.
It is the reason why we've been able to overpower the iron fist of fascism, outlast the iron curtain of communism, and enlist free nations and free people everywhere in common cause and common effort.
From Europe to the Pacific, we have been a nation that has shut down torture chambers and replaced tyranny with the rule of law. That is who we are. And where terrorists offer only the injustice of disorder and destruction, America must demonstrate that our values and institutions are more resilient than a hateful ideology.
After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era - that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law; that our government would need new tools to protect the American people, and that these tools would have to allow us to prevent attacks instead of simply prosecuting those who try to carry them out.
Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. And I believe that those decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that - too often - our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford. And in this season of fear, too many of us - Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens - fell silent.
In other words, we went off course. And this is not my assessment alone. It was an assessment that was shared by the American people, who nominated candidates for President from both major parties who, despite our many differences, called for a new approach - one that rejected torture, and recognized the imperative of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Now let me be clear: we are indeed at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates. We do need to update our institutions to deal with this threat. But we must do so with an abiding confidence in the rule of law and due process; in checks and balances and accountability. For reasons that I will explain, the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable - a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions; that failed to use our values as a compass. And that is why I took several steps upon taking office to better protect the American people.
First, I banned the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques by the United States of America.
I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. As Commander-in-Chief, I see the intelligence, I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation. What's more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America. They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle, and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured. In short, they did not advance our war and counter-terrorism efforts - they undermined them, and that is why I ended them once and for all.
The arguments against these techniques did not originate from my Administration. As Senator McCain once said, torture "serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us." And even under President Bush, there was recognition among members of his Administration - including a Secretary of State, other senior officials, and many in the military and intelligence community - that those who argued for these tactics were on the wrong side of the debate, and the wrong side of history. We must leave these methods where they belong - in the past. They are not who we are. They are not America.
The second decision that I made was to order the closing of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.
For over seven years, we have detained hundreds of people at Guantanamo. During that time, the system of Military Commissions at Guantanamo succeeded in convicting a grand total of three suspected terrorists. Let me repeat that: three convictions in over seven years. Instead of bringing terrorists to justice, efforts at prosecution met setbacks, cases lingered on, and in 2006 the Supreme Court invalidated the entire system. Meanwhile, over five hundred and twenty-five detainees were released from Guantanamo under the Bush Administration. Let me repeat that: two-thirds of the detainees were released before I took office and ordered the closure of Guantanamo.
There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is America's strongest currency in the world. Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law. Indeed, part of the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law - a proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected. Meanwhile, instead of serving as a tool to counter-terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.
So the record is clear: rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That is why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign. And that is why I ordered it closed within one year.
The third decision that I made was to order a review of all the pending cases at Guantanamo.
I knew when I ordered Guantanamo closed that it would be difficult and complex. There are 240 people there who have now spent years in legal limbo. In dealing with this situation, we do not have the luxury of starting from scratch. We are cleaning up something that is - quite simply - a mess; a misguided experiment that has left in its wake a flood of legal challenges that my Administration is forced to deal with on a constant basis, and that consumes the time of government officials whose time should be spent on better protecting our country.
Indeed, the legal challenges that have sparked so much debate in recent weeks in Washington would be taking place whether or not I decided to close Guantanamo. For example, the court order to release seventeen Uighur detainees took place last fall - when George Bush was President. The Supreme Court that invalidated the system of prosecution at Guantanamo in 2006 was overwhelmingly appointed by Republican Presidents. In other words, the problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility; the problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place.
There are no neat or easy answers here. But I can tell you that the wrong answer is to pretend like this problem will go away if we maintain an unsustainable status quo. As President, I refuse to allow this problem to fester. Our security interests won't permit it. Our courts won't allow it. And neither should our conscience.
Now, over the last several weeks, we have seen a return of the politicization of these issues that have characterized the last several years. I understand that these problems arouse passions and concerns. They should. We are confronting some of the most complicated questions that a democracy can face. But I have no interest in spending our time re-litigating the policies of the last eight years. I want to solve these problems, and I want to solve them together as Americans.
And we will be ill-served by some of the fear-mongering that emerges whenever we discuss this issue. Listening to the recent debate, I've heard words that are calculated to scare people rather than educate them; words that have more to do with politics than protecting our country. So I want to take this opportunity to lay out what we are doing, and how we intend to resolve these outstanding issues. I will explain how each action that we are taking will help build a framework that protects both the American people and the values that we hold dear. And I will focus on two broad areas: first, issues relating to Guantanamo and our detention policy; second, issues relating to security and transparency.
Let me begin by disposing of one argument as plainly as I can: we are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security, nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people. Where demanded by justice and national security, we will seek to transfer some detainees to the same type of facilities in which we hold all manner of dangerous and violent criminals within our borders - highly secure prisons that ensure the public safety. As we make these decisions, bear in mind the following fact: nobody has ever escaped from one of our federal "supermax" prisons, which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists. As Senator Lindsey Graham said: "The idea that we cannot find a place to securely house 250-plus detainees within the United States is not rational."
We are currently in the process of reviewing each of the detainee cases at Guantanamo to determine the appropriate policy for dealing with them. As we do so, we are acutely aware that under the last Administration, detainees were released only to return to the battlefield. That is why we are doing away with the poorly planned, haphazard approach that let those detainees go in the past. Instead, we are treating these cases with the care and attention that the law requires and our security demands. Going forward, these cases will fall into five distinct categories.
First, when feasible, we will try those who have violated American criminal laws in federal courts - courts provided for by the United States Constitution. Some have derided our federal courts as incapable of handling the trials of terrorists. They are wrong. Our courts and juries of our citizens are tough enough to convict terrorists, and the record makes that clear. Ramzi Yousef tried to blow up the World Trade Center - he was convicted in our courts, and is serving a life sentence in U.S. prison. Zaccarias Moussaoui has been identified as the 20th 9/11 hijacker - he was convicted in our courts, and he too is serving a life sentence in prison. If we can try those terrorists in our courts and hold them in our prisons, then we can do the same with detainees from Guantanamo.
Recently, we prosecuted and received a guilty plea from a detainee - al-Marri - in federal court after years of legal confusion. We are preparing to transfer another detainee to the Southern District of New York, where he will face trial on charges related to the 1998 bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania - bombings that killed over 200 people. Preventing this detainee from coming to our shores would prevent his trial and conviction. And after over a decade, it is time to finally see that justice is served, and that is what we intend to do.
The second category of cases involves detainees who violate the laws of war and are best tried through Military Commissions. Military commissions have a history in the United States dating back to George Washington and the Revolutionary War. They are an appropriate venue for trying detainees for violations of the laws of war. They allow for the protection of sensitive sources and methods of intelligence-gathering; for the safety and security of participants; and for the presentation of evidence gathered from the battlefield that cannot be effectively presented in federal Courts.
Now, some have suggested that this represents a reversal on my part. They are wrong. In 2006, I did strongly oppose legislation proposed by the Bush Administration and passed by the Congress because it failed to establish a legitimate legal framework, with the kind of meaningful due process and rights for the accused that could stand up on appeal. I did, however, support the use of military commissions to try detainees, provided there were several reforms. And those are the reforms that we are making.
Instead of using the flawed Commissions of the last seven years, my Administration is bringing our Commissions in line with the rule of law. The rule will no longer permit us to use as evidence statements that have been obtained using cruel, inhuman, or degrading interrogation methods. We will no longer place the burden to prove that hearsay is unreliable on the opponent of the hearsay. And we will give detainees greater latitude in selecting their own counsel, and more protections if they refuse to testify. These reforms - among others - will make our Military Commissions a more credible and effective means of administering justice, and I will work with Congress and legal authorities across the political spectrum on legislation to ensure that these Commissions are fair, legitimate, and effective.
The third category of detainees includes those who we have been ordered released by the courts. Let me repeat what I said earlier: this has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to close Guantanamo. It has to do with the rule of law. The courts have found that there is no legitimate reason to hold twenty-one of the people currently held at Guantanamo. Twenty of these findings took place before I came into office. The United States is a nation of laws, and we must abide by these rulings.
The fourth category of cases involves detainees who we have determined can be transferred safely to another country. So far, our review team has approved fifty detainees for transfer. And my Administration is in ongoing discussions with a number of other countries about the transfer of detainees to their soil for detention and rehabilitation.
Finally, there remains the question of detainees at Guantanamo who cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people.
I want to be honest: this is the toughest issue we will face. We are going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country. But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who have received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, commanded Taliban troops in battle, expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States.
As I said, I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture - like other prisoners of war - must be prevented from attacking us again. However, we must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded. That is why my Administration has begun to reshape these standards to ensure they are in line with the rule of law. We must have clear, defensible and lawful standards for those who fall in this category. We must have fair procedures so that we don't make mistakes. We must have a thorough process of periodic review, so that any prolonged detention is carefully evaluated and justified.
I know that creating such a system poses unique challenges. Other countries have grappled with this question, and so must we. But I want to be very clear that our goal is to construct a legitimate legal framework for Guantanamo detainees - not to avoid one. In our constitutional system, prolonged detention should not be the decision of any one man. If and when we determine that the United States must hold individuals to keep them from carrying out an act of war, we will do so within a system that involves judicial and congressional oversight. And so going forward, my Administration will work with Congress to develop an appropriate legal regime so that our efforts are consistent with our values and our Constitution.
As our efforts to close Guantanamo move forward, I know that the politics in Congress will be difficult. These issues are fodder for 30-second commercials and direct mail pieces that are designed to frighten. I get it. But if we continue to make decisions from within a climate of fear, we will make more mistakes. And if we refuse to deal with these issues today, then I guarantee you that they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future. I have confidence that the American people are more interested in doing what is right to protect this country than in political posturing. I am not the only person in this city who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution - so did each and every member of Congress. Together we have a responsibility to enlist our values in the effort to secure our people, and to leave behind the legacy that makes it easier for future Presidents to keep this country safe.
The second set of issues that I want to discuss relates to security and transparency.
National security requires a delicate balance. Our democracy depends upon transparency, but some information must be protected from public disclosure for the sake of our security - for instance, the movements of our troops; our intelligence-gathering; or the information we have about a terrorist organization and its affiliates. In these and other cases, lives are at stake.
Several weeks ago, as part of an ongoing court case, I released memos issued by the previous Administration's Office of Legal Counsel. I did not do this because I disagreed with the enhanced interrogation techniques that those memos authorized, or because I reject their legal rationale - although I do on both counts. I released the memos because the existence of that approach to interrogation was already widely known, the Bush Administration had acknowledged its existence, and I had already banned those methods. The argument that somehow by releasing those memos, we are providing terrorists with information about how they will be interrogated is unfounded - we will not be interrogating terrorists using that approach, because that approach is now prohibited.
In short, I released these memos because there was no overriding reason to protect them. And the ensuing debate has helped the American people better understand how these interrogation methods came to be authorized and used.
On the other hand, I recently opposed the release of certain photographs that were taken of detainees by U.S. personnel between 2002 and 2004. Individuals who violated standards of behavior in these photos have been investigated and held accountable. There is no debate as to whether what is reflected in those photos is wrong, and nothing has been concealed to absolve perpetrators of crimes. However, it was my judgment - informed by my national security team - that releasing these photos would inflame anti-American opinion, and allow our enemies to paint U.S. troops with a broad, damning and inaccurate brush, endangering them in theaters of war.
In short, there is a clear and compelling reason to not release these particular photos. There are nearly 200,000 Americans who are serving in harm's way, and I have a solemn responsibility for their safety as Commander-in-Chief. Nothing would be gained by the release of these photos that matters more than the lives of our young men and women serving in harm's way.
In each of these cases, I had to strike the right balance between transparency and national security. This balance brings with it a precious responsibility. And there is no doubt that the American people have seen this balance tested. In the images from Abu Ghraib and the brutal interrogation techniques made public long before I was President, the American people learned of actions taken in their name that bear no resemblance to the ideals that generations of Americans have fought for. And whether it was the run-up to the Iraq War or the revelation of secret programs, Americans often felt like part of the story had been unnecessarily withheld from them. That causes suspicion to build up. That leads to a thirst for accountability.
I ran for President promising transparency, and I meant what I said. That is why, whenever possible, we will make information available to the American people so that they can make informed judgments and hold us accountable. But I have never argued - and never will - that our most sensitive national security matters should be an open book. I will never abandon - and I will vigorously defend - the necessity of classification to defend our troops at war; to protect sources and methods; and to safeguard confidential actions that keep the American people safe. And so, whenever we cannot release certain information to the public for valid national security reasons, I will insist that there is oversight of my actions - by Congress or by the courts.
We are launching a review of current policies by all of those agencies responsible for the classification of documents to determine where reforms are possible, and to assure that the other branches of government will be in a position to review executive branch decisions on these matters. Because in our system of checks and balances, someone must always watch over the watchers - especially when it comes to sensitive information.
Along those same lines, my Administration is also confronting challenges to what is known as the "State Secrets" privilege. This is a doctrine that allows the government to challenge legal cases involving secret programs. It has been used by many past Presidents - Republican and Democrat - for many decades. And while this principle is absolutely necessary to protect national security, I am concerned that it has been over-used. We must not protect information merely because it reveals the violation of a law or embarrasses the government. That is why my Administration is nearing completion of a thorough review of this practice.
We plan to embrace several principles for reform. We will apply a stricter legal test to material that can be protected under the State Secrets privilege. We will not assert the privilege in court without first following a formal process, including review by a Justice Department committee and the personal approval of the Attorney General. Finally, each year we will voluntarily report to Congress when we have invoked the privilege and why, because there must be proper oversight of our actions.
On all of these matter related to the disclosure of sensitive information, I wish I could say that there is a simple formula. But there is not. These are tough calls involving competing concerns, and they require a surgical approach. But the common thread that runs through all of my decisions is simple: we will safeguard what we must to protect the American people, but we will also ensure the accountability and oversight that is the hallmark of our constitutional system. I will never hide the truth because it is uncomfortable. I will deal with Congress and the courts as co-equal branches of government. I will tell the American people what I know and don't know, and when I release something publicly or keep something secret, I will tell you why.
In all of the areas that I have discussed today, the policies that I have proposed represent a new direction from the last eight years. To protect the American people and our values, we have banned enhanced interrogation techniques. We are closing the prison at Guantanamo. We are reforming Military Commissions, and we will pursue a new legal regime to detain terrorists. We are declassifying more information and embracing more oversight of our actions, and narrowing our use of the State Secrets privilege. These are dramatic changes that will put our approach to national security on a surer, safer and more sustainable footing, and their implementation will take time.
There is a core principle that we will apply to all of our actions: even as we clean up the mess at Guantanamo, we will constantly re-evaluate our approach, subject our decisions to review from the other branches of government, and seek the strongest and most sustainable legal framework for addressing these issues in the long-term. By doing that, we can leave behind a legacy that outlasts my Administration, and that endures for the next President and the President after that; a legacy that protects the American people, and enjoys broad legitimacy at home and abroad.
That is what I mean when I say that we need to focus on the future. I recognize that many still have a strong desire to focus on the past. When it comes to the actions of the last eight years, some Americans are angry; others want to re-fight debates that have been settled, most clearly at the ballot box in November. And I know that these debates lead directly to a call for a fuller accounting, perhaps through an Independent Commission.
I have opposed the creation of such a Commission because I believe that our existing democratic institutions are strong enough to deliver accountability. The Congress can review abuses of our values, and there are ongoing inquiries by the Congress into matters like enhanced interrogation techniques. The Department of Justice and our courts can work through and punish any violations of our laws.
I understand that it is no secret that there is a tendency in Washington to spend our time pointing fingers at one another. And our media culture feeds the impulses that lead to a good fight. Nothing will contribute more to that than an extended re-litigation of the last eight years. Already, we have seen how that kind of effort only leads those in Washington to different sides laying blame, and can distract us from focusing our time, our effort, and our politics on the challenges of the future.
We see that, above all, in how the recent debate has been obscured by two opposite and absolutist ends. On one side of the spectrum, there are those who make little allowance for the unique challenges posed by terrorism, and who would almost never put national security over transparency. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: "anything goes." Their arguments suggest that the ends of fighting terrorism can be used to justify any means, and that the President should have blanket authority to do whatever he wants - provided that it is a President with whom they agree.
Both sides may be sincere in their views, but neither side is right. The American people are not absolutist, and they don't elect us to impose a rigid ideology on our problems. They know that we need not sacrifice our security for our values, nor sacrifice our values for our security, so long as we approach difficult questions with honesty, and care, and a dose of common sense. That, after all, is the unique genius of America. That is the challenge laid down by our Constitution. That has been the source of our strength through the ages. That is what makes the United States of America different as a nation.
I can stand here today, as President of the United States, and say without exception or equivocation that we do not torture, and that we will vigorously protect our people while forging a strong and durable framework that allows us to fight terrorism while abiding by the rule of law. Make no mistake: if we fail to turn the page on the approach that was taken over the past several years, then I will not be able to say that as President. And if we cannot stand for those core values, then we are not keeping faith with the documents that are enshrined in this hall.
The Framers who drafted the Constitution could not have foreseen the challenges that have unfolded over the last two hundred and twenty two years. But our Constitution has endured through secession and civil rights - through World War and Cold War - because it provides a foundation of principles that can be applied pragmatically; it provides a compass that can help us find our way. It hasn't always been easy. We are an imperfect people. Every now and then, there are those who think that America's safety and success requires us to walk away from the sacred principles enshrined in this building. We hear such voices today. But the American people have resisted that temptation. And though we have made our share of mistakes and course corrections, we have held fast to the principles that have been the source of our strength, and a beacon to the world.
Now, this generation faces a great test in the specter of terrorism. Unlike the Civil War or World War II, we cannot count on a surrender ceremony to bring this journey to an end. Right now, in distant training camps and in crowded cities, there are people plotting to take American lives. That will be the case a year from now, five years from now, and - in all probability - ten years from now. Neither I nor anyone else can standing here today can say that there will not be another terrorist attack that takes American lives. But I can say with certainty that my Administration - along with our extraordinary troops and the patriotic men and women who defend our national security - will do everything in our power to keep the American people safe. And I do know with certainty that we can defeat al Qaeda. Because the terrorists can only succeed if they swell their ranks and alienate America from our allies, and they will never be able to do that if we stay true to who we are; if we forge tough and durable approaches to fighting terrorism that are anchored in our timeless ideals.
This must be our common purpose. I ran for President because I believe that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together. We will not be safe if we see national security as a wedge that divides America - it can and must be a cause that unites us as one people, as one nation. We have done so before in times that were more perilous than ours. We will do so once again. Thank you, God Bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
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Transcript of the president's May 21 speech as prepared for delivery
NBC News and msnbc.com
updated 11:47 a.m. ET, Thurs., May 21, 2009
WASHINGTON - These are extraordinary times for our country. We are confronting an historic economic crisis. We are fighting two wars. We face a range of challenges that will define the way that Americans will live in the 21st century. There is no shortage of work to be done, or responsibilities to bear.
And we have begun to make progress. Just this week, we have taken steps to protect American consumers and homeowners, and to reform our system of government contracting so that we better protect our people while spending our money more wisely. The engines of our economy are slowly beginning to turn, and we are working toward historic reform of health care and energy. I welcome the hard work that has been done by the Congress on these and other issues.
In the midst of all these challenges, however, my single most important responsibility as President is to keep the American people safe. That is the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It is the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night.
This responsibility is only magnified in an era when an extremist ideology threatens our people, and technology gives a handful of terrorists the potential to do us great harm. We are less than eight years removed from the deadliest attack on American soil in our history. We know that al Qaeda is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time, and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it.
Already, we have taken several steps to achieve that goal. For the first time since 2002, we are providing the necessary resources and strategic direction to take the fight to the extremists who attacked us on 9/11 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. We are investing in the 21st century military and intelligence capabilities that will allow us to stay one step ahead of a nimble enemy.
We have re-energized a global non-proliferation regime to deny the world's most dangerous people access to the world's deadliest weapons, and launched an effort to secure all loose nuclear materials within four years. We are better protecting our border, and increasing our preparedness for any future attack or natural disaster. We are building new partnerships around the world to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its affiliates. And we have renewed American diplomacy so that we once again have the strength and standing to truly lead the world.
These steps are all critical to keeping America secure. But I believe with every fiber of my being that in the long run we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values. The documents that we hold in this very hall - the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights -are not simply words written into aging parchment. They are the foundation of liberty and justice in this country, and a light that shines for all who seek freedom, fairness, equality and dignity in the world.
I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents. My father came to our shores in search of the promise that they offered. My mother made me rise before dawn to learn of their truth when I lived as a child in a foreign land. My own American journey was paved by generations of citizens who gave meaning to those simple words - "to form a more perfect union." I have studied the Constitution as a student; I have taught it as a teacher; I have been bound by it as a lawyer and legislator. I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never - ever - turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake.
I make this claim not simply as a matter of idealism. We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe. Time and again, our values have been our best national security asset - in war and peace; in times of ease and in eras of upheaval.
Fidelity to our values is the reason why the United States of America grew from a small string of colonies under the writ of an empire to the strongest nation in the world.
It is the reason why enemy soldiers have surrendered to us in battle, knowing they'd receive better treatment from America's armed forces than from their own government.
It is the reason why America has benefited from strong alliances that amplified our power, and drawn a sharp and moral contrast with our adversaries.
It is the reason why we've been able to overpower the iron fist of fascism, outlast the iron curtain of communism, and enlist free nations and free people everywhere in common cause and common effort.
From Europe to the Pacific, we have been a nation that has shut down torture chambers and replaced tyranny with the rule of law. That is who we are. And where terrorists offer only the injustice of disorder and destruction, America must demonstrate that our values and institutions are more resilient than a hateful ideology.
After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era - that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law; that our government would need new tools to protect the American people, and that these tools would have to allow us to prevent attacks instead of simply prosecuting those who try to carry them out.
Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. And I believe that those decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that - too often - our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions. Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, we too often set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford. And in this season of fear, too many of us - Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens - fell silent.
In other words, we went off course. And this is not my assessment alone. It was an assessment that was shared by the American people, who nominated candidates for President from both major parties who, despite our many differences, called for a new approach - one that rejected torture, and recognized the imperative of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Now let me be clear: we are indeed at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates. We do need to update our institutions to deal with this threat. But we must do so with an abiding confidence in the rule of law and due process; in checks and balances and accountability. For reasons that I will explain, the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable - a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions; that failed to use our values as a compass. And that is why I took several steps upon taking office to better protect the American people.
First, I banned the use of so-called enhanced interrogation techniques by the United States of America.
I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. As Commander-in-Chief, I see the intelligence, I bear responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation. What's more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America. They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle, and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured. In short, they did not advance our war and counter-terrorism efforts - they undermined them, and that is why I ended them once and for all.
The arguments against these techniques did not originate from my Administration. As Senator McCain once said, torture "serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us." And even under President Bush, there was recognition among members of his Administration - including a Secretary of State, other senior officials, and many in the military and intelligence community - that those who argued for these tactics were on the wrong side of the debate, and the wrong side of history. We must leave these methods where they belong - in the past. They are not who we are. They are not America.
The second decision that I made was to order the closing of the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.
For over seven years, we have detained hundreds of people at Guantanamo. During that time, the system of Military Commissions at Guantanamo succeeded in convicting a grand total of three suspected terrorists. Let me repeat that: three convictions in over seven years. Instead of bringing terrorists to justice, efforts at prosecution met setbacks, cases lingered on, and in 2006 the Supreme Court invalidated the entire system. Meanwhile, over five hundred and twenty-five detainees were released from Guantanamo under the Bush Administration. Let me repeat that: two-thirds of the detainees were released before I took office and ordered the closure of Guantanamo.
There is also no question that Guantanamo set back the moral authority that is America's strongest currency in the world. Instead of building a durable framework for the struggle against al Qaeda that drew upon our deeply held values and traditions, our government was defending positions that undermined the rule of law. Indeed, part of the rationale for establishing Guantanamo in the first place was the misplaced notion that a prison there would be beyond the law - a proposition that the Supreme Court soundly rejected. Meanwhile, instead of serving as a tool to counter-terrorism, Guantanamo became a symbol that helped al Qaeda recruit terrorists to its cause. Indeed, the existence of Guantanamo likely created more terrorists around the world than it ever detained.
So the record is clear: rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security. It is a rallying cry for our enemies. It sets back the willingness of our allies to work with us in fighting an enemy that operates in scores of countries. By any measure, the costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it. That is why I argued that it should be closed throughout my campaign. And that is why I ordered it closed within one year.
The third decision that I made was to order a review of all the pending cases at Guantanamo.
I knew when I ordered Guantanamo closed that it would be difficult and complex. There are 240 people there who have now spent years in legal limbo. In dealing with this situation, we do not have the luxury of starting from scratch. We are cleaning up something that is - quite simply - a mess; a misguided experiment that has left in its wake a flood of legal challenges that my Administration is forced to deal with on a constant basis, and that consumes the time of government officials whose time should be spent on better protecting our country.
Indeed, the legal challenges that have sparked so much debate in recent weeks in Washington would be taking place whether or not I decided to close Guantanamo. For example, the court order to release seventeen Uighur detainees took place last fall - when George Bush was President. The Supreme Court that invalidated the system of prosecution at Guantanamo in 2006 was overwhelmingly appointed by Republican Presidents. In other words, the problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility; the problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place.
There are no neat or easy answers here. But I can tell you that the wrong answer is to pretend like this problem will go away if we maintain an unsustainable status quo. As President, I refuse to allow this problem to fester. Our security interests won't permit it. Our courts won't allow it. And neither should our conscience.
Now, over the last several weeks, we have seen a return of the politicization of these issues that have characterized the last several years. I understand that these problems arouse passions and concerns. They should. We are confronting some of the most complicated questions that a democracy can face. But I have no interest in spending our time re-litigating the policies of the last eight years. I want to solve these problems, and I want to solve them together as Americans.
And we will be ill-served by some of the fear-mongering that emerges whenever we discuss this issue. Listening to the recent debate, I've heard words that are calculated to scare people rather than educate them; words that have more to do with politics than protecting our country. So I want to take this opportunity to lay out what we are doing, and how we intend to resolve these outstanding issues. I will explain how each action that we are taking will help build a framework that protects both the American people and the values that we hold dear. And I will focus on two broad areas: first, issues relating to Guantanamo and our detention policy; second, issues relating to security and transparency.
Let me begin by disposing of one argument as plainly as I can: we are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security, nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people. Where demanded by justice and national security, we will seek to transfer some detainees to the same type of facilities in which we hold all manner of dangerous and violent criminals within our borders - highly secure prisons that ensure the public safety. As we make these decisions, bear in mind the following fact: nobody has ever escaped from one of our federal "supermax" prisons, which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists. As Senator Lindsey Graham said: "The idea that we cannot find a place to securely house 250-plus detainees within the United States is not rational."
We are currently in the process of reviewing each of the detainee cases at Guantanamo to determine the appropriate policy for dealing with them. As we do so, we are acutely aware that under the last Administration, detainees were released only to return to the battlefield. That is why we are doing away with the poorly planned, haphazard approach that let those detainees go in the past. Instead, we are treating these cases with the care and attention that the law requires and our security demands. Going forward, these cases will fall into five distinct categories.
First, when feasible, we will try those who have violated American criminal laws in federal courts - courts provided for by the United States Constitution. Some have derided our federal courts as incapable of handling the trials of terrorists. They are wrong. Our courts and juries of our citizens are tough enough to convict terrorists, and the record makes that clear. Ramzi Yousef tried to blow up the World Trade Center - he was convicted in our courts, and is serving a life sentence in U.S. prison. Zaccarias Moussaoui has been identified as the 20th 9/11 hijacker - he was convicted in our courts, and he too is serving a life sentence in prison. If we can try those terrorists in our courts and hold them in our prisons, then we can do the same with detainees from Guantanamo.
Recently, we prosecuted and received a guilty plea from a detainee - al-Marri - in federal court after years of legal confusion. We are preparing to transfer another detainee to the Southern District of New York, where he will face trial on charges related to the 1998 bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania - bombings that killed over 200 people. Preventing this detainee from coming to our shores would prevent his trial and conviction. And after over a decade, it is time to finally see that justice is served, and that is what we intend to do.
The second category of cases involves detainees who violate the laws of war and are best tried through Military Commissions. Military commissions have a history in the United States dating back to George Washington and the Revolutionary War. They are an appropriate venue for trying detainees for violations of the laws of war. They allow for the protection of sensitive sources and methods of intelligence-gathering; for the safety and security of participants; and for the presentation of evidence gathered from the battlefield that cannot be effectively presented in federal Courts.
Now, some have suggested that this represents a reversal on my part. They are wrong. In 2006, I did strongly oppose legislation proposed by the Bush Administration and passed by the Congress because it failed to establish a legitimate legal framework, with the kind of meaningful due process and rights for the accused that could stand up on appeal. I did, however, support the use of military commissions to try detainees, provided there were several reforms. And those are the reforms that we are making.
Instead of using the flawed Commissions of the last seven years, my Administration is bringing our Commissions in line with the rule of law. The rule will no longer permit us to use as evidence statements that have been obtained using cruel, inhuman, or degrading interrogation methods. We will no longer place the burden to prove that hearsay is unreliable on the opponent of the hearsay. And we will give detainees greater latitude in selecting their own counsel, and more protections if they refuse to testify. These reforms - among others - will make our Military Commissions a more credible and effective means of administering justice, and I will work with Congress and legal authorities across the political spectrum on legislation to ensure that these Commissions are fair, legitimate, and effective.
The third category of detainees includes those who we have been ordered released by the courts. Let me repeat what I said earlier: this has absolutely nothing to do with my decision to close Guantanamo. It has to do with the rule of law. The courts have found that there is no legitimate reason to hold twenty-one of the people currently held at Guantanamo. Twenty of these findings took place before I came into office. The United States is a nation of laws, and we must abide by these rulings.
The fourth category of cases involves detainees who we have determined can be transferred safely to another country. So far, our review team has approved fifty detainees for transfer. And my Administration is in ongoing discussions with a number of other countries about the transfer of detainees to their soil for detention and rehabilitation.
Finally, there remains the question of detainees at Guantanamo who cannot be prosecuted yet who pose a clear danger to the American people.
I want to be honest: this is the toughest issue we will face. We are going to exhaust every avenue that we have to prosecute those at Guantanamo who pose a danger to our country. But even when this process is complete, there may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States. Examples of that threat include people who have received extensive explosives training at al Qaeda training camps, commanded Taliban troops in battle, expressed their allegiance to Osama bin Laden, or otherwise made it clear that they want to kill Americans. These are people who, in effect, remain at war with the United States.
As I said, I am not going to release individuals who endanger the American people. Al Qaeda terrorists and their affiliates are at war with the United States, and those that we capture - like other prisoners of war - must be prevented from attacking us again. However, we must recognize that these detention policies cannot be unbounded. That is why my Administration has begun to reshape these standards to ensure they are in line with the rule of law. We must have clear, defensible and lawful standards for those who fall in this category. We must have fair procedures so that we don't make mistakes. We must have a thorough process of periodic review, so that any prolonged detention is carefully evaluated and justified.
I know that creating such a system poses unique challenges. Other countries have grappled with this question, and so must we. But I want to be very clear that our goal is to construct a legitimate legal framework for Guantanamo detainees - not to avoid one. In our constitutional system, prolonged detention should not be the decision of any one man. If and when we determine that the United States must hold individuals to keep them from carrying out an act of war, we will do so within a system that involves judicial and congressional oversight. And so going forward, my Administration will work with Congress to develop an appropriate legal regime so that our efforts are consistent with our values and our Constitution.
As our efforts to close Guantanamo move forward, I know that the politics in Congress will be difficult. These issues are fodder for 30-second commercials and direct mail pieces that are designed to frighten. I get it. But if we continue to make decisions from within a climate of fear, we will make more mistakes. And if we refuse to deal with these issues today, then I guarantee you that they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future. I have confidence that the American people are more interested in doing what is right to protect this country than in political posturing. I am not the only person in this city who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution - so did each and every member of Congress. Together we have a responsibility to enlist our values in the effort to secure our people, and to leave behind the legacy that makes it easier for future Presidents to keep this country safe.
The second set of issues that I want to discuss relates to security and transparency.
National security requires a delicate balance. Our democracy depends upon transparency, but some information must be protected from public disclosure for the sake of our security - for instance, the movements of our troops; our intelligence-gathering; or the information we have about a terrorist organization and its affiliates. In these and other cases, lives are at stake.
Several weeks ago, as part of an ongoing court case, I released memos issued by the previous Administration's Office of Legal Counsel. I did not do this because I disagreed with the enhanced interrogation techniques that those memos authorized, or because I reject their legal rationale - although I do on both counts. I released the memos because the existence of that approach to interrogation was already widely known, the Bush Administration had acknowledged its existence, and I had already banned those methods. The argument that somehow by releasing those memos, we are providing terrorists with information about how they will be interrogated is unfounded - we will not be interrogating terrorists using that approach, because that approach is now prohibited.
In short, I released these memos because there was no overriding reason to protect them. And the ensuing debate has helped the American people better understand how these interrogation methods came to be authorized and used.
On the other hand, I recently opposed the release of certain photographs that were taken of detainees by U.S. personnel between 2002 and 2004. Individuals who violated standards of behavior in these photos have been investigated and held accountable. There is no debate as to whether what is reflected in those photos is wrong, and nothing has been concealed to absolve perpetrators of crimes. However, it was my judgment - informed by my national security team - that releasing these photos would inflame anti-American opinion, and allow our enemies to paint U.S. troops with a broad, damning and inaccurate brush, endangering them in theaters of war.
In short, there is a clear and compelling reason to not release these particular photos. There are nearly 200,000 Americans who are serving in harm's way, and I have a solemn responsibility for their safety as Commander-in-Chief. Nothing would be gained by the release of these photos that matters more than the lives of our young men and women serving in harm's way.
In each of these cases, I had to strike the right balance between transparency and national security. This balance brings with it a precious responsibility. And there is no doubt that the American people have seen this balance tested. In the images from Abu Ghraib and the brutal interrogation techniques made public long before I was President, the American people learned of actions taken in their name that bear no resemblance to the ideals that generations of Americans have fought for. And whether it was the run-up to the Iraq War or the revelation of secret programs, Americans often felt like part of the story had been unnecessarily withheld from them. That causes suspicion to build up. That leads to a thirst for accountability.
I ran for President promising transparency, and I meant what I said. That is why, whenever possible, we will make information available to the American people so that they can make informed judgments and hold us accountable. But I have never argued - and never will - that our most sensitive national security matters should be an open book. I will never abandon - and I will vigorously defend - the necessity of classification to defend our troops at war; to protect sources and methods; and to safeguard confidential actions that keep the American people safe. And so, whenever we cannot release certain information to the public for valid national security reasons, I will insist that there is oversight of my actions - by Congress or by the courts.
We are launching a review of current policies by all of those agencies responsible for the classification of documents to determine where reforms are possible, and to assure that the other branches of government will be in a position to review executive branch decisions on these matters. Because in our system of checks and balances, someone must always watch over the watchers - especially when it comes to sensitive information.
Along those same lines, my Administration is also confronting challenges to what is known as the "State Secrets" privilege. This is a doctrine that allows the government to challenge legal cases involving secret programs. It has been used by many past Presidents - Republican and Democrat - for many decades. And while this principle is absolutely necessary to protect national security, I am concerned that it has been over-used. We must not protect information merely because it reveals the violation of a law or embarrasses the government. That is why my Administration is nearing completion of a thorough review of this practice.
We plan to embrace several principles for reform. We will apply a stricter legal test to material that can be protected under the State Secrets privilege. We will not assert the privilege in court without first following a formal process, including review by a Justice Department committee and the personal approval of the Attorney General. Finally, each year we will voluntarily report to Congress when we have invoked the privilege and why, because there must be proper oversight of our actions.
On all of these matter related to the disclosure of sensitive information, I wish I could say that there is a simple formula. But there is not. These are tough calls involving competing concerns, and they require a surgical approach. But the common thread that runs through all of my decisions is simple: we will safeguard what we must to protect the American people, but we will also ensure the accountability and oversight that is the hallmark of our constitutional system. I will never hide the truth because it is uncomfortable. I will deal with Congress and the courts as co-equal branches of government. I will tell the American people what I know and don't know, and when I release something publicly or keep something secret, I will tell you why.
In all of the areas that I have discussed today, the policies that I have proposed represent a new direction from the last eight years. To protect the American people and our values, we have banned enhanced interrogation techniques. We are closing the prison at Guantanamo. We are reforming Military Commissions, and we will pursue a new legal regime to detain terrorists. We are declassifying more information and embracing more oversight of our actions, and narrowing our use of the State Secrets privilege. These are dramatic changes that will put our approach to national security on a surer, safer and more sustainable footing, and their implementation will take time.
There is a core principle that we will apply to all of our actions: even as we clean up the mess at Guantanamo, we will constantly re-evaluate our approach, subject our decisions to review from the other branches of government, and seek the strongest and most sustainable legal framework for addressing these issues in the long-term. By doing that, we can leave behind a legacy that outlasts my Administration, and that endures for the next President and the President after that; a legacy that protects the American people, and enjoys broad legitimacy at home and abroad.
That is what I mean when I say that we need to focus on the future. I recognize that many still have a strong desire to focus on the past. When it comes to the actions of the last eight years, some Americans are angry; others want to re-fight debates that have been settled, most clearly at the ballot box in November. And I know that these debates lead directly to a call for a fuller accounting, perhaps through an Independent Commission.
I have opposed the creation of such a Commission because I believe that our existing democratic institutions are strong enough to deliver accountability. The Congress can review abuses of our values, and there are ongoing inquiries by the Congress into matters like enhanced interrogation techniques. The Department of Justice and our courts can work through and punish any violations of our laws.
I understand that it is no secret that there is a tendency in Washington to spend our time pointing fingers at one another. And our media culture feeds the impulses that lead to a good fight. Nothing will contribute more to that than an extended re-litigation of the last eight years. Already, we have seen how that kind of effort only leads those in Washington to different sides laying blame, and can distract us from focusing our time, our effort, and our politics on the challenges of the future.
We see that, above all, in how the recent debate has been obscured by two opposite and absolutist ends. On one side of the spectrum, there are those who make little allowance for the unique challenges posed by terrorism, and who would almost never put national security over transparency. On the other end of the spectrum, there are those who embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: "anything goes." Their arguments suggest that the ends of fighting terrorism can be used to justify any means, and that the President should have blanket authority to do whatever he wants - provided that it is a President with whom they agree.
Both sides may be sincere in their views, but neither side is right. The American people are not absolutist, and they don't elect us to impose a rigid ideology on our problems. They know that we need not sacrifice our security for our values, nor sacrifice our values for our security, so long as we approach difficult questions with honesty, and care, and a dose of common sense. That, after all, is the unique genius of America. That is the challenge laid down by our Constitution. That has been the source of our strength through the ages. That is what makes the United States of America different as a nation.
I can stand here today, as President of the United States, and say without exception or equivocation that we do not torture, and that we will vigorously protect our people while forging a strong and durable framework that allows us to fight terrorism while abiding by the rule of law. Make no mistake: if we fail to turn the page on the approach that was taken over the past several years, then I will not be able to say that as President. And if we cannot stand for those core values, then we are not keeping faith with the documents that are enshrined in this hall.
The Framers who drafted the Constitution could not have foreseen the challenges that have unfolded over the last two hundred and twenty two years. But our Constitution has endured through secession and civil rights - through World War and Cold War - because it provides a foundation of principles that can be applied pragmatically; it provides a compass that can help us find our way. It hasn't always been easy. We are an imperfect people. Every now and then, there are those who think that America's safety and success requires us to walk away from the sacred principles enshrined in this building. We hear such voices today. But the American people have resisted that temptation. And though we have made our share of mistakes and course corrections, we have held fast to the principles that have been the source of our strength, and a beacon to the world.
Now, this generation faces a great test in the specter of terrorism. Unlike the Civil War or World War II, we cannot count on a surrender ceremony to bring this journey to an end. Right now, in distant training camps and in crowded cities, there are people plotting to take American lives. That will be the case a year from now, five years from now, and - in all probability - ten years from now. Neither I nor anyone else can standing here today can say that there will not be another terrorist attack that takes American lives. But I can say with certainty that my Administration - along with our extraordinary troops and the patriotic men and women who defend our national security - will do everything in our power to keep the American people safe. And I do know with certainty that we can defeat al Qaeda. Because the terrorists can only succeed if they swell their ranks and alienate America from our allies, and they will never be able to do that if we stay true to who we are; if we forge tough and durable approaches to fighting terrorism that are anchored in our timeless ideals.
This must be our common purpose. I ran for President because I believe that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together. We will not be safe if we see national security as a wedge that divides America - it can and must be a cause that unites us as one people, as one nation. We have done so before in times that were more perilous than ours. We will do so once again. Thank you, God Bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
© 2009 msnbc.com Reprints
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Global Security and the US President and Vice President Debate
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia and the Horn
After watching President Barack Obama and Vice President Cheney debate on the US National Security as it relates how to deal with terrorism, I could not help but think how people of the Horn and Global Patriotic Citizens would debate the emerging Somalia Crisis and Shabia terror network and the IGAD and UN Security response.
It is interesting how the Shabia leadership perceives its own predicament in the person of Isayas accusing the CIA his former masters. He even tries to tell us he knows the people concerned by name as perhaps they were his handlers in his early CIA training camps.
It is interesting, his concern about the Tamil Terrorists thinking he might face the same future as Prabakhar who terrorized that tiny island for more than two decades.
All the same, it is interesting to note that Ethiopia is to a certain scale demobilizing as it is honorably discharging some of its soldiers as the situation in Somalia is getting critical and as the Shabia leader is saying he will never demobilize nor ease the tension in the northern border.
I wonder, what the Ethiopian government is thinking when it is making an announcement that it is allowing the former Ethiopians who labeled themeless as Eritreans and the Ethiopian government considered them a threat to its national security.
What changed now? The speech from Isays here does not show any change in is attitude nor his expectations and wondered what did Meles and Co see in the former Ethiopans turned Shabia and Eritreans (Ethiopians North of the Mereb River) to invite them to invest in Ethiopia and get all their assets back.
In the first place, why were they allowed to go and why welcome now? What has changed?
We should have and should now stand for our people regardless of what the leaders want them to be. Eritreans are and have always been Ethiopians regardless of what the current leadership think and do. Just see the number of Eritreans returning to Ethiopia via overt and covert routes. The recent sympathy shown to the late Tilahun Gessese by his former friends in Eritrea shows the deep seated attachment and respect and love for our peoples.
It is becoming clear by the day there is a big disconnect between the people and the leadership of the Horn who create un necessary differences and conflicts between the people and when he people want to change the hopeless paradigm the leaders continue to be caught up with their unfortunate stories and tricks.
The attached story deserves a very good debate by all citizens of the Horn and Global Patriotic Citizens as it is getting rather dangerous by the day.
I believe it is time for a rethink of the whole Horn issues. We need to address problems of good governance, lack of education, employment, energy and regional climate change.
These challenges are here to stay for a long time. The current conflicts of interest appear to be transitional. Who ever is in power, they cannot change things over night.
The glaring poverty of ideas, resources and good will stems from lack of education and increasing level of abject poverty in good governance and leadership competency of the old guard that prevails in the region and needs to be changed to new proactive and intelligent leadership.
The days of war lords and terror lords is over! Intelligence, good will and good governance with competent leadership should prevail. There is just no option~
No amount of Communist or Islamic extreme ideologies are going to change this overwhelming paradigm of hopelessness. Good governance, sustainable development and investment are the only solutions which non of the leadership of the Horn is able to appreciate nor put into practice
We need a new set of young intelligent leadership that looks at the problems for what they are and address them directly instead of looking for scapegoats in the CIA, KGB and AlQaeda Network. Education and continuous information exchange is critical to empower the communities of the Horn.
Yet, we have to do the first thing first. Change old and out of date ideas and the leadership of the Horn soon with young talented and interactive team like President BO who is a refreshing change as we listen to the old paradigm of Bush and Cheyenne that we just watched on the CNN>
I hope and pray we will have rigorous debate on the Horn rather than this demonic murder and terror spree that is making the region the worst place to live in the Universe.
I trust we can change this paradigm with new intelligent leadership and way of doing things.
President BO has given us a good start and trust the rest of the world will follow with his good will and desire to promote good governance first and foremost here in the US and the rest of the world.
May we begin to debate the issues aggressively by respecting the people behind the ideas.
As the US is seeking a Comprehensive and Sustainable Solution based on reconciliation, may be Citizens of the Horn should demand the same from their respective governments and regional leaders.
*****
Dr B (A special Birth day perspective on 21 May 2009)
Please review this interesting news and have your say.
http://www.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFLL93510520090521?rpc=401&&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Reuters
May 21, 2009
INTERVIEW-Eritrea sees CIA behind Somalia arms accusations
* President says CIA agents spreading lies
* Opposes indictment against Sudan's president
Andrew Cawthorne
ASMARA - Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki said renewed accusations that Asmara is arming Somalia's Islamist rebels was the work of CIA agents in the region bent on blackening his government's name.
"We don't interfere (in Somalia) and we don't want to see any terrorism prevail in Somalia," Isaias told Reuters.
Somalia's government has accused Eritrea of supporting al Shabaab insurgents with planeloads of AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.
To the anger of Asmara -- which says there is no evidence in accusations that have been around for several years -- the U.N. has ordered a probe and east African bloc IGAD wants sanctions on Eritrea including a no-fly zone.
"It's CIA operatives ... these people are liars," Isaias, a former rebel commander in power since 1991, said during an interview at Asmara's colonial-era presidential palace.
"This is a continuation of the old story. I know for sure, even the individuals behind these things. I don't want to talk about that because it would poison the whole mood."
Former U.S. president George W. Bush's government had threatened to put Eritrea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, and Isaias said old interest groups were still jostling for influence with President Barack Obama.
He said Asmara would wait to see the impact of the Bush-Obama transition, and what he termed a bigger historical transition of U.S. economic ties and international attitudes.
"It is too early to judge," Isaias said, acknowledging that Washington had bigger priorities than his country.
"Eritrea is not a big deal. I don't expect the United States and officials in Washington will be sitting there and talking about how they formulate their policies with Eritrea.
"This is a transition, a very difficult transition. We need to be patient. It may take a long time."
Isaias said the new government of Somalia -- the 15th attempt to restore central rule in the last 18 years -- looked doomed to fail because it was imposed from outside.
"Leave this for the Somalis," he said.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, became Somalia's latest president earlier this year in a peace process in Djibouti brokered by the United Nations.
"This is the mentality of a gambler," Isaias said of the repeated attempts to set up a transitional Somali government with Western backing.
"This so-called government is not a government in terms of legitimacy. It cannot even influence one very small neighbourhood in Mogadishu, let alone Somalia."
"NO RELAXATION" ON ETHIOPIA BORDER
Risking further criticism from the West, Eritrea was in March the first country to receive Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir after the International Criminal Court indicted him on accusations of war crimes in Darfur.
Isaias, like other African leaders, said the case was politically motivated and risked further destabilising Sudan.
"Whether he is guilty until proven innocent, or innocent until proven guilty, is another matter. It is a legal matter. That is an issue for extensive discussion," he said.
"It is purely a political case, it has no legality at all ... It doesn't serve any purpose for the people of Darfur."
Isaias said the West was not showing the same clamour for justice in other places, such as Sri Lanka.
"The government did not allow journalists to go there, they did not allow relief agencies to even operate freely in that very small area," he said of recent events in Sri Lanka where the army wiped out Tamil Tiger rebels.
"The casualties on civilians were huge. No one intervened."
Eritrea's long-running border dispute with Ethiopia, where the two lost tens of thousands of men in a 1998-2000 war, has taken a back seat in the headlines of late, with no reports of clashes and rhetoric quieter on both sides.
Asked if that meant Eritrea could scale down its army and use resources elsewhere, Isaias shook his head and shot back: "Never relax."
"I will never take any risk ... We retain the allocation of our resources in spite of the bitterness we have about it. We have no other option, unless we fully guarantee and see things have changed for good."
____________________________________________________________
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-05-20-voa42.cfm
VOA
May 20, 2009
US Seeks Coordinated, Sustainable Somali Strategy
Text of Asst. Secretary of State Johnnie Carson's statement: http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/rm/2009/123729.htm
In Washington, a US Senate panel held a hearing Wednesday on developing a coordinated and sustainable strategy toward Somalia.
The Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs took testimony on "the new offensive launched by militant extremists."
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson says despite a transitional federal government in place, Somalia is in crisis.
"Approximately 43 percent of the Somali population relies on humanitarian assistance to survive and nearly 500,000 Somalis have fled the country and now live in overcrowded refugee camps throughout the region," he says.
Clans, militias, warlords and terrorist organizations control most of the country, not the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
Carson adds, "The blight of piracy off the coast of Somalia is without question a symptom of the instability and insecurity within Somalia. Without stability in Somalia there can be no long-term resolution of the piracy problem."
The US blames much of insecurity in Somalia on the al-Shabaab militia, which it accuses
Carson says US aims for sustainable Somalia policy
ofbeing a terrorist organization. Al-Shabaab is trying to overthrow the TFG.
"The resolution of these problems calls for a comprehensive solution that provides stability,promotes reconciliation, economic opportunity and hope for the Somali people," says Carson.
The Obama administration has called on the State Department, the National Security Council,the Defense Department, USAID, intelligence agencies and other agencies to develop a Somalia strategy -- one, Carson says, "that is both comprehensive and sustainable."
He says the US is also working with international partners, including the United Nations, African Union and European Union.
A strategy based on internal reconciliation
"Our comprehensive strategy is to promote a stabile and peaceful Somalia, to support regional peacekeeping efforts, to create a functioning and effective central government…to create a country that is at peace with its neighbors," he says.
Carson says the United States has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support humanitarian and security needs in Somalia.
He also accuses Eritrea of supporting armed groups, who are opposed to the Transitional Federal Government.
Also testifying was Professor Ken Menkhaus of Davidson College, who expects the Somali crisis to be a continuing foreign policy concern for the new Obama administration.
Past US policy flawed
He says, "In this increasingly complex environment, external state building, peace building and counter-terrorism initiatives have at times been based on flawed analysis and have produced unintended consequences, which have left Somalia and its regional neighbors even more insecure."
Menkhaus says sometimes policy initiatives have been at odds.
Menkhaus says Somalia will remain foreign policy challenge
"The US also faces the challenge of de-conflicting its multiple objectives in Somalia. Over the past decade, American counter-terrorism, state building and humanitarian initiatives have generally been unintegrated and have at times worked at cross purposes," he says.
More challenges were created by the 2007 Ethiopian invasion of Somalia and subsequent occupation.
"That occupation and the destructive insurgency and counter insurgency…helped to fuel an unprecedented level of radicalism in Somali society," he says.
He says Somalis have blamed the United States for many of the problems in their country because it backed Ethiopia.
"Anti-Americanism has been very high in the country and trust of American motives and policies low. This has been ameliorated somewhat by the January 2009 Ethiopian withdrawal, the establishment of a more broad-based transitional government and Somali expectations of a shift in US policy under the Obama administration," he says.
However, Menkhaus says, "There is still a high level of mistrust of American policies and residual anger at the US."
He adds that US policy toward Somalia must take a regional approach and consider tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the insurgency in Ethiopia's Somali region and territorial claims.
Oxfam senior policy advisor Shannon Scriber told the Senate panel that "Somalia remains the site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The combination of conflict and drought have led to more than three million Somalis dependent on aid within the country and the displacement of up to 1.8 million."
South and Central Somalia are the most unstable regions and the most difficult to reach.
Little water, dying animals
"Beyond the obvious humanitarian impact…the country faces drought conditions unseen since the 1991 famine…. Drought conditions continue to ravage livelihoods, particularly among pastoralist populations as livestock are dying and wasting at an alarming rate," she says.
____________________________________________________________________
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE54J09Z20090520?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
Reuters
May 20, 2009
Australia's Range oil shrugs off Somali pirates
Alison Bevege
NAIROBI - Australian explorer Range Resources said piracy will not deter it from exploring for hydrocarbons off chaotic northern Somalia.
The independent company won a deal in 2005 giving it concession rights to all minerals and petroleum in the country's semi-autonomous Puntland region, an area that geologists say has a high chance of containing commercial oil reservoirs.
Puntland has been relatively unscathed by a two-year Islamist insurgency that has rocked Somalia's south and central regions. But it is a base for many of the pirates who have been attacking vessels in the busy shipping lanes offshore.
"Other than potential implications on insurance costs, we don't think piracy has a huge impact. A number of vessels have been attacked offshore but they haven't had escorts," Range's executive director Peter Landau told Reuters late on Tuesday.
He said that he would be visiting Puntland in the next few weeks to meet its leadership and discuss oil and gas projects.
"If you're going to do offshore seismic then you would only do it with the support of the Puntland government and the seismic vessel will have an armed escort, preferably a government vessel," Landau said by telephone from Dubai.
Onshore, he added, Range's joint venture partner Africa Oil Corp is also in talks with the Puntland authorities and hopes to begin drilling in the fourth quarter of this year.
The Canadian company had started seismic mapping in a region it believes has good prospects of holding large oil deposits. Geologically-similar formations in Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, hold nearly 4 billion barrels.
Africa Oil Corp has agreed to invest $50 million in exploration in return for an 80 percent stake in the area's Nogal and Dharoor blocks. Range holds the remaining 20 percent.
Landau said the Canadian firm had spent $22.5 million working in Dharoor. Nogal is still to be explored. Africa Oil raised $35 million through a private shares placement in April.
In January, some former staff members in Puntland criticised the Canadian company for failing to pay their salaries, but Landau said the claims were false and had come from aggrieved sub-contractors.
Africa Oil could not immediately be reached for comment.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
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--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: -Sanction on Guinbot 7 Enablers by African Bloc Countries: Does Bucknell University Know what we Know? Over 16.6 Billion Birr
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com, nwMariam@yahoo.com, ben@ethiopiafirst.com, admin@aigaforum.com, ethiopian@tecolahagos.com, editor@ethiomedia.com, "Belai FM Habte-Jesus"
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, Getwondimu@yaoo.com, helenmullie@yahoo.com, nega@horinfer.com, editor@washingtonpost.com, editor@Washingtontimes.com, editor@hagerfikerradio.com, editor@ethiomedia.com, Editor@Afro.com, editorr@ethiopianreporter.com, editor@ethiopianreview.com
Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 5:30 PM
Reuters
May 20, 2009
African bloc calls for U.N. sanctions on Eritrea
* Calls on U.N. to impose sanctions, enforce no-fly zone
* Ethiopia again denies troops have crossed border
Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA - An east African regional bloc called on the United Nations on Wednesday to impose immediate sanctions on Eritrea for backing rebels attempting to overthrow Somalia's besieged government.
Islamist insurgents, including the hardline al Shabaab group, have gained ground during two weeks of Somalia's fiercest fighting for months. Local human rights workers say the clashes have killed at least 175 civilians and wounded more than 500.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's U.N.-backed administration is the 15th attempt in 18 years to set up central rule in Somalia. Neighbouring states and Western security forces fear the nation could become a haven for al Qaeda-linked extremists.
"The government of Eritrea and its financiers continue to instigate, finance, recruit, train, fund and supply the criminal elements in and/or to Somalia," the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said.
"(We call on) the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on the government of Eritrea without any further delay," IGAD said in a statement after an emergency meeting on Somalia in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
IGAD is made up of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. Eritrea suspended its membership in 2007.
SEA, AIR BLOCKADE
Somalia's transitional government said on Wednesday the hardline Islamist rebels had been joined by foreign fighters and had on Tuesday night again attacked government forces.
IGAD said the United Nations should impose a no-fly zone on the chaotic country and enforce a blockade of its ports to stop foreign fighters and arms from bolstering the rebels.
The U.N. Security Council last week said conditions were not right for a U.N. peacekeeping force to enter Somalia, despite repeated requests from the African Union.
While there is a small African peacekeeping force in Mogadishu, some members of the government fear a fully-fledged U.N. force could rally support to the insurgents, who want to drive foreign troops from Somalia.
Forces loyal to Ahmed now control only parts of the capital Mogadishu and the country's central region.
Ahmed was chairman of an Islamic group that ran Mogadishu in 2006 before Ethiopian troops, wary of having an Islamist state next door, ousted them from power. The Ethiopian soldiers withdrew earlier this year.
Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin denied reports its soldiers had returned to fight the hardline Islamist rebels.
"We are not back in Somalia," Mesfin told reporters
"We don't intend to go to Somalia unilaterally. We will continue to follow up developments and do everything possible that this legitimate and sovereign government of Somalia is supported and assisted," he said after the IGAD meeting.
Since the Ethiopian intervention, fighting has killed at least 17,700 civilians and made more than 1 million homeless. More than 3 million people survive on emergency food aid.
The United Nations refugee agency says 45,000 people have fled fighting in the capital Mogadishu in the past 12 days.
IGAD Executive Secretary Mahboub Mahlim told the meeting the region had failed to support properly the ailing Somali government and called the security situation "very grave".
"This is no longer just a war against Somalia. It is a war against all of us," he said. (Editing by David Clarke and Jon Boyle)
____________________________________________________________________________
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0520/p06s07-woaf.html
Christian Science Monitor
May 19, 2009
Is Somalia in Ethiopian Army's crosshairs again?
Scott Baldauf
(attachment has a regional map)
Somalis near the border with Ethiopia say that country's troops have crossed over, raising speculation of another battle with the militant Islamists closing in on Somalia's government.
Two years ago, they came, they saw, they killed some Somali Islamists. Late last year, they left.
Now, the Ethiopians are back in Somalia, according to Somali witnesses, and their border incursion could have dramatic impacts on the stability not just of Somalia, but throughout the Horn of Africa.
For the record, the Ethiopian government denies that it has troops inside Somali territory, and claims it has largely stayed out of Somali territory since it pulled back its troops in mid-December 2008.
Yet reports from the area surrounding Beletweyne (near the border) have been persistent, both of Ethiopian checkpoints and entrenchments 20 kilometers inside the Somali border, near the town of Kalabeyr. Now, the question seems to be not whether Ethiopian troops are there, but why they are there and how long they plan to stay.
"Ethiopia does go in and out of Somali territory, but with reports of the impending collapse of the Somali government by Islamist militias, I gather that Ethiopia would keep a close eye on matters," says Iqbal Jhazbhay, an expert on Somali politics at the University of South Africa in Tshwane, formerly known as Pretoria. "An intervention now allows Ethiopia to follow their interests to insure that nobody comes to power who has an irredentist agenda, who would want to claim the Ogaden" region of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia's Ogaden region is a desert area inhabited mostly by ethnic Somalis. The two countries have fought bitter wars over the region and many Somalis still dream of taking back the Ogaden from Ethiopia, thus reuniting "Greater Somalia." Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the spiritual leader of the militant Islamists now threatening to take over the country from the moderate Islamist government, is well known to Ethiopia's government for his "Greater Somalia" agenda.
How Ethiopia's last intervention went
Ethiopia's previous intervention came at a time of strong parallel interests by Ethiopia and the United States. Both nations saw the need for a robust Ethiopian military operation in Somalia as part of a broader war on terrorism. Members of the Bush administration linked the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which implemented sharia law during it's short-lived stint in control of the country in 2006, with Al Qaeda. But Ethiopia's interests were much more immediate and local – the UIC government, and particularly its former leader, Mr. Aweys, threatened to take away the Ogaden.
On paper, the Ethiopian intervention of 2006 was a rout. UIC fighters melted away in front of Ethiopia's 3,000-strong invasion force, and the UIC government fled into exile. But just like the Taliban in Afghanistan, the UIC reorganized into smaller units and began a long guerrilla war of attrition. By the time Ethiopia withdrew from Somalia in December 2008, it claims to have killed 2,000 to 3,000 Islamists. Human rights advocates say that as many as 16,000 civilians were also killed.
Although the current reported operation may be a temporary incursion, Ethiopia's national interest in preventing the rise of an aggressive Islamist government remains the same.
Ethiopia's intervention would likely be aimed at bolstering Somalia's transitional president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, to prevent the extremist Al Shabab militia group from taking power, says Richard Cornwell, an independent political analyst in Tshwane. "That said, its intervention has to be different this time. It can't afford to be bogged down in an urban killing zone. It has to be more surgical and selective in its targets."
Ethiopia denies crossing the border
Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wahade Belay denied the reports of an incursion. "This is a totally fabricated story. We have no plans to go into any of Somalia's territory," he told Reuters news agency.
Yet Ethiopia has maintained a large military presence on its border with Somalia, ever since its pullout of 3,000 troops from the country began in December 2008. Experts say that Ethiopian troops have continued to move into Somali territory on punitive missions.
The Ethiopian incursion comes just days after Al Shabab took the town of Jowhar, cutting off the government's access to territory north of Mogadishu. Islamist forces loyal to Al Shabab and Sheikh Aweys have steadily taken territory from pro-government militias, hemming in the government of Mr. Sharif and forcing the tiny African Union peacekeeper force to relocate to positions in the south of the city.
International support: a blessing and a curse
Ironically, Sharif's best chance of survival is the very real threat of his own defeat. If Sharif appears close to being toppled, the international community may be forced to give him further backing. But such backing comes with its own pitfalls.
"The bigger the Al Shabab threat gets, the more the international community is likely to support Sharif," says Mr. Cornwell. "But the more international support Sharif gets, the more he is discredited in the eyes of the Somali people, and the more people will give their support to Shabab."
One way out of this cycle, Cornwell says, is for Ethiopia to "think more selectively" about its targets. "I would imagine they don't want to put large numbers of troops into Somalia. They just need to locate Shabab's headquarters and zap it. I'm sure the Americans will be happy to help them do that, and we know the Americans have the munitions to do that."
Any Ethiopian intervention in Somalia, whether large or small, is likely to have huge political risks for Ethiopia, both among its Somali neighbors and among the large number of ethnic Somalis who live in its own restive Ogaden region.
"An Ethiopian intervention would dent Ethiopia's already tarnished image among Somalis," says Jhazbhay. "But it would clearly give the Transitional Federal Government some leeway for a while, and perhaps give it a chance to stand on its own feet."
Ethiopia's best strategy, Jhazbhay adds, may be to do nothing at all. "Whenever the Ethiopians intervene, that strengthens Somali nationalism against Ethiopia," he says. "When the international community backed Somali transitional governments over the past 14 incarnations, there was always one group in charge and other groups who were left out.
"But if the Ethiopians just let it go for a while, and allow the Somalis to develop things in their own way, which is what they did in Somaliland and the Puntland region, the Somalis do manage to come up with an inclusive government that gains legitimacy. It may take some time, but they do seem to develop things in their own way."
eth.somal.gif
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
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Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
--- On Tue, 5/12/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus wrote:
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know? Over 16.6 Billion Birr
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com, nwMariam@yahoo.com, ben@ethiopiafirst.com, admin@aigaforum.com, ethiopian@tecolahagos.com, editor@ethiomedia.com
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, Getwondimu@yaoo.com, helenmullie@yahoo.com, nega@horinfer.com, editor@washingtonpost.com, editor@Washingtontimes.com, editor@hagerfikerradio.com, editor@ethiomedia.com, Editor@Afro.com, editorr@ethiopianreporter.com, editor@ethiopianreview.com
Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 11:38 AM
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethopia:
It is interesting that we have a series of Watch Dogs who report and the series of liberation fronts who terrorize us with high coordination that is unfolding by the day.
It is critical to understnd if these campaigns and and the Egyptian Nile Basin and Red Sea Coast Conflict of Interest have any thing in common?
Historically, Ethiopia had a series of conflicts of interests from the time of the Ethiopian/Egyptian Pharaoh over the control of the Nile River Basin. This conflict has led some Ethiopian Emperors to overtake the whole Nile River Basin as some of the Nubian and Ethiopian Pharaohs had taken the matter into their hands.
Most recently, the Egyptian and Turkish Sultanates had hired US defeated Generals from the Civil War of Abraham Lincoln era to over take the Nile Basin as well as the Red Sea Coast and twice were defeated by Emperor Yohannes and the Gallant General Ras Allula at Gunder etc.
The Egyptians have called on the Turks, the British and the Itlians and even renegade American Generals of the Civil War and always they were defeated because Ethiopia was led by high caliber brilliant Kings and Emperors etc who galvanized the whole population to the rescue.
More recently, there have been calls for Strategic Pre-emptic Action that utilizes the African Union, United Nations and other regional Good Governance Institutions to avert the series of overt and covert terrorists trying to undermine the soveriegnity of Ethiopia and its historic place in the world.
Unfortunately the present day pharoes are fighting the old historic wars with proxies such as Alqaeda, Shabia, AlShabab, and the series of liberation fronts such as OLF, ONLF, Guinbot 7 etc. with highly suphisticated Media campaign groups that range from Amensty International, Genocide Watch and Human Rights Watch who openly attack Ethiopia' image and soveriegnity, so much so some foolish foreign government representatives such as Payne have taken it upon themselves to make it their business to disenfranchise Ethiopians and Friends of Ethiopia by making undiplomatic and unstateman like terror campaigns officially inviting the above terrorist groups to testify in Congress and set up a base in the United States of America.
This is a different world and Global Patriotic Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia have to wake up to the latest series of challenges against the security and wellbeing of people of Ethiopian and African decent all over the world.
Here is an interesting article, where a so called Watch Dog group not appointed by Ethiopians and not recognized by Ethiopian Parliament interferinig in the internal affairs of a soveriegn country and seriously thinks that Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia will take it sitting down and be spectators of their heritage being decimated.
As many in history have learned, these series of neuvo charlatans and mercenaries will learn the hard facts of lives that Patriotic Ethiopians and Friends of Ethiopia and the USA will not rest until these overt and covert interference in our soverignity are challened ones for all with facts and good govenance that demand transparency and accountability from all.
Please read these two interesting stories and get involved to address them as our Patriotic Heritage demands to stand up with the truth based on peace and prosperity for all.
Make your voices heard and get involved for protecting the Good and fighting evil. It might help to set up African Human Rights Watch to expose the role of these so called international group what they really are by tracking their activities and demanding Good Govenance that is transparency and accountability prevails all the time!
Dr B
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article31138
Sudan Tribune
May 12, 2009
Ethiopia blasts report by rights watchdog on arrested opponents
The Ethiopian government dismissed a recently released report by Human Rights Watch in connection with the recent arrest of 40 opposition member suspected of plotting to assassinate top government officials and strategic bombing on public facilities.
The US-based Watchdog in its recent report condemned the mass arrest against 40 members of opposition, "Ginbot 7"as "politically motivated" and "in line of blood relation."
But the Ethiopian government strongly reacted to HRW’s report and blasted it saying ground less and a usual deliberate campaign aimed to defame a nation’s image. "The report by the so-called Human Rights watch is baseless," the Government communications Affairs Bureau said in an Amharic statement issued on Friday.
It said the HRW jeopardized the rule of law in reporting on matters in due process by the country’s court.
"The suspects were put behind bars after it was discovered that they were preparing to assassinate government officials and blow up selected government cities," the statement said, adding the round up took place following an arrest warrant by the court.
"Citizens who violate the country’s law are held accountable, and this process will not be disrupted by fabricated reports and negative campaign aimed at tarnishing the country’s image," the statement added.
The ministry said it was not understood why the rights NGO chose to resort to making hasty statements about the matter while the issue was in due process and in line with national and international legal practices.
The statement accused the human rights watch as an organization engaged in relentlessly attempts of hurting the image of the country.
"The report is a product of one those so called international organizations who in the name of human rights, are engaged in hurting the image of the country." "This kind of unfounded and baseless report made in the midst of the due process is faulty and therefore unacceptable," the statement further said concluding government’s response to the HRW report released on Thursday.
The suspects were first taken to custody on alleged allegation of coup plot but Bereket Simon, Minister for government’s communication last week at a news conference reversed the claims saying plans were not to conduct a coup plot, it was an intent to create havoc by those that he described them as "desperados."
Ethiopia government’s report alleges that Weapons, landmines, and copies of plans were seized during a raid by security forces last month.
Today, suspects have come before court on a second hearing but it is again adjourned for a period of two weeks.
_________________________________________________________
http://en.afrik.com/article15667.html
Afrik
May 8, 2009
Ethiopia - Egypt: A tug of war over the Nile basin
Egypt makes offers but Ethiopia won’t budge
Despite a generous offer made by visiting Egyptian minister of Water Rosources and Irrigation, Dr. Mohamed Nasr Eldin Allam, Ethiopian Minister of Water Resources, Asfaw Dingamo, has stood by his government’s firm stance to continue with its decision to protect the upper riparian (Nile basin) countries. The Ethiopian position seeks to limit Egypt and Sundan’s indiscriminate use of the Nile’s water resource. The Egyptian Minister visited Ethiopia this week.
The Egyptian minister, appointed March 11, 2009, replaces Mahmoud Abu Zeid, who had been criticized for his weak negotiations on Nile issues. Egypt claims his replacement was due to a health related problem. Dr. Mohamed Nasr Eldin Allam, the new minister, is touring Nile riparian countries, a move criticised as lobbying to maintain Egypt’s grip on the Nile basin.
The visiting minister held closed door discussions with top Ethiopian Government officials, including Asfaw Dingamo, Minister of Water Resource. Talking to the press, Mr. Asfaw Dingamo indicated that Dr. Eldin Allam had expressed his country’s (Egypt) willingness to cooperate with Ethiopia and also provide Ethiopian water experts with a high level all-expense-paid training. “We accepted the new Egyptian minister’s offer,” Asfaw said. The training will be conducted by an Egyptian based training institute which offers short term Applied Training Programmes to all Nile countries, and is run by The Nile Basin.
The offer, however, does little to change Ethiopia’s unrelenting position on regulations affecting the subject of Nile sharing since negotiations among all Nile countries began, about a decade ago. The negotiations aim to amend an exclusive 1959 agreement signed between Egypt and Sudan that expressly excluded Ethiopia, despite the country’s 85 per cent contribution to the Nile’s water resource. Ethiopia’s insistence on protecting other riparian countries, while demanding that the Nile sharing programme should be free of any agreements that may prove detrimental to some countries, remains the main bone of contention.
An Ethiopian proposed article that deals with the possibility of water sharing without causing significant harm to other riparian countries has caused negotiating countries to split into two major blocks: Upper riparian countries, consisting of a host of countries under Ethiopia’s leadership including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi; and lower riparian countries, made up of Egypt and Sudan.
The two lower riparian countries, Egypt and Sudan, have indicated that they will not endorse the Ethipian proposed article unless a clause that guarantees that there will be no damage to water security is inserted. However, this clause if accepted, will allow the two countries to continue using the Nile water resource intensively and extensively, experts say. The division has halted the Nile Basin Ministerial Council sponsored negotiation process.
“We explained our stance to the Egyptian Minister and told him to lighten the gloomy negotiations,” Asfaw told Capital.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the current chair of the Nile Council of Ministers, however, Egypt will take over in the month of July, which may give it an opportunity to influence other nations. But before then, a final conference, to be hosted by DRC is expected to highlight a three point proposal that could improve Ethiopia’s position if endorsed by the Nile Basin member countries, Mr. Asfaw said.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; ben@ethiopiafirst.com; admin@aigaforum.com; ethiopian@tecolahagos.com; editor@ethiomedia.com
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Getwondimu@yaoo.com; helenmullie@yahoo.com; nega@horinfer.com; editor@washingtonpost.com; editor@Washingtontimes.com; editor@hagerfikerradio.com; editor@ethiomedia.com; Editor@Afro.com; editorr@ethiopianreporter.com; editor@ethiopianreview.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:50:06 AM
Subject: Re: - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know? Over 16.6 Billion Birr
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia
Here is the Memorial from Ethiopian Peace Corps Volunteers
Scholomo and Charles who continue to enhance and love Ethiopian Cultural and Musical Emperor Tilahun!
I trust North American communities including Bucknell University Economics students will appreciate that Ethiopia is more than what Bonger tells them.
It is a beautiful and rich cultural center with a deep history and civilization not paralleled in any other society.
Here Shlomo and Charlie testify in the rich personal character and contribution of one of its most famous modern son who just slept the other day but continues to mesmerize many music lovers all over the world.
With my respect and appreciation to Tilahun's Memory!
Dr B
Charles Sutton -- usually known as Charlie -- came to Ethiopia with the Peace Corps in 1966.
He was a musician, and even before he arrived, Charlie had discovered Ethiopian music through his Amharic language instructors. He describes the impact of that discovery, which directed his life toward a deep and lasting relationship with Ethiopia, its people -- particularly musicians, and its language, in which his fluency and elegance continue to astonish.
Charlie needs only a brief introduction from me since he will provide the rest himself. His friends and acquaintances know Charlie to be a gracious, warm and generous man, thoughtful and polite to a fault.
He is still a working musician both as a teacher and a performer. In his jazz, Charlie's improvisations reveal the depth to which Ethiopia has entered his soul.
In a recent recording, Charlie played masinko and sang, in Amharic, naturally, with two long-time Ethiopian musician friends. Characteristically, Charlie often directs the proceeds from his CD sales to the Institute for Ethiopian Studies or another deserving beneficiary.
This is the first of a three-part appreciation and reminisence by Charles Sutton about his friend, the supremely gifted singer, Tilahun Gessesse, who passed away on April 19, 2009 in Addis Ababa. All of Ethiopia, and music lovers around the world, are in mourning.
Shlomo Bachrach
Washington DC
May 10, 2009
Oo-oota Ayaskeffam
It has been three weeks since we heard the tragic news of Tilahun's death. I remain stunned by it.
No doubt like many others, I have derived some comfort from the multitude of deeply felt tributes poured out by his family, friends, colleagues, and fans.
Although there is little I can add to these, I still wish to offer in Tilahun's memory my own words of respect, appreciation and love--which I do from my heart.
I am an American. But when an Ethiopian calls Tilahun, as Ahadu Selamu did recently in his moving Aiga Forum eulogy, "just larger than life...Tilahun was a walking history that embodied the narrative of five decades of our lives in his songs," I understand very well what he is talking about. Before I ever saw Ethiopia, I knew instinctively that something of that country's deepest essence had been revealed to me when, 43 years ago, on a warm June night, in the unlikely precincts of Salt Lake City, Utah, I first listened spellbound to Tilahun's voice.
Along with 100 other recent college graduates from all over the United States, I had completed the first day of an intensive three-month Peace Corps training program at the University of Utah that would prepare us to become secondary school teachers in Ethiopia.
We studied TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) under the supervision of a youthful Shlomo Bachrach; Ethiopian history, geography, customs, and culture; and Amharic.
I was assigned, along with four other beginners, to a gifted young teacher named Mengesha, who had his students exchanging gender-and-status-specific greetings and forming elementary sentences in Amharic on the first day of class.
When we were chatting during a break, Mengesha and I found we had something in common: both of us loved music, sang folksongs, and played the guitar. Finally I had found someone who could explain to me what I had been wondering about for months. (In 1966, the Internet, with its vast store of instantaneously available information on every conceivable subject, was still a quarter-century in the future). "Mengesha," I confessed, "I've never heard any Ethiopian music. None at all! What is your music like?"
That evening, on a bulky Norelco portable tape machine in the dormitory common room, I listened with Mengesha to selections from his extensive collection of Ethiopian popular music, contained on large reels of magnetic audiotape he kept in a suitcase.
Though the unfamiliar timbres and modes were strange-sounding at first, I enjoyed everything Mengesha played. There was one song--it had a plaintive minor-key melody made twice as sad by the vocalist's incredibly intense, passionate, and grief-stricken rendition of it--that I loved. It was like nothing I had ever heard in my life and brought tears to my eyes.
"Could we listen to that again?" I asked Mengesha. "Who is that singer? I can't understand what he's singing, but it's breaking my heart."
"That is Tilahun Gessesse, star vocalist with the Imperial Bodyguard Orchestra," Mengesha replied as he obligingly pressed rewind. "Tilahun is a young guy in his twenties, but he's been performing since he was practically a kid, and a lot of people are already calling him our greatest singer."
"I'm not surprised. And what is he singing?"
"The song is called "Oo-oota Ayaskeffam". That means, "There's nothing wrong with crying."
Amharic instructors and Charles performing Tilahun's "Oo-oota Ayaskeffam" during a music show for Peace Corps trainees and staff members at the University of Utah, September 7, 1966.
"Nothing wrong with crying?"
"You see, Charles, you will learn when you get to know us better that we Ethiopians have a tendency to conceal our deepest feelings, to keep them locked up inside us.
And Tilahun is proclaiming that when we suffer the worst anguish of all, separation from or loss of someone we love, we must express our sorrow and let it come out, for that is the only way of easing it, if only just a little."
Mengesha taught me the words to "Oo-oota Ayaskeffam". I worked out arrangements of it on my guitar and accordion. We formed a vocal group and performed the song in a concert of Ethiopian music at the end of the training program.
So began my appreciation of the artistry of Tilahun Gessesse, which grew over the next four decades into reverence and love. I was actually fortunate enough to meet and get to know Tilahun the man, as I will explain when my tribute continues.
Perhaps along with everyone else, I never imagined the day when Tilahun would leave us. But now it has come. Oo-oota Ayaskeffam.
Charles Sutton
Old Saybrook, Connecticut
May 10, 2009
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; ben@ethiopiafirst.com; admin@aigaforum.com; ethiopian@tecolahagos.com; editor@ethiomedia.com
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Getwondimu@yaoo.com; helenmullie@yahoo.com; nega@horinfer.com; editor@washingtonpost.com; editor@Washingtontimes.com; editor@hagerfikerradio.com; editor@ethiomedia.com; Editor@Afro.com; editorr@ethiopianreporter.com; editor@ethiopianreview.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 3:02:12 PM
Subject: Re: - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know? Over 16.6 Billion Birr
Dear Global Patriotic Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
Here is some Good News that Bucknell University Economists should teach their students and not alleged terror and support for terror!
Addis Ababa, April4: The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) disclosed that the integrated utilization of the various development assistance secured from donor groups in Ethiopia is well in progress.
State Minister of MoFED, Ahimed Shide Mohammed, told WIC that the utilization of the funds of the development assistance secured from various donor groups is being carried out in line with the development program designed by the Ethiopian government.
Despite the economic instability various countries are experiencing amid the global financial slow down, development partners are releasing the financial support in accordance with their earlier promises, he said,
The financial support being obtained from the development partners is being spent on expansion of infrastructure facilities, rural development as well as provision of basic service facilities, the state minister said.
The state minister pointed out that more that 40 countries including the World Bank (WB), European Union, Britain, Japan and Germany are among development partners of Ethiopia, adding, that the country’s bilateral and trilateral cooperation with the countries and the international organizations is getting stronger over time.
Some 6.9 million birr was secured through the tripartite scheme over the last six months for the implementation of various development projects and programs here, the state minister said, adding that this year’s financial assistance exceeds that of last year’s same time by 83 per cent.
Moreover, some 9.7 million birr fund was secured through the government to government financial support scheme, adding that this also exceeds that of last year’s by 63 per cent than that of last year same time.
The state minister also indicated that the financial assistance from donor countries is also increasing both in its quantity and type, while it is expected to increase in the years to come.
According to the state minister, among African countries Ethiopia comes first for its effective and integrated utilization of various development assistances it is obtaining from donor groups.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; ben@ethiopiafirst.com; admin@aigaforum.com; ethiopian@tecolahagos.com; editor@ethiomedia.com
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Getwondimu@yaoo.com; helenmullie@yahoo.com; nega@horinfer.com; editor@washingtonpost.com; editor@Washingtontimes.com; editor@hagerfikerradio.com; editor@ethiomedia.com; Editor@Afro.com; editorr@ethiopianreporter.com; editor@ethiopianreview.com
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2009 11:15:16 AM
Subject: Re: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
Ethiopia has been at the fore front of Counter-terrorism efforts for millennia, be it in the Red Sea region, Gulf of Aden or Indian Ocean as well as the Miditerranean Seas.
The recent develpments in the Horn both on land and see are being reviewed by the international community with vigilance, especially after the successful operation to release Captian Philips Richards by the Special Navy Seal Commandoes.
Another Urban terrorists have been in operation from Pennsylvania, Berkenel University and London England and we have a very serious challenge in the Horn.
We were exploring for some time, how the US can deport some of the hard core criminals who have misrepresented themselves and got US Refuggee status and even citizenship and continue to master mind a serious Terrorist Sleeper Cells which grave consecquences.
Can the US be challenged to respect its own laws about terrorists? Here is the law and if the Justice Department cannot implement it, then citizens have to encourage it to do its job, that is implement the US legal system.
As we are reviewing the Torture Memos of the last administration, perhaps we should also review past administration policies of giving refugee and citizenship to known criminals and terrorists through out history and especially the recent case of a part time visiting professor of Economics at Berkenel University n Pennsylvania.
Here is what the law say and let us see how the US Jistice Department will react to it.
Dr B
Immigration and Nationality Act Section212
Fact Sheet
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Washington, DC
April 8, 2008
Return to Foreign Terrorist Organization factsheet.
Section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines "terrorist activity" to mean: any activity which is unlawful under the laws of the place where it is committed (or which, if committed in the United States, would be unlawful under the laws of the United States or any State) and which involves any of the following:
(I) The highjacking or sabotage of any conveyance (including an aircraft, vessel, or vehicle).
(II) The seizing or detaining, and threatening to kill, injure, or continue to detain, another individual in order to compel a third person (including a governmental organization) to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the individual seized or detained.
(III) A violent attack upon an internationally protected person (as defined in section 1116(b)(4) of title 18, United States Code) or upon the liberty of such a person.
(IV) An assassination.
(V) The use of any--
(a) biological agent, chemical agent, or nuclear weapon or device, or
(b) explosive, firearm, or other weapon or dangerous device (other than for mere personal monetary gain), with intent to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more individuals or to cause substantial damage to property.
(VI) A threat, attempt, or conspiracy to do any of the foregoing.
Other pertinent portions of section 212(a)(3)(B) are set forth below:
(iv) Engage in Terrorist Activity Defined
As used in this chapter [chapter 8 of the INA], the term '"ngage in terrorist activity" means in an individual capacity or as a member of an organization–
to commit or to incite to commit, under circumstances indicating an intention to cause death or serious bodily injury, a terrorist activity;
to prepare or plan a terrorist activity;
to gather information on potential targets for terrorist activity;
to solicit funds or other things of value for–
(aa) a terrorist activity;
(bb) a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(I) or (vi)(II); or
(cc) a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(III), unless the solicitor can demonstrate that he did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the solicitation would further the organization’s terrorist activity;
I. to solicit any individual–
(aa) to engage in conduce otherwise described in this clause;
(bb) for membership in terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(I) or (vi)(II); or
(cc) for membership in a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(III), unless the solicitor can demonstrate that he did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the solicitation would further the organization’s terrorist activity; or
II. to commit an act that the actor knows, or reasonably should know, affords material support, including a safe house, transportation, communications, funds, transfer of funds or other material financial benefit, false documentation or identification, weapons (including chemical, biological, or radiological weapons), explosives, or training–
(aa) for the commission of a terrorist activity;
(bb) to any individual who the actor knows, or reasonably should know, has committed or plans to commit a terrorist activity;
(cc) to a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(I) or (vi)(II); or
(dd) to a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(III), unless the actor can demonstrate that he did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the act would further the organization’s terrorist activity.
This clause shall not apply to any material support the alien afforded to an organization or individual that has committed terrorist activity, if the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Attorney General, or the Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary of State, concludes in his sole unreviewable discretion, that that this clause should not apply.
(v) Representative Defined
As used in this paragraph, the term "representative" includes an officer, official, or spokesman of an organization, and any person who directs, counsels, commands, or induces an organization or its members to engage in terrorist activity.
i. Terrorist Organization Defined
As used in clause (i)(VI) and clause (iv), the term "terrorist organization" means an organization--
I. designated under section 219 [8 U.S.C. § 1189];
II. otherwise designated, upon publication in the Federal Register, by the Secretary of State in consultation with or upon the request of the Attorney General, as a terrorist organization, after finding that the organization engages in the activities described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of clause (iv), or that the organization provides material support to further terrorist activity; or
III. that is a group of two or more individuals, whether organized or not, which engages in the activities described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of clause (iv).
For more information, see Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
Return to Foreign Terrorist Organization factsheet.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; Ben EthiopiaFirst; Aida Forum ; Tecola Hagos
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Wondimu Asamenew; helenmullie@yahoo.com; nega@horinfer.com
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2009 10:21:50 AM
Subject: Re: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
As you were being humoured by the Europeans on how to make Euro-English the language of the future, here is the story of the Assassinations attempt from a group that educateds Burnknel students on how best to be Economic Terrorists.
Unfortunately Betnachew does not have that opportunity as the BBC would perhaps milk the last drop of grey cells of terror left in him. All the same we need to protect the Burknell students from these criminals.
This is the latest story on the neuvo urban terrorists by remote control!
Dr B
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090501/wl_africa_afp/ethiopiaoppositionmilitarycrime
AFP/Yahoo
May 1, 2009
Senior Ethiopia officers "plotted assassinations"
Then opposition leader Berhanu Nega pictured in Addis Ababa in 2005. Senior military officers in Ethiopia, …
ADDIS ABABA – Senior military officers in Ethiopia, including a general, had plotted to assassinate top government officials, Communications Minister Bereket Simon said Friday, adding that 40 people were under arrest.
"While six of the suspects were army officers on active duty, including one general, 34 of the suspects were ex-army men expelled from the army on grounds of misconduct," he told a press conference.
Bereket said the plotters belonged to the Ginbot 7 (May 15) opposition group, saying it was linked to the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) headed by Berhanu Nega, currently living in the United States.
He said the government believed that the "desperado" group was not planning to stage a coup, but intended "assassinating individuals, high ranking government officials and destroying some public facilities and utilities ... like telecom services and electricity utilities.
"The police have also found evidence implicating some ex-CUD members released on pardon. With the exception of some three or four of the desperado group who are still at large, the police have arrested almost all members of the conspiracy.
"
Berekt told AFP the government knew about the plot from its inception, adding, "If there had been laxity from the government, there would have been problems."
The mass arrests were reported on Sunday by state media, which said the National Security Taskforce had also found weapons including bombs, computers and communications equipment, military uniforms and documents.
The CUD won an unprecedented number of seats in the May 15, 2005 elections, which the European Union and other observers said fell short of international standards.
Around 200 people died in violence that erupted after the CUD accused the party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of rigging the ballot.
Berhanu, 51, currently a university professor in the United States, was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in the polls. He was subsequently jailed for two years along with other leaders of the CUD, and left the country after his release.
Ethiopia's next general election is scheduled to be held in June 2010.
In a statement on its website following the initial reports of arrests Ginbot 7 said it "has no desire to engage in a tit-for-tat with the dictators in Addis Ababa, nor the time to waste replying to baseless accusations by a regime that rules Ethiopia by the barrel of the gun."
"Ginbot 7 remains committed to work for the establishment of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Ethiopia. No amount of scurrilous accusations, threats or blackmail by the regime will deter us from pursuing the cause of democracy and freedom," it added.
Oh! Assasinations and terror are the building blocks of democracy, these Zombies need help! I believe Bonger should follow Aweys and go back to Kaliti and meet his constituents!
Read below the example from Somalia, his terror mate
___________________________________________________________________
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSLU142426._CH_.2400
Reuters
May 1, 2009
INTERVIEW-Somali govt sees peace role for opposition ' s Aweys Abdiaziz Hassan
NAIROBI, May 1 (Reuters) - Somalia ' s hardline opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has an important role to play in restoring security to the country after 18 years of ruinous civil war, a government minister said.
Aweys, who is on the U.S. terrorism list for alleged links to al Qaeda, returned to the Horn of Africa nation last week in his first known trip home in more than two years.
He is an influential figure for many of the Islamist rebels fighting the new government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed -- who was Aweys ' former partner in the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) that ruled the capital and much of the south in 2 006.
Despite Aweys ' calls for African Union (AU) forces to leave, some analysts say exile may have mellowed him, and that he could still prove to be an important mediator with insurgents.
Aweys moved to Eritrea after Ethiopian forces chased his sharia courts group out of Mogadishu at the start of 2 007. In a Reuters interview late on Thursday, Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar said a lot had changed since then.
"He has been away some time and major developments have taken place in the country. He left because of an issue that has been resolved. Ethiopian troops have withdrawn," Omaar said.
"Aweys is an elder and a historical figure in Somalia . I believe he has a responsibility for the wellbeing and progress of the Somali people, especially the women and children who are most affected by the war."
After leading the ICU until Addis Ababa ' s offensive, Aweys and Ahmed later split, with Aweys taking over the Asmara-based Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia from Ahmed, who was elected president early this year at U.N.-led talks in Djibouti .
Last week, donors agreed to give at least $ 2 13 million to help Somalia strengthen its security forces and also fund the small AU mission AMISOM over the next year. [ID:nLN86947]
Omaar said the amount pledged was a clear sign of broad global support, and that all of it would be spent transparently. Ahmed ' s administration is the 15th attempt since 1991 to set up a functioning central government for Somalia
"This time, the international community sees that we ' re serious and reliable ... I believe we have crossed that bridge," the foreign minister said during a visit to neighbouring Kenya .
"We will establish joint committees of donors and the government to deliver, supervise and manage the money. Systems that satisfy everybody will be established." (Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Jack Kimball)
____________________________________________________________________________
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSgUj_A-akAcFMRboCJf3Fg5d0TA
AFP
April 30, 2009
Canadian detained in Ethiopia to defend terror charges
ADDIS ABABA — A Canadian man facing terrorism-related charges in Ethiopia and in detention since 2006 will take the defence stand next month, a judge said on Thursday.
Bashir Makhtal, an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen, is accused of inciting rebellion by aiding and abetting armed opposition groups in Ethiopia and being a senior member of a rebel group.
"The accused should now prepare his defence for next hearing on May 26," said Adam Ibrahim. Bonger can do the same at Kaliti where his real constituents are, Brecknel University students are just a distraction!
The 40-year-old, who has denied the charges, is also accused of supporting Somalia's Islamist movement ousted by Ethiopian forces in early 2007 when they intervened in the neighbouring country to prop up its embattled government.
Mukhtal was among some 150 people detained by Kenyan forces in 2006 on the border with Somalia as they fled the Ethiopian onslaught on the Islamists.
The trial has been postponed several times this year due to prosecutors' failure to provide witnesses.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
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Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; Ben EthiopiaFirst; Aida Forum ; Tecola Hagos
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Wondimu Asamenew; helenmullie@yahoo.com; nega@horinfer.com
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2009 10:04:42 AM
Subject: Re: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
Re: Managing Conflicts of Interests the European way and lessons for Horn Terrorists and Revolutinaries.
On the lighter side, I thought as this space is going to be busy in the coming few weeks as the 35 Potential Terrorists are broght to court and we here their wonderful and productive association with Betnachew and Bonger, I felt it will be helpful how to manage our frstration by having some interesting story from the Europeans.
Please take it, but take it easy as life is rather tough. We will update you the latest developments on the Neuvo-terrorists as information becomes available. In the mean time, here is some fun and great lesson in negotiations.
Dr B
Read slowly And carefully... .
he European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English. "
In the first year, "S" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.
The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.
In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.
Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.
By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".
During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "O" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer , ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi TU understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Sultan R
To: EthioForum Mailing List
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 8:57:37 PM
Subject: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Why is this fool tolerated on this forum?
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:14:50 -0700
From: globalbelai@yahoo.com
Subject: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
The Ethiopians and Russians are getting smarter catching the terrorists before they can act. I hope the US will do the same in Taliban land in Afghan and Pakistan Border!
As we watched President Barack Obama Report on his first 100 days, I could not help but be impressed by the intelligence, wit and deliberative and thinking president the US is blessed with.
I was forced to scan the universe and could not help but focus on the Horn, where people with the same genetic pool as the US President (Kenya and Ethiopia Borders) could not manage their affairs as he does in such clear and intelligent way.
He was so clear as he addressed the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic as well as the global climate change, the Economic Crisis, the Republican Crisis and welcoming the independent Senator Arlene Specter, and the future green economy, etc. and the Taliban and Betnachew type of Global Terror!
It is so amazing how people can be so intelligent but humble, so wise but simle, so great but respectful of their audience and the general public.
I then managed to review the Betnachew web site at www.Guinbot7.org and remembered the weekened interview by Apiring Terrorist Bonger, and felt, is this the same planet?
Such humility and intelligence wrapped around one man! He is from the Horn as are the Betnachews and Bongers are but he spent his early youth time in schools and colleges and not in the Mountains of Dedebit or the streets of Merkato terrorizing his own people.
That is the greatest difference, between three sets of people who hail from the Great Genetic Pool of the Horn people but whose outlook and foturnes are so different.
Can the Horn and Ethiopia create another HIM and Barack. I could not help but be amazed when I saw Barack quote straight from the Sermon on the Mount the same verses HIM quoted at the introduction of His book, My life and Ethiopia's progress.
Yet the same Bonger was heared just few years ago before he left for Ethiopia at the East West Highway Library in Silver Spring Maryland, the main cause of Ethiopia's problem is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Gospel of Christ. I walked out of the meeting by declaring you are a fool, Ethiopia will always respect its faith and you will be part of the dust bin of communist history. Now after almost 5 years, this fool converted into a potential terrorist and joined the camps of failed communists in the West.
What a shame!
Let us say, the majority children in the Horn by the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden did not see any thing but the tail of Camels all their lives and therefore we cannot expect any thing better than piracy and urban terror as Betnachew and Bonger have declared at www.guinbot.org. But, what do you say about Betnachew and Bonger who had all the opportunity to be educated and contributing members of humanity like Barack but decided to follow the tails of terror like their cousins in Somalia, Yemen, Egypt, Eritrea (Osaman, Ayman and Aweye and Afeworki) are engaged in.
Why did Bonger and Betnachew choose the terrorist route? This is a PhD student for future children of the Horn, especially the Merkato and Dedebit Neighborhood where these delinquents spent most of their creaative youth
I could not help but compare the compassion and intelligence when he was asked what surpirsed, humbled and endeared him and what would he cherish in the first 100 days, and then I listen to the Foolish Bonger and Betnachew regurgitating hate filled out of date and rather criminal language.
There you have it is not the Genuius Genes of the Horn that you see on Barack that matter but who your friends are and how you spend your time.
Imaine Bonger listening to Barack and saying, Please Bararck starve my people, and then Betnachew saying please Gordon, do not send help to my people, I would like to see them starve now so that I can then come back to you and feed them at their death bed.
This is such a great tragedy of the 21st Century, where the country of HIM, Menelik and Yohannes is now being cajoled to disaster by the Betnachews and Bongers of this world.
Please read on
Dr B
Could we generate more Baracks in the Horn and put all the Bongers and Betnachews in the dust hip of history!
That is my wish and I trust the wishes of all people of the Horn!
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/04/28/4152319.htm
Sudan Tribune/McClatchey Information Services, France/US
April 28, 2009
BRIEF: Ethiopia's 35 accused appear in court
ADDIS ABABA, Apr 28, 2009 (Sudan Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Some 35 Ethiopian, suspected of plotting to commit subversive activities against the government, were brought before the court on Monday.
Ethiopian security services said the terrorist group, which is led by Dr. Berhanu Nega, has declared an armed struggle to dismantle the national constitutional system through force.
The authorities, who detained them on Friday April 24, say they found in their houses weapons, explosives, communications tools and army uniforms.
The security service today requested the judge to allow them more time to finalize their investigations. A period of 14 days has been granted by the judges.
The police said they had been closely monitoring the activities of the members of the "terror network" which encompasses soldiers and civilians working in government ministries.
____________________________________________________________________________
http://www.telegraph..co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ethiopia/5243280/Ethiopia-PM-warns-anti-hunger-effort-at-risk.html
Telegraph, UK
April 29, 2009
Ethiopia PM warns anti-hunger effort at risk
Ethiopia's prime minister has warned that a British-backed effort to stave off starvation in the country is in danger of collapse without a dramatic increase in international aid.
Damien McElroy
Meles Zenawi, the strongman who has ruled the African republic for 18 years, represented Africa at the G20 summit in London last month. He led calls from African countries on international officials that met in Washington last weekend to quickly hand out the $500 billion (£342 billion) pledged in London for developing countries.
"The economic downturn means there is no cash to give more support to the vulnerable," he told The Daily Telegraph at his offices in Addis Ababa.
"We need the global economy to pick up and the resources promised at the G20 from the IMF to be made be available immediately to help with the balance of payment problems many African countries like ours are facing."
Mr Meles has played a key role for Western governments, most notably as a member alongside the singer and campaigner Bob Geldof, of Tony Blair's Commission for Africa.
The G20 has further entrenched his role as Africa's spokesman. Mr Meles has said that some African countries "could go under" as a result of the global downturn. He pointed to a foreign exchange crunch in Ethiopia and the troubles caused by a halving of economic growth as Africa suffers from the global recession.
Asked about the parlous state of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme - which receives £25 million a year from Whitehall - Mr Meles said that "it is in a more serious situation".
The half-cash, half-food scheme supports 7.2 million Ethiopians on the brink of starvation. But after five years the programme has fallen short of its original aim of helping millions escape from dependency on hand-outs.
A spokesman for the Department of International Development (DFID) in London said that it had demanded a "rapid payout" for Ethiopia and other distressed economies at the summit.
Officials believe the Ethiopian programme needs a drastic overhaul even if it survives the crisis. Just three per cent of recipients have been weaned off assistance, far short of the 50 percent hoped for when the scheme was launched in 2003.
"The government has been too optimistic," said Melakamnesh Alemu, a DFID adviser on the scheme. "We need to design the system to respond to a major shock."
Andrew Mitchell, the Conservatives' international aid spokesman, said that Ethiopia must be pressed to reform its economy as well.
"We in the West will not allow Ethiopians to face mass starvation again but at the same time Ethiopia is not doing enough free up its internal market to create jobs and livelihoods that would provide long-term security and prosperity," he said.
Ethiopia is the third largest recipient of British overseas aid. Relations with Addis Ababa were damaged by a violent response to pro-democracy demonstrators in 2005 and obstruction to international famine relief efforts last year.
The enhanced global role undertaken by Mr Meles has emboldened the 54-year old ex-guerrilla to grab more control of the Ethiopian economy. In recent weeks the government has seized the country's "Black Gold" - the coffee crop - from private merchants. Coffee traders have been threatened with prosecution for hoarding by holding back stock sales in the hope that the price would rise.
A foreign aid worker in Addis Ababa said: "Meles was a star at G20. He is still put as an example of success in Africa. He's pretty confident of what he can get away with as a result."
The long-serving leader has hinted he will hand over to a successor after a general election next year. Mr Meles rejected a suggestion that he had failed to entrench democracy while conditions were stable and the economy was logging robust growth.
"I disagree with the premise. I have done a lot for democracy and the elections will be free, fair and transparent," he said.
"When I withdraw, the system and the constitution will continue - it is a given."
_________________________________________________________________________
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8023951.stm
BBC
April 28, 2009
Russia captures Somalia pirates
International navies have been moving to arrest suspected pirates
A Russian warship has seized a pirate vessel with 29 people on board off the Somali coast, Russian news reports say.
Guns and navigation equipment were found during a search of the pirate boat, officials were quoted as saying.
They said the suspected pirates were thought to have launched two unsuccessful attacks against a tanker with a Russian crew. Russia is one of the countries that has deployed naval ships against pirates operating in the area. Navies from Nato, the EU, Japan, China, India, Yemen, US Malaysia and Singapore have also been patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
However, the number of attacks has continued to rise.
Somali pirates have hijacked 25 vessels since the beginning of this year and are holding more than 260 crew around the stronghold of Eyl in northern Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Naval patrols have captured pirates on a number of occasions.. Some have been put on trial in Kenya, while France has charged three suspected pirates and a Somali teenager is facing trial in the US.
Earlier on Tuesday, regional leaders in Somalia's northern Puntland region told the BBC they have put together a militia of fishermen to catch pirates.
Twelve armed pirates in two boats have been captured by the vigilante groups, they said
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Dawit Yohannis
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 4:06:39 PM
Subject: Fw: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia
Re: Ethiopia should initiate its own Internatinal Court of Justice
Let B Bonger be the first candidate to be prosecuted with all the loony terrorists in Ogaden and Alshabab, Shabia and OLF.
We have enough cases to keep the Addis International court of Justice busy as we can add the Terrorist Watch Group too who are busy fanning the potential terrorist activities.
Thee is a popular request from Patriotic Global Citizens for Ethiopia to house such International Court of Justice Against Global Terrorists!
A Popular request to get all cracked up terrrorist addicts masquerading as University Professors deported too! Guilt by facts as described at www.guinbot.org and etv and waltainformation and as reported by the BBC, VOA and all international media.
We do not need to revert to CIA reditioning, but to protect the sanctity of our people and governance, every thing is possible to get the Bongers to Kaliti International Court of Justice!
Here is an excellent justification why President Barack Obama should send Bonger and Tsigie to Addis as early as possible! Remember President Bush was able to send Kelbesa Negao, the Butcher of Addis and the Potential Butcher of Merkato should see his people in Addis Court!
U.S. Should Deport Dr. Berhanu Nega
Adal Isaw
adalisaw@yahoo.com
April 27, 2009.
Terrorism is “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” This definition of terrorism is neither EPRDF’s nor Premier Meles Zenawi’s. It’s the definition of the U.S. State Department of Defense- a part of the executive branch of the American government, which the few and vociferous violent prone Ethiopian Diaspora love to solicit with deceit.
The unfolding of the recent terrorist plot in a civil manner is a testament to arduous and efficient democratic governance in Ethiopia. A government that adheres to the rule of law under the Constitution is truly alive, where similar plot two decades ago would have been dealt with deadly force head on. A country that bore a fascist regime which levied the price of a bullet on a grieving mother is now endowed with a government that justly treats the treasonous elements of its citizens for the sake of exacting the rule of law.
Not by our choosing, our country sits in the Horn of Africa-arguably one of the roughest neighborhoods in the world. Abutted by a rogue one-man state of Eritrea that exacerbates conflicts through out the region and a failed state of Somalia, it is extremely self-defeating for few of our citizens to choose a terrorist route to force a political change of their inkling. As is, we Ethiopians have handful detractors of states and non state actors, such as Egypt, Libya, the one-man state of Eritrea, and others helping Al-quaeda and Al-shebaab to curtail our development as a people; enough is enough.
Our livelihood should not again be jeopardized under the same political ploy of the likes of Ginbot 7. Those nations with interest, especially the U.S. and European Union should take a serious note to amend their diplomatic engagements, to completely and absolutely disassociate themselves from the violent prone Ethiopian Diaspora. U.S. and the European Union should come to terms and realize that the vociferous Ethiopian Diaspora is the basket case of intolerance and backward thinking. In cases of those Diaspora leaders who are openly advocating for violent means, the U.S. and European Union should deport persons of interest as soon as possible. In regards to this matter, the U.S. should take the lead for it has a compelling interest to keep in so doing.
The Ethio-American diplomatic engagement is dictated by U.S.’s counter terrorism plan and it is a must for the authorities in the State Department to look into this matter quickly and forward the name(s) to Department of Homeland Security for deportation. The persons of interest includes Dr. Berhanu Nega and the evidence is everywhere for documentation.
Consider what BBC World News documented on April 25, 2009: “…one of the most charismatic opposition figures at the time of the last elections in Ethiopia in 2005 and if all had gone well he would have become mayor of Addis Ababa. But he was arrested along with other prominent opposition figures and tried for treason, sentenced to life imprisonment, then pardoned and released. Along with several of his colleagues he travelled abroad after his release, but while most of the others have returned to Ethiopia and are now organizing themselves as a legitimate opposition party to fight next year's elections, Dr. Berhanu chose to stay in the US, saying that the situation in Ethiopia was such that the government could not be changed by constitutional means.”
It is thus public knowledge that Dr. Berhanu has convinced himself and his followers to pursue a terrorist plot in lieu of adhering to the democratic processes set forth for political contest under the Constitution of FDRE. It is also very apparent that, Dr. Berhanu’s choice of a violent route by forsaking an established democratic process in and it self fits the State Department’s definition of terrorism. The U.S. State Department of Defense should thus make good on its own definition of terrorism and forward the case of Dr. Berhanu Nega and his cohorts to D.H.S for deportation.
Dr Berhanu Nega is the lead person of interest for the simple fact that the recent terrorist plot in Ethiopia is his brain child, and the evidences can be compiled from several news articles and other ample sources. In fact, his self-incriminating depositions without oath can be found at ease in arrays. This is not at all a trial to draw guilt by association but a trial to find justice for an apparent criminal intent by Dr. Berhanu Nega, to unlawfully coerce and intimidate a government and its people to exact his political and ideological inkling. His deed is criminal and is defined as terrorism by whom else but by the U.S. State Department of Defense, which should make good on its own definition and recommend to D.H.S for the deportation of Dr. Berhanu Nega.
The U.S. should not be an adobe for violence prone individuals of the likes of Dr. Berhanu Nega. After all, under U.S. Code 1227, section (4), subsection (I), in reference to deportable aliens, an alien whose presence or activities in the U.S. the secretary of the State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences is deportable. The State Department should pursue the deportation process for Dr. Berhanu Nega sooner than later if it really wants to keep the Ethio-American counter-terrorism alliance as effective as it has been.
Ethiopia’s endurance will continue!!!
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
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V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: "arayaamsalu@aol.com"
To: EthioForum Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 11:57:48 AM
Subject: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Belai,
You are cracking me up! A very good case of many an Ethiopian saying " etc. I can pick anyone of these and make my point about you man.
Whose fault is it that the aging parents are jailed? Berhanu and Andagatchew's or the governments? Let me humour you for a minute and go along, the two sons are criminals (let me agree with EPRDF innocent till proven guilty is overrated), then what has that got to do with the old parents being dragged to jail? Do these people have basic rights as citizens?Have you heard of the basics of rule of law, such as no guilt by association?
BTW I hate comparisons, but a friend pointed to me this is even worse than Dergue. You see even the Dergue did not jail Ato Zenawi Asres even when it knew Meles Zenawi was the leader of TPLF.
Araya
-----Original Message-----
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum Mailing List
Sent: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:24 pm
Subject: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Does Bucknell University kno w what we know? Does BBC and British Government know what we know?
Imagine a generation that puts its fathers into jail, not once, but twice and three times
What a curse, this is? My sympathy goes out to all those mothers who collected the Placenta instead of the real babies during the horrific days of the Derg that allows this level of evil to be unleashed among our people.
When will this evil stop? Please read below a sad saga of the Coward terrorists hiding in the US and London and allowing their parents untold misery.
My condolances for our elederly being pushed around at such Senior year when they should be enjoying their grandchildren's success!< /SPAN>
Imagine any Government in the Universe that accpets any group that is trying to get rid of it by any thing possible including Violence. This is basic abc of Governance1 Try it here in the White House or British Parliament, Bonger and Tsegie and see what you will get1
Is is so shameful to see such level of stupidity unfolding infront of the world from Ethiopia!
Watch this space, more will come! The tragedy is we need intelligent politicians who can learn from Barack Obama's 4 years campaign and 100 days of Governance.
Imagine the mother of Good Governance having such violent chaotic children wanting chaos for their families by hidign themselves in Pensylvania and London!
Watch this space, more interesting things will unfold
Dr B
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-27-voa53.cfm
VOA
April 27, 2009
=0 D
Kin of Exiled Ethiopian Opposition Leaders Charged in Coup Plot
Peter Heinlein
Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi (File Photo)
Relatives of two prominent exiled Ethiopian politicians are among 35 people jailed in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government. Ethiopians shocked by news of the arrests are scrambling to learn the identities of the accused plotters and details of their alleged crimes.
Ethiopian officials say they had nothing to add to a statement issued Saturday announcing the arrest of 35 alleged members of Ginbot Seven, an opposition group based outside the country.
Ginbot Seven, or May 15th, is the date of Ethiopia's disputed 2005 election. The group's leader, Berhanu Nega, is a charismatic politician who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in that election. He was arr ested afterward, convicted of treason, and sentenced to life in prison along with more than 100 other opposition leaders. All were later pardoned.
Berhanu now lives in the United States, where he is an economics professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
Saturday's government statement said security forces had foiled a terror network formed by Berhanu to wage armed struggle against the government. Spokesman Ermias Legesse said a search of suspects' homes had revealed a cache of weapons, military uniforms and a plan of attack.
In a telephone interview Monday, Berhanu confirmed that Ginbot Seven's aim is to overthrow the government by any means possible.
"Our position is very clear from the beginning. This is an illegal government. This government is in power by coup de etat in 2005. This government has usurped power by force and therefore any mechanism to get rid of an illegitimate tyranny is legitimate as far as we are concerned," he said.
Ethiopian media sa id those arrested included an active duty army general, Teferra Mamo, said to be leader of Ginbot Seven's military wing. The only other suspect identified was Melaku Tefera, an organizer for the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice party.
Melaku was among the opposition leaders convicted of treason and later pardoned following the 2005 election. He now joins UDJ leader Birtukan Mideksa, who was re-arrested earlier this year and ordered to serve out her life sentence.
Berhanu Nega says he had been told the accused included a cousin of his living in Addis Ababa, and the 80-year old father of Tsige Andargachew, an exiled Ginbot Seven official living in Britain.
Berhanu told VOA security forces had surrounded his parents' Addis Ababa home and confiscated their cellphones. "This is a government that accuses your relatives for what you do. Whatever it is that you do. That is why Ato (Mr.) Tsige Andargachew's father is in prison. Maybe my cousin is in prison for the same reason," he said.
Several Ethiopian opposition figures expressed concern over the arrests. Parliament Member Bulcha Demeksa agreed that Ginbot Seven would be considered an illegal organizat ion under Ethiopian law, but he expressed skepticism about the reports of a coup plot.
"I honestly believe this is not true. The government of Ethiopia has used such accusations so many times to make it a reason to arrest people ... The election approaching. Anybody who could be a viable candidate for an opposition party will be caught by this net," he said.
A government spokesman said he was busy in meetings but said told VOA further details of the arrests and the coup plot would be forthcoming in the next few days. He declined to speculate on what charges might be filed against those detained, but said the suspects would soon be brought before a judge to hear the charges read.
_________________________________________________________________
http://cyberethiopia.com/news/?id=139024
Fortune, Ethiopia
April 26, 2009
State Grain Firm Dips into Coffee Export Trade
PAWLOS BELETE
To Sell 12,000Qtls to German Co.
The Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise (EGTE) signed its first agreement to sell 12,000Qtls of coffee to a Germany based company more than a week ago, officials of the enterprise disclosed. The agreement, signed on April 14, 2009, makes the German company the first buyer of EGTE's coffee; the latter has finalized preparations for the first shipment of coffee to Germany in May.
The state owned enterprise penetrated the coffee export business for the first time in its half a century history a couple of months ago. It has already bought more than 42,000Qtls of coffee through open auction at the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)..
The idea of becoming involved in the coffee export business was floated during Business Process Reengineering (BPR) of the enterprise, according to its officials. The assessment proved that the enterprise has both the infrastructure and manpower to handle export trade of coffee, in addition to the export of pulses, oil seeds and other agricultural products, which the enterprise has been known for over the past 50 years.
"We have the experience both in the domestic and international markets, with the manpower and the infrastructure to do the business," Beru Lede, deputy General Manager of the enterprise, told Fortune.
Nevertheless, perhaps because it has started at a time when the government has taken stern action=2 0against major coffee exporters and suppliers, accusing them of hoarding export standard coffee, there has been criticism that the enterprise's move is a government ploy to enter the coffee business. But senior government officials argue that this strategy is a result of concern for the void in the coffee export business created due to the action taken against the major actors.
"The enterprise has entered the coffee market for one simple reason; there is concern that the capability to process the coffee exports of the remaining several actors in the market may not be adequate to push the coffee through the system quickly enough," Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said at a press conference more than a week ago.
Though the preference would be to handle the trade through private sector actors, if there are bottlenecks created, the government would try to beef it up through the Grain Trade Enterprise, according to Meles.
"But there is no intention of establishing a public monopoly in any of the agricultural markets because we know that it doesn't work," the Prime Minister emphasized.
The coffee the EGTE bought at the ECX is from the stock the government has taken over from the stores of the six major exporters, knowledgeable sources disclosed. People engaged in the coffee export business, however, see EGTE's coming to the scene as potential competition.
"The move is contrary to the principle of free market; it was a practice apparent in the military regime through the Coffee Market (Buna Gebeya), a coffee exporter who requested not to be named told Fortune. "It complicates the competition field."
The absence of equal power between the state and private enterprises makes it difficult for the latter to compete fairly, the exporter added.
With its head office on Beyene Aba Sebsib Avenue ( Debre-Zeit Road ), the EGTE has 11 branches and 40 trade centres and warehouses throughout the=2 0country, with a combined storage capacity of eight million quintals. The enterprise has a 1,700 strong permanent workforce in all its branches and sales points. The business the enterprise was engaged in before exporting the commodity include transporting the coffee to the processing facilities it runs in different parts of the country for pulping and cleaning the coffee to meet the country's quality and grade requirements, as well as the buyers' needs.
The enterprise is eyeing markets in Europe, America , Middle East and Asia . Its general manager, Brehane Hailu, was recently in Atlanta , US , to participate in a coffee fair held there and to source for potential customers. The enterprise has in stock pulped and fermented coffee - which is washed to remove its sticky mucilage - otherwise known as "washed coffee" from Yirga Chefe and Sidama Areas of the Southern Nation, Nationalities and People Regional State, as well as "Sun Dried" coffee that is dried, hulled, cleaned and stored as red cherry coffee from Jimma and Nekemte of the Oromia Regional State. These are in stock ready to be transported to any interested buyer.
O ver the past 50 years, EGTE has been active in the buying and selling of grains, and for more than a year now, it has become a responsible government arm for the stabilization of the domestic grain market. It is accountable to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) and is run by a board chaired by Ali Suleiman, commissioner of the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
EGTE owns 39 new and additional used heavy trucks to transport commodities to customers' facilities, or to and from the port, in the case of export and import transactions. The enterprise operates with 105 million Br of fully paid up capital injected by the government as seed money; its annual turnover is currently about 500 million Br. The turnover does not include the over 250 million dollars the government spent over the past more than a year to buy close to 800,000tn of wheat from the international market, mainly East Europe, to stabilize the local market through subsidized imports..
Ethiopia earned close to 175 million dollars in the first six months of the 2008/2009 fiscal year from the export of 59,188tn of coffee, which is 61.2pc of the plan (285 million dollars).20Compared to the previous year's performance of the same period, the coffee export this year increased by 14pc in volume and 21pc in earnings, according to data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
________________________________________________________________
http://af.reuters.com/article/somaliaNews/idAFLR4979620090427?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Reuters
April 27, 2009
Yemen frees ship, captures pirates - govt official
SANAA - Yemeni special forces on Monday freed a Yemeni oil tanker seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, killing three pirates and capturing at least nine on board, a government official said.
The ship, named Qana, was seized by Somali pirates off Yemen's coast on Sunday but was empty of oil cargo. The deaths on Monday took to five the number of pirates killed as Yemeni forces battled for two days to take back the vessel.
They were escorting the tanker to the Yemeni port of Aden on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Pirates have made millions of dollars over the past year from seizing ships and taking crews hostage. Pirates have increased raids on ships passing through the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping lane for oil and cargo, since February.
Better weather has allowed them to operate more freely despite foreign navy patrols off the coast of Somalia.
Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia, is a small producer of oil and exports 200,000 barrels per day but is one of the world's poorest countries.
The tanker, with a 23-strong crew of which three are Indian and the rest Yemenis, has a capacity of 3,000 tonnes but was not carrying any cargo when it was seized.
The pirates had briefly seized three other vessels earlier before Yemeni forces freed them, a Yemeni official said.
On Sunday pirates freed the Yemeni-owned Sea Princess II tanker that had been held since Jan. 2.
The London-based IMB watchdog said piracy incidents nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2009, almost entirely due to Somalia and there were 18 attacks off its coast in March alone. (Reporting by Mohammed Sudam; Writing by Andrew Hammond; editing by Richard Balmforth)
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
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From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Dawit Yohannis; Ben@EthiopiaFirst.com; Admin@Aigaforum.com; globalbelai7@gmail.com
Cc: Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Michael Mered; Nega Gebre Jesus ; Negus Wolde Mariam
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 10:14:23 AM
Subject: Ethiopia tries to regaom its stole n Assets, South Afroca Commends Ethiopia for assisting it stop the looting of its people and Somalia wants to be the new looter
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
RE: Restoration of looted treasures and current campaigns to destory Ethiopia's image!
Restoration is about returning the honor, dignity and treasures looted illlegally by others without permission.
Ethiopia has stood for Good Governance and Justice among nations for Millennia.
The attached documents clearly show that Ethiopia will not allow any nation or pirates or terrorists to distrub its peace, loot its treasures and spiritual icons and keep quiet.
The attached statement of Russ Fienegold about Somalia is misguided as he continues to believe it is Ethiopia that caused Somalia to go bankrup t. It is Ethiopia who stopped the loony Terrorist Caliphate in its tracks. Somalia can have any form of Government it wants but it needs to deploy it on its territory and for its own people. Ethiopoia will not accept any faith to be imposted by it, be it by the Turkish and Egyptian Pashas of the past, and the Roman Catholics or the loony Somali Pirates!
The Minute Somalia, Sudan, British, Italy and any Senator wants to impose their will on Ethiopians then the game changes. Ethiopians have not gone to Italy, Britain or Turkey or Egypt and invaded these countries. They always come to loot Ethiopia and we say no. May be we need to change our policy and take the battle ground to these countries that continue to want to terrorize us. It worked when we went to Moqadisho and may be we need to do more of this! The traditional Ethiopian notion of Atinqugne, do not touch me or bother me has not worked.
Better still, we need to be proactive and pre-empt challenges by coming forward with creative solutions and not wait for crisis to galvanize us. The recent Tilahun Death is a case in point. If we had just done a little bit to ensure that he got good medical care in the USA and then followed=2 0him to Ethiopia and ensured that all the Ethiopian Ambullance System was effective we would not have lost Empress Medferiash Work, Dejasmatch Zewde Gebre-Selassie and even Fitawrari Amede Lemma, had our Medical System been Available, Accountable and Affordable.
We need to change the paradigm of hopeless ness and create a pardigm of opportunities in all sectors of our lives. Our people are our treasures and we need to protect their dighnity, health and prosperity at all costs!
Ethiopia has stood for Justice and Peace through out history and when the South Africans under Botha and Ian Smith were terrorizing Africans for centuries, there was no Genocide Watch or Apartheid Watch or Human Rights Watch from the USA and in fact Governments led by President Reagan and Co were supporting sanctions against people like Mandela, I understand that sanctioin still holds and Pres Mandela cannot travel to the USA. It was Ethiopia who put all its resources to get Africa Decolonized and United. Africans need to be reminded of the sacrifice Ethiopia made for their independence and dignity and African Union.
Who can tell Finegold first to clean your own house! Imagine, Finegold has been at the center of the Campaign to destabillize Ethiopia in support of ONLF terrorists. Now he wants President Barack Obamba to be involved like he pushed President Bush to be involved in Iraq. Jurst imagine who was part of the Torture Memo series in Congress and Senate. Finegold should be made to apologize for insulting and dishonoring the Ethiopian People. Just imagine what will be the outcome.
All the same, we have to get our stolen assets from the British Museum and not allow new Robbers to steal the imagination of our youth by starting all sorts of Calendar based Terror Groups like Guinbot 7 and May be February Revolution and who knows there are some 365 days and they can replace our Saints with a series of demonic terror leaders, if we keep quiet and allow them to convert Blessed Ethiopia into Chaotic Somalia. Just watch where does all the resources come to enter Somalia and keep the Peace there! Do you remember Black Hauck Down Movie?
When our surroundings are being targets for a battle ground for war, terror, Ethiopia will be the country that will be faced with refugees and terrorist network safe heavens. The re cent tragedy where an attempt to distabilize the country when the people were busy Mourning the deaths of its Patriots like Drs Senedu, Tilahun and Fitawrari Amede Lemma is clear indication that our terrorist networks willnot rest even at the time of our mourning, perhaps they think that is our weakest moment.
Now, let us get all our treasures from Britian and Switzerland before another set of terrorist come and create havoc for another blunder campaign.
Please read the stories of Somalia, South African Independence and Ethiopian attempt to get back the "Maqdela Treasures"
Just imagine who is ready to loot us again when the Guinbot & and ONLF manage to create havoc under false pretexts, some organized ciminal pirates?
Just imagine who is in line to benefit from creating havoc amongst us? and Why do they want to create havoc amongst us? If we put in place legal means of transaction and sharing information like we did with Lucy and other tresasures, The Tourists will flock to Ethiopioa. The lost financial and cultural=2 0opportunity demands that we display our treasures in a legal format for the world to see it instead of few crooks to looot it.
Just imagine! in the end we need to educate our youths about preserving our historical treasures and investment oppotunities and compete in the global market with quality and creativity, not with Guinbot 7 type of terror operatives. We need to proactively clean up terrorist cultures that is being promoted amongst our youth under the pretext of religious and political agenda.
Just imagine, if we have all 80 Million Citizens interacting with the Global Citizens in creative investment ventures than What the foolish Berhanu Bonger and Sheik Awiye, the Shabia and AlShabab terrorists want to do. An educated and interactive citizenship will protect itself and promote its best talents across the world... That is what Tilahun taught us. Even when his music was stolen and sold in the market under a different name, he said, I will go to Addis and investigte before I say any thing in advance. Investigate, Research is his last word in Washigton DC during his last interview.
So, let us reserach, investigate Guinbot 7 and other series of terrorists like ONLF, OLF, Shababa, Shabia and Alqaeda and Donald Paynes and Russ Finegolds. We can turn them around, if we know what they want or better still make them our friends and friends of Ethiopia for ever.
It takes a new set of geniuses to convert our enemies into friends. Ethiopia needs 7 Billion friends. Our task is before us to convert our alleged enemies into our friends, as Obama declares, "Yes We Can indeed!"
Dr B
http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=311976
Senator Russ Feingold's office, US Senate
Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold on Somalia Piracy
As Submitted for the Record
Friday, April 24, 2009
Mr. President, I was glad earlier this week to join Senator Leahy in passing a resolution commending Captain Richard Phillips for his brave conduct, and those members of our Armed Services, particularly members of the Navy and Navy SEAL teams, who rescued Captain Phillips.. I also want to commend the leadership of the President and the efforts of many U.S. government departments and agencies in their response to this crisis. These many acts of bravery and leadership are deeply inspiring, and we should recognize them.
However, while the episode involving the Maersk Alabama was resolved, we are likely to see more such episodes if we do not take comprehensive measures to address not only piracy on the waters, but also conditions on land that enable it. We cannot ignore the fact that piracy off the coast of Somalia is an outgrowth of the state collapse, lawlessness and humanitarian crisis that have plagued the country for over a decade. In recent Congressional testimony, both Director of National Intelligence Blair and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Army Lt. General Michael Maples cited l awlessness and economic problems on land as the cause of the rise in piracy at sea. Until we address those conditions, we will be relying on stopgap measures, at best, to deter this piracy problem and we are unlikely to succeed in reversing the growing violent extremism in Somalia.
Mr. President, for years I have been calling for the development of a comprehensive, interagency strategy to help establish stability, the rule of law, and functional, inclusive governance in Somalia. This is the only sure and sustainable solution to address the problem of piracy – and the instability in Somalia – over the long term.. Moreover, I am convinced that we have a unique window of opportunity for progress as a result of the Ethiopian troop withdrawal earlier this year and the establishment of a new unity government relocated back to Mogadishu. This government has the potential to unite Somalia if it demonstrates a genuine commitment to inclusion and begins to make a real difference in people’s lives – in terms of security and basic services, such as protection, trash collection and job creation. Helping the government to find tangible solutions to expand effective and inclusive governance must be a central part of our overall strategy to stabilize Somalia and address the threats of piracy and terrorism.
To that end, I continue to urge th e Obama administration, as it develops its response to piracy, to make it a priority to engage at a high level with the new Somali government. I have written to President Obama, asking him to personally call Somali President Sheik Sharif and indicate a clear commitment to work with his government not just on maritime insecurity, but also on establishing security and governance within the country. We have been engaging with President Sharif at the ambassadorial level for quite some time now, and I met the president in Djibouti in December. In addition, there needs to be a stronger and more sustained diplomatic push to engage with a wide range of actors within Somalia and stakeholders in the wider region – both in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East – if we are going to address the underlying problems that have contributed to piracy and rising extremism.
Mr. President, the events with the Maersk Alabama earlier this month have finally brought increased attention to the problem of piracy in Somalia’s waters. But it will be insufficient if our response only deals with the symptoms and not Somalia’s central problems. I urge my colleagues and the different committees who will examine this issue over the coming weeks and months to take this seriously. For if we do not finally deal with Somalia’s lawlessness and instability, we will continue to see them manifest themselves in activities – be they acts of piracy or terrorism – that threaten U.S. and international security.
I yield the floor.
__________________________________________________________
http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=96872
APA
April 28, 2009
South Africa commends Ethiopia ’s role in its liberation struggle
Addis Ababa ( Ethiopia ) South Africa on Monday commended Ethiopia for its support to South Africa ’s struggle for freedom during the apartheid era.
Speaking in Addis Ababa on Monday during commemoration of South African National Day, the South African ambassador to Ethiopia Major General Chris L. Pepani said relations between Ethiopia and South Africa were in good shape and would be further strengthened.
It is to be recalled that the former South African president Nelson Mandela was among those who received military training in Ethiopia during the liberation struggle against the apartheid regime.
Ambassador Pepani indicated that Ethiopia played an unforgettable role for South Africa ’s struggle for freedom, which has resulted in better bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
“ South Africa continues with its firm commitment on the path towards the achievement of a better continent predicated on the obvious idea of democracy, peace, development and prosperity,” said ambassador Pepani.
______________________________________________ ___________________
http://news.independentminds.livejournal.com/2342224.html
Independent, UK
April 27, 2009
Ethiopia demands stolen crown back
Andrew Johnson
The President has written to the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Library and Cambridge University Library seeking the restitution of more than 400 so-called "treasures of Magdala", which were stolen by British soldiers following a battle in 1868.
In the letter, obtained by The Independent on Sunday, the President wrote: "I must state that Ethiopians have long grieved at the loss of this part of their20national heritage. Ethiopians feel that this act of appropriation had no justification in international law. I feel, therefore, that the time has come for the return of Ethiopia's looted treasures."
Among the items being held in the UK is an 18-carat gold crown and more than 300 priceless manuscripts, including Christian scriptures. Experts say the issue is particularly sensitive for Ethiopians because many of the artefacts hold deep religious significance for them.
These include nine tabots, or sacred wooden altar slabs, which are recognised as so holy that the British Museum has pledged never to display them. When a tabot was returned in 2005 after being discovered in the back of an Edinburgh church, thousands of people turned out to greet its return in Addis Ababa.
The objects were among those seized by British soldiers after the storming of the Fortress of Magdala in 1868, a punitive expedition that followed the kidnap of several Britons. Emperor Tewodros committed suicide after the battle.
According to contemporary accounts, British soldiers slaughtered hundreds of poorly armed Ethiopians after the battle, and then "jostled each other" to grab a piece of the emperor's blood-stained shirt, which they tore from his body.
They also looted the citadel and a nearby church, carrying off treasures that included "an infinite variety of gold, and silver and brass crosses", as well as "heaps of parchment royally illuminated".
British museums have in the past resisted calls for artefacts from their collections to be returned to their countries of origin, but it is understood that Neil MacGregor of the British Museum and Mark Jones of the V&A have already met the Ethiopian ambassador to discuss the matter.
Museums often argue in restitution cases that the artefacts are better off in Britain because anyone in the world can view them, and the V&A is known to have asked Addis Ababa whether the silver crown of Emperor Tewodros, which it returned to Ethiopia in 1925, is available for public view.
The V&A said yesterday that discussions were still ongoing, even though the President's letter was sent in February this year. The four organisations involved have also held meetings over the way forward.
The Magdala treasure differs to other restitution cases, such as that of the Elgin Marbles, because it is acknowledged that the treasures were simply stolen. "It was straightforward looting," a spokeswoman at the Ethiopian embassy in London said.
A spokeswoman for Afromet, an organisation that has campaigned for the restitutions of the items, said: "These museums hold most of Ethiopia's heritage. It means far more to Ethiopians than it could ever do to anyone else."
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
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Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
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After watching President Barack Obama and Vice President Cheney debate on the US National Security as it relates how to deal with terrorism, I could not help but think how people of the Horn and Global Patriotic Citizens would debate the emerging Somalia Crisis and Shabia terror network and the IGAD and UN Security response.
It is interesting how the Shabia leadership perceives its own predicament in the person of Isayas accusing the CIA his former masters. He even tries to tell us he knows the people concerned by name as perhaps they were his handlers in his early CIA training camps.
It is interesting, his concern about the Tamil Terrorists thinking he might face the same future as Prabakhar who terrorized that tiny island for more than two decades.
All the same, it is interesting to note that Ethiopia is to a certain scale demobilizing as it is honorably discharging some of its soldiers as the situation in Somalia is getting critical and as the Shabia leader is saying he will never demobilize nor ease the tension in the northern border.
I wonder, what the Ethiopian government is thinking when it is making an announcement that it is allowing the former Ethiopians who labeled themeless as Eritreans and the Ethiopian government considered them a threat to its national security.
What changed now? The speech from Isays here does not show any change in is attitude nor his expectations and wondered what did Meles and Co see in the former Ethiopans turned Shabia and Eritreans (Ethiopians North of the Mereb River) to invite them to invest in Ethiopia and get all their assets back.
In the first place, why were they allowed to go and why welcome now? What has changed?
We should have and should now stand for our people regardless of what the leaders want them to be. Eritreans are and have always been Ethiopians regardless of what the current leadership think and do. Just see the number of Eritreans returning to Ethiopia via overt and covert routes. The recent sympathy shown to the late Tilahun Gessese by his former friends in Eritrea shows the deep seated attachment and respect and love for our peoples.
It is becoming clear by the day there is a big disconnect between the people and the leadership of the Horn who create un necessary differences and conflicts between the people and when he people want to change the hopeless paradigm the leaders continue to be caught up with their unfortunate stories and tricks.
The attached story deserves a very good debate by all citizens of the Horn and Global Patriotic Citizens as it is getting rather dangerous by the day.
I believe it is time for a rethink of the whole Horn issues. We need to address problems of good governance, lack of education, employment, energy and regional climate change.
These challenges are here to stay for a long time. The current conflicts of interest appear to be transitional. Who ever is in power, they cannot change things over night.
The glaring poverty of ideas, resources and good will stems from lack of education and increasing level of abject poverty in good governance and leadership competency of the old guard that prevails in the region and needs to be changed to new proactive and intelligent leadership.
The days of war lords and terror lords is over! Intelligence, good will and good governance with competent leadership should prevail. There is just no option~
No amount of Communist or Islamic extreme ideologies are going to change this overwhelming paradigm of hopelessness. Good governance, sustainable development and investment are the only solutions which non of the leadership of the Horn is able to appreciate nor put into practice
We need a new set of young intelligent leadership that looks at the problems for what they are and address them directly instead of looking for scapegoats in the CIA, KGB and AlQaeda Network. Education and continuous information exchange is critical to empower the communities of the Horn.
Yet, we have to do the first thing first. Change old and out of date ideas and the leadership of the Horn soon with young talented and interactive team like President BO who is a refreshing change as we listen to the old paradigm of Bush and Cheyenne that we just watched on the CNN>
I hope and pray we will have rigorous debate on the Horn rather than this demonic murder and terror spree that is making the region the worst place to live in the Universe.
I trust we can change this paradigm with new intelligent leadership and way of doing things.
President BO has given us a good start and trust the rest of the world will follow with his good will and desire to promote good governance first and foremost here in the US and the rest of the world.
May we begin to debate the issues aggressively by respecting the people behind the ideas.
As the US is seeking a Comprehensive and Sustainable Solution based on reconciliation, may be Citizens of the Horn should demand the same from their respective governments and regional leaders.
*****
Dr B (A special Birth day perspective on 21 May 2009)
Please review this interesting news and have your say.
http://www.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFLL93510520090521?rpc=401&&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Reuters
May 21, 2009
INTERVIEW-Eritrea sees CIA behind Somalia arms accusations
* President says CIA agents spreading lies
* Opposes indictment against Sudan's president
Andrew Cawthorne
ASMARA - Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki said renewed accusations that Asmara is arming Somalia's Islamist rebels was the work of CIA agents in the region bent on blackening his government's name.
"We don't interfere (in Somalia) and we don't want to see any terrorism prevail in Somalia," Isaias told Reuters.
Somalia's government has accused Eritrea of supporting al Shabaab insurgents with planeloads of AK-47 assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.
To the anger of Asmara -- which says there is no evidence in accusations that have been around for several years -- the U.N. has ordered a probe and east African bloc IGAD wants sanctions on Eritrea including a no-fly zone.
"It's CIA operatives ... these people are liars," Isaias, a former rebel commander in power since 1991, said during an interview at Asmara's colonial-era presidential palace.
"This is a continuation of the old story. I know for sure, even the individuals behind these things. I don't want to talk about that because it would poison the whole mood."
Former U.S. president George W. Bush's government had threatened to put Eritrea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, and Isaias said old interest groups were still jostling for influence with President Barack Obama.
He said Asmara would wait to see the impact of the Bush-Obama transition, and what he termed a bigger historical transition of U.S. economic ties and international attitudes.
"It is too early to judge," Isaias said, acknowledging that Washington had bigger priorities than his country.
"Eritrea is not a big deal. I don't expect the United States and officials in Washington will be sitting there and talking about how they formulate their policies with Eritrea.
"This is a transition, a very difficult transition. We need to be patient. It may take a long time."
Isaias said the new government of Somalia -- the 15th attempt to restore central rule in the last 18 years -- looked doomed to fail because it was imposed from outside.
"Leave this for the Somalis," he said.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, became Somalia's latest president earlier this year in a peace process in Djibouti brokered by the United Nations.
"This is the mentality of a gambler," Isaias said of the repeated attempts to set up a transitional Somali government with Western backing.
"This so-called government is not a government in terms of legitimacy. It cannot even influence one very small neighbourhood in Mogadishu, let alone Somalia."
"NO RELAXATION" ON ETHIOPIA BORDER
Risking further criticism from the West, Eritrea was in March the first country to receive Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir after the International Criminal Court indicted him on accusations of war crimes in Darfur.
Isaias, like other African leaders, said the case was politically motivated and risked further destabilising Sudan.
"Whether he is guilty until proven innocent, or innocent until proven guilty, is another matter. It is a legal matter. That is an issue for extensive discussion," he said.
"It is purely a political case, it has no legality at all ... It doesn't serve any purpose for the people of Darfur."
Isaias said the West was not showing the same clamour for justice in other places, such as Sri Lanka.
"The government did not allow journalists to go there, they did not allow relief agencies to even operate freely in that very small area," he said of recent events in Sri Lanka where the army wiped out Tamil Tiger rebels.
"The casualties on civilians were huge. No one intervened."
Eritrea's long-running border dispute with Ethiopia, where the two lost tens of thousands of men in a 1998-2000 war, has taken a back seat in the headlines of late, with no reports of clashes and rhetoric quieter on both sides.
Asked if that meant Eritrea could scale down its army and use resources elsewhere, Isaias shook his head and shot back: "Never relax."
"I will never take any risk ... We retain the allocation of our resources in spite of the bitterness we have about it. We have no other option, unless we fully guarantee and see things have changed for good."
____________________________________________________________
http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-05-20-voa42.cfm
VOA
May 20, 2009
US Seeks Coordinated, Sustainable Somali Strategy
Text of Asst. Secretary of State Johnnie Carson's statement: http://www.state.gov/p/af/rls/rm/2009/123729.htm
In Washington, a US Senate panel held a hearing Wednesday on developing a coordinated and sustainable strategy toward Somalia.
The Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs took testimony on "the new offensive launched by militant extremists."
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson says despite a transitional federal government in place, Somalia is in crisis.
"Approximately 43 percent of the Somali population relies on humanitarian assistance to survive and nearly 500,000 Somalis have fled the country and now live in overcrowded refugee camps throughout the region," he says.
Clans, militias, warlords and terrorist organizations control most of the country, not the Transitional Federal Government (TFG).
Carson adds, "The blight of piracy off the coast of Somalia is without question a symptom of the instability and insecurity within Somalia. Without stability in Somalia there can be no long-term resolution of the piracy problem."
The US blames much of insecurity in Somalia on the al-Shabaab militia, which it accuses
Carson says US aims for sustainable Somalia policy
ofbeing a terrorist organization. Al-Shabaab is trying to overthrow the TFG.
"The resolution of these problems calls for a comprehensive solution that provides stability,promotes reconciliation, economic opportunity and hope for the Somali people," says Carson.
The Obama administration has called on the State Department, the National Security Council,the Defense Department, USAID, intelligence agencies and other agencies to develop a Somalia strategy -- one, Carson says, "that is both comprehensive and sustainable."
He says the US is also working with international partners, including the United Nations, African Union and European Union.
A strategy based on internal reconciliation
"Our comprehensive strategy is to promote a stabile and peaceful Somalia, to support regional peacekeeping efforts, to create a functioning and effective central government…to create a country that is at peace with its neighbors," he says.
Carson says the United States has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to support humanitarian and security needs in Somalia.
He also accuses Eritrea of supporting armed groups, who are opposed to the Transitional Federal Government.
Also testifying was Professor Ken Menkhaus of Davidson College, who expects the Somali crisis to be a continuing foreign policy concern for the new Obama administration.
Past US policy flawed
He says, "In this increasingly complex environment, external state building, peace building and counter-terrorism initiatives have at times been based on flawed analysis and have produced unintended consequences, which have left Somalia and its regional neighbors even more insecure."
Menkhaus says sometimes policy initiatives have been at odds.
Menkhaus says Somalia will remain foreign policy challenge
"The US also faces the challenge of de-conflicting its multiple objectives in Somalia. Over the past decade, American counter-terrorism, state building and humanitarian initiatives have generally been unintegrated and have at times worked at cross purposes," he says.
More challenges were created by the 2007 Ethiopian invasion of Somalia and subsequent occupation.
"That occupation and the destructive insurgency and counter insurgency…helped to fuel an unprecedented level of radicalism in Somali society," he says.
He says Somalis have blamed the United States for many of the problems in their country because it backed Ethiopia.
"Anti-Americanism has been very high in the country and trust of American motives and policies low. This has been ameliorated somewhat by the January 2009 Ethiopian withdrawal, the establishment of a more broad-based transitional government and Somali expectations of a shift in US policy under the Obama administration," he says.
However, Menkhaus says, "There is still a high level of mistrust of American policies and residual anger at the US."
He adds that US policy toward Somalia must take a regional approach and consider tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the insurgency in Ethiopia's Somali region and territorial claims.
Oxfam senior policy advisor Shannon Scriber told the Senate panel that "Somalia remains the site of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The combination of conflict and drought have led to more than three million Somalis dependent on aid within the country and the displacement of up to 1.8 million."
South and Central Somalia are the most unstable regions and the most difficult to reach.
Little water, dying animals
"Beyond the obvious humanitarian impact…the country faces drought conditions unseen since the 1991 famine…. Drought conditions continue to ravage livelihoods, particularly among pastoralist populations as livestock are dying and wasting at an alarming rate," she says.
____________________________________________________________________
http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE54J09Z20090520?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
Reuters
May 20, 2009
Australia's Range oil shrugs off Somali pirates
Alison Bevege
NAIROBI - Australian explorer Range Resources said piracy will not deter it from exploring for hydrocarbons off chaotic northern Somalia.
The independent company won a deal in 2005 giving it concession rights to all minerals and petroleum in the country's semi-autonomous Puntland region, an area that geologists say has a high chance of containing commercial oil reservoirs.
Puntland has been relatively unscathed by a two-year Islamist insurgency that has rocked Somalia's south and central regions. But it is a base for many of the pirates who have been attacking vessels in the busy shipping lanes offshore.
"Other than potential implications on insurance costs, we don't think piracy has a huge impact. A number of vessels have been attacked offshore but they haven't had escorts," Range's executive director Peter Landau told Reuters late on Tuesday.
He said that he would be visiting Puntland in the next few weeks to meet its leadership and discuss oil and gas projects.
"If you're going to do offshore seismic then you would only do it with the support of the Puntland government and the seismic vessel will have an armed escort, preferably a government vessel," Landau said by telephone from Dubai.
Onshore, he added, Range's joint venture partner Africa Oil Corp is also in talks with the Puntland authorities and hopes to begin drilling in the fourth quarter of this year.
The Canadian company had started seismic mapping in a region it believes has good prospects of holding large oil deposits. Geologically-similar formations in Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden, hold nearly 4 billion barrels.
Africa Oil Corp has agreed to invest $50 million in exploration in return for an 80 percent stake in the area's Nogal and Dharoor blocks. Range holds the remaining 20 percent.
Landau said the Canadian firm had spent $22.5 million working in Dharoor. Nogal is still to be explored. Africa Oil raised $35 million through a private shares placement in April.
In January, some former staff members in Puntland criticised the Canadian company for failing to pay their salaries, but Landau said the claims were false and had come from aggrieved sub-contractors.
Africa Oil could not immediately be reached for comment.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
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Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
--- On Wed, 5/20/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: -Sanction on Guinbot 7 Enablers by African Bloc Countries: Does Bucknell University Know what we Know? Over 16.6 Billion Birr
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com, nwMariam@yahoo.com, ben@ethiopiafirst.com, admin@aigaforum.com, ethiopian@tecolahagos.com, editor@ethiomedia.com, "Belai FM Habte-Jesus"
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, Getwondimu@yaoo.com, helenmullie@yahoo.com, nega@horinfer.com, editor@washingtonpost.com, editor@Washingtontimes.com, editor@hagerfikerradio.com, editor@ethiomedia.com, Editor@Afro.com, editorr@ethiopianreporter.com, editor@ethiopianreview.com
Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 5:30 PM
Reuters
May 20, 2009
African bloc calls for U.N. sanctions on Eritrea
* Calls on U.N. to impose sanctions, enforce no-fly zone
* Ethiopia again denies troops have crossed border
Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA - An east African regional bloc called on the United Nations on Wednesday to impose immediate sanctions on Eritrea for backing rebels attempting to overthrow Somalia's besieged government.
Islamist insurgents, including the hardline al Shabaab group, have gained ground during two weeks of Somalia's fiercest fighting for months. Local human rights workers say the clashes have killed at least 175 civilians and wounded more than 500.
President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's U.N.-backed administration is the 15th attempt in 18 years to set up central rule in Somalia. Neighbouring states and Western security forces fear the nation could become a haven for al Qaeda-linked extremists.
"The government of Eritrea and its financiers continue to instigate, finance, recruit, train, fund and supply the criminal elements in and/or to Somalia," the Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) said.
"(We call on) the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on the government of Eritrea without any further delay," IGAD said in a statement after an emergency meeting on Somalia in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.
IGAD is made up of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. Eritrea suspended its membership in 2007.
SEA, AIR BLOCKADE
Somalia's transitional government said on Wednesday the hardline Islamist rebels had been joined by foreign fighters and had on Tuesday night again attacked government forces.
IGAD said the United Nations should impose a no-fly zone on the chaotic country and enforce a blockade of its ports to stop foreign fighters and arms from bolstering the rebels.
The U.N. Security Council last week said conditions were not right for a U.N. peacekeeping force to enter Somalia, despite repeated requests from the African Union.
While there is a small African peacekeeping force in Mogadishu, some members of the government fear a fully-fledged U.N. force could rally support to the insurgents, who want to drive foreign troops from Somalia.
Forces loyal to Ahmed now control only parts of the capital Mogadishu and the country's central region.
Ahmed was chairman of an Islamic group that ran Mogadishu in 2006 before Ethiopian troops, wary of having an Islamist state next door, ousted them from power. The Ethiopian soldiers withdrew earlier this year.
Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin denied reports its soldiers had returned to fight the hardline Islamist rebels.
"We are not back in Somalia," Mesfin told reporters
"We don't intend to go to Somalia unilaterally. We will continue to follow up developments and do everything possible that this legitimate and sovereign government of Somalia is supported and assisted," he said after the IGAD meeting.
Since the Ethiopian intervention, fighting has killed at least 17,700 civilians and made more than 1 million homeless. More than 3 million people survive on emergency food aid.
The United Nations refugee agency says 45,000 people have fled fighting in the capital Mogadishu in the past 12 days.
IGAD Executive Secretary Mahboub Mahlim told the meeting the region had failed to support properly the ailing Somali government and called the security situation "very grave".
"This is no longer just a war against Somalia. It is a war against all of us," he said. (Editing by David Clarke and Jon Boyle)
____________________________________________________________________________
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0520/p06s07-woaf.html
Christian Science Monitor
May 19, 2009
Is Somalia in Ethiopian Army's crosshairs again?
Scott Baldauf
(attachment has a regional map)
Somalis near the border with Ethiopia say that country's troops have crossed over, raising speculation of another battle with the militant Islamists closing in on Somalia's government.
Two years ago, they came, they saw, they killed some Somali Islamists. Late last year, they left.
Now, the Ethiopians are back in Somalia, according to Somali witnesses, and their border incursion could have dramatic impacts on the stability not just of Somalia, but throughout the Horn of Africa.
For the record, the Ethiopian government denies that it has troops inside Somali territory, and claims it has largely stayed out of Somali territory since it pulled back its troops in mid-December 2008.
Yet reports from the area surrounding Beletweyne (near the border) have been persistent, both of Ethiopian checkpoints and entrenchments 20 kilometers inside the Somali border, near the town of Kalabeyr. Now, the question seems to be not whether Ethiopian troops are there, but why they are there and how long they plan to stay.
"Ethiopia does go in and out of Somali territory, but with reports of the impending collapse of the Somali government by Islamist militias, I gather that Ethiopia would keep a close eye on matters," says Iqbal Jhazbhay, an expert on Somali politics at the University of South Africa in Tshwane, formerly known as Pretoria. "An intervention now allows Ethiopia to follow their interests to insure that nobody comes to power who has an irredentist agenda, who would want to claim the Ogaden" region of Ethiopia.
Ethiopia's Ogaden region is a desert area inhabited mostly by ethnic Somalis. The two countries have fought bitter wars over the region and many Somalis still dream of taking back the Ogaden from Ethiopia, thus reuniting "Greater Somalia." Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, the spiritual leader of the militant Islamists now threatening to take over the country from the moderate Islamist government, is well known to Ethiopia's government for his "Greater Somalia" agenda.
How Ethiopia's last intervention went
Ethiopia's previous intervention came at a time of strong parallel interests by Ethiopia and the United States. Both nations saw the need for a robust Ethiopian military operation in Somalia as part of a broader war on terrorism. Members of the Bush administration linked the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), which implemented sharia law during it's short-lived stint in control of the country in 2006, with Al Qaeda. But Ethiopia's interests were much more immediate and local – the UIC government, and particularly its former leader, Mr. Aweys, threatened to take away the Ogaden.
On paper, the Ethiopian intervention of 2006 was a rout. UIC fighters melted away in front of Ethiopia's 3,000-strong invasion force, and the UIC government fled into exile. But just like the Taliban in Afghanistan, the UIC reorganized into smaller units and began a long guerrilla war of attrition. By the time Ethiopia withdrew from Somalia in December 2008, it claims to have killed 2,000 to 3,000 Islamists. Human rights advocates say that as many as 16,000 civilians were also killed.
Although the current reported operation may be a temporary incursion, Ethiopia's national interest in preventing the rise of an aggressive Islamist government remains the same.
Ethiopia's intervention would likely be aimed at bolstering Somalia's transitional president, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, to prevent the extremist Al Shabab militia group from taking power, says Richard Cornwell, an independent political analyst in Tshwane. "That said, its intervention has to be different this time. It can't afford to be bogged down in an urban killing zone. It has to be more surgical and selective in its targets."
Ethiopia denies crossing the border
Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wahade Belay denied the reports of an incursion. "This is a totally fabricated story. We have no plans to go into any of Somalia's territory," he told Reuters news agency.
Yet Ethiopia has maintained a large military presence on its border with Somalia, ever since its pullout of 3,000 troops from the country began in December 2008. Experts say that Ethiopian troops have continued to move into Somali territory on punitive missions.
The Ethiopian incursion comes just days after Al Shabab took the town of Jowhar, cutting off the government's access to territory north of Mogadishu. Islamist forces loyal to Al Shabab and Sheikh Aweys have steadily taken territory from pro-government militias, hemming in the government of Mr. Sharif and forcing the tiny African Union peacekeeper force to relocate to positions in the south of the city.
International support: a blessing and a curse
Ironically, Sharif's best chance of survival is the very real threat of his own defeat. If Sharif appears close to being toppled, the international community may be forced to give him further backing. But such backing comes with its own pitfalls.
"The bigger the Al Shabab threat gets, the more the international community is likely to support Sharif," says Mr. Cornwell. "But the more international support Sharif gets, the more he is discredited in the eyes of the Somali people, and the more people will give their support to Shabab."
One way out of this cycle, Cornwell says, is for Ethiopia to "think more selectively" about its targets. "I would imagine they don't want to put large numbers of troops into Somalia. They just need to locate Shabab's headquarters and zap it. I'm sure the Americans will be happy to help them do that, and we know the Americans have the munitions to do that."
Any Ethiopian intervention in Somalia, whether large or small, is likely to have huge political risks for Ethiopia, both among its Somali neighbors and among the large number of ethnic Somalis who live in its own restive Ogaden region.
"An Ethiopian intervention would dent Ethiopia's already tarnished image among Somalis," says Jhazbhay. "But it would clearly give the Transitional Federal Government some leeway for a while, and perhaps give it a chance to stand on its own feet."
Ethiopia's best strategy, Jhazbhay adds, may be to do nothing at all. "Whenever the Ethiopians intervene, that strengthens Somali nationalism against Ethiopia," he says. "When the international community backed Somali transitional governments over the past 14 incarnations, there was always one group in charge and other groups who were left out.
"But if the Ethiopians just let it go for a while, and allow the Somalis to develop things in their own way, which is what they did in Somaliland and the Puntland region, the Somalis do manage to come up with an inclusive government that gains legitimacy. It may take some time, but they do seem to develop things in their own way."
eth.somal.gif
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
--- On Tue, 5/12/09, Belai FM Habte-Jesus
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
Subject: Re: - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know? Over 16.6 Billion Birr
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com, nwMariam@yahoo.com, ben@ethiopiafirst.com, admin@aigaforum.com, ethiopian@tecolahagos.com, editor@ethiomedia.com
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com, Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com, Getwondimu@yaoo.com, helenmullie@yahoo.com, nega@horinfer.com, editor@washingtonpost.com, editor@Washingtontimes.com, editor@hagerfikerradio.com, editor@ethiomedia.com, Editor@Afro.com, editorr@ethiopianreporter.com, editor@ethiopianreview.com
Date: Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 11:38 AM
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethopia:
It is interesting that we have a series of Watch Dogs who report and the series of liberation fronts who terrorize us with high coordination that is unfolding by the day.
It is critical to understnd if these campaigns and and the Egyptian Nile Basin and Red Sea Coast Conflict of Interest have any thing in common?
Historically, Ethiopia had a series of conflicts of interests from the time of the Ethiopian/Egyptian Pharaoh over the control of the Nile River Basin. This conflict has led some Ethiopian Emperors to overtake the whole Nile River Basin as some of the Nubian and Ethiopian Pharaohs had taken the matter into their hands.
Most recently, the Egyptian and Turkish Sultanates had hired US defeated Generals from the Civil War of Abraham Lincoln era to over take the Nile Basin as well as the Red Sea Coast and twice were defeated by Emperor Yohannes and the Gallant General Ras Allula at Gunder etc.
The Egyptians have called on the Turks, the British and the Itlians and even renegade American Generals of the Civil War and always they were defeated because Ethiopia was led by high caliber brilliant Kings and Emperors etc who galvanized the whole population to the rescue.
More recently, there have been calls for Strategic Pre-emptic Action that utilizes the African Union, United Nations and other regional Good Governance Institutions to avert the series of overt and covert terrorists trying to undermine the soveriegnity of Ethiopia and its historic place in the world.
Unfortunately the present day pharoes are fighting the old historic wars with proxies such as Alqaeda, Shabia, AlShabab, and the series of liberation fronts such as OLF, ONLF, Guinbot 7 etc. with highly suphisticated Media campaign groups that range from Amensty International, Genocide Watch and Human Rights Watch who openly attack Ethiopia' image and soveriegnity, so much so some foolish foreign government representatives such as Payne have taken it upon themselves to make it their business to disenfranchise Ethiopians and Friends of Ethiopia by making undiplomatic and unstateman like terror campaigns officially inviting the above terrorist groups to testify in Congress and set up a base in the United States of America.
This is a different world and Global Patriotic Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia have to wake up to the latest series of challenges against the security and wellbeing of people of Ethiopian and African decent all over the world.
Here is an interesting article, where a so called Watch Dog group not appointed by Ethiopians and not recognized by Ethiopian Parliament interferinig in the internal affairs of a soveriegn country and seriously thinks that Ethiopians and friends of Ethiopia will take it sitting down and be spectators of their heritage being decimated.
As many in history have learned, these series of neuvo charlatans and mercenaries will learn the hard facts of lives that Patriotic Ethiopians and Friends of Ethiopia and the USA will not rest until these overt and covert interference in our soverignity are challened ones for all with facts and good govenance that demand transparency and accountability from all.
Please read these two interesting stories and get involved to address them as our Patriotic Heritage demands to stand up with the truth based on peace and prosperity for all.
Make your voices heard and get involved for protecting the Good and fighting evil. It might help to set up African Human Rights Watch to expose the role of these so called international group what they really are by tracking their activities and demanding Good Govenance that is transparency and accountability prevails all the time!
Dr B
http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article31138
Sudan Tribune
May 12, 2009
Ethiopia blasts report by rights watchdog on arrested opponents
The Ethiopian government dismissed a recently released report by Human Rights Watch in connection with the recent arrest of 40 opposition member suspected of plotting to assassinate top government officials and strategic bombing on public facilities.
The US-based Watchdog in its recent report condemned the mass arrest against 40 members of opposition, "Ginbot 7"as "politically motivated" and "in line of blood relation."
But the Ethiopian government strongly reacted to HRW’s report and blasted it saying ground less and a usual deliberate campaign aimed to defame a nation’s image. "The report by the so-called Human Rights watch is baseless," the Government communications Affairs Bureau said in an Amharic statement issued on Friday.
It said the HRW jeopardized the rule of law in reporting on matters in due process by the country’s court.
"The suspects were put behind bars after it was discovered that they were preparing to assassinate government officials and blow up selected government cities," the statement said, adding the round up took place following an arrest warrant by the court.
"Citizens who violate the country’s law are held accountable, and this process will not be disrupted by fabricated reports and negative campaign aimed at tarnishing the country’s image," the statement added.
The ministry said it was not understood why the rights NGO chose to resort to making hasty statements about the matter while the issue was in due process and in line with national and international legal practices.
The statement accused the human rights watch as an organization engaged in relentlessly attempts of hurting the image of the country.
"The report is a product of one those so called international organizations who in the name of human rights, are engaged in hurting the image of the country." "This kind of unfounded and baseless report made in the midst of the due process is faulty and therefore unacceptable," the statement further said concluding government’s response to the HRW report released on Thursday.
The suspects were first taken to custody on alleged allegation of coup plot but Bereket Simon, Minister for government’s communication last week at a news conference reversed the claims saying plans were not to conduct a coup plot, it was an intent to create havoc by those that he described them as "desperados."
Ethiopia government’s report alleges that Weapons, landmines, and copies of plans were seized during a raid by security forces last month.
Today, suspects have come before court on a second hearing but it is again adjourned for a period of two weeks.
_________________________________________________________
http://en.afrik.com/article15667.html
Afrik
May 8, 2009
Ethiopia - Egypt: A tug of war over the Nile basin
Egypt makes offers but Ethiopia won’t budge
Despite a generous offer made by visiting Egyptian minister of Water Rosources and Irrigation, Dr. Mohamed Nasr Eldin Allam, Ethiopian Minister of Water Resources, Asfaw Dingamo, has stood by his government’s firm stance to continue with its decision to protect the upper riparian (Nile basin) countries. The Ethiopian position seeks to limit Egypt and Sundan’s indiscriminate use of the Nile’s water resource. The Egyptian Minister visited Ethiopia this week.
The Egyptian minister, appointed March 11, 2009, replaces Mahmoud Abu Zeid, who had been criticized for his weak negotiations on Nile issues. Egypt claims his replacement was due to a health related problem. Dr. Mohamed Nasr Eldin Allam, the new minister, is touring Nile riparian countries, a move criticised as lobbying to maintain Egypt’s grip on the Nile basin.
The visiting minister held closed door discussions with top Ethiopian Government officials, including Asfaw Dingamo, Minister of Water Resource. Talking to the press, Mr. Asfaw Dingamo indicated that Dr. Eldin Allam had expressed his country’s (Egypt) willingness to cooperate with Ethiopia and also provide Ethiopian water experts with a high level all-expense-paid training. “We accepted the new Egyptian minister’s offer,” Asfaw said. The training will be conducted by an Egyptian based training institute which offers short term Applied Training Programmes to all Nile countries, and is run by The Nile Basin.
The offer, however, does little to change Ethiopia’s unrelenting position on regulations affecting the subject of Nile sharing since negotiations among all Nile countries began, about a decade ago. The negotiations aim to amend an exclusive 1959 agreement signed between Egypt and Sudan that expressly excluded Ethiopia, despite the country’s 85 per cent contribution to the Nile’s water resource. Ethiopia’s insistence on protecting other riparian countries, while demanding that the Nile sharing programme should be free of any agreements that may prove detrimental to some countries, remains the main bone of contention.
An Ethiopian proposed article that deals with the possibility of water sharing without causing significant harm to other riparian countries has caused negotiating countries to split into two major blocks: Upper riparian countries, consisting of a host of countries under Ethiopia’s leadership including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi; and lower riparian countries, made up of Egypt and Sudan.
The two lower riparian countries, Egypt and Sudan, have indicated that they will not endorse the Ethipian proposed article unless a clause that guarantees that there will be no damage to water security is inserted. However, this clause if accepted, will allow the two countries to continue using the Nile water resource intensively and extensively, experts say. The division has halted the Nile Basin Ministerial Council sponsored negotiation process.
“We explained our stance to the Egyptian Minister and told him to lighten the gloomy negotiations,” Asfaw told Capital.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the current chair of the Nile Council of Ministers, however, Egypt will take over in the month of July, which may give it an opportunity to influence other nations. But before then, a final conference, to be hosted by DRC is expected to highlight a three point proposal that could improve Ethiopia’s position if endorsed by the Nile Basin member countries, Mr. Asfaw said.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; ben@ethiopiafirst.com; admin@aigaforum.com; ethiopian@tecolahagos.com; editor@ethiomedia.com
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Getwondimu@yaoo.com; helenmullie@yahoo.com; nega@horinfer.com; editor@washingtonpost.com; editor@Washingtontimes.com; editor@hagerfikerradio.com; editor@ethiomedia.com; Editor@Afro.com; editorr@ethiopianreporter.com; editor@ethiopianreview.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 10:50:06 AM
Subject: Re: - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know? Over 16.6 Billion Birr
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia
Here is the Memorial from Ethiopian Peace Corps Volunteers
Scholomo and Charles who continue to enhance and love Ethiopian Cultural and Musical Emperor Tilahun!
I trust North American communities including Bucknell University Economics students will appreciate that Ethiopia is more than what Bonger tells them.
It is a beautiful and rich cultural center with a deep history and civilization not paralleled in any other society.
Here Shlomo and Charlie testify in the rich personal character and contribution of one of its most famous modern son who just slept the other day but continues to mesmerize many music lovers all over the world.
With my respect and appreciation to Tilahun's Memory!
Dr B
Charles Sutton -- usually known as Charlie -- came to Ethiopia with the Peace Corps in 1966.
He was a musician, and even before he arrived, Charlie had discovered Ethiopian music through his Amharic language instructors. He describes the impact of that discovery, which directed his life toward a deep and lasting relationship with Ethiopia, its people -- particularly musicians, and its language, in which his fluency and elegance continue to astonish.
Charlie needs only a brief introduction from me since he will provide the rest himself. His friends and acquaintances know Charlie to be a gracious, warm and generous man, thoughtful and polite to a fault.
He is still a working musician both as a teacher and a performer. In his jazz, Charlie's improvisations reveal the depth to which Ethiopia has entered his soul.
In a recent recording, Charlie played masinko and sang, in Amharic, naturally, with two long-time Ethiopian musician friends. Characteristically, Charlie often directs the proceeds from his CD sales to the Institute for Ethiopian Studies or another deserving beneficiary.
This is the first of a three-part appreciation and reminisence by Charles Sutton about his friend, the supremely gifted singer, Tilahun Gessesse, who passed away on April 19, 2009 in Addis Ababa. All of Ethiopia, and music lovers around the world, are in mourning.
Shlomo Bachrach
Washington DC
May 10, 2009
Oo-oota Ayaskeffam
It has been three weeks since we heard the tragic news of Tilahun's death. I remain stunned by it.
No doubt like many others, I have derived some comfort from the multitude of deeply felt tributes poured out by his family, friends, colleagues, and fans.
Although there is little I can add to these, I still wish to offer in Tilahun's memory my own words of respect, appreciation and love--which I do from my heart.
I am an American. But when an Ethiopian calls Tilahun, as Ahadu Selamu did recently in his moving Aiga Forum eulogy, "just larger than life...Tilahun was a walking history that embodied the narrative of five decades of our lives in his songs," I understand very well what he is talking about. Before I ever saw Ethiopia, I knew instinctively that something of that country's deepest essence had been revealed to me when, 43 years ago, on a warm June night, in the unlikely precincts of Salt Lake City, Utah, I first listened spellbound to Tilahun's voice.
Along with 100 other recent college graduates from all over the United States, I had completed the first day of an intensive three-month Peace Corps training program at the University of Utah that would prepare us to become secondary school teachers in Ethiopia.
We studied TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) under the supervision of a youthful Shlomo Bachrach; Ethiopian history, geography, customs, and culture; and Amharic.
I was assigned, along with four other beginners, to a gifted young teacher named Mengesha, who had his students exchanging gender-and-status-specific greetings and forming elementary sentences in Amharic on the first day of class.
When we were chatting during a break, Mengesha and I found we had something in common: both of us loved music, sang folksongs, and played the guitar. Finally I had found someone who could explain to me what I had been wondering about for months. (In 1966, the Internet, with its vast store of instantaneously available information on every conceivable subject, was still a quarter-century in the future). "Mengesha," I confessed, "I've never heard any Ethiopian music. None at all! What is your music like?"
That evening, on a bulky Norelco portable tape machine in the dormitory common room, I listened with Mengesha to selections from his extensive collection of Ethiopian popular music, contained on large reels of magnetic audiotape he kept in a suitcase.
Though the unfamiliar timbres and modes were strange-sounding at first, I enjoyed everything Mengesha played. There was one song--it had a plaintive minor-key melody made twice as sad by the vocalist's incredibly intense, passionate, and grief-stricken rendition of it--that I loved. It was like nothing I had ever heard in my life and brought tears to my eyes.
"Could we listen to that again?" I asked Mengesha. "Who is that singer? I can't understand what he's singing, but it's breaking my heart."
"That is Tilahun Gessesse, star vocalist with the Imperial Bodyguard Orchestra," Mengesha replied as he obligingly pressed rewind. "Tilahun is a young guy in his twenties, but he's been performing since he was practically a kid, and a lot of people are already calling him our greatest singer."
"I'm not surprised. And what is he singing?"
"The song is called "Oo-oota Ayaskeffam". That means, "There's nothing wrong with crying."
Amharic instructors and Charles performing Tilahun's "Oo-oota Ayaskeffam" during a music show for Peace Corps trainees and staff members at the University of Utah, September 7, 1966.
"Nothing wrong with crying?"
"You see, Charles, you will learn when you get to know us better that we Ethiopians have a tendency to conceal our deepest feelings, to keep them locked up inside us.
And Tilahun is proclaiming that when we suffer the worst anguish of all, separation from or loss of someone we love, we must express our sorrow and let it come out, for that is the only way of easing it, if only just a little."
Mengesha taught me the words to "Oo-oota Ayaskeffam". I worked out arrangements of it on my guitar and accordion. We formed a vocal group and performed the song in a concert of Ethiopian music at the end of the training program.
So began my appreciation of the artistry of Tilahun Gessesse, which grew over the next four decades into reverence and love. I was actually fortunate enough to meet and get to know Tilahun the man, as I will explain when my tribute continues.
Perhaps along with everyone else, I never imagined the day when Tilahun would leave us. But now it has come. Oo-oota Ayaskeffam.
Charles Sutton
Old Saybrook, Connecticut
May 10, 2009
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
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Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; ben@ethiopiafirst.com; admin@aigaforum.com; ethiopian@tecolahagos.com; editor@ethiomedia.com
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Getwondimu@yaoo.com; helenmullie@yahoo.com; nega@horinfer.com; editor@washingtonpost.com; editor@Washingtontimes.com; editor@hagerfikerradio.com; editor@ethiomedia.com; Editor@Afro.com; editorr@ethiopianreporter.com; editor@ethiopianreview.com
Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2009 3:02:12 PM
Subject: Re: - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know? Over 16.6 Billion Birr
Dear Global Patriotic Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
Here is some Good News that Bucknell University Economists should teach their students and not alleged terror and support for terror!
Addis Ababa, April4: The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) disclosed that the integrated utilization of the various development assistance secured from donor groups in Ethiopia is well in progress.
State Minister of MoFED, Ahimed Shide Mohammed, told WIC that the utilization of the funds of the development assistance secured from various donor groups is being carried out in line with the development program designed by the Ethiopian government.
Despite the economic instability various countries are experiencing amid the global financial slow down, development partners are releasing the financial support in accordance with their earlier promises, he said,
The financial support being obtained from the development partners is being spent on expansion of infrastructure facilities, rural development as well as provision of basic service facilities, the state minister said.
The state minister pointed out that more that 40 countries including the World Bank (WB), European Union, Britain, Japan and Germany are among development partners of Ethiopia, adding, that the country’s bilateral and trilateral cooperation with the countries and the international organizations is getting stronger over time.
Some 6.9 million birr was secured through the tripartite scheme over the last six months for the implementation of various development projects and programs here, the state minister said, adding that this year’s financial assistance exceeds that of last year’s same time by 83 per cent.
Moreover, some 9.7 million birr fund was secured through the government to government financial support scheme, adding that this also exceeds that of last year’s by 63 per cent than that of last year same time.
The state minister also indicated that the financial assistance from donor countries is also increasing both in its quantity and type, while it is expected to increase in the years to come.
According to the state minister, among African countries Ethiopia comes first for its effective and integrated utilization of various development assistances it is obtaining from donor groups.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; ben@ethiopiafirst.com; admin@aigaforum.com; ethiopian@tecolahagos.com; editor@ethiomedia.com
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Getwondimu@yaoo.com; helenmullie@yahoo.com; nega@horinfer.com; editor@washingtonpost.com; editor@Washingtontimes.com; editor@hagerfikerradio.com; editor@ethiomedia.com; Editor@Afro.com; editorr@ethiopianreporter.com; editor@ethiopianreview.com
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2009 11:15:16 AM
Subject: Re: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
Ethiopia has been at the fore front of Counter-terrorism efforts for millennia, be it in the Red Sea region, Gulf of Aden or Indian Ocean as well as the Miditerranean Seas.
The recent develpments in the Horn both on land and see are being reviewed by the international community with vigilance, especially after the successful operation to release Captian Philips Richards by the Special Navy Seal Commandoes.
Another Urban terrorists have been in operation from Pennsylvania, Berkenel University and London England and we have a very serious challenge in the Horn.
We were exploring for some time, how the US can deport some of the hard core criminals who have misrepresented themselves and got US Refuggee status and even citizenship and continue to master mind a serious Terrorist Sleeper Cells which grave consecquences.
Can the US be challenged to respect its own laws about terrorists? Here is the law and if the Justice Department cannot implement it, then citizens have to encourage it to do its job, that is implement the US legal system.
As we are reviewing the Torture Memos of the last administration, perhaps we should also review past administration policies of giving refugee and citizenship to known criminals and terrorists through out history and especially the recent case of a part time visiting professor of Economics at Berkenel University n Pennsylvania.
Here is what the law say and let us see how the US Jistice Department will react to it.
Dr B
Immigration and Nationality Act Section212
Fact Sheet
Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Washington, DC
April 8, 2008
Return to Foreign Terrorist Organization factsheet.
Section 212(a)(3)(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) defines "terrorist activity" to mean: any activity which is unlawful under the laws of the place where it is committed (or which, if committed in the United States, would be unlawful under the laws of the United States or any State) and which involves any of the following:
(I) The highjacking or sabotage of any conveyance (including an aircraft, vessel, or vehicle).
(II) The seizing or detaining, and threatening to kill, injure, or continue to detain, another individual in order to compel a third person (including a governmental organization) to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the individual seized or detained.
(III) A violent attack upon an internationally protected person (as defined in section 1116(b)(4) of title 18, United States Code) or upon the liberty of such a person.
(IV) An assassination.
(V) The use of any--
(a) biological agent, chemical agent, or nuclear weapon or device, or
(b) explosive, firearm, or other weapon or dangerous device (other than for mere personal monetary gain), with intent to endanger, directly or indirectly, the safety of one or more individuals or to cause substantial damage to property.
(VI) A threat, attempt, or conspiracy to do any of the foregoing.
Other pertinent portions of section 212(a)(3)(B) are set forth below:
(iv) Engage in Terrorist Activity Defined
As used in this chapter [chapter 8 of the INA], the term '"ngage in terrorist activity" means in an individual capacity or as a member of an organization–
to commit or to incite to commit, under circumstances indicating an intention to cause death or serious bodily injury, a terrorist activity;
to prepare or plan a terrorist activity;
to gather information on potential targets for terrorist activity;
to solicit funds or other things of value for–
(aa) a terrorist activity;
(bb) a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(I) or (vi)(II); or
(cc) a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(III), unless the solicitor can demonstrate that he did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the solicitation would further the organization’s terrorist activity;
I. to solicit any individual–
(aa) to engage in conduce otherwise described in this clause;
(bb) for membership in terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(I) or (vi)(II); or
(cc) for membership in a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(III), unless the solicitor can demonstrate that he did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the solicitation would further the organization’s terrorist activity; or
II. to commit an act that the actor knows, or reasonably should know, affords material support, including a safe house, transportation, communications, funds, transfer of funds or other material financial benefit, false documentation or identification, weapons (including chemical, biological, or radiological weapons), explosives, or training–
(aa) for the commission of a terrorist activity;
(bb) to any individual who the actor knows, or reasonably should know, has committed or plans to commit a terrorist activity;
(cc) to a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(I) or (vi)(II); or
(dd) to a terrorist organization described in clause (vi)(III), unless the actor can demonstrate that he did not know, and should not reasonably have known, that the act would further the organization’s terrorist activity.
This clause shall not apply to any material support the alien afforded to an organization or individual that has committed terrorist activity, if the Secretary of State, after consultation with the Attorney General, or the Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary of State, concludes in his sole unreviewable discretion, that that this clause should not apply.
(v) Representative Defined
As used in this paragraph, the term "representative" includes an officer, official, or spokesman of an organization, and any person who directs, counsels, commands, or induces an organization or its members to engage in terrorist activity.
i. Terrorist Organization Defined
As used in clause (i)(VI) and clause (iv), the term "terrorist organization" means an organization--
I. designated under section 219 [8 U.S.C. § 1189];
II. otherwise designated, upon publication in the Federal Register, by the Secretary of State in consultation with or upon the request of the Attorney General, as a terrorist organization, after finding that the organization engages in the activities described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of clause (iv), or that the organization provides material support to further terrorist activity; or
III. that is a group of two or more individuals, whether organized or not, which engages in the activities described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of clause (iv).
For more information, see Section 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website.
Return to Foreign Terrorist Organization factsheet.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; Ben EthiopiaFirst
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Wondimu Asamenew
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2009 10:21:50 AM
Subject: Re: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
As you were being humoured by the Europeans on how to make Euro-English the language of the future, here is the story of the Assassinations attempt from a group that educateds Burnknel students on how best to be Economic Terrorists.
Unfortunately Betnachew does not have that opportunity as the BBC would perhaps milk the last drop of grey cells of terror left in him. All the same we need to protect the Burknell students from these criminals.
This is the latest story on the neuvo urban terrorists by remote control!
Dr B
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090501/wl_africa_afp/ethiopiaoppositionmilitarycrime
AFP/Yahoo
May 1, 2009
Senior Ethiopia officers "plotted assassinations"
Then opposition leader Berhanu Nega pictured in Addis Ababa in 2005. Senior military officers in Ethiopia, …
ADDIS ABABA – Senior military officers in Ethiopia, including a general, had plotted to assassinate top government officials, Communications Minister Bereket Simon said Friday, adding that 40 people were under arrest.
"While six of the suspects were army officers on active duty, including one general, 34 of the suspects were ex-army men expelled from the army on grounds of misconduct," he told a press conference.
Bereket said the plotters belonged to the Ginbot 7 (May 15) opposition group, saying it was linked to the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) headed by Berhanu Nega, currently living in the United States.
He said the government believed that the "desperado" group was not planning to stage a coup, but intended "assassinating individuals, high ranking government officials and destroying some public facilities and utilities ... like telecom services and electricity utilities.
"The police have also found evidence implicating some ex-CUD members released on pardon. With the exception of some three or four of the desperado group who are still at large, the police have arrested almost all members of the conspiracy.
"
Berekt told AFP the government knew about the plot from its inception, adding, "If there had been laxity from the government, there would have been problems."
The mass arrests were reported on Sunday by state media, which said the National Security Taskforce had also found weapons including bombs, computers and communications equipment, military uniforms and documents.
The CUD won an unprecedented number of seats in the May 15, 2005 elections, which the European Union and other observers said fell short of international standards.
Around 200 people died in violence that erupted after the CUD accused the party of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of rigging the ballot.
Berhanu, 51, currently a university professor in the United States, was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in the polls. He was subsequently jailed for two years along with other leaders of the CUD, and left the country after his release.
Ethiopia's next general election is scheduled to be held in June 2010.
In a statement on its website following the initial reports of arrests Ginbot 7 said it "has no desire to engage in a tit-for-tat with the dictators in Addis Ababa, nor the time to waste replying to baseless accusations by a regime that rules Ethiopia by the barrel of the gun."
"Ginbot 7 remains committed to work for the establishment of democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Ethiopia. No amount of scurrilous accusations, threats or blackmail by the regime will deter us from pursuing the cause of democracy and freedom," it added.
Oh! Assasinations and terror are the building blocks of democracy, these Zombies need help! I believe Bonger should follow Aweys and go back to Kaliti and meet his constituents!
Read below the example from Somalia, his terror mate
___________________________________________________________________
http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSLU142426._CH_.2400
Reuters
May 1, 2009
INTERVIEW-Somali govt sees peace role for opposition ' s Aweys Abdiaziz Hassan
NAIROBI, May 1 (Reuters) - Somalia ' s hardline opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys has an important role to play in restoring security to the country after 18 years of ruinous civil war, a government minister said.
Aweys, who is on the U.S. terrorism list for alleged links to al Qaeda, returned to the Horn of Africa nation last week in his first known trip home in more than two years.
He is an influential figure for many of the Islamist rebels fighting the new government of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed -- who was Aweys ' former partner in the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) that ruled the capital and much of the south in 2 006.
Despite Aweys ' calls for African Union (AU) forces to leave, some analysts say exile may have mellowed him, and that he could still prove to be an important mediator with insurgents.
Aweys moved to Eritrea after Ethiopian forces chased his sharia courts group out of Mogadishu at the start of 2 007. In a Reuters interview late on Thursday, Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Omaar said a lot had changed since then.
"He has been away some time and major developments have taken place in the country. He left because of an issue that has been resolved. Ethiopian troops have withdrawn," Omaar said.
"Aweys is an elder and a historical figure in Somalia . I believe he has a responsibility for the wellbeing and progress of the Somali people, especially the women and children who are most affected by the war."
After leading the ICU until Addis Ababa ' s offensive, Aweys and Ahmed later split, with Aweys taking over the Asmara-based Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia from Ahmed, who was elected president early this year at U.N.-led talks in Djibouti .
Last week, donors agreed to give at least $ 2 13 million to help Somalia strengthen its security forces and also fund the small AU mission AMISOM over the next year. [ID:nLN86947]
Omaar said the amount pledged was a clear sign of broad global support, and that all of it would be spent transparently. Ahmed ' s administration is the 15th attempt since 1991 to set up a functioning central government for Somalia
"This time, the international community sees that we ' re serious and reliable ... I believe we have crossed that bridge," the foreign minister said during a visit to neighbouring Kenya .
"We will establish joint committees of donors and the government to deliver, supervise and manage the money. Systems that satisfy everybody will be established." (Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by Jack Kimball)
____________________________________________________________________________
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iSgUj_A-akAcFMRboCJf3Fg5d0TA
AFP
April 30, 2009
Canadian detained in Ethiopia to defend terror charges
ADDIS ABABA — A Canadian man facing terrorism-related charges in Ethiopia and in detention since 2006 will take the defence stand next month, a judge said on Thursday.
Bashir Makhtal, an Ethiopian-born Canadian citizen, is accused of inciting rebellion by aiding and abetting armed opposition groups in Ethiopia and being a senior member of a rebel group.
"The accused should now prepare his defence for next hearing on May 26," said Adam Ibrahim. Bonger can do the same at Kaliti where his real constituents are, Brecknel University students are just a distraction!
The 40-year-old, who has denied the charges, is also accused of supporting Somalia's Islamist movement ousted by Ethiopian forces in early 2007 when they intervened in the neighbouring country to prop up its embattled government.
Mukhtal was among some 150 people detained by Kenyan forces in 2006 on the border with Somalia as they fled the Ethiopian onslaught on the Islamists.
The trial has been postponed several times this year due to prosecutors' failure to provide witnesses.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com; nwMariam@yahoo.com; Ben EthiopiaFirst
Cc: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Wondimu Asamenew
Sent: Friday, May 1, 2009 10:04:42 AM
Subject: Re: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
Re: Managing Conflicts of Interests the European way and lessons for Horn Terrorists and Revolutinaries.
On the lighter side, I thought as this space is going to be busy in the coming few weeks as the 35 Potential Terrorists are broght to court and we here their wonderful and productive association with Betnachew and Bonger, I felt it will be helpful how to manage our frstration by having some interesting story from the Europeans.
Please take it, but take it easy as life is rather tough. We will update you the latest developments on the Neuvo-terrorists as information becomes available. In the mean time, here is some fun and great lesson in negotiations.
Dr B
Read slowly And carefully... .
he European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English. "
In the first year, "S" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.
The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.
There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.
In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.
Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.
By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".
During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "O" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer , ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi TU understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Sultan R
To: EthioForum Mailing List
Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2009 8:57:37 PM
Subject: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Why is this fool tolerated on this forum?
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 07:14:50 -0700
From: globalbelai@yahoo.com
Subject: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
To: EthioForum@Ethiolist.com
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
The Ethiopians and Russians are getting smarter catching the terrorists before they can act. I hope the US will do the same in Taliban land in Afghan and Pakistan Border!
As we watched President Barack Obama Report on his first 100 days, I could not help but be impressed by the intelligence, wit and deliberative and thinking president the US is blessed with.
I was forced to scan the universe and could not help but focus on the Horn, where people with the same genetic pool as the US President (Kenya and Ethiopia Borders) could not manage their affairs as he does in such clear and intelligent way.
He was so clear as he addressed the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic as well as the global climate change, the Economic Crisis, the Republican Crisis and welcoming the independent Senator Arlene Specter, and the future green economy, etc. and the Taliban and Betnachew type of Global Terror!
It is so amazing how people can be so intelligent but humble, so wise but simle, so great but respectful of their audience and the general public.
I then managed to review the Betnachew web site at www.Guinbot7.org and remembered the weekened interview by Apiring Terrorist Bonger, and felt, is this the same planet?
Such humility and intelligence wrapped around one man! He is from the Horn as are the Betnachews and Bongers are but he spent his early youth time in schools and colleges and not in the Mountains of Dedebit or the streets of Merkato terrorizing his own people.
That is the greatest difference, between three sets of people who hail from the Great Genetic Pool of the Horn people but whose outlook and foturnes are so different.
Can the Horn and Ethiopia create another HIM and Barack. I could not help but be amazed when I saw Barack quote straight from the Sermon on the Mount the same verses HIM quoted at the introduction of His book, My life and Ethiopia's progress.
Yet the same Bonger was heared just few years ago before he left for Ethiopia at the East West Highway Library in Silver Spring Maryland, the main cause of Ethiopia's problem is the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Gospel of Christ. I walked out of the meeting by declaring you are a fool, Ethiopia will always respect its faith and you will be part of the dust bin of communist history. Now after almost 5 years, this fool converted into a potential terrorist and joined the camps of failed communists in the West.
What a shame!
Let us say, the majority children in the Horn by the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden did not see any thing but the tail of Camels all their lives and therefore we cannot expect any thing better than piracy and urban terror as Betnachew and Bonger have declared at www.guinbot.org. But, what do you say about Betnachew and Bonger who had all the opportunity to be educated and contributing members of humanity like Barack but decided to follow the tails of terror like their cousins in Somalia, Yemen, Egypt, Eritrea (Osaman, Ayman and Aweye and Afeworki) are engaged in.
Why did Bonger and Betnachew choose the terrorist route? This is a PhD student for future children of the Horn, especially the Merkato and Dedebit Neighborhood where these delinquents spent most of their creaative youth
I could not help but compare the compassion and intelligence when he was asked what surpirsed, humbled and endeared him and what would he cherish in the first 100 days, and then I listen to the Foolish Bonger and Betnachew regurgitating hate filled out of date and rather criminal language.
There you have it is not the Genuius Genes of the Horn that you see on Barack that matter but who your friends are and how you spend your time.
Imaine Bonger listening to Barack and saying, Please Bararck starve my people, and then Betnachew saying please Gordon, do not send help to my people, I would like to see them starve now so that I can then come back to you and feed them at their death bed.
This is such a great tragedy of the 21st Century, where the country of HIM, Menelik and Yohannes is now being cajoled to disaster by the Betnachews and Bongers of this world.
Please read on
Dr B
Could we generate more Baracks in the Horn and put all the Bongers and Betnachews in the dust hip of history!
That is my wish and I trust the wishes of all people of the Horn!
http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/04/28/4152319.htm
Sudan Tribune/McClatchey Information Services, France/US
April 28, 2009
BRIEF: Ethiopia's 35 accused appear in court
ADDIS ABABA, Apr 28, 2009 (Sudan Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Some 35 Ethiopian, suspected of plotting to commit subversive activities against the government, were brought before the court on Monday.
Ethiopian security services said the terrorist group, which is led by Dr. Berhanu Nega, has declared an armed struggle to dismantle the national constitutional system through force.
The authorities, who detained them on Friday April 24, say they found in their houses weapons, explosives, communications tools and army uniforms.
The security service today requested the judge to allow them more time to finalize their investigations. A period of 14 days has been granted by the judges.
The police said they had been closely monitoring the activities of the members of the "terror network" which encompasses soldiers and civilians working in government ministries.
____________________________________________________________________________
http://www.telegraph..co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ethiopia/5243280/Ethiopia-PM-warns-anti-hunger-effort-at-risk.html
Telegraph, UK
April 29, 2009
Ethiopia PM warns anti-hunger effort at risk
Ethiopia's prime minister has warned that a British-backed effort to stave off starvation in the country is in danger of collapse without a dramatic increase in international aid.
Damien McElroy
Meles Zenawi, the strongman who has ruled the African republic for 18 years, represented Africa at the G20 summit in London last month. He led calls from African countries on international officials that met in Washington last weekend to quickly hand out the $500 billion (£342 billion) pledged in London for developing countries.
"The economic downturn means there is no cash to give more support to the vulnerable," he told The Daily Telegraph at his offices in Addis Ababa.
"We need the global economy to pick up and the resources promised at the G20 from the IMF to be made be available immediately to help with the balance of payment problems many African countries like ours are facing."
Mr Meles has played a key role for Western governments, most notably as a member alongside the singer and campaigner Bob Geldof, of Tony Blair's Commission for Africa.
The G20 has further entrenched his role as Africa's spokesman. Mr Meles has said that some African countries "could go under" as a result of the global downturn. He pointed to a foreign exchange crunch in Ethiopia and the troubles caused by a halving of economic growth as Africa suffers from the global recession.
Asked about the parlous state of Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme - which receives £25 million a year from Whitehall - Mr Meles said that "it is in a more serious situation".
The half-cash, half-food scheme supports 7.2 million Ethiopians on the brink of starvation. But after five years the programme has fallen short of its original aim of helping millions escape from dependency on hand-outs.
A spokesman for the Department of International Development (DFID) in London said that it had demanded a "rapid payout" for Ethiopia and other distressed economies at the summit.
Officials believe the Ethiopian programme needs a drastic overhaul even if it survives the crisis. Just three per cent of recipients have been weaned off assistance, far short of the 50 percent hoped for when the scheme was launched in 2003.
"The government has been too optimistic," said Melakamnesh Alemu, a DFID adviser on the scheme. "We need to design the system to respond to a major shock."
Andrew Mitchell, the Conservatives' international aid spokesman, said that Ethiopia must be pressed to reform its economy as well.
"We in the West will not allow Ethiopians to face mass starvation again but at the same time Ethiopia is not doing enough free up its internal market to create jobs and livelihoods that would provide long-term security and prosperity," he said.
Ethiopia is the third largest recipient of British overseas aid. Relations with Addis Ababa were damaged by a violent response to pro-democracy demonstrators in 2005 and obstruction to international famine relief efforts last year.
The enhanced global role undertaken by Mr Meles has emboldened the 54-year old ex-guerrilla to grab more control of the Ethiopian economy. In recent weeks the government has seized the country's "Black Gold" - the coffee crop - from private merchants. Coffee traders have been threatened with prosecution for hoarding by holding back stock sales in the hope that the price would rise.
A foreign aid worker in Addis Ababa said: "Meles was a star at G20. He is still put as an example of success in Africa. He's pretty confident of what he can get away with as a result."
The long-serving leader has hinted he will hand over to a successor after a general election next year. Mr Meles rejected a suggestion that he had failed to entrench democracy while conditions were stable and the economy was logging robust growth.
"I disagree with the premise. I have done a lot for democracy and the elections will be free, fair and transparent," he said.
"When I withdraw, the system and the constitution will continue - it is a given."
_________________________________________________________________________
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8023951.stm
BBC
April 28, 2009
Russia captures Somalia pirates
International navies have been moving to arrest suspected pirates
A Russian warship has seized a pirate vessel with 29 people on board off the Somali coast, Russian news reports say.
Guns and navigation equipment were found during a search of the pirate boat, officials were quoted as saying.
They said the suspected pirates were thought to have launched two unsuccessful attacks against a tanker with a Russian crew. Russia is one of the countries that has deployed naval ships against pirates operating in the area. Navies from Nato, the EU, Japan, China, India, Yemen, US Malaysia and Singapore have also been patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
However, the number of attacks has continued to rise.
Somali pirates have hijacked 25 vessels since the beginning of this year and are holding more than 260 crew around the stronghold of Eyl in northern Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Naval patrols have captured pirates on a number of occasions.. Some have been put on trial in Kenya, while France has charged three suspected pirates and a Somali teenager is facing trial in the US.
Earlier on Tuesday, regional leaders in Somalia's northern Puntland region told the BBC they have put together a militia of fishermen to catch pirates.
Twelve armed pirates in two boats have been captured by the vigilante groups, they said
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Dawit Yohannis
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 4:06:39 PM
Subject: Fw: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia
Re: Ethiopia should initiate its own Internatinal Court of Justice
Let B Bonger be the first candidate to be prosecuted with all the loony terrorists in Ogaden and Alshabab, Shabia and OLF.
We have enough cases to keep the Addis International court of Justice busy as we can add the Terrorist Watch Group too who are busy fanning the potential terrorist activities.
Thee is a popular request from Patriotic Global Citizens for Ethiopia to house such International Court of Justice Against Global Terrorists!
A Popular request to get all cracked up terrrorist addicts masquerading as University Professors deported too! Guilt by facts as described at www.guinbot.org and etv and waltainformation and as reported by the BBC, VOA and all international media.
We do not need to revert to CIA reditioning, but to protect the sanctity of our people and governance, every thing is possible to get the Bongers to Kaliti International Court of Justice!
Here is an excellent justification why President Barack Obama should send Bonger and Tsigie to Addis as early as possible! Remember President Bush was able to send Kelbesa Negao, the Butcher of Addis and the Potential Butcher of Merkato should see his people in Addis Court!
U.S. Should Deport Dr. Berhanu Nega
Adal Isaw
adalisaw@yahoo.com
April 27, 2009.
Terrorism is “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” This definition of terrorism is neither EPRDF’s nor Premier Meles Zenawi’s. It’s the definition of the U.S. State Department of Defense- a part of the executive branch of the American government, which the few and vociferous violent prone Ethiopian Diaspora love to solicit with deceit.
The unfolding of the recent terrorist plot in a civil manner is a testament to arduous and efficient democratic governance in Ethiopia. A government that adheres to the rule of law under the Constitution is truly alive, where similar plot two decades ago would have been dealt with deadly force head on. A country that bore a fascist regime which levied the price of a bullet on a grieving mother is now endowed with a government that justly treats the treasonous elements of its citizens for the sake of exacting the rule of law.
Not by our choosing, our country sits in the Horn of Africa-arguably one of the roughest neighborhoods in the world. Abutted by a rogue one-man state of Eritrea that exacerbates conflicts through out the region and a failed state of Somalia, it is extremely self-defeating for few of our citizens to choose a terrorist route to force a political change of their inkling. As is, we Ethiopians have handful detractors of states and non state actors, such as Egypt, Libya, the one-man state of Eritrea, and others helping Al-quaeda and Al-shebaab to curtail our development as a people; enough is enough.
Our livelihood should not again be jeopardized under the same political ploy of the likes of Ginbot 7. Those nations with interest, especially the U.S. and European Union should take a serious note to amend their diplomatic engagements, to completely and absolutely disassociate themselves from the violent prone Ethiopian Diaspora. U.S. and the European Union should come to terms and realize that the vociferous Ethiopian Diaspora is the basket case of intolerance and backward thinking. In cases of those Diaspora leaders who are openly advocating for violent means, the U.S. and European Union should deport persons of interest as soon as possible. In regards to this matter, the U.S. should take the lead for it has a compelling interest to keep in so doing.
The Ethio-American diplomatic engagement is dictated by U.S.’s counter terrorism plan and it is a must for the authorities in the State Department to look into this matter quickly and forward the name(s) to Department of Homeland Security for deportation. The persons of interest includes Dr. Berhanu Nega and the evidence is everywhere for documentation.
Consider what BBC World News documented on April 25, 2009: “…one of the most charismatic opposition figures at the time of the last elections in Ethiopia in 2005 and if all had gone well he would have become mayor of Addis Ababa. But he was arrested along with other prominent opposition figures and tried for treason, sentenced to life imprisonment, then pardoned and released. Along with several of his colleagues he travelled abroad after his release, but while most of the others have returned to Ethiopia and are now organizing themselves as a legitimate opposition party to fight next year's elections, Dr. Berhanu chose to stay in the US, saying that the situation in Ethiopia was such that the government could not be changed by constitutional means.”
It is thus public knowledge that Dr. Berhanu has convinced himself and his followers to pursue a terrorist plot in lieu of adhering to the democratic processes set forth for political contest under the Constitution of FDRE. It is also very apparent that, Dr. Berhanu’s choice of a violent route by forsaking an established democratic process in and it self fits the State Department’s definition of terrorism. The U.S. State Department of Defense should thus make good on its own definition of terrorism and forward the case of Dr. Berhanu Nega and his cohorts to D.H.S for deportation.
Dr Berhanu Nega is the lead person of interest for the simple fact that the recent terrorist plot in Ethiopia is his brain child, and the evidences can be compiled from several news articles and other ample sources. In fact, his self-incriminating depositions without oath can be found at ease in arrays. This is not at all a trial to draw guilt by association but a trial to find justice for an apparent criminal intent by Dr. Berhanu Nega, to unlawfully coerce and intimidate a government and its people to exact his political and ideological inkling. His deed is criminal and is defined as terrorism by whom else but by the U.S. State Department of Defense, which should make good on its own definition and recommend to D.H.S for the deportation of Dr. Berhanu Nega.
The U.S. should not be an adobe for violence prone individuals of the likes of Dr. Berhanu Nega. After all, under U.S. Code 1227, section (4), subsection (I), in reference to deportable aliens, an alien whose presence or activities in the U.S. the secretary of the State has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences is deportable. The State Department should pursue the deportation process for Dr. Berhanu Nega sooner than later if it really wants to keep the Ethio-American counter-terrorism alliance as effective as it has been.
Ethiopia’s endurance will continue!!!
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: "arayaamsalu@aol.com"
To: EthioForum Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2009 11:57:48 AM
Subject: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Belai,
You are cracking me up! A very good case of many an Ethiopian saying " etc. I can pick anyone of these and make my point about you man.
Whose fault is it that the aging parents are jailed? Berhanu and Andagatchew's or the governments? Let me humour you for a minute and go along, the two sons are criminals (let me agree with EPRDF innocent till proven guilty is overrated), then what has that got to do with the old parents being dragged to jail? Do these people have basic rights as citizens?Have you heard of the basics of rule of law, such as no guilt by association?
BTW I hate comparisons, but a friend pointed to me this is even worse than Dergue. You see even the Dergue did not jail Ato Zenawi Asres even when it knew Meles Zenawi was the leader of TPLF.
Araya
-----Original Message-----
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EthioForum Mailing List
Sent: Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:24 pm
Subject: [EthioForum] - Does Bucknell University Know what we Know?
Does Bucknell University kno w what we know? Does BBC and British Government know what we know?
Imagine a generation that puts its fathers into jail, not once, but twice and three times
What a curse, this is? My sympathy goes out to all those mothers who collected the Placenta instead of the real babies during the horrific days of the Derg that allows this level of evil to be unleashed among our people.
When will this evil stop? Please read below a sad saga of the Coward terrorists hiding in the US and London and allowing their parents untold misery.
My condolances for our elederly being pushed around at such Senior year when they should be enjoying their grandchildren's success!< /SPAN>
Imagine any Government in the Universe that accpets any group that is trying to get rid of it by any thing possible including Violence. This is basic abc of Governance1 Try it here in the White House or British Parliament, Bonger and Tsegie and see what you will get1
Is is so shameful to see such level of stupidity unfolding infront of the world from Ethiopia!
Watch this space, more will come! The tragedy is we need intelligent politicians who can learn from Barack Obama's 4 years campaign and 100 days of Governance.
Imagine the mother of Good Governance having such violent chaotic children wanting chaos for their families by hidign themselves in Pensylvania and London!
Watch this space, more interesting things will unfold
Dr B
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-27-voa53.cfm
VOA
April 27, 2009
=0 D
Kin of Exiled Ethiopian Opposition Leaders Charged in Coup Plot
Peter Heinlein
Ethiopian President Meles Zenawi (File Photo)
Relatives of two prominent exiled Ethiopian politicians are among 35 people jailed in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's government. Ethiopians shocked by news of the arrests are scrambling to learn the identities of the accused plotters and details of their alleged crimes.
Ethiopian officials say they had nothing to add to a statement issued Saturday announcing the arrest of 35 alleged members of Ginbot Seven, an opposition group based outside the country.
Ginbot Seven, or May 15th, is the date of Ethiopia's disputed 2005 election. The group's leader, Berhanu Nega, is a charismatic politician who was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in that election. He was arr ested afterward, convicted of treason, and sentenced to life in prison along with more than 100 other opposition leaders. All were later pardoned.
Berhanu now lives in the United States, where he is an economics professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
Saturday's government statement said security forces had foiled a terror network formed by Berhanu to wage armed struggle against the government. Spokesman Ermias Legesse said a search of suspects' homes had revealed a cache of weapons, military uniforms and a plan of attack.
In a telephone interview Monday, Berhanu confirmed that Ginbot Seven's aim is to overthrow the government by any means possible.
"Our position is very clear from the beginning. This is an illegal government. This government is in power by coup de etat in 2005. This government has usurped power by force and therefore any mechanism to get rid of an illegitimate tyranny is legitimate as far as we are concerned," he said.
Ethiopian media sa id those arrested included an active duty army general, Teferra Mamo, said to be leader of Ginbot Seven's military wing. The only other suspect identified was Melaku Tefera, an organizer for the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice party.
Melaku was among the opposition leaders convicted of treason and later pardoned following the 2005 election. He now joins UDJ leader Birtukan Mideksa, who was re-arrested earlier this year and ordered to serve out her life sentence.
Berhanu Nega says he had been told the accused included a cousin of his living in Addis Ababa, and the 80-year old father of Tsige Andargachew, an exiled Ginbot Seven official living in Britain.
Berhanu told VOA security forces had surrounded his parents' Addis Ababa home and confiscated their cellphones. "This is a government that accuses your relatives for what you do. Whatever it is that you do. That is why Ato (Mr.) Tsige Andargachew's father is in prison. Maybe my cousin is in prison for the same reason," he said.
Several Ethiopian opposition figures expressed concern over the arrests. Parliament Member Bulcha Demeksa agreed that Ginbot Seven would be considered an illegal organizat ion under Ethiopian law, but he expressed skepticism about the reports of a coup plot.
"I honestly believe this is not true. The government of Ethiopia has used such accusations so many times to make it a reason to arrest people ... The election approaching. Anybody who could be a viable candidate for an opposition party will be caught by this net," he said.
A government spokesman said he was busy in meetings but said told VOA further details of the arrests and the coup plot would be forthcoming in the next few days. He declined to speculate on what charges might be filed against those detained, but said the suspects would soon be brought before a judge to hear the charges read.
_________________________________________________________________
http://cyberethiopia.com/news/?id=139024
Fortune, Ethiopia
April 26, 2009
State Grain Firm Dips into Coffee Export Trade
PAWLOS BELETE
To Sell 12,000Qtls to German Co.
The Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise (EGTE) signed its first agreement to sell 12,000Qtls of coffee to a Germany based company more than a week ago, officials of the enterprise disclosed. The agreement, signed on April 14, 2009, makes the German company the first buyer of EGTE's coffee; the latter has finalized preparations for the first shipment of coffee to Germany in May.
The state owned enterprise penetrated the coffee export business for the first time in its half a century history a couple of months ago. It has already bought more than 42,000Qtls of coffee through open auction at the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX)..
The idea of becoming involved in the coffee export business was floated during Business Process Reengineering (BPR) of the enterprise, according to its officials. The assessment proved that the enterprise has both the infrastructure and manpower to handle export trade of coffee, in addition to the export of pulses, oil seeds and other agricultural products, which the enterprise has been known for over the past 50 years.
"We have the experience both in the domestic and international markets, with the manpower and the infrastructure to do the business," Beru Lede, deputy General Manager of the enterprise, told Fortune.
Nevertheless, perhaps because it has started at a time when the government has taken stern action=2 0against major coffee exporters and suppliers, accusing them of hoarding export standard coffee, there has been criticism that the enterprise's move is a government ploy to enter the coffee business. But senior government officials argue that this strategy is a result of concern for the void in the coffee export business created due to the action taken against the major actors.
"The enterprise has entered the coffee market for one simple reason; there is concern that the capability to process the coffee exports of the remaining several actors in the market may not be adequate to push the coffee through the system quickly enough," Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said at a press conference more than a week ago.
Though the preference would be to handle the trade through private sector actors, if there are bottlenecks created, the government would try to beef it up through the Grain Trade Enterprise, according to Meles.
"But there is no intention of establishing a public monopoly in any of the agricultural markets because we know that it doesn't work," the Prime Minister emphasized.
The coffee the EGTE bought at the ECX is from the stock the government has taken over from the stores of the six major exporters, knowledgeable sources disclosed. People engaged in the coffee export business, however, see EGTE's coming to the scene as potential competition.
"The move is contrary to the principle of free market; it was a practice apparent in the military regime through the Coffee Market (Buna Gebeya), a coffee exporter who requested not to be named told Fortune. "It complicates the competition field."
The absence of equal power between the state and private enterprises makes it difficult for the latter to compete fairly, the exporter added.
With its head office on Beyene Aba Sebsib Avenue ( Debre-Zeit Road ), the EGTE has 11 branches and 40 trade centres and warehouses throughout the=2 0country, with a combined storage capacity of eight million quintals. The enterprise has a 1,700 strong permanent workforce in all its branches and sales points. The business the enterprise was engaged in before exporting the commodity include transporting the coffee to the processing facilities it runs in different parts of the country for pulping and cleaning the coffee to meet the country's quality and grade requirements, as well as the buyers' needs.
The enterprise is eyeing markets in Europe, America , Middle East and Asia . Its general manager, Brehane Hailu, was recently in Atlanta , US , to participate in a coffee fair held there and to source for potential customers. The enterprise has in stock pulped and fermented coffee - which is washed to remove its sticky mucilage - otherwise known as "washed coffee" from Yirga Chefe and Sidama Areas of the Southern Nation, Nationalities and People Regional State, as well as "Sun Dried" coffee that is dried, hulled, cleaned and stored as red cherry coffee from Jimma and Nekemte of the Oromia Regional State. These are in stock ready to be transported to any interested buyer.
O ver the past 50 years, EGTE has been active in the buying and selling of grains, and for more than a year now, it has become a responsible government arm for the stabilization of the domestic grain market. It is accountable to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) and is run by a board chaired by Ali Suleiman, commissioner of the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission.
EGTE owns 39 new and additional used heavy trucks to transport commodities to customers' facilities, or to and from the port, in the case of export and import transactions. The enterprise operates with 105 million Br of fully paid up capital injected by the government as seed money; its annual turnover is currently about 500 million Br. The turnover does not include the over 250 million dollars the government spent over the past more than a year to buy close to 800,000tn of wheat from the international market, mainly East Europe, to stabilize the local market through subsidized imports..
Ethiopia earned close to 175 million dollars in the first six months of the 2008/2009 fiscal year from the export of 59,188tn of coffee, which is 61.2pc of the plan (285 million dollars).20Compared to the previous year's performance of the same period, the coffee export this year increased by 14pc in volume and 21pc in earnings, according to data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
________________________________________________________________
http://af.reuters.com/article/somaliaNews/idAFLR4979620090427?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Reuters
April 27, 2009
Yemen frees ship, captures pirates - govt official
SANAA - Yemeni special forces on Monday freed a Yemeni oil tanker seized by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden, killing three pirates and capturing at least nine on board, a government official said.
The ship, named Qana, was seized by Somali pirates off Yemen's coast on Sunday but was empty of oil cargo. The deaths on Monday took to five the number of pirates killed as Yemeni forces battled for two days to take back the vessel.
They were escorting the tanker to the Yemeni port of Aden on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Pirates have made millions of dollars over the past year from seizing ships and taking crews hostage. Pirates have increased raids on ships passing through the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping lane for oil and cargo, since February.
Better weather has allowed them to operate more freely despite foreign navy patrols off the coast of Somalia.
Yemen, across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia, is a small producer of oil and exports 200,000 barrels per day but is one of the world's poorest countries.
The tanker, with a 23-strong crew of which three are Indian and the rest Yemenis, has a capacity of 3,000 tonnes but was not carrying any cargo when it was seized.
The pirates had briefly seized three other vessels earlier before Yemeni forces freed them, a Yemeni official said.
On Sunday pirates freed the Yemeni-owned Sea Princess II tanker that had been held since Jan. 2.
The London-based IMB watchdog said piracy incidents nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2009, almost entirely due to Somalia and there were 18 attacks off its coast in March alone. (Reporting by Mohammed Sudam; Writing by Andrew Hammond; editing by Richard Balmforth)
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
Win-win synergestic Partnership 4P&P-focusing on
5Es: Education+Energy+Ecology+Economy+Enterprises
www.Globalbelai4u.blogspot.com; Globalbelai@yahoo.com
V: 571.225.5736; C: 703.933.8737; F: 703.531.0545
Our Passion is to reach our Individual and Collective Potential
From: Belai FM Habte-Jesus
To: EPRDF-Supporters-Forum@yahoogroups.com; Dawit Yohannis
Cc: Samuel.Assefa@gmail.com; Michael Mered
Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2009 10:14:23 AM
Subject: Ethiopia tries to regaom its stole n Assets, South Afroca Commends Ethiopia for assisting it stop the looting of its people and Somalia wants to be the new looter
Dear Patriotic Global Citizens and Friends of Ethiopia:
RE: Restoration of looted treasures and current campaigns to destory Ethiopia's image!
Restoration is about returning the honor, dignity and treasures looted illlegally by others without permission.
Ethiopia has stood for Good Governance and Justice among nations for Millennia.
The attached documents clearly show that Ethiopia will not allow any nation or pirates or terrorists to distrub its peace, loot its treasures and spiritual icons and keep quiet.
The attached statement of Russ Fienegold about Somalia is misguided as he continues to believe it is Ethiopia that caused Somalia to go bankrup t. It is Ethiopia who stopped the loony Terrorist Caliphate in its tracks. Somalia can have any form of Government it wants but it needs to deploy it on its territory and for its own people. Ethiopoia will not accept any faith to be imposted by it, be it by the Turkish and Egyptian Pashas of the past, and the Roman Catholics or the loony Somali Pirates!
The Minute Somalia, Sudan, British, Italy and any Senator wants to impose their will on Ethiopians then the game changes. Ethiopians have not gone to Italy, Britain or Turkey or Egypt and invaded these countries. They always come to loot Ethiopia and we say no. May be we need to change our policy and take the battle ground to these countries that continue to want to terrorize us. It worked when we went to Moqadisho and may be we need to do more of this! The traditional Ethiopian notion of Atinqugne, do not touch me or bother me has not worked.
Better still, we need to be proactive and pre-empt challenges by coming forward with creative solutions and not wait for crisis to galvanize us. The recent Tilahun Death is a case in point. If we had just done a little bit to ensure that he got good medical care in the USA and then followed=2 0him to Ethiopia and ensured that all the Ethiopian Ambullance System was effective we would not have lost Empress Medferiash Work, Dejasmatch Zewde Gebre-Selassie and even Fitawrari Amede Lemma, had our Medical System been Available, Accountable and Affordable.
We need to change the paradigm of hopeless ness and create a pardigm of opportunities in all sectors of our lives. Our people are our treasures and we need to protect their dighnity, health and prosperity at all costs!
Ethiopia has stood for Justice and Peace through out history and when the South Africans under Botha and Ian Smith were terrorizing Africans for centuries, there was no Genocide Watch or Apartheid Watch or Human Rights Watch from the USA and in fact Governments led by President Reagan and Co were supporting sanctions against people like Mandela, I understand that sanctioin still holds and Pres Mandela cannot travel to the USA. It was Ethiopia who put all its resources to get Africa Decolonized and United. Africans need to be reminded of the sacrifice Ethiopia made for their independence and dignity and African Union.
Who can tell Finegold first to clean your own house! Imagine, Finegold has been at the center of the Campaign to destabillize Ethiopia in support of ONLF terrorists. Now he wants President Barack Obamba to be involved like he pushed President Bush to be involved in Iraq. Jurst imagine who was part of the Torture Memo series in Congress and Senate. Finegold should be made to apologize for insulting and dishonoring the Ethiopian People. Just imagine what will be the outcome.
All the same, we have to get our stolen assets from the British Museum and not allow new Robbers to steal the imagination of our youth by starting all sorts of Calendar based Terror Groups like Guinbot 7 and May be February Revolution and who knows there are some 365 days and they can replace our Saints with a series of demonic terror leaders, if we keep quiet and allow them to convert Blessed Ethiopia into Chaotic Somalia. Just watch where does all the resources come to enter Somalia and keep the Peace there! Do you remember Black Hauck Down Movie?
When our surroundings are being targets for a battle ground for war, terror, Ethiopia will be the country that will be faced with refugees and terrorist network safe heavens. The re cent tragedy where an attempt to distabilize the country when the people were busy Mourning the deaths of its Patriots like Drs Senedu, Tilahun and Fitawrari Amede Lemma is clear indication that our terrorist networks willnot rest even at the time of our mourning, perhaps they think that is our weakest moment.
Now, let us get all our treasures from Britian and Switzerland before another set of terrorist come and create havoc for another blunder campaign.
Please read the stories of Somalia, South African Independence and Ethiopian attempt to get back the "Maqdela Treasures"
Just imagine who is ready to loot us again when the Guinbot & and ONLF manage to create havoc under false pretexts, some organized ciminal pirates?
Just imagine who is in line to benefit from creating havoc amongst us? and Why do they want to create havoc amongst us? If we put in place legal means of transaction and sharing information like we did with Lucy and other tresasures, The Tourists will flock to Ethiopioa. The lost financial and cultural=2 0opportunity demands that we display our treasures in a legal format for the world to see it instead of few crooks to looot it.
Just imagine! in the end we need to educate our youths about preserving our historical treasures and investment oppotunities and compete in the global market with quality and creativity, not with Guinbot 7 type of terror operatives. We need to proactively clean up terrorist cultures that is being promoted amongst our youth under the pretext of religious and political agenda.
Just imagine, if we have all 80 Million Citizens interacting with the Global Citizens in creative investment ventures than What the foolish Berhanu Bonger and Sheik Awiye, the Shabia and AlShabab terrorists want to do. An educated and interactive citizenship will protect itself and promote its best talents across the world... That is what Tilahun taught us. Even when his music was stolen and sold in the market under a different name, he said, I will go to Addis and investigte before I say any thing in advance. Investigate, Research is his last word in Washigton DC during his last interview.
So, let us reserach, investigate Guinbot 7 and other series of terrorists like ONLF, OLF, Shababa, Shabia and Alqaeda and Donald Paynes and Russ Finegolds. We can turn them around, if we know what they want or better still make them our friends and friends of Ethiopia for ever.
It takes a new set of geniuses to convert our enemies into friends. Ethiopia needs 7 Billion friends. Our task is before us to convert our alleged enemies into our friends, as Obama declares, "Yes We Can indeed!"
Dr B
http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=311976
Senator Russ Feingold's office, US Senate
Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold on Somalia Piracy
As Submitted for the Record
Friday, April 24, 2009
Mr. President, I was glad earlier this week to join Senator Leahy in passing a resolution commending Captain Richard Phillips for his brave conduct, and those members of our Armed Services, particularly members of the Navy and Navy SEAL teams, who rescued Captain Phillips.. I also want to commend the leadership of the President and the efforts of many U.S. government departments and agencies in their response to this crisis. These many acts of bravery and leadership are deeply inspiring, and we should recognize them.
However, while the episode involving the Maersk Alabama was resolved, we are likely to see more such episodes if we do not take comprehensive measures to address not only piracy on the waters, but also conditions on land that enable it. We cannot ignore the fact that piracy off the coast of Somalia is an outgrowth of the state collapse, lawlessness and humanitarian crisis that have plagued the country for over a decade. In recent Congressional testimony, both Director of National Intelligence Blair and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Army Lt. General Michael Maples cited l awlessness and economic problems on land as the cause of the rise in piracy at sea. Until we address those conditions, we will be relying on stopgap measures, at best, to deter this piracy problem and we are unlikely to succeed in reversing the growing violent extremism in Somalia.
Mr. President, for years I have been calling for the development of a comprehensive, interagency strategy to help establish stability, the rule of law, and functional, inclusive governance in Somalia. This is the only sure and sustainable solution to address the problem of piracy – and the instability in Somalia – over the long term.. Moreover, I am convinced that we have a unique window of opportunity for progress as a result of the Ethiopian troop withdrawal earlier this year and the establishment of a new unity government relocated back to Mogadishu. This government has the potential to unite Somalia if it demonstrates a genuine commitment to inclusion and begins to make a real difference in people’s lives – in terms of security and basic services, such as protection, trash collection and job creation. Helping the government to find tangible solutions to expand effective and inclusive governance must be a central part of our overall strategy to stabilize Somalia and address the threats of piracy and terrorism.
To that end, I continue to urge th e Obama administration, as it develops its response to piracy, to make it a priority to engage at a high level with the new Somali government. I have written to President Obama, asking him to personally call Somali President Sheik Sharif and indicate a clear commitment to work with his government not just on maritime insecurity, but also on establishing security and governance within the country. We have been engaging with President Sharif at the ambassadorial level for quite some time now, and I met the president in Djibouti in December. In addition, there needs to be a stronger and more sustained diplomatic push to engage with a wide range of actors within Somalia and stakeholders in the wider region – both in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East – if we are going to address the underlying problems that have contributed to piracy and rising extremism.
Mr. President, the events with the Maersk Alabama earlier this month have finally brought increased attention to the problem of piracy in Somalia’s waters. But it will be insufficient if our response only deals with the symptoms and not Somalia’s central problems. I urge my colleagues and the different committees who will examine this issue over the coming weeks and months to take this seriously. For if we do not finally deal with Somalia’s lawlessness and instability, we will continue to see them manifest themselves in activities – be they acts of piracy or terrorism – that threaten U.S. and international security.
I yield the floor.
__________________________________________________________
http://www.apanews.net/apa.php?page=show_article_eng&id_article=96872
APA
April 28, 2009
South Africa commends Ethiopia ’s role in its liberation struggle
Addis Ababa ( Ethiopia ) South Africa on Monday commended Ethiopia for its support to South Africa ’s struggle for freedom during the apartheid era.
Speaking in Addis Ababa on Monday during commemoration of South African National Day, the South African ambassador to Ethiopia Major General Chris L. Pepani said relations between Ethiopia and South Africa were in good shape and would be further strengthened.
It is to be recalled that the former South African president Nelson Mandela was among those who received military training in Ethiopia during the liberation struggle against the apartheid regime.
Ambassador Pepani indicated that Ethiopia played an unforgettable role for South Africa ’s struggle for freedom, which has resulted in better bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
“ South Africa continues with its firm commitment on the path towards the achievement of a better continent predicated on the obvious idea of democracy, peace, development and prosperity,” said ambassador Pepani.
______________________________________________ ___________________
http://news.independentminds.livejournal.com/2342224.html
Independent, UK
April 27, 2009
Ethiopia demands stolen crown back
Andrew Johnson
The President has written to the British Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Library and Cambridge University Library seeking the restitution of more than 400 so-called "treasures of Magdala", which were stolen by British soldiers following a battle in 1868.
In the letter, obtained by The Independent on Sunday, the President wrote: "I must state that Ethiopians have long grieved at the loss of this part of their20national heritage. Ethiopians feel that this act of appropriation had no justification in international law. I feel, therefore, that the time has come for the return of Ethiopia's looted treasures."
Among the items being held in the UK is an 18-carat gold crown and more than 300 priceless manuscripts, including Christian scriptures. Experts say the issue is particularly sensitive for Ethiopians because many of the artefacts hold deep religious significance for them.
These include nine tabots, or sacred wooden altar slabs, which are recognised as so holy that the British Museum has pledged never to display them. When a tabot was returned in 2005 after being discovered in the back of an Edinburgh church, thousands of people turned out to greet its return in Addis Ababa.
The objects were among those seized by British soldiers after the storming of the Fortress of Magdala in 1868, a punitive expedition that followed the kidnap of several Britons. Emperor Tewodros committed suicide after the battle.
According to contemporary accounts, British soldiers slaughtered hundreds of poorly armed Ethiopians after the battle, and then "jostled each other" to grab a piece of the emperor's blood-stained shirt, which they tore from his body.
They also looted the citadel and a nearby church, carrying off treasures that included "an infinite variety of gold, and silver and brass crosses", as well as "heaps of parchment royally illuminated".
British museums have in the past resisted calls for artefacts from their collections to be returned to their countries of origin, but it is understood that Neil MacGregor of the British Museum and Mark Jones of the V&A have already met the Ethiopian ambassador to discuss the matter.
Museums often argue in restitution cases that the artefacts are better off in Britain because anyone in the world can view them, and the V&A is known to have asked Addis Ababa whether the silver crown of Emperor Tewodros, which it returned to Ethiopia in 1925, is available for public view.
The V&A said yesterday that discussions were still ongoing, even though the President's letter was sent in February this year. The four organisations involved have also held meetings over the way forward.
The Magdala treasure differs to other restitution cases, such as that of the Elgin Marbles, because it is acknowledged that the treasures were simply stolen. "It was straightforward looting," a spokeswoman at the Ethiopian embassy in London said.
A spokeswoman for Afromet, an organisation that has campaigned for the restitutions of the items, said: "These museums hold most of Ethiopia's heritage. It means far more to Ethiopians than it could ever do to anyone else."
Belai Habte-Jesus, MD, MPH
Global Strategic Enterprises, Inc. 4 Peace & Prosperity
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