AFP May 25, 2008
Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki said Saturday the United Nations mission monitoring its disputed border with Ethiopia was "irrelevant and dead" and blaming the US for the impasse.
The UN Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) relocated from Eritrea in March after the Asmara administration cut off its diesel supplies, crippling its monitoring activities.
Asmara accuses the UN of failing to force Ethiopia to accept the ruling of a UN-backed independent boundary commission which granted Eritrea the disputed border village of Badme.
In a speech marking the country's 17th independence anniversary, Issaias blamed the US for Ethiopia's refusal and the UN's non-action.
"The US administration is currently resorting to acts of putting under question mark the authority of the Boundary Commission and ... at other times trying to divert attention through raising irrelevant and dead issues such as that of UNMEE," Issaias said.
"There is no remaining issue at all, other than the withdrawal of the invading Ethiopian forces from sovereign Eritrean territories. The UN Security Council is duty-bound to live up to its legal and moral obligation to put an end to such invasion and its dangerous consequences," he added.
Early this month, the UN Security Council unanimously criticised Eritrea for cutting off diesel supplies to the UN mission monitoring the Eritrea-Ethiopia border dispute, forcing it to pull out of the country.
The council adopted a non-binding statement that reminded both sides that they had the responsibility for achieving a lasting settlement of the border row.
Under a 2000 Algiers peace deal which ended their 1998-2000 border war, Eritrea and Ethiopia pledged to accept as "final and binding" a verdict by the panel on their dispute.
The commission granted the flashpoint border town of Badme to Eritrea, but Ethiopia has refused to recognize it, saying it split families and demanded fresh negotiations, which Asmara has rejected.
Eritrea got independence from Ethiopia in 1991 after bloody guerilla war.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Talks seek to end Somali violence
Somalia's interim prime minister, Nur Hassan Hussein, has met elders of the Hawiye clan, who are influential in the capital, as part of his peace efforts.
He discussed his recently-outlined plan to restore stability. Both sides described the meeting as a stepping stone towards reconciliation.
It is not clear how much influence the elders have with the insurgents.
The most powerful group, al-Shabab, has said it will continue fighting. Most of its members are Hawiye.
Over the past year, the capital, Mogadishu, has been rocked by almost daily violence between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian troops supporting the Somali government.
In the latest violence, four people, including three government soldiers are reported to have been killed in Mogadishu after gunmen in a vehicle open fire on government soldiers stationed at a junction.
The meeting is the first between the government and members of the Hawiye Cultural and Unity Council, says the BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan.
He says many of the elders have been sharply critical of government policies and came out of hiding to attend the talks at Mogadishu International Airport under the security umbrella of African Union forces.
On Monday, the prime minister met business leaders in the capital.
Al-Shabab
Al-Shabab has become increasingly active, not only fighting in Mogadishu, but carrying out hit-and-run attacks throughout central and southern Somalia.
In the past few weeks, al-Shabab has attacked a number of strategic towns, including Dinsor in the south-west and Bur Hakaba, near the seat of parliament in Baidoa.
A pattern is emerging whereby the militia briefly occupy the town, often killing a number of people, then withdraw with arms, ammunition and military vehicles seized from Somali government and Ethiopian troops.
Al-Shabab denies links to al-Qaeda and has distanced itself from the Somali opposition based in Eritrea, saying it is too secular.
He discussed his recently-outlined plan to restore stability. Both sides described the meeting as a stepping stone towards reconciliation.
It is not clear how much influence the elders have with the insurgents.
The most powerful group, al-Shabab, has said it will continue fighting. Most of its members are Hawiye.
Over the past year, the capital, Mogadishu, has been rocked by almost daily violence between Islamist insurgents and Ethiopian troops supporting the Somali government.
In the latest violence, four people, including three government soldiers are reported to have been killed in Mogadishu after gunmen in a vehicle open fire on government soldiers stationed at a junction.
The meeting is the first between the government and members of the Hawiye Cultural and Unity Council, says the BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan.
He says many of the elders have been sharply critical of government policies and came out of hiding to attend the talks at Mogadishu International Airport under the security umbrella of African Union forces.
On Monday, the prime minister met business leaders in the capital.
Al-Shabab
Al-Shabab has become increasingly active, not only fighting in Mogadishu, but carrying out hit-and-run attacks throughout central and southern Somalia.
In the past few weeks, al-Shabab has attacked a number of strategic towns, including Dinsor in the south-west and Bur Hakaba, near the seat of parliament in Baidoa.
A pattern is emerging whereby the militia briefly occupy the town, often killing a number of people, then withdraw with arms, ammunition and military vehicles seized from Somali government and Ethiopian troops.
Al-Shabab denies links to al-Qaeda and has distanced itself from the Somali opposition based in Eritrea, saying it is too secular.
What Branding Country Really Means
By Kap Kirwok
Nairobi
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
OPINION
23 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
In the avalanche of sweet tidings of the just-ended week, it was easy to miss the rather innocuous announcement that a new board to brand and market Kenya abroad had been formed.
We all hope that the Government's move is not just intended to add fillip to the Brand Kenya Initiative of the Marketing Society of Kenya. We pray that it is an integral part of a grand strategy to reposition the country.
We are all too familiar with the standard operating practice of such boards. Often the first order of business is the drawing up of a travel itinerary ostensibly to go and 'learn' how successfully branded countries have done it. This whirlwind tour of world capitals is then followed by the award of an expensive consultancy contract, often to a foreign firm, to develop a vision, strategy and action plans.
In order to cure the typical cynicism and indifference that attends such announcements, this new State Corporation needs to avoid the beaten path. It needs to view its task as going beyond the typical branding exercise - with its narrow focus on marketing. The image and reputation of a country is a product of a wide array of complex factors, chief among them is the nature of political governance. This new entity, therefore, needs to understand at the outset that its success is critically dependent on how well the political leadership plays its role.
I noted with amusement the fact that the new Brand Kenya Board is also tasked with "uniting Kenyans and providing them with positive information about the country in order to promote patriotism and national pride".
The board can provide Kenyans with all the positive information in the world, but if the political leadership continues to beat a different drum, the message to wananchi will be discordant and out of tune.
More significantly, if the reality that people experience in their lives is at variance with the "positive" message, the board will lose credibility - rapidly. Political leaders should, therefore, be among the primary targets for any information campaign.
The same applies to the task of repairing the country's image abroad. It will not be enough to say, 'come to Kenya, we have stopped killing each other'. The road to full image repair must begin with sincere contrition, directed first at ourselves and then to the outside world.
Global rankings
The degree to which the new corporation will be willing to imaginatively practise honesty and integrate efforts across all spheres of national endeavours - political, economic, and social - with a keen eye on Kenya's strategic interests, will determine how successfully it will be.
Talking of success, the Country Brand Index for 2007, a report published annually by the FutureBrand consultancy of the McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, has some interesting rankings.
FutureBrand's ranking of the top 10 countries that stand out as strong and successful brands across a variety of categories puts Australia at the top followed in descending order by USA, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Greece and Japan.
But what is most interesting is the ranking within the more than 20 categories of brand attributes - ranging from natural beauty to business environment to art and culture.
The fact that Kenya appears in the top 10 in only one category is, all the same, immensely gratifying. It is ranked sixth in the natural beauty category. New Zealand comes on top in that category. New Zealand is number one in two other categories: safety and authenticity.
The Unites States, not surprisingly, is ranked top in business environment, conferences, shopping, and in the probability of visitors extending their stay. And as if to proof that cold weather is no big deal, Canada ranks first among countries where most people are likely to choose to live, outside of their home country.
What was surprising was the rating of Australia as the friendliest country and Thailand as the country offering the most in return for the price you pay.
The reputation of Spain as the country with the best night scene was not surprising. Nightlife is generally a way of life in the Iberian Peninsula.
Similarly, Italy's rank as number one in art and culture is well deserved. Its architecture, sculpture, painting, fashion and music give Italy the distinct feel of a country alive in cultural expression.
United Arabs Emirate excels as a place with the widest variety of brand new and superior selection of accommodation options, including resorts and lodges.
Our country has a great chance to forge a powerful brand that should enable us punch above our weight in the competitive global arena.
But building a brand takes more than a state corporation. It takes astute political leadership. Ask Robert Mugabe about his Brand Zimbabwe project if you doubt.
-The writer is based in the USA
Nairobi
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
OPINION
23 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
In the avalanche of sweet tidings of the just-ended week, it was easy to miss the rather innocuous announcement that a new board to brand and market Kenya abroad had been formed.
We all hope that the Government's move is not just intended to add fillip to the Brand Kenya Initiative of the Marketing Society of Kenya. We pray that it is an integral part of a grand strategy to reposition the country.
We are all too familiar with the standard operating practice of such boards. Often the first order of business is the drawing up of a travel itinerary ostensibly to go and 'learn' how successfully branded countries have done it. This whirlwind tour of world capitals is then followed by the award of an expensive consultancy contract, often to a foreign firm, to develop a vision, strategy and action plans.
In order to cure the typical cynicism and indifference that attends such announcements, this new State Corporation needs to avoid the beaten path. It needs to view its task as going beyond the typical branding exercise - with its narrow focus on marketing. The image and reputation of a country is a product of a wide array of complex factors, chief among them is the nature of political governance. This new entity, therefore, needs to understand at the outset that its success is critically dependent on how well the political leadership plays its role.
I noted with amusement the fact that the new Brand Kenya Board is also tasked with "uniting Kenyans and providing them with positive information about the country in order to promote patriotism and national pride".
The board can provide Kenyans with all the positive information in the world, but if the political leadership continues to beat a different drum, the message to wananchi will be discordant and out of tune.
More significantly, if the reality that people experience in their lives is at variance with the "positive" message, the board will lose credibility - rapidly. Political leaders should, therefore, be among the primary targets for any information campaign.
The same applies to the task of repairing the country's image abroad. It will not be enough to say, 'come to Kenya, we have stopped killing each other'. The road to full image repair must begin with sincere contrition, directed first at ourselves and then to the outside world.
Global rankings
The degree to which the new corporation will be willing to imaginatively practise honesty and integrate efforts across all spheres of national endeavours - political, economic, and social - with a keen eye on Kenya's strategic interests, will determine how successfully it will be.
Talking of success, the Country Brand Index for 2007, a report published annually by the FutureBrand consultancy of the McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, has some interesting rankings.
FutureBrand's ranking of the top 10 countries that stand out as strong and successful brands across a variety of categories puts Australia at the top followed in descending order by USA, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, Greece and Japan.
But what is most interesting is the ranking within the more than 20 categories of brand attributes - ranging from natural beauty to business environment to art and culture.
The fact that Kenya appears in the top 10 in only one category is, all the same, immensely gratifying. It is ranked sixth in the natural beauty category. New Zealand comes on top in that category. New Zealand is number one in two other categories: safety and authenticity.
The Unites States, not surprisingly, is ranked top in business environment, conferences, shopping, and in the probability of visitors extending their stay. And as if to proof that cold weather is no big deal, Canada ranks first among countries where most people are likely to choose to live, outside of their home country.
What was surprising was the rating of Australia as the friendliest country and Thailand as the country offering the most in return for the price you pay.
The reputation of Spain as the country with the best night scene was not surprising. Nightlife is generally a way of life in the Iberian Peninsula.
Similarly, Italy's rank as number one in art and culture is well deserved. Its architecture, sculpture, painting, fashion and music give Italy the distinct feel of a country alive in cultural expression.
United Arabs Emirate excels as a place with the widest variety of brand new and superior selection of accommodation options, including resorts and lodges.
Our country has a great chance to forge a powerful brand that should enable us punch above our weight in the competitive global arena.
But building a brand takes more than a state corporation. It takes astute political leadership. Ask Robert Mugabe about his Brand Zimbabwe project if you doubt.
-The writer is based in the USA
Djibouti-Ethopien concession ta
ETHIOPIA: Chemin de fer Djibouti-Ethopien has begun talks with Kuwait-based Fuad Algarim Group with a view to awarding a 20-year concession to operate the 781 km metre gauge line linking Addis Abeba and the port of Djibouti.
A previous concessioning proposal by the governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti attracted nine bidders. South Africa's Comazar was selected as the winner, but the contract signing planned for mid-2007 did not go ahead (RG 9.07 p536).
A €50m grant from the European Development Fund is financing rehabilitation of 114 km of the track by the Italian-based Consta consortium. Work commenced last July and is due for completion in June 2009.
A previous concessioning proposal by the governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti attracted nine bidders. South Africa's Comazar was selected as the winner, but the contract signing planned for mid-2007 did not go ahead (RG 9.07 p536).
A €50m grant from the European Development Fund is financing rehabilitation of 114 km of the track by the Italian-based Consta consortium. Work commenced last July and is due for completion in June 2009.
St Tropez in the Horn?
March 19, 2008
The Economist
A tiny country makes the best of a bad neighbourhood
IN THE centre of the blazing whiteness, four Afar herdsmen chip away at the salt with pickaxes. The milk-green waters beyond the salt pans look almost glacial, but the burning hot wind, the camels and dizzying mirages dispel the illusion. This is Lake Assal. At 155 metres (509 feet) below sea-level, it is Africa's lowest point—and one of its hottest. The Afars (sometimes known as the Danakil) gather the salt into sacks. They used to carry the salt on camels west into the Ethiopian highlands but times have changed. These Afars sell it for $7 a sack in Djibouti town, a couple of hours' drive away.
The road there winds across black lava fields and moonscapes, past a hilltop garrison of the French Foreign Legion, down dry river beds to the azure Gulf of Tadjoura. The capital's outskirts look unpromising but as you get closer to Djibouti Ville—the city itself—an unexpected order asserts itself. Even locals admit that, until recently, the tiny country, with a mere 800,000 people, was asleep. Now, against the odds, it is stirring.
Until recently, it relied almost entirely on French largesse. When independence came, in 1977, the founding president, Hassan Gouled, fretted about what would happen if the colonialists left. But Djibouti (formerly called the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas) is still France's largest foreign base, hosting a force 2,600-strong. It deters the statelet's much bigger, predatory neighbours from even thinking of invading. (Earlier this year, France and the United Arab Emirates signed a deal to let France set up a military base in Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates.)
After independence, Djibouti's two ethnic groups, the Issas (who are ethnic Somalis) and the Afars drifted into Djibouti city. Most swapped a nomadic life of herding goats and cattle for long heat-haze afternoons chewing qat, a narcotic leaf flown in from Ethiopia. But things began to change when Eritrean independence cut Ethiopia off from the sea. Since then, almost all Ethiopia's trade has been shipped through Djibouti, some of it on a rickety railway linking it to Addis Ababa. The bullish—some say bullying—thinking of Djibouti's current president, Ismail Guelleh, a protégé and nephew of Mr Gouled first elected in 1999, has also helped pep things up. His slogan on billboards throughout the town is “Nous croyons” (We believe).
In what? Well, in Dubai. He wants Djibouti to follow the example of the booming gulf emirate or perhaps even of Malaysia, a Muslim model where many children of Djibouti's elite head for university. Dubai Ports now runs Djibouti's upgraded port. The economy may grow by nearly 6% this year, though unemployment is high and the IMF is unhappy with the government's shoddy fiscal management. Businessmen say the port's improvements make it hard to imagine that Eritrea's Massawa, Somaliland's Berbera or Somalia's Bossaso will catch up soon. Some talk of turning the city's scorching seafront into “St Tropez in the Horn”.
There is also a spectacular plan said to have the backing of Tarek bin Laden, a half-brother of Osama bin Laden, to build the world's longest bridge, across the Bab al-Mandib (Gate of Sorrows), the strait between Djibouti and Yemen. Even for ambitious Djibouti, this may be a bridge too far, judging by local scepticism and the developers' evasiveness.
But the country may profit from its new strategic importance. Mr Guelleh let America set up a large military base, from which it conducts anti-terrorist operations across east Africa. Ruthless policing and foreign troops have so far stopped Islamist militants from getting a foothold there, although there are complaints that Mr Guelleh is increasingly undemocratic.
Mr Guelleh's main aim is not to annoy any government in the region. Relations with Ethiopia are tense but practical. Mr Guelleh opposed Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia in late 2006 but avoids the topic when meeting Ethiopian officials. Djibouti's people resent the advertisements along their roads in Amharic, Ethiopia's main language. But grumbling is quickly silenced by Ethiopian threats to cut off qat imports. Djibouti is similarly cautious with Somalia. Mr Guelleh is disappointed by the feebleness of Somalia's transitional government but does not endorse neighbouring Somaliland's bid for independence. In sum, Djibouti is surviving cannily in a tough neighbourhood.
The Economist
A tiny country makes the best of a bad neighbourhood
IN THE centre of the blazing whiteness, four Afar herdsmen chip away at the salt with pickaxes. The milk-green waters beyond the salt pans look almost glacial, but the burning hot wind, the camels and dizzying mirages dispel the illusion. This is Lake Assal. At 155 metres (509 feet) below sea-level, it is Africa's lowest point—and one of its hottest. The Afars (sometimes known as the Danakil) gather the salt into sacks. They used to carry the salt on camels west into the Ethiopian highlands but times have changed. These Afars sell it for $7 a sack in Djibouti town, a couple of hours' drive away.
The road there winds across black lava fields and moonscapes, past a hilltop garrison of the French Foreign Legion, down dry river beds to the azure Gulf of Tadjoura. The capital's outskirts look unpromising but as you get closer to Djibouti Ville—the city itself—an unexpected order asserts itself. Even locals admit that, until recently, the tiny country, with a mere 800,000 people, was asleep. Now, against the odds, it is stirring.
Until recently, it relied almost entirely on French largesse. When independence came, in 1977, the founding president, Hassan Gouled, fretted about what would happen if the colonialists left. But Djibouti (formerly called the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas) is still France's largest foreign base, hosting a force 2,600-strong. It deters the statelet's much bigger, predatory neighbours from even thinking of invading. (Earlier this year, France and the United Arab Emirates signed a deal to let France set up a military base in Abu Dhabi, the largest of the seven emirates.)
After independence, Djibouti's two ethnic groups, the Issas (who are ethnic Somalis) and the Afars drifted into Djibouti city. Most swapped a nomadic life of herding goats and cattle for long heat-haze afternoons chewing qat, a narcotic leaf flown in from Ethiopia. But things began to change when Eritrean independence cut Ethiopia off from the sea. Since then, almost all Ethiopia's trade has been shipped through Djibouti, some of it on a rickety railway linking it to Addis Ababa. The bullish—some say bullying—thinking of Djibouti's current president, Ismail Guelleh, a protégé and nephew of Mr Gouled first elected in 1999, has also helped pep things up. His slogan on billboards throughout the town is “Nous croyons” (We believe).
In what? Well, in Dubai. He wants Djibouti to follow the example of the booming gulf emirate or perhaps even of Malaysia, a Muslim model where many children of Djibouti's elite head for university. Dubai Ports now runs Djibouti's upgraded port. The economy may grow by nearly 6% this year, though unemployment is high and the IMF is unhappy with the government's shoddy fiscal management. Businessmen say the port's improvements make it hard to imagine that Eritrea's Massawa, Somaliland's Berbera or Somalia's Bossaso will catch up soon. Some talk of turning the city's scorching seafront into “St Tropez in the Horn”.
There is also a spectacular plan said to have the backing of Tarek bin Laden, a half-brother of Osama bin Laden, to build the world's longest bridge, across the Bab al-Mandib (Gate of Sorrows), the strait between Djibouti and Yemen. Even for ambitious Djibouti, this may be a bridge too far, judging by local scepticism and the developers' evasiveness.
But the country may profit from its new strategic importance. Mr Guelleh let America set up a large military base, from which it conducts anti-terrorist operations across east Africa. Ruthless policing and foreign troops have so far stopped Islamist militants from getting a foothold there, although there are complaints that Mr Guelleh is increasingly undemocratic.
Mr Guelleh's main aim is not to annoy any government in the region. Relations with Ethiopia are tense but practical. Mr Guelleh opposed Ethiopia's invasion of Somalia in late 2006 but avoids the topic when meeting Ethiopian officials. Djibouti's people resent the advertisements along their roads in Amharic, Ethiopia's main language. But grumbling is quickly silenced by Ethiopian threats to cut off qat imports. Djibouti is similarly cautious with Somalia. Mr Guelleh is disappointed by the feebleness of Somalia's transitional government but does not endorse neighbouring Somaliland's bid for independence. In sum, Djibouti is surviving cannily in a tough neighbourhood.
Eritrea works to lure business back to war-battered port
AFP, March 24, 2008
MASSAWA: It’s been a long time since the old bank in Eritrea’s main Red Sea port had a customer. Like much of the ancient city of Massawa, it was devastated by heavy Ethiopian bombing raids during its liberation in 1990 by Eritrean guerrilla fighters.
Today, hungry cats prowl the once elegant colonial-era building, ornate plasterwork lies in piles of rubble and the bank’s thick vault door hangs inches open - rusted solid, with only spider webs visible in its tantalisingly inaccessible gloom.
But towering above its bullet-pocked and crumbling facade tall cranes turn slowly as they heave up containers from a boat onto the dock.
The cranes are new, part of ambitious plans to revitalise the steamy port - once one of the busiest in east Africa - by declaring a 1,100 hectare (2,717 acre) free trade zone to attract investment and boost Eritrea’s tightly controlled economy.
“We believe it can be an engine to transform Eritrea’s economy,” said Araia Tseggai, chief executive of the Eritrean Free Zones Authority.
“It will help develop an internationally competitive business sector,” Araia added, stressing its position, “ideally sited” on the busy shipping route between the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
The free zone is planned to include warehousing facilities, manufacturing and assembly plants, commercial trading and services for shipping.
State media boasts that half a billion nakfa ($33mn) has already been spent. A new airport has been constructed, roads upgraded, a lavish sea-front hotel near completion and an army of national service conscripts drafted in to toil on the construction of rows of apartment blocks.
“A country can’t attract investment without infrastructure,” Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki said during a recent interview published by the state media.
“By putting in place very good infrastructure and service for handling... that could be an opportunity for regional and global markets.”
But it’s a tough task to revitalise Massawa’s economy, with industry and trade stifled by a long-running border deadlock with arch-foe Ethiopia.
Analysts continue to warn of a potential return to hostilities following a 1998-2000 border war. Some quarter of million troops face each other across no-man’s land, with tensions raised after UN peacekeepers pulled out of border zones this month after Eritrea cut their fuel supply.
“It’s a ghost town,” said one elderly port worker, wearily waving a stick at a dozen scrawny cats begging for fish scraps. He pointed to the once busy bars, now largely empty with the young conscripted into a giant national service programme, and bar workers rounded up and sent for tough military training in the hot surrounding desert. “It’s not like the old days,” he added.
State media say that at least ten companies have received licenses to start businesses, optimistically predicting that “many more” will apply.
The zones are a rare chance for private enterprise in Eritrea, whose restrictive foreign currency regulations, hostile diplomacy towards several Western nations and tough import restrictions have deterred outside investors.
But the government has promised that foreign companies will be exempt from import and export taxes, and, crucially, will be allowed to take profits out of the free zone.
“We have high hopes, and there are dozens of companies already interested,” Araia added, saying the zone will be expanded.
Companies from China, several Gulf states, Italy, Israel and Sudan are among those considering setting up, he added.
But competition is stiff for late-starting Massawa, with well-established regional rivals including neighbouring Port Sudan, Djibouti, and the Yemeni port of Aden, all themselves dwarfed by Dubai.
Djibouti enjoyed a massive trade boom when it became the main port for landlocked Ethiopia, which switched its business to the city-state after the border with Eritrea was closed with the outbreak of war in 1998.
Yet the government says it is determined to rebuild the city, which spreads from the mainland via long causeways across to two islands, where the main docks are based.
“We are a young nation and we have inherited a legacy of a devastated country,” said Issaias, who is himself now based much of the time in the port, 103km east of the mountain capital Asmara.
Once dubbed the “pearl of the Red Sea” for its Arab and Turkish influenced architecture, many of Massawa’s estimated 35,000 inhabitants live in simple huts patched with metal sheets and ragged cloth.
With sweltering temperatures soaring well above 40 Celsius for many months of the year, it’s a tough place to live.
The government enthusiastically hopes to boost Massawa’s fishing industry to improve food security as part of its fierce policy of self-reliance that includes the rejection of foreign food aid handouts.
But without positive change on the border stand-off with Ethiopia - with many fearing their far larger neighbour still hungers for its lost Red Sea ports - many ambitions will remain only a dream.
“We can make every effort, but until the problem with Ethiopia is solved we cannot progress far,” said one Massawa businessman, sipping tea in a bar looking out across the sparkling water to the bombed ruins of former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie’s palace.
“If war breaks out again, then all we have tried to achieve could just be lost again.”
MASSAWA: It’s been a long time since the old bank in Eritrea’s main Red Sea port had a customer. Like much of the ancient city of Massawa, it was devastated by heavy Ethiopian bombing raids during its liberation in 1990 by Eritrean guerrilla fighters.
Today, hungry cats prowl the once elegant colonial-era building, ornate plasterwork lies in piles of rubble and the bank’s thick vault door hangs inches open - rusted solid, with only spider webs visible in its tantalisingly inaccessible gloom.
But towering above its bullet-pocked and crumbling facade tall cranes turn slowly as they heave up containers from a boat onto the dock.
The cranes are new, part of ambitious plans to revitalise the steamy port - once one of the busiest in east Africa - by declaring a 1,100 hectare (2,717 acre) free trade zone to attract investment and boost Eritrea’s tightly controlled economy.
“We believe it can be an engine to transform Eritrea’s economy,” said Araia Tseggai, chief executive of the Eritrean Free Zones Authority.
“It will help develop an internationally competitive business sector,” Araia added, stressing its position, “ideally sited” on the busy shipping route between the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
The free zone is planned to include warehousing facilities, manufacturing and assembly plants, commercial trading and services for shipping.
State media boasts that half a billion nakfa ($33mn) has already been spent. A new airport has been constructed, roads upgraded, a lavish sea-front hotel near completion and an army of national service conscripts drafted in to toil on the construction of rows of apartment blocks.
“A country can’t attract investment without infrastructure,” Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki said during a recent interview published by the state media.
“By putting in place very good infrastructure and service for handling... that could be an opportunity for regional and global markets.”
But it’s a tough task to revitalise Massawa’s economy, with industry and trade stifled by a long-running border deadlock with arch-foe Ethiopia.
Analysts continue to warn of a potential return to hostilities following a 1998-2000 border war. Some quarter of million troops face each other across no-man’s land, with tensions raised after UN peacekeepers pulled out of border zones this month after Eritrea cut their fuel supply.
“It’s a ghost town,” said one elderly port worker, wearily waving a stick at a dozen scrawny cats begging for fish scraps. He pointed to the once busy bars, now largely empty with the young conscripted into a giant national service programme, and bar workers rounded up and sent for tough military training in the hot surrounding desert. “It’s not like the old days,” he added.
State media say that at least ten companies have received licenses to start businesses, optimistically predicting that “many more” will apply.
The zones are a rare chance for private enterprise in Eritrea, whose restrictive foreign currency regulations, hostile diplomacy towards several Western nations and tough import restrictions have deterred outside investors.
But the government has promised that foreign companies will be exempt from import and export taxes, and, crucially, will be allowed to take profits out of the free zone.
“We have high hopes, and there are dozens of companies already interested,” Araia added, saying the zone will be expanded.
Companies from China, several Gulf states, Italy, Israel and Sudan are among those considering setting up, he added.
But competition is stiff for late-starting Massawa, with well-established regional rivals including neighbouring Port Sudan, Djibouti, and the Yemeni port of Aden, all themselves dwarfed by Dubai.
Djibouti enjoyed a massive trade boom when it became the main port for landlocked Ethiopia, which switched its business to the city-state after the border with Eritrea was closed with the outbreak of war in 1998.
Yet the government says it is determined to rebuild the city, which spreads from the mainland via long causeways across to two islands, where the main docks are based.
“We are a young nation and we have inherited a legacy of a devastated country,” said Issaias, who is himself now based much of the time in the port, 103km east of the mountain capital Asmara.
Once dubbed the “pearl of the Red Sea” for its Arab and Turkish influenced architecture, many of Massawa’s estimated 35,000 inhabitants live in simple huts patched with metal sheets and ragged cloth.
With sweltering temperatures soaring well above 40 Celsius for many months of the year, it’s a tough place to live.
The government enthusiastically hopes to boost Massawa’s fishing industry to improve food security as part of its fierce policy of self-reliance that includes the rejection of foreign food aid handouts.
But without positive change on the border stand-off with Ethiopia - with many fearing their far larger neighbour still hungers for its lost Red Sea ports - many ambitions will remain only a dream.
“We can make every effort, but until the problem with Ethiopia is solved we cannot progress far,” said one Massawa businessman, sipping tea in a bar looking out across the sparkling water to the bombed ruins of former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie’s palace.
“If war breaks out again, then all we have tried to achieve could just be lost again.”
Darfur peacekeeping force at risk of failing, already
By Lydia Polgreen
Sunday, March 23, 2008
ABU SUROUJ, Sudan: As Darfur smolders in the aftermath of a new government offensive, a long-sought peacekeeping force, expected to be the world's largest, is in danger of failing even before it begins its mission because of bureaucratic delays, stonewalling by the Sudanese government and reluctance from troop-contributing countries to send peacekeeping forces into an active conflict.
The force, which officially took over from an overstretched and exhausted African Union force in Darfur on Jan. 1, has just over 9,000 of an expected 26,000 soldiers and police officers, and will not fully deploy until the end of the year, United Nation officials said.
Even the troops that are in place, the old African Union force plus two other battalions, lack essential equipment - like sufficient armored personnel carriers and helicopters - to carry out even the most rudimentary of peacekeeping tasks. Some even had to buy their own paint to turn their green helmets United Nations blue, peacekeepers here said.
The peacekeepers' work is more essential than ever. At least 30,000 people were displaced last month as the government and its allied militias fought to retake territory held by rebel groups fighting in the region, said United Nations human rights officials.
For weeks after the attacks, many of the displaced were hiding in the bush nearby or living in the open along the volatile border between Sudan and Chad, inaccessible to aid workers. Most wanted to return to their scorched villages and rebuild but did not feel safe from roaming bandits and militias.
This month, a week spent with the peacekeeping troops based here at the headquarters of Sector West, a wind-blown outpost at the heart of the recent violence, revealed a force struggling mightily to do better than its much-maligned predecessor, but with little new manpower or equipment.
Despite this, the force is managing to project a greater sense of security for the tens of thousands of vulnerable civilians in the vast territory it covers, mounting night patrols in displaced people's camps and long-range patrols to the areas hardest hit by fighting.
But those small gains are fragile, and if more troops do not arrive soon the force will be written off as being as ineffective and compromised as the one that preceded it.
"We really don't have much time to prove we can do better," said Brigadier General Balla Keita, commander of the roughly 2,000 troops in West Darfur, just one-third of the expected total for the area. "God gave the prophets the ability to achieve miracles so that people would believe. So people here will believe when they see improvements on the ground. And that cannot wait for more troops, we need to do better with what we have."
The deployment of the biggest peacekeeping force in modern history in one of the most remote, hostile and forbidding corners of the globe was bound to be a logistical nightmare. Darfur is landlocked, water is scarce, the roads are rutted tracks crossed by the mud and sand traps of dry riverbeds.
But those problems pale in comparison with the diplomatic and political struggles the mission faces.
When previous large missions were organized in Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the central governments in those countries had collapsed or were so weak that they had little choice but to accept peacekeepers on their territory. But the government of Sudan agreed to accept United Nations-led peacekeepers in Darfur only after a long diplomatic struggle and under a great deal of pressure.
The progress to get the mission in place has been slow, and much of the blame for this has been placed at the feet of the Sudanese government. For months after the United Nations Security Council approved the force, Sudan insisted on limits on the force's makeup and independence, demanding the power to dictate which countries contributed troops, to shut down the force's communication systems when the government carried out offensives and to restrict the movements of peacekeepers at night.
Ultimately, the government signed a compromise with the United Nations that allowed the force to operate, but Sudan was successful in insisting that the vast majority of troops come from African countries, and will be supplemented by soldiers from other regions only if suitable African troops cannot be found.
That stipulation has delayed the force's mission, because African armies are not able to deploy quickly with the equipment and training to meet stringent UN standards, United Nations officials and Western diplomats said.
Sudanese government officials have argued that African troops are up to the job and that non-African troops would be seen as neocolonial interlopers.
The problems have raised fears that the United Nations force would suffer the same fate as the African Union force, which was hobbled from the start by a weak mandate, which was to observe a cease-fire, not protect civilians.
The thousands of troops deployed by Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal and other nations were mainly there to protect the military observers, who were unarmed, and the unarmed civilian police, whose job was to guard the camps for the internally displaced people.
But the original cease-fire was quickly violated and subsequent agreements failed to produce peace. The African troops soon were seen, perhaps unfairly, as useless note-takers who visited the scene of atrocities long after the fact, gathering testimony that seemed to disappear into a bureaucratic black hole.
All of that has changed with the new hybrid mission. The force has a robust mandate to protect civilians. But that is easier said than done, said Major Sani Abdullahi, the man in charge of the single company charged with fending off roaming militias and rebels to protect tens of thousands of displaced villagers in nearly a dozen camps, along with thousands more vulnerable residents of remote villages.
It is unclear how exactly the deployment of troops in Darfur can be speeded up. Western activists involved in the Darfur issue have demanded that China, Sudan's main trading partner and one of its weapons' suppliers, pressure Sudan to allow the troops to deploy quickly. While some of the blame for the delay has been placed in the Sudanese government, United Nations requirements that the troops meet a certain standard have also slowed the force, according to diplomats and political analysts.
The deployment "is not principally being delayed by the Sudanese government," said one senior Western diplomat in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, who is not authorized to speak publicly. Other problems, like the United Nations bureaucracy and the reluctance of troop-contributing countries, were as much to blame, the diplomat said.
There is certainly no lack of money. Rodolphe Adada, the mission's civilian chief, said the force had a budget of $1.7 billion. What it needs is troops and equipment, and neither has been easy to get. More pressure on the Sudanese government, he said, would not help matters.
Some countries are reluctant to commit troops in an active conflict with no peace agreement or even a working cease-fire. "The international community had two choices - get a peace accord and deploy the mission after, or send the mission anyway," Adada said. "It chose the latter. But how do you keep the peace when there is no peace to keep?"
Sunday, March 23, 2008
ABU SUROUJ, Sudan: As Darfur smolders in the aftermath of a new government offensive, a long-sought peacekeeping force, expected to be the world's largest, is in danger of failing even before it begins its mission because of bureaucratic delays, stonewalling by the Sudanese government and reluctance from troop-contributing countries to send peacekeeping forces into an active conflict.
The force, which officially took over from an overstretched and exhausted African Union force in Darfur on Jan. 1, has just over 9,000 of an expected 26,000 soldiers and police officers, and will not fully deploy until the end of the year, United Nation officials said.
Even the troops that are in place, the old African Union force plus two other battalions, lack essential equipment - like sufficient armored personnel carriers and helicopters - to carry out even the most rudimentary of peacekeeping tasks. Some even had to buy their own paint to turn their green helmets United Nations blue, peacekeepers here said.
The peacekeepers' work is more essential than ever. At least 30,000 people were displaced last month as the government and its allied militias fought to retake territory held by rebel groups fighting in the region, said United Nations human rights officials.
For weeks after the attacks, many of the displaced were hiding in the bush nearby or living in the open along the volatile border between Sudan and Chad, inaccessible to aid workers. Most wanted to return to their scorched villages and rebuild but did not feel safe from roaming bandits and militias.
This month, a week spent with the peacekeeping troops based here at the headquarters of Sector West, a wind-blown outpost at the heart of the recent violence, revealed a force struggling mightily to do better than its much-maligned predecessor, but with little new manpower or equipment.
Despite this, the force is managing to project a greater sense of security for the tens of thousands of vulnerable civilians in the vast territory it covers, mounting night patrols in displaced people's camps and long-range patrols to the areas hardest hit by fighting.
But those small gains are fragile, and if more troops do not arrive soon the force will be written off as being as ineffective and compromised as the one that preceded it.
"We really don't have much time to prove we can do better," said Brigadier General Balla Keita, commander of the roughly 2,000 troops in West Darfur, just one-third of the expected total for the area. "God gave the prophets the ability to achieve miracles so that people would believe. So people here will believe when they see improvements on the ground. And that cannot wait for more troops, we need to do better with what we have."
The deployment of the biggest peacekeeping force in modern history in one of the most remote, hostile and forbidding corners of the globe was bound to be a logistical nightmare. Darfur is landlocked, water is scarce, the roads are rutted tracks crossed by the mud and sand traps of dry riverbeds.
But those problems pale in comparison with the diplomatic and political struggles the mission faces.
When previous large missions were organized in Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone, the central governments in those countries had collapsed or were so weak that they had little choice but to accept peacekeepers on their territory. But the government of Sudan agreed to accept United Nations-led peacekeepers in Darfur only after a long diplomatic struggle and under a great deal of pressure.
The progress to get the mission in place has been slow, and much of the blame for this has been placed at the feet of the Sudanese government. For months after the United Nations Security Council approved the force, Sudan insisted on limits on the force's makeup and independence, demanding the power to dictate which countries contributed troops, to shut down the force's communication systems when the government carried out offensives and to restrict the movements of peacekeepers at night.
Ultimately, the government signed a compromise with the United Nations that allowed the force to operate, but Sudan was successful in insisting that the vast majority of troops come from African countries, and will be supplemented by soldiers from other regions only if suitable African troops cannot be found.
That stipulation has delayed the force's mission, because African armies are not able to deploy quickly with the equipment and training to meet stringent UN standards, United Nations officials and Western diplomats said.
Sudanese government officials have argued that African troops are up to the job and that non-African troops would be seen as neocolonial interlopers.
The problems have raised fears that the United Nations force would suffer the same fate as the African Union force, which was hobbled from the start by a weak mandate, which was to observe a cease-fire, not protect civilians.
The thousands of troops deployed by Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal and other nations were mainly there to protect the military observers, who were unarmed, and the unarmed civilian police, whose job was to guard the camps for the internally displaced people.
But the original cease-fire was quickly violated and subsequent agreements failed to produce peace. The African troops soon were seen, perhaps unfairly, as useless note-takers who visited the scene of atrocities long after the fact, gathering testimony that seemed to disappear into a bureaucratic black hole.
All of that has changed with the new hybrid mission. The force has a robust mandate to protect civilians. But that is easier said than done, said Major Sani Abdullahi, the man in charge of the single company charged with fending off roaming militias and rebels to protect tens of thousands of displaced villagers in nearly a dozen camps, along with thousands more vulnerable residents of remote villages.
It is unclear how exactly the deployment of troops in Darfur can be speeded up. Western activists involved in the Darfur issue have demanded that China, Sudan's main trading partner and one of its weapons' suppliers, pressure Sudan to allow the troops to deploy quickly. While some of the blame for the delay has been placed in the Sudanese government, United Nations requirements that the troops meet a certain standard have also slowed the force, according to diplomats and political analysts.
The deployment "is not principally being delayed by the Sudanese government," said one senior Western diplomat in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, who is not authorized to speak publicly. Other problems, like the United Nations bureaucracy and the reluctance of troop-contributing countries, were as much to blame, the diplomat said.
There is certainly no lack of money. Rodolphe Adada, the mission's civilian chief, said the force had a budget of $1.7 billion. What it needs is troops and equipment, and neither has been easy to get. More pressure on the Sudanese government, he said, would not help matters.
Some countries are reluctant to commit troops in an active conflict with no peace agreement or even a working cease-fire. "The international community had two choices - get a peace accord and deploy the mission after, or send the mission anyway," Adada said. "It chose the latter. But how do you keep the peace when there is no peace to keep?"
Ethiopian Ambassador Asks Turkish Businessmen To Invest In Ethiopia
Published: 3/22/2008
MERSIN - Ethiopian Ambassador in Ankara Mulat Teshome on Friday called on Turkish businessmen to invest in his country.
Speaking at a visit to Mersin Chamber of Trade & Industry (MTSO) Assembly Chairman Ibrahim Kiper, Teshome recalled that Ethiopia was one of the first African countries establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey.
Teshome underlined that Ethiopia was an agriculture country, indicating that his country produced wheat, corn, bean, pea, and soybean.
MTSO Acting Chairman Faik Burakgazi said Ethiopia, with its 71 million people population, was the third biggest country in Africa.
Emphasizing that Ethiopian economy recorded success in the recent years, Burakgazi said Ethiopia was an important market for the Turkish businessmen.
(AY)
MERSIN - Ethiopian Ambassador in Ankara Mulat Teshome on Friday called on Turkish businessmen to invest in his country.
Speaking at a visit to Mersin Chamber of Trade & Industry (MTSO) Assembly Chairman Ibrahim Kiper, Teshome recalled that Ethiopia was one of the first African countries establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey.
Teshome underlined that Ethiopia was an agriculture country, indicating that his country produced wheat, corn, bean, pea, and soybean.
MTSO Acting Chairman Faik Burakgazi said Ethiopia, with its 71 million people population, was the third biggest country in Africa.
Emphasizing that Ethiopian economy recorded success in the recent years, Burakgazi said Ethiopia was an important market for the Turkish businessmen.
(AY)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Taking chances
By Galal Nassar
Al-Ahram Weekly Online
US bombers began pounding away at Somali positions as battles escalated between the Somali resistance and the combined forces of the invading Ethiopian army and the Somali interim government. Hardly a day passes without a bombing or assassination in Baidoa, capital of the interim government. The Americans are using their usual excuse: they are trying to kill Al-Qaeda leaders.
Somalia's Islamic resistance seems to have mastered the art of guerrilla warfare, taking control of small towns then abandoning them and disappearing into the population. It is a tactic designed to baffle and frustrate a regular army trying to fight a symmetric war. Where exactly is the enemy? Meanwhile, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Eritreans are waiting for the right moment to assault the Ethiopians.
What should the Ethiopians do?
The simplest solution would be to withdraw and live to fight another day. But this is not what Ethiopia really wants to do right now. It is still hoping to get the US and Europe to back an African contingent, along the lines of the one formed for Darfur, in Somalia. That would give the Ethiopians a chance to pull out of the country without losing face.
Alternatively, Ethiopian politicians may escalate the situation on the Eritrean front, which would give them an excuse to pull out troops from Somalia without looking as if they were running away. Or, learning from American tactics in Iraq, Ethiopia may stir up factional strife in Somalia, which would give it a breathing space and make it look more of a peacemaker than an invader. The Ethiopians may be tempted to finance and arm warlords and have them fight a proxy war against the resistance. That would create a real problem for the Somali resistance.
The worst possible situation for any resistance movement is one in which it finds itself distanced from the general population. Without firm public backing, it is hard to maintain the momentum of resistance. Let's take Hamas for example. Hamas started out as a popular group, with a large network of public institutions engaged in social endeavours. This is why it managed to survive once armed struggle started. In Iraq, this wasn't the case, for the Baath Party had extinguished all autonomous social or political activities in the country prior to the invasion. This is why the Iraqi resistance is so divided right now.
The Taliban is another case in point. In power before the occupation, the Taliban had the grassroots it needed to resume the fight once it was deposed by the invasion. Even while in power, the Taliban was locked in battle with the Northern Alliance. Later on, after Taliban leaders fled to remote mountain areas, they could count on their local supporters.
In Somalia, the situation is similar in some ways. Prior to the occupation, the militia of the Islamic Courts was in control of most of Somalia, but it hadn't yet had the chance to forge strong links with the general public. Still, even before the occupation began, the Islamic Courts had gained some military experience through its battles with the Baidoa interim government and other northern factions.
The Islamic Courts have something in common with both the Palestinian and the Iraqi resistance movements: religious zeal. But they are more clannish than the Palestinians and less sectarian than the Iraqis. So far, the Somali resistance has managed to put so much pressure on the Ethiopian occupation forces that current battles are likely to develop into a full- fledged war.
Factor in the Eritrean-Ethiopian border rivalries, the resurgence of the ONLF, and Ethiopia's efforts to stir up inter- tribal conflicts in Somalia, and the future seems to be rather dim for the Ethiopians. First of all, Eritrea is likely to escalate things on the borders with Ethiopia. Second, Ethiopia will have to deploy more troops against the ONLF. And third, the scale of resistance in various parts of Somalia may prove too much for the Ethiopians. So why is Ethiopia refusing to withdraw from Somalia?
For starters, Ethiopia wants an access to the sea. Since Eritrean independence, Ethiopia has been landlocked. Should Ethiopia pull out of Somalia and recognise the independence of both Eritrea and Somalia, it would have to learn to live without sea access or regional clout. It is not only money or trade Ethiopia is worried about, but influence and power.
Still, if Ethiopia decides to stay in Somalia while being challenged on other fronts, it may be risking utter defeat. At one point, the Somalis may start demanding the Ogaden region back. A protracted war in Somalia may therefore lead to profound changes in Ethiopia's politics and geography. Ethiopia, let's keep in mind, is not exactly an ethnically or religiously homogeneous nation. And some local clans may just be tempted to secede or grab power from the central government.
Eritrea is biding its time now, waiting for the Ethiopians to get a bloody nose in Somalia before moving in for the kill. The Ethiopians are for now banking on US support, but that may not last forever, not with Europe steadily manoeuvring to replace the US as the dominant power in Africa.
Everything is possible now, from a devastating war in Somalia to extensive confrontation in Ogaden or an Eritrean- Ethiopian showdown. One thing is sure. Ethiopia is taking too many chances.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online
US bombers began pounding away at Somali positions as battles escalated between the Somali resistance and the combined forces of the invading Ethiopian army and the Somali interim government. Hardly a day passes without a bombing or assassination in Baidoa, capital of the interim government. The Americans are using their usual excuse: they are trying to kill Al-Qaeda leaders.
Somalia's Islamic resistance seems to have mastered the art of guerrilla warfare, taking control of small towns then abandoning them and disappearing into the population. It is a tactic designed to baffle and frustrate a regular army trying to fight a symmetric war. Where exactly is the enemy? Meanwhile, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Eritreans are waiting for the right moment to assault the Ethiopians.
What should the Ethiopians do?
The simplest solution would be to withdraw and live to fight another day. But this is not what Ethiopia really wants to do right now. It is still hoping to get the US and Europe to back an African contingent, along the lines of the one formed for Darfur, in Somalia. That would give the Ethiopians a chance to pull out of the country without losing face.
Alternatively, Ethiopian politicians may escalate the situation on the Eritrean front, which would give them an excuse to pull out troops from Somalia without looking as if they were running away. Or, learning from American tactics in Iraq, Ethiopia may stir up factional strife in Somalia, which would give it a breathing space and make it look more of a peacemaker than an invader. The Ethiopians may be tempted to finance and arm warlords and have them fight a proxy war against the resistance. That would create a real problem for the Somali resistance.
The worst possible situation for any resistance movement is one in which it finds itself distanced from the general population. Without firm public backing, it is hard to maintain the momentum of resistance. Let's take Hamas for example. Hamas started out as a popular group, with a large network of public institutions engaged in social endeavours. This is why it managed to survive once armed struggle started. In Iraq, this wasn't the case, for the Baath Party had extinguished all autonomous social or political activities in the country prior to the invasion. This is why the Iraqi resistance is so divided right now.
The Taliban is another case in point. In power before the occupation, the Taliban had the grassroots it needed to resume the fight once it was deposed by the invasion. Even while in power, the Taliban was locked in battle with the Northern Alliance. Later on, after Taliban leaders fled to remote mountain areas, they could count on their local supporters.
In Somalia, the situation is similar in some ways. Prior to the occupation, the militia of the Islamic Courts was in control of most of Somalia, but it hadn't yet had the chance to forge strong links with the general public. Still, even before the occupation began, the Islamic Courts had gained some military experience through its battles with the Baidoa interim government and other northern factions.
The Islamic Courts have something in common with both the Palestinian and the Iraqi resistance movements: religious zeal. But they are more clannish than the Palestinians and less sectarian than the Iraqis. So far, the Somali resistance has managed to put so much pressure on the Ethiopian occupation forces that current battles are likely to develop into a full- fledged war.
Factor in the Eritrean-Ethiopian border rivalries, the resurgence of the ONLF, and Ethiopia's efforts to stir up inter- tribal conflicts in Somalia, and the future seems to be rather dim for the Ethiopians. First of all, Eritrea is likely to escalate things on the borders with Ethiopia. Second, Ethiopia will have to deploy more troops against the ONLF. And third, the scale of resistance in various parts of Somalia may prove too much for the Ethiopians. So why is Ethiopia refusing to withdraw from Somalia?
For starters, Ethiopia wants an access to the sea. Since Eritrean independence, Ethiopia has been landlocked. Should Ethiopia pull out of Somalia and recognise the independence of both Eritrea and Somalia, it would have to learn to live without sea access or regional clout. It is not only money or trade Ethiopia is worried about, but influence and power.
Still, if Ethiopia decides to stay in Somalia while being challenged on other fronts, it may be risking utter defeat. At one point, the Somalis may start demanding the Ogaden region back. A protracted war in Somalia may therefore lead to profound changes in Ethiopia's politics and geography. Ethiopia, let's keep in mind, is not exactly an ethnically or religiously homogeneous nation. And some local clans may just be tempted to secede or grab power from the central government.
Eritrea is biding its time now, waiting for the Ethiopians to get a bloody nose in Somalia before moving in for the kill. The Ethiopians are for now banking on US support, but that may not last forever, not with Europe steadily manoeuvring to replace the US as the dominant power in Africa.
Everything is possible now, from a devastating war in Somalia to extensive confrontation in Ogaden or an Eritrean- Ethiopian showdown. One thing is sure. Ethiopia is taking too many chances.
Gen. Sebhat Holds Talks With Chief of Staff of Qatari Defense Force
NEWS
21 March 2008
Posted to the web 21 March 2008
Asmara
General Sebhat Ephrem, Defense Minister, held talks in Doha yesterday with the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Defense Force, Brig. General Humed Bin Ali Al-Atia, on bilateral relations.
In the meeting, the two sides held discussions on developments in the Horn of Africa and its impact on the region and the world at large.
The high-level Eritrean Defense Ministry delegation headed by Gen. Sebhat participated in the International Naval Force Show staged in Qatar at the invitation of Brig. General Humed Bin Ali Al-Atia.
21 March 2008
Posted to the web 21 March 2008
Asmara
General Sebhat Ephrem, Defense Minister, held talks in Doha yesterday with the Chief of Staff of the Qatari Defense Force, Brig. General Humed Bin Ali Al-Atia, on bilateral relations.
In the meeting, the two sides held discussions on developments in the Horn of Africa and its impact on the region and the world at large.
The high-level Eritrean Defense Ministry delegation headed by Gen. Sebhat participated in the International Naval Force Show staged in Qatar at the invitation of Brig. General Humed Bin Ali Al-Atia.
Annan says UN 'overstretched' by global conflicts
By Warren Hoge
Friday, March 21, 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York: Kofi Annan, the former secretary general, said the United Nations was "overstretched" in conflict areas and should resist taking on new responsibilities as long as major powers proved unwilling to supply needed support.
"I don't think the UN is in a position today to go in and take over in Afghanistan; I don't think the UN will get the resources to play a major and active role in Somalia," he said Thursday. "We are already struggling to get the resources in Darfur, where some have declared it a genocide."
The United Nations, he said, must make clear what it can and cannot do. "To create the impression of action when nothing is happening is, I think, more damaging," he said, in a conversation with journalists.
On the issue of Iran's nuclear program, he said he backed Security Council resolutions putting pressure on its government to stop enrichment of uranium, but he warned that taking military steps to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons would be "a real disaster."
"We cannot, I am sure, take another military action, in Iran, and I hope no one is contemplating it," he said.
It was Annan's first conversation with UN journalists since completing his second five-year term in office on Dec. 31, 2006. He divides his time between Geneva and his native Ghana and was in New York to receive an international justice award from the MacArthur Foundation at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel Thursday evening.
He said that the United Nations' current difficulties in trying to get 26,000 peacekeepers into Darfur to replace an underequipped 7,000-member African Union force illustrated the quandary that the organization faced.
"We have these conflicts where no one really wants to get involved, powerful countries with means will not touch it with a barge pole, they will support weak, ineffectual initiatives by others, sometimes by a subregional or regional organization, to create the impression of action," he said.
"I can understand why some countries will not put troops on the ground in Darfur for reasons I think we can accept," he said. "But I cannot understand why they cannot spare a couple of helicopters."
The United Nations says that the force needs 24 helicopters to patrol the vast Darfur area, but thus far no country has responded to repeated requests for them from the current secretary general, Ban Ki Moon.
Annan was asked about the perception of some member states that Ban was overly influenced by the United States. Annan came to office a favorite of Washington but fell out of favor with the Bush administration after the Security Council refused in 2003 to endorse the invasion of Iraq. He later said the war violated international law.
"Almost every secretary general at one point or the other is perceived as close to the Americans and at another point fighting the Americans with their daggers drawn," Annan said. "It comes with the territory."
Friday, March 21, 2008
UNITED NATIONS, New York: Kofi Annan, the former secretary general, said the United Nations was "overstretched" in conflict areas and should resist taking on new responsibilities as long as major powers proved unwilling to supply needed support.
"I don't think the UN is in a position today to go in and take over in Afghanistan; I don't think the UN will get the resources to play a major and active role in Somalia," he said Thursday. "We are already struggling to get the resources in Darfur, where some have declared it a genocide."
The United Nations, he said, must make clear what it can and cannot do. "To create the impression of action when nothing is happening is, I think, more damaging," he said, in a conversation with journalists.
On the issue of Iran's nuclear program, he said he backed Security Council resolutions putting pressure on its government to stop enrichment of uranium, but he warned that taking military steps to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons would be "a real disaster."
"We cannot, I am sure, take another military action, in Iran, and I hope no one is contemplating it," he said.
It was Annan's first conversation with UN journalists since completing his second five-year term in office on Dec. 31, 2006. He divides his time between Geneva and his native Ghana and was in New York to receive an international justice award from the MacArthur Foundation at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel Thursday evening.
He said that the United Nations' current difficulties in trying to get 26,000 peacekeepers into Darfur to replace an underequipped 7,000-member African Union force illustrated the quandary that the organization faced.
"We have these conflicts where no one really wants to get involved, powerful countries with means will not touch it with a barge pole, they will support weak, ineffectual initiatives by others, sometimes by a subregional or regional organization, to create the impression of action," he said.
"I can understand why some countries will not put troops on the ground in Darfur for reasons I think we can accept," he said. "But I cannot understand why they cannot spare a couple of helicopters."
The United Nations says that the force needs 24 helicopters to patrol the vast Darfur area, but thus far no country has responded to repeated requests for them from the current secretary general, Ban Ki Moon.
Annan was asked about the perception of some member states that Ban was overly influenced by the United States. Annan came to office a favorite of Washington but fell out of favor with the Bush administration after the Security Council refused in 2003 to endorse the invasion of Iraq. He later said the war violated international law.
"Almost every secretary general at one point or the other is perceived as close to the Americans and at another point fighting the Americans with their daggers drawn," Annan said. "It comes with the territory."
Eritrea rejects U.S. human rights accusations
ASMARA (Reuters) - Eritrea on Saturday rejected accusations by the U.S. State Department of gross human rights violations in the Red Sea state, saying Washington should apply the same standards to itself.
Human rights defenders routinely label Eritrea one of Africa's worst offenders, accusing it of using torture, killing and illegal imprisonment inside the country.
"The politically motivated report is replete ... with unsubstantiated rumors, innuendos, exaggerations and sheer fabrications," Eritrea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, referring to the annual U.S. report.
"The curious feature ... is that it does not even pretend to apply the same benchmarks ... to examine and pass judgment on the human rights practices of the United States government itself," the statement said.
Relations between Washington and Asmara have soured as Eritrea accuses the United States of siding with Ethiopia in a border dispute. Asmara and Addis Ababa fought a 1998-2000 war over their 1000-km (620-mile) frontier.
The U.S. State Department said in its 2007 world human rights report that Eritrea continued to commit "numerous serious abuses".
It said President Isaias Afwerki's government used the border stalemate with Ethiopia to clamp down on dissent and keep much of the nation's youth in the military. Eritrea denies that.
Human rights defenders routinely label Eritrea one of Africa's worst offenders, accusing it of using torture, killing and illegal imprisonment inside the country.
"The politically motivated report is replete ... with unsubstantiated rumors, innuendos, exaggerations and sheer fabrications," Eritrea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, referring to the annual U.S. report.
"The curious feature ... is that it does not even pretend to apply the same benchmarks ... to examine and pass judgment on the human rights practices of the United States government itself," the statement said.
Relations between Washington and Asmara have soured as Eritrea accuses the United States of siding with Ethiopia in a border dispute. Asmara and Addis Ababa fought a 1998-2000 war over their 1000-km (620-mile) frontier.
The U.S. State Department said in its 2007 world human rights report that Eritrea continued to commit "numerous serious abuses".
It said President Isaias Afwerki's government used the border stalemate with Ethiopia to clamp down on dissent and keep much of the nation's youth in the military. Eritrea denies that.
Profile: Somalia's Islamic 'lads'
By Mary Harper BBC Africa analyst
An Islamist group called al-Shabab, which literally means "the lads" in Somali, has been added to the United States' list of "foreign terrorist organisations".
Its name stems from its first incarnation as the youth and military wing of a group of Sharia courts who controlled much of southern and central Somalia in 2006.
When, at the end of that year, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) was driven from power by Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia's weak transitional government, al-Shabab melted away into remote and distant parts of the country.
But it did not disappear.
Pattern
It re-emerged as a radicalised group of young fighters, who, for the past 18 months have been conducting an insurgency against the interim government and its Ethiopian allies and attacking African Union peacekeepers.
Al-Shabab feels honoured to be included on the list. We are good Muslims and the Americans are infidels Al-Shabab's Muktar Robow
Unlike many UIC leaders, who fled into exile in Eritrea, al-Shabab stayed behind to fight.
It has its own website and has become increasingly active, not only fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, but carrying out hit-and-run attacks throughout central and southern Somalia.
In the past few weeks, al-Shabab has attacked a number of strategic towns, including Dinsor in the south-west and Bur Hakaba, near the seat of parliament in Baidoa.
A pattern is emerging whereby the militia briefly occupy the town, often killing a number of people, then withdraw with arms, ammunition and military vehicles seized from Somali government and Ethiopian troops.
Last week, a Somali soldier was beheaded after the group issued a warning that it would attack checkpoints and behead those operating them.
Al-Qaeda
Al-Shabab has distanced itself from the Somali opposition based in Eritrea, saying it is too secular.
What started as a purely Somali armed group has become a more serious threat.
"Al-Shabab is a violent and brutal extremist group with a number of officials affiliated to al-Qaeda," the US State Department said in a statement.
Led by Aden Hashi Ayro, who is said to have trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, al-Shabab is reported to have attracted members from Yemen, Pakistan and various African countries.
It is this that worries the Americans.
But ironically the fact that the US has repeatedly made statements linking al-Shabab with al-Qaeda may have made it more attractive to some of the foreign fighters.
A senior member of the al-Shabab, Sheikh Muktar Robow, told the BBC he welcomed the US decision.
"Al-Shabab feels honoured to be included on the list. We are good Muslims and the Americans are infidels. We are on the right path," he said.
But he rejected the US's accusations that members of the group are linked to al-Qaeda.
"We are fighting a jihad to rid Somalia of the Ethiopians and its allies, the secular Somali stooges," he said.
After repeating that al-Shabab would not stop fighting or engage in reconciliation talks until Ethiopian troops withdrew from Somalia, he said: "We will continue to attack peacekeepers in Somalia, regardless of their nationality."
An Islamist group called al-Shabab, which literally means "the lads" in Somali, has been added to the United States' list of "foreign terrorist organisations".
Its name stems from its first incarnation as the youth and military wing of a group of Sharia courts who controlled much of southern and central Somalia in 2006.
When, at the end of that year, the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) was driven from power by Ethiopian troops supporting Somalia's weak transitional government, al-Shabab melted away into remote and distant parts of the country.
But it did not disappear.
Pattern
It re-emerged as a radicalised group of young fighters, who, for the past 18 months have been conducting an insurgency against the interim government and its Ethiopian allies and attacking African Union peacekeepers.
Al-Shabab feels honoured to be included on the list. We are good Muslims and the Americans are infidels Al-Shabab's Muktar Robow
Unlike many UIC leaders, who fled into exile in Eritrea, al-Shabab stayed behind to fight.
It has its own website and has become increasingly active, not only fighting in the capital, Mogadishu, but carrying out hit-and-run attacks throughout central and southern Somalia.
In the past few weeks, al-Shabab has attacked a number of strategic towns, including Dinsor in the south-west and Bur Hakaba, near the seat of parliament in Baidoa.
A pattern is emerging whereby the militia briefly occupy the town, often killing a number of people, then withdraw with arms, ammunition and military vehicles seized from Somali government and Ethiopian troops.
Last week, a Somali soldier was beheaded after the group issued a warning that it would attack checkpoints and behead those operating them.
Al-Qaeda
Al-Shabab has distanced itself from the Somali opposition based in Eritrea, saying it is too secular.
What started as a purely Somali armed group has become a more serious threat.
"Al-Shabab is a violent and brutal extremist group with a number of officials affiliated to al-Qaeda," the US State Department said in a statement.
Led by Aden Hashi Ayro, who is said to have trained with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, al-Shabab is reported to have attracted members from Yemen, Pakistan and various African countries.
It is this that worries the Americans.
But ironically the fact that the US has repeatedly made statements linking al-Shabab with al-Qaeda may have made it more attractive to some of the foreign fighters.
A senior member of the al-Shabab, Sheikh Muktar Robow, told the BBC he welcomed the US decision.
"Al-Shabab feels honoured to be included on the list. We are good Muslims and the Americans are infidels. We are on the right path," he said.
But he rejected the US's accusations that members of the group are linked to al-Qaeda.
"We are fighting a jihad to rid Somalia of the Ethiopians and its allies, the secular Somali stooges," he said.
After repeating that al-Shabab would not stop fighting or engage in reconciliation talks until Ethiopian troops withdrew from Somalia, he said: "We will continue to attack peacekeepers in Somalia, regardless of their nationality."
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Eritrean opposition radio starts broadcasting from Ethiopia
By Tesfa-alem Tekle
March 7, 2008 (MEKELLE, Ethiopia) — A coalition of Eritrean opposition groups backed by big supports in Exile launched anti-Isayas Radio broad cast.
The Broad cast which has been on trial since January is based in northern Ethiopia Tigray region’s Mekelle city.
Recently some 11 Eritrean opposition groups have launched TV broadcast in Ethiopia’s Capital, Addis Ababa .
"The target of the new broad cast is to brain wash the ill-ideology Eritrean regime has inflicted over Eritrean people against the Ethiopian people" the man currently in charge of the Radio station, Hagos, who refused to tell his second name, told Sudan Tribune Today.
"We are trying to bring together the two brotherly people and bury their enemyness one the other and make sure no more blood shed is repeated again as the result of rouge propaganda of Isayas Afewerki- led regime" Hagos said adding "we, on be half of the people are assuring the Eritrean people that Ethiopia is in-foe only with the Eritrean leadership and not with the Eritrean people at all."
The new radio station named WEGAHTA (Tigrigna translation- dawn) airs programs twice a day, for 3 hours beginning 6 Am in the morning and for 7 hours beginning 5Pm in the afternoon for a total of 10 hours a day.
"The program is a major bridge to bring back on track the historic ties of the two brotherly people" Twelde Abai, a historian and resident in Mekelle town said.
Currently the radio station airs programs to Ethiopia , Eritrea and partly to Arab nations.
Hagos denied any Ethiopian Involvement on the broad cast.
"Neither the federal government of Ethiopia , nor the regional government of Tigray has hands on the broad cast he said adding "But it is on the best and mutual Interest of the two neighboring people."
March 7, 2008 (MEKELLE, Ethiopia) — A coalition of Eritrean opposition groups backed by big supports in Exile launched anti-Isayas Radio broad cast.
The Broad cast which has been on trial since January is based in northern Ethiopia Tigray region’s Mekelle city.
Recently some 11 Eritrean opposition groups have launched TV broadcast in Ethiopia’s Capital, Addis Ababa .
"The target of the new broad cast is to brain wash the ill-ideology Eritrean regime has inflicted over Eritrean people against the Ethiopian people" the man currently in charge of the Radio station, Hagos, who refused to tell his second name, told Sudan Tribune Today.
"We are trying to bring together the two brotherly people and bury their enemyness one the other and make sure no more blood shed is repeated again as the result of rouge propaganda of Isayas Afewerki- led regime" Hagos said adding "we, on be half of the people are assuring the Eritrean people that Ethiopia is in-foe only with the Eritrean leadership and not with the Eritrean people at all."
The new radio station named WEGAHTA (Tigrigna translation- dawn) airs programs twice a day, for 3 hours beginning 6 Am in the morning and for 7 hours beginning 5Pm in the afternoon for a total of 10 hours a day.
"The program is a major bridge to bring back on track the historic ties of the two brotherly people" Twelde Abai, a historian and resident in Mekelle town said.
Currently the radio station airs programs to Ethiopia , Eritrea and partly to Arab nations.
Hagos denied any Ethiopian Involvement on the broad cast.
"Neither the federal government of Ethiopia , nor the regional government of Tigray has hands on the broad cast he said adding "But it is on the best and mutual Interest of the two neighboring people."
UN Troops Getting Sent Home From Eritrea
By VOA News 09 March 2008
Most of the U.N. peacekeeping forces in Eritrea have been told to temporarily return to their home countries.
In a report dated March 3, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon directed troops monitoring the border situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia to relocate until a review of the situation is completed.
Eritrea began a fuel blockade of the U.N. troops months ago that eventually made it impossible for the force to function. U.N. officials say the Eritreans also cut off the supply of food at one point. Eritrea denies the allegation.
Eritrea says the United Nations has not upheld the rulings of an independent commission that awarded a disputed border town to Eritrea.
Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a border war between 1998 and 2000 that killed an estimated 70,000 people.
Most of the U.N. peacekeeping forces in Eritrea have been told to temporarily return to their home countries.
In a report dated March 3, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon directed troops monitoring the border situation between Eritrea and Ethiopia to relocate until a review of the situation is completed.
Eritrea began a fuel blockade of the U.N. troops months ago that eventually made it impossible for the force to function. U.N. officials say the Eritreans also cut off the supply of food at one point. Eritrea denies the allegation.
Eritrea says the United Nations has not upheld the rulings of an independent commission that awarded a disputed border town to Eritrea.
Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a border war between 1998 and 2000 that killed an estimated 70,000 people.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Meles says Ethiopia exerting effort to enhance cooperation with the Netherlands
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says wide-ranging efforts are being made to enhance the cooperation between Ethiopia and The Netherlands. The Prime Minister held talks with minister of development cooperation of The Netherlands, Bert Koender on Wednesday.
Koender after the talks told journalists that he discussed with the Prime Minister on the current status of cooperation between the two countries and future prospects in various areas of cooperation.
He said the upcoming provincial elections, and also the by-elections would facilitate ways for a smooth journey of Ethiopia towards enhanced development.
Koender said his country is in the forefront of developed nations that are supporting the expansion of education in Africa.
A senior government official who attended the meeting quoted Meles as having commended the government of The Netherlands for the support it has been providing to Ethiopia.
Meles told the delegate that Ethiopia has been exerting efforts towards enhanced cooperation between the two countries.
Dutch investors have been playing significant roles in the floriculture sector in Ethiopia to date, Meles said, adding his government has been providing every necessary support to the investors.
He said Dutch investors in joint ventures or directly has so far invested more than 10.3 billion Birr in projects in Ethiopia.
Koender told journalists also that he was briefed by the Prime Minister about the activities Ethiopia has been undertaking to support the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
Koender said his country appreciates Ethiopia's support to the TFG and how it has been contributing to the peace in the region by sending its army to that country.
Koender also said his country earlier on the day signed a memorandum of understanding enabling it to purchase oil seeds from Ethiopia and sell it in European and other markets.
Koender after the talks told journalists that he discussed with the Prime Minister on the current status of cooperation between the two countries and future prospects in various areas of cooperation.
He said the upcoming provincial elections, and also the by-elections would facilitate ways for a smooth journey of Ethiopia towards enhanced development.
Koender said his country is in the forefront of developed nations that are supporting the expansion of education in Africa.
A senior government official who attended the meeting quoted Meles as having commended the government of The Netherlands for the support it has been providing to Ethiopia.
Meles told the delegate that Ethiopia has been exerting efforts towards enhanced cooperation between the two countries.
Dutch investors have been playing significant roles in the floriculture sector in Ethiopia to date, Meles said, adding his government has been providing every necessary support to the investors.
He said Dutch investors in joint ventures or directly has so far invested more than 10.3 billion Birr in projects in Ethiopia.
Koender told journalists also that he was briefed by the Prime Minister about the activities Ethiopia has been undertaking to support the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.
Koender said his country appreciates Ethiopia's support to the TFG and how it has been contributing to the peace in the region by sending its army to that country.
Koender also said his country earlier on the day signed a memorandum of understanding enabling it to purchase oil seeds from Ethiopia and sell it in European and other markets.
Exhibition on Ethio-Japan Relations opened in Addis
The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)NEWS6 March 2008 Posted to the web 6 March 2008 By Fikremariam TesfayeAddis Ababa
A special exhibition showing Japanese traditional crafts was on Tuesday open for the public at the National Museum The exhibition organized by a Japanese foundation focuses on traditional crafts developed and produced in a Japanese daily lives.
Japanese ambassador to Ethiopia Kinichi Komano on his speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition noted that Japan and Ethiopia were rich in culture history and tradition. He said both countries also were similar in that they have a peculiar ceremonies-tea Coffee ceremony in the case of Ethiopia and tea ceremony in the case of Japan.
GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Other_Inset");
The exhibition was part of the Japan Week being marked in Ethiopia in the context of Ethiopia's millennium celebrations.
The week will witness a variety of Japan related events including demonstration of Japanese martial arts.
"The Japan week will be enjoyable for Ethiopian friends and will enhance further the mutual understanding between the people and government of Ethiopia and Japan," ambassador Kunichi added.
The exhibition held at the National Museum that practical crafts produced at workshops through out Japan and works by highly creative craftspeople who studied traditional materials and techniques, including ceramics, textiles, metal work, lacquer ware, wood and bamboo work, glass, and paper and stationary were on display.
The exhibition will remain open through out the week.
A special exhibition showing Japanese traditional crafts was on Tuesday open for the public at the National Museum The exhibition organized by a Japanese foundation focuses on traditional crafts developed and produced in a Japanese daily lives.
Japanese ambassador to Ethiopia Kinichi Komano on his speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition noted that Japan and Ethiopia were rich in culture history and tradition. He said both countries also were similar in that they have a peculiar ceremonies-tea Coffee ceremony in the case of Ethiopia and tea ceremony in the case of Japan.
GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Other_Inset");
The exhibition was part of the Japan Week being marked in Ethiopia in the context of Ethiopia's millennium celebrations.
The week will witness a variety of Japan related events including demonstration of Japanese martial arts.
"The Japan week will be enjoyable for Ethiopian friends and will enhance further the mutual understanding between the people and government of Ethiopia and Japan," ambassador Kunichi added.
The exhibition held at the National Museum that practical crafts produced at workshops through out Japan and works by highly creative craftspeople who studied traditional materials and techniques, including ceramics, textiles, metal work, lacquer ware, wood and bamboo work, glass, and paper and stationary were on display.
The exhibition will remain open through out the week.
Somali Islamist Fighters Seize 2nd Town
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Islamist insurgents killed five government soldiers while briefly taking a strategic town in central Somalia, police and residents said, the second such seizure within 24 hours.
The attack late Thursday took place in Belet Weyne, near a critical road junction that links Somalia to the border with Ethiopia. Hundreds of troops are stationed at the junction, which is also Ethiopia's main supply route.
"They launched a surprise attack on the town from different directions, facing pockets of resistance from government forces and immediately took the control of the police station, the prison and a hotel government regional officials were using," said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The town's police chief, Col. Abdi Aden, confirmed that five government soldiers had been killed.
Local resident Duniyo Ali said the fighters had retained control of the town for about three hours before voluntarily withdrawing. The area was now calm, she said.
Also Thursday, residents said Islamists had seized Hudur, a strategic southwestern Somali town that lies along the road leading from Ethiopia into Somalia, without firing a shot.
Islamist fighters have vowed to wage an Iraq-style war on the shaky Western-backed transitional government after Somali troops supported by their Ethiopian allies chased the Islamists from power in December 2006.
The Islamists had seized control of much of the south and the country's capital, Mogadishu, which they had held for six months.
Since the Islamists launched their insurgency, thousands of Somalis have been killed. Somali government troops and officials come under daily attack and the U.N.-backed administration is viewed by many Somalis as corrupt and ineffective. The impoverished country is riven between warring clans and awash with weapons.
The U.S. has linked the militiamen to al-Qaida. On Monday, the U.S. launched a missile strike in a Somali town along the Kenyan border, targeting a suspect in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
The attack late Thursday took place in Belet Weyne, near a critical road junction that links Somalia to the border with Ethiopia. Hundreds of troops are stationed at the junction, which is also Ethiopia's main supply route.
"They launched a surprise attack on the town from different directions, facing pockets of resistance from government forces and immediately took the control of the police station, the prison and a hotel government regional officials were using," said a police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The town's police chief, Col. Abdi Aden, confirmed that five government soldiers had been killed.
Local resident Duniyo Ali said the fighters had retained control of the town for about three hours before voluntarily withdrawing. The area was now calm, she said.
Also Thursday, residents said Islamists had seized Hudur, a strategic southwestern Somali town that lies along the road leading from Ethiopia into Somalia, without firing a shot.
Islamist fighters have vowed to wage an Iraq-style war on the shaky Western-backed transitional government after Somali troops supported by their Ethiopian allies chased the Islamists from power in December 2006.
The Islamists had seized control of much of the south and the country's capital, Mogadishu, which they had held for six months.
Since the Islamists launched their insurgency, thousands of Somalis have been killed. Somali government troops and officials come under daily attack and the U.N.-backed administration is viewed by many Somalis as corrupt and ineffective. The impoverished country is riven between warring clans and awash with weapons.
The U.S. has linked the militiamen to al-Qaida. On Monday, the U.S. launched a missile strike in a Somali town along the Kenyan border, targeting a suspect in the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa.
UN council should act on Eritrea-Ethiopia - Ban
Thu 6 Mar 2008, 22:15 GMT
[-] Text [+]
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, March 6 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Security Council to take up a border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia which could escalate tensions in the Horn of Africa if left unresolved.
The report, dated March 3 but made available on Thursday, comes after the U.N. border mission, known as UNMEE, withdrew nearly 1,700 troops and military observers who for the past seven years had been seeking to prevent Eritrea and Ethiopia from resuming a border war they fought from 1998-2000.
The peacekeepers had been stationed in a 15.5-mile (25-km) buffer zone inside Eritrea. But Asmara turned against UNMEE because of U.N. inability to enforce rulings by an independent commission awarding chunks of Ethiopian-held territory, including the town of Badme, to Eritrea.
"It is ... imperative for the Security Council to consider ways to address these underlying issues which are at the root of the tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia and have impeded UNMEE operations," Ban said in his report to the council.
"If left unresolved, these issues will remain a source of tension in the border area and will continue to pose an inherent danger of potential escalation."
Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea insist they will not resume a war that killed an estimated 70,000 people. But both have moved tens of thousands of troops to the border because of the dispute over the 620-mile (1,000-km) frontier.
Ethiopia has called for talks on border demarcation and normalization of relations before it will pull back from areas assigned to Eritrea by the boundary commission. But Eritrea's U.N. Ambassador Araya Desta told Reuters recently there would be no talks with Addis Ababa until Ethiopia withdrew.
Most of the U.N. peacekeepers have moved to Eritrea's capital Asmara. But Ban said they were being housed in "substandard, congested, ad hoc facilities" and would be repatriated pending instructions from the Security Council.
TROUBLE WITH ERITREA
Ban's report details repeated attempts to persuade the Eritreans to end a fuel blockade that began months ago and eventually made it impossible for UNMEE to function.
At one point, the Eritreans also cut off the supply of food, U.N. officials said, though Asmara vigorously denied the allegation.
Ban said Asmara repeatedly promised to resolve what it described as a "technical matter" but took no steps to ensure the U.N. peacekeepers got access to fuel.
Eritrea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday accusing the United Nations of deliberately running a smear campaign against the Red Sea country.
"The aim of tarnishing Eritrea's image with accusations is part of the strategy to deflect the attention from Ethiopia's occupation of sovereign Eritrean territory and to penalize Eritrea for its firm legal stance concerning the final and binding demarcation of the border with Ethiopia," it said.
It described the repeated notices and letters from U.N. peacekeepers during their standoff with the Eritreans as "incomplete at best and annoying and provocative at worst."
The United Nations says Eritrea made it impossible for the UNMEE to stay on the Ethiopian-Eritrean border, though Asmara says it was a "unilateral" U.N. decision to leave the area.
Eritrea has called for the United Nations and Security Council to pressure Ethiopia to withdraw from the disputed territory, possibly using sanctions. (Editing by David Wiessler)
[-] Text [+]
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS, March 6 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged the Security Council to take up a border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia which could escalate tensions in the Horn of Africa if left unresolved.
The report, dated March 3 but made available on Thursday, comes after the U.N. border mission, known as UNMEE, withdrew nearly 1,700 troops and military observers who for the past seven years had been seeking to prevent Eritrea and Ethiopia from resuming a border war they fought from 1998-2000.
The peacekeepers had been stationed in a 15.5-mile (25-km) buffer zone inside Eritrea. But Asmara turned against UNMEE because of U.N. inability to enforce rulings by an independent commission awarding chunks of Ethiopian-held territory, including the town of Badme, to Eritrea.
"It is ... imperative for the Security Council to consider ways to address these underlying issues which are at the root of the tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia and have impeded UNMEE operations," Ban said in his report to the council.
"If left unresolved, these issues will remain a source of tension in the border area and will continue to pose an inherent danger of potential escalation."
Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea insist they will not resume a war that killed an estimated 70,000 people. But both have moved tens of thousands of troops to the border because of the dispute over the 620-mile (1,000-km) frontier.
Ethiopia has called for talks on border demarcation and normalization of relations before it will pull back from areas assigned to Eritrea by the boundary commission. But Eritrea's U.N. Ambassador Araya Desta told Reuters recently there would be no talks with Addis Ababa until Ethiopia withdrew.
Most of the U.N. peacekeepers have moved to Eritrea's capital Asmara. But Ban said they were being housed in "substandard, congested, ad hoc facilities" and would be repatriated pending instructions from the Security Council.
TROUBLE WITH ERITREA
Ban's report details repeated attempts to persuade the Eritreans to end a fuel blockade that began months ago and eventually made it impossible for UNMEE to function.
At one point, the Eritreans also cut off the supply of food, U.N. officials said, though Asmara vigorously denied the allegation.
Ban said Asmara repeatedly promised to resolve what it described as a "technical matter" but took no steps to ensure the U.N. peacekeepers got access to fuel.
Eritrea's Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday accusing the United Nations of deliberately running a smear campaign against the Red Sea country.
"The aim of tarnishing Eritrea's image with accusations is part of the strategy to deflect the attention from Ethiopia's occupation of sovereign Eritrean territory and to penalize Eritrea for its firm legal stance concerning the final and binding demarcation of the border with Ethiopia," it said.
It described the repeated notices and letters from U.N. peacekeepers during their standoff with the Eritreans as "incomplete at best and annoying and provocative at worst."
The United Nations says Eritrea made it impossible for the UNMEE to stay on the Ethiopian-Eritrean border, though Asmara says it was a "unilateral" U.N. decision to leave the area.
Eritrea has called for the United Nations and Security Council to pressure Ethiopia to withdraw from the disputed territory, possibly using sanctions. (Editing by David Wiessler)
Difficult tasks await Kenyan MPs
By Karen Allen BBC News, Nairobi
It had all the pageantry and trappings of a state ceremony.
The national anthem, the guard of honour, the ceremonial dress - but this was a unique opening of parliament.
Kenya's lawmakers are under the spotlight in a way never seen before.
Kenyans still stunned by post-election violence are vesting their trust in leaders in a country where in the recent past, they have been badly let down.
More than half of the members of parliament are newcomers and they will be expected to hit the ground running, to turn up to vote and pave the way for a historic coalition.
A coalition aimed at restoring unity to what the president described as "one Kenya".
Stumbling blocks
It was a week to the day that a power-sharing deal had been agreed between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
They shook hands in the presence of the world's media, flanked by Kofi Annan and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
The new parliament began with two minutes of silence
That was just the start of a process. In the coming weeks lawmakers will be expected to enact legislation that will amend the constitution and allow a grand coalition to be formed.
They then have to try to "sell" the idea of power sharing to their constituents, among them people who are now homeless or who have lost loved ones in the violence.
There are still potential stumbling blocks ahead - in particular, how power will be shared and how cabinet posts and other senior positions will be allocated.
But for Thursday's ceremony the tone was conciliatory and upbeat.
After a two minute silence - first for parliamentarians killed in post-election violence and then for "ordinary" Kenyans who lost their lives, President Kibaki rose to his feet.
In a 30-minute speech he stressed the need for last week's peace accord to be quickly enacted into law, but warned that it would require "goodwill, unity, good faith and integrity" of Kenya's lawmakers.
Awkward realities
This country is emerging from one of the darkest periods of its history and the coming weeks will be a real test of the commitment of all sides to a durable peace.
Kenyans will be forced to confront some awkward realities with the establishment of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission to investigate past injustices and violence blamed on supporters on all sides of the political fence.
They will also be forced to compromise.
There are concerns that a grand coalition will rob Kenyans of a real opposition.
This has effectively been a deal between two political blocks - those supporting President Kibaki's PNU and those backing Raila Odinga's ODM.
Earlier in the day, diplomats insisted the onus would be on the media to help keep the government in check.
But what is clear is that this could be the start of a new pragmatism in Kenyan politics. A chance for a new breed of politician to shine, putting aside a past where winner takes all.
It had all the pageantry and trappings of a state ceremony.
The national anthem, the guard of honour, the ceremonial dress - but this was a unique opening of parliament.
Kenya's lawmakers are under the spotlight in a way never seen before.
Kenyans still stunned by post-election violence are vesting their trust in leaders in a country where in the recent past, they have been badly let down.
More than half of the members of parliament are newcomers and they will be expected to hit the ground running, to turn up to vote and pave the way for a historic coalition.
A coalition aimed at restoring unity to what the president described as "one Kenya".
Stumbling blocks
It was a week to the day that a power-sharing deal had been agreed between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga.
They shook hands in the presence of the world's media, flanked by Kofi Annan and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
The new parliament began with two minutes of silence
That was just the start of a process. In the coming weeks lawmakers will be expected to enact legislation that will amend the constitution and allow a grand coalition to be formed.
They then have to try to "sell" the idea of power sharing to their constituents, among them people who are now homeless or who have lost loved ones in the violence.
There are still potential stumbling blocks ahead - in particular, how power will be shared and how cabinet posts and other senior positions will be allocated.
But for Thursday's ceremony the tone was conciliatory and upbeat.
After a two minute silence - first for parliamentarians killed in post-election violence and then for "ordinary" Kenyans who lost their lives, President Kibaki rose to his feet.
In a 30-minute speech he stressed the need for last week's peace accord to be quickly enacted into law, but warned that it would require "goodwill, unity, good faith and integrity" of Kenya's lawmakers.
Awkward realities
This country is emerging from one of the darkest periods of its history and the coming weeks will be a real test of the commitment of all sides to a durable peace.
Kenyans will be forced to confront some awkward realities with the establishment of a truth, justice and reconciliation commission to investigate past injustices and violence blamed on supporters on all sides of the political fence.
They will also be forced to compromise.
There are concerns that a grand coalition will rob Kenyans of a real opposition.
This has effectively been a deal between two political blocks - those supporting President Kibaki's PNU and those backing Raila Odinga's ODM.
Earlier in the day, diplomats insisted the onus would be on the media to help keep the government in check.
But what is clear is that this could be the start of a new pragmatism in Kenyan politics. A chance for a new breed of politician to shine, putting aside a past where winner takes all.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
By Elizabeth Blunt BBC News, Addis Ababa
Ethiopians will soon be getting their first chance to vote since the general election in 2005, which ended with violent protests and the jailing of most of the leaders of the opposition.
The opposition CUD coalition won far more seats than any opposition party had ever won before, but they were convinced that the true result should have been even more in their favour.
The CUD leaders were eventually pardoned and released from jail last year, and the government announced that their rights were being fully restored and they were free to vote and stand for office.
But their seats were declared vacant while they were in prison.
There will be by-elections for their old seats in April, and also elections for Addis Ababa city council, which the opposition won, but which has had an appointed caretaker administration since 2005.
But it now appears that none of the imprisoned party leadership will be standing for election again, or trying to get their old seats back.
Conspiracy claim
The leader of the CUD parliamentary party, Temesgen Zewde, said they had told the Ethiopia National Electoral Board that they were ready and willing to take part in the April elections.
But, he said, the board had chosen to award their party name to a CUD breakaway group, and their party symbol - the "V" for Victory sign - to another party altogether.
"Even if they wanted to stand," he said, "there is now no party name they can associate with, nor any election symbol".
The CUD allege a conspiracy by the ruling party and the government, but their own party has been riven with internal feuds, making it possible for a CUD dissident, Ayele Chamiso, to make a successful bid for the party name.
Many of the most prominent members of the old CUD went abroad as soon as they were released rather than staying in Ethiopia and cultivating their constituencies.
The chairman, Hailu Shawal, and the man who was chosen as mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005, Berhanu Nega, are both still in the United States.
Even without the party name, some of the CUD leaders could have stood as independent candidates, but they have chosen not to do so.
'Disorientated'
Political analyst Desalegn Rahmato points out that although the government said publicly that those released from prison had had their full civic rights restored, there may have been conditions in the agreement which secured their release which were never made public.
Also, he said, the former prisoners, as individuals, "might be feeling a bit disorientated after two years in jail".
"Perhaps they feel they no longer have the momentum and excitement that they felt in the 2005 elections. That momentum is lost now," he said.
Without that excitement, voter registration and turnout may well be lower than in 2005.
The ruling party, the EPRDF, will be bidding to recover its dominance of the political scene in areas where it did badly last time, like Addis Ababa.
It is not clear whether any of the remaining opposition groups will be able to take on the old CUD's mantle and mount an effective political challenge.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Ethiopians will soon be getting their first chance to vote since the general election in 2005, which ended with violent protests and the jailing of most of the leaders of the opposition.
The opposition CUD coalition won far more seats than any opposition party had ever won before, but they were convinced that the true result should have been even more in their favour.
The CUD leaders were eventually pardoned and released from jail last year, and the government announced that their rights were being fully restored and they were free to vote and stand for office.
But their seats were declared vacant while they were in prison.
There will be by-elections for their old seats in April, and also elections for Addis Ababa city council, which the opposition won, but which has had an appointed caretaker administration since 2005.
But it now appears that none of the imprisoned party leadership will be standing for election again, or trying to get their old seats back.
Conspiracy claim
The leader of the CUD parliamentary party, Temesgen Zewde, said they had told the Ethiopia National Electoral Board that they were ready and willing to take part in the April elections.
But, he said, the board had chosen to award their party name to a CUD breakaway group, and their party symbol - the "V" for Victory sign - to another party altogether.
"Even if they wanted to stand," he said, "there is now no party name they can associate with, nor any election symbol".
The CUD allege a conspiracy by the ruling party and the government, but their own party has been riven with internal feuds, making it possible for a CUD dissident, Ayele Chamiso, to make a successful bid for the party name.
Many of the most prominent members of the old CUD went abroad as soon as they were released rather than staying in Ethiopia and cultivating their constituencies.
The chairman, Hailu Shawal, and the man who was chosen as mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005, Berhanu Nega, are both still in the United States.
Even without the party name, some of the CUD leaders could have stood as independent candidates, but they have chosen not to do so.
'Disorientated'
Political analyst Desalegn Rahmato points out that although the government said publicly that those released from prison had had their full civic rights restored, there may have been conditions in the agreement which secured their release which were never made public.
Also, he said, the former prisoners, as individuals, "might be feeling a bit disorientated after two years in jail".
"Perhaps they feel they no longer have the momentum and excitement that they felt in the 2005 elections. That momentum is lost now," he said.
Without that excitement, voter registration and turnout may well be lower than in 2005.
The ruling party, the EPRDF, will be bidding to recover its dominance of the political scene in areas where it did badly last time, like Addis Ababa.
It is not clear whether any of the remaining opposition groups will be able to take on the old CUD's mantle and mount an effective political challenge.
Story from BBC NEWS:
State 'sanctioned' Kenyan clashes
The BBC has learnt of allegations of state-sanctioned violence in Kenya during the turmoil that followed last December's disputed presidential poll.
Sources allege that meetings were hosted at the official residence of the president between the banned Mungiki militia and senior government figures.
The aim was to hire them as a defence force in the Rift Valley to protect the president's Kikuyu community.
The government denied the allegations, calling them "preposterous".
There's no way any government official would meet openly or even in darkness with the Mungiki Alfred Mutua Government spokesman Spokesman interview
"No such meetings took place at State House or any government office," government spokesman Alfred Mutua told the BBC.
He said the government had been cracking down on the sect for the last year, arresting their leaders.
"There's no way the president of any government official would meet openly or even in darkness with the Mungiki," he said.
Gangs with machetes
The allegations come as parliament prepares to open on Thursday, laying the ground for a new coalition government.
Although parliament's focus will be on healing ethnic divisions and creating a coalition government - allegations of state involvement with a banned Kikuyu militia, known as Mungiki, will not go ignored, the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says.
She says there is growing suspicion that some of the violence that led to 1,500 people being killed and hundreds of thousands displaced was orchestrated by both sides of the political divide.
The BBC source, who is a member of the Kikuyu tribe and who is now in hiding after receiving death threats, alleged: "Three members of the gang met at State House... and after the elections and the violence the militias were called again and they were given a duty to defend the Kikuyu in Rift Valley and we know they were there in numbers."
We were ordered not to stop the vehicles to allow them to go Rift Valley policeman
On the weekend of 25 January, the Rift Valley towns of Nakuru and then Naivasha were the focus of the some of the worst post-election violence.
Eyewitnesses spoke of non-Kikuyu homes being marked, then gangs with machetes - who they claim were Mungiki - attacked people who were from other ethnic groups.
Sources inside the Mungiki have told the BBC that it was a renegade branch of the outfit that was responsible for violence, not them.
A policeman who was on duty at the time, who has spoken to the BBC on condition of anonymity, has also pointed to clear signs of state complicity.
He alleges that in the hours before the violence in Nakuru, police officers had orders not to stop a convoy of minibus taxis, called "matatus", packed with men when they arrived at police checkpoints.
"When we were there... I saw about 12 of them [matatus] packed with men," he said.
"There were no females... I could see they were armed.
MUNGIKI SECT
Banned in 2002
Thought to be ethnic Kikuyu militants
Mungiki means multitude in Kikuyu
Inspired by the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s
Claim to have more than 1m followers
Promote female circumcision and oath-taking
Believed to be linked to high-profile politicians
Control public transport routes, demanding levies
Blamed for revenge murders in the central region
"We were ordered not to stop the vehicles to allow them to go."
But Mr Mutua said that the government deployed the military to deal with the Kikuyu youth who had tried to take the law into their own hands.
"The Kenyan government... used helicopters to drive them away, arrested them and actually got to kill quite a few of them torching houses," he said.
"The government stamped on them immediately."
The allegations come at a time of growing concern that there was pre-planned violence on both sides of the political fence, in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed election result.
The International Crisis Group has already raised such concerns and Human Rights Watch is expected to publish its report making similar claims shortly.
There are plans to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the coming weeks to examine claims of election violence.
The allegations are likely to be among the themes investigated by a commission created to address the issue of post-election skirmishes.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Sources allege that meetings were hosted at the official residence of the president between the banned Mungiki militia and senior government figures.
The aim was to hire them as a defence force in the Rift Valley to protect the president's Kikuyu community.
The government denied the allegations, calling them "preposterous".
There's no way any government official would meet openly or even in darkness with the Mungiki Alfred Mutua Government spokesman Spokesman interview
"No such meetings took place at State House or any government office," government spokesman Alfred Mutua told the BBC.
He said the government had been cracking down on the sect for the last year, arresting their leaders.
"There's no way the president of any government official would meet openly or even in darkness with the Mungiki," he said.
Gangs with machetes
The allegations come as parliament prepares to open on Thursday, laying the ground for a new coalition government.
Although parliament's focus will be on healing ethnic divisions and creating a coalition government - allegations of state involvement with a banned Kikuyu militia, known as Mungiki, will not go ignored, the BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says.
She says there is growing suspicion that some of the violence that led to 1,500 people being killed and hundreds of thousands displaced was orchestrated by both sides of the political divide.
The BBC source, who is a member of the Kikuyu tribe and who is now in hiding after receiving death threats, alleged: "Three members of the gang met at State House... and after the elections and the violence the militias were called again and they were given a duty to defend the Kikuyu in Rift Valley and we know they were there in numbers."
We were ordered not to stop the vehicles to allow them to go Rift Valley policeman
On the weekend of 25 January, the Rift Valley towns of Nakuru and then Naivasha were the focus of the some of the worst post-election violence.
Eyewitnesses spoke of non-Kikuyu homes being marked, then gangs with machetes - who they claim were Mungiki - attacked people who were from other ethnic groups.
Sources inside the Mungiki have told the BBC that it was a renegade branch of the outfit that was responsible for violence, not them.
A policeman who was on duty at the time, who has spoken to the BBC on condition of anonymity, has also pointed to clear signs of state complicity.
He alleges that in the hours before the violence in Nakuru, police officers had orders not to stop a convoy of minibus taxis, called "matatus", packed with men when they arrived at police checkpoints.
"When we were there... I saw about 12 of them [matatus] packed with men," he said.
"There were no females... I could see they were armed.
MUNGIKI SECT
Banned in 2002
Thought to be ethnic Kikuyu militants
Mungiki means multitude in Kikuyu
Inspired by the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s
Claim to have more than 1m followers
Promote female circumcision and oath-taking
Believed to be linked to high-profile politicians
Control public transport routes, demanding levies
Blamed for revenge murders in the central region
"We were ordered not to stop the vehicles to allow them to go."
But Mr Mutua said that the government deployed the military to deal with the Kikuyu youth who had tried to take the law into their own hands.
"The Kenyan government... used helicopters to drive them away, arrested them and actually got to kill quite a few of them torching houses," he said.
"The government stamped on them immediately."
The allegations come at a time of growing concern that there was pre-planned violence on both sides of the political fence, in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed election result.
The International Crisis Group has already raised such concerns and Human Rights Watch is expected to publish its report making similar claims shortly.
There are plans to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the coming weeks to examine claims of election violence.
The allegations are likely to be among the themes investigated by a commission created to address the issue of post-election skirmishes.
Story from BBC NEWS:
North-South Sudan peace threatened
Deadly clashes in disputed Abyei region provoke fears of renewed conflict in south, reports IWPR.
By Hamid Taban in Juba, South Sudan, and Peter Eichstaedt in The Hague for IWPR (05/03/08)
Recent fighting in the contested oil-rich Abyei region that has left dozens dead and many more wounded is threatening to reopen a second front in Sudan.
The resumption of fighting between north and south - after three years of uneasy calm - would further disrupt efforts by United Nations peacekeepers to end violence in the Darfur region and could postpone next year’s national elections which are already in doubt because of the continued bloodshed in western Sudan.
Sudan already faces strong international criticism for renewed violence in Darfur and continued delays in the deployment of the full joint UN and African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.
Likewise, Sudan has refused to cooperate with prosecutors from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which last year indicted two Sudanese in connection with the war in Darfur. Neither has been arrested because Sudan said it is not a party to the Rome Statute which created the court.
Fighting in the north-south border region of Abyei stopped following the signing of the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended 21 years of war that claimed the lives of an estimated two million people and displaced some four million.
The relative quiet has facilitated the exploitation of oil reserves in the region, but drilling activity has come under attack by Darfur rebels who say the Sudan government uses petroleum revenues to fund its war in Darfur.
The fresh fighting in the Abyei region in the south central part of the country, however, was the result of clashes between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and nomadic Misseriya tribesmen.
Both sides have accused the other of provoking the attacks, with the SPLA claiming that the Sudan government has armed the Misseriya tribesmen who traditionally graze their cattle in the region for several months each year.
The Abyei region has been occupied for more than a century by the southern Ngok Dinka tribes, and in recent years has been under the control of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), headed by President Salva Kiir, which governs the semi-autonomous South Sudan.
But tension between the north and south renewed months ago as each side continued a vicious tug-of-war over rights to the Abyei region.
As part of the 2005 CPA, the issue was to be resolved by the independent Abyei Border Commission.
But Sudan president Omar al-Bashir last year rejected the panel's decision that Abyei belonged to the South, and instead claimed it was part of the north based on documents from 1905.
Hereeka Izz El-Deen Hareeka, the leader of the Misseriya, blamed the escalation on the SPLA which has intervened on behalf of the Dinka Ngok tribe.
Recently, the Misseriya leaders named Mohamed Omar al-Ansari as their appointed governor for Abyei. Al-Ansari immediately ordered South Sudanese to vacate offices to make room for the Abyei Liberation Front, which he says has five battalions of up to 3,000 armed fighters each.
He also urged women and children to be evacuated from Abyei.
Meanwhile, Luka Biong Deng, the South Sudan minister of presidential affairs, said that the SPLA has no intention of leaving Abyei.
President Kiir has said this recent round of fighting was an attempt by the al-Bahsir government to negate the CPA.
He said Misseriya fighters have been armed by the Sudan government with heavy weapons and artillery and similar attacks in December and January included soldiers with Sudanese army IDs.
Some speculate that the upsurge in fighting may be a ploy by the Sudan government to call off next month’s national census, a necessary step leading to the national elections set for 2009.
If national elections are put back, people in South Sudan fear this will affect the timing of the 2011 referendum in which the South Sudanese will decide whether to remain part of Sudan or seek independence. South Sudan is already semi-autonomous.
With the status of Abyei unresolved, the validity of the referendum vote, which could include Abyei, might be challenged.
These fears appear to be well founded.
This past weekend, officials with Sudan's ruling National Congress Party said next month’s census could not take place in Darfur because of the continued fighting there.
Former Darfur rebel leader Minni Minawi, who is now with the government, said that a national census or an election would be incomplete without Darfur. But with so many Sudanese refugees in neighboring Chad, neither a census nor an election would be appropriate.
Officials in South Sudan, however, argue that fighting in Darfur should not prevent the rest of the country from being counted or from voting.
By Hamid Taban in Juba, South Sudan, and Peter Eichstaedt in The Hague for IWPR (05/03/08)
Recent fighting in the contested oil-rich Abyei region that has left dozens dead and many more wounded is threatening to reopen a second front in Sudan.
The resumption of fighting between north and south - after three years of uneasy calm - would further disrupt efforts by United Nations peacekeepers to end violence in the Darfur region and could postpone next year’s national elections which are already in doubt because of the continued bloodshed in western Sudan.
Sudan already faces strong international criticism for renewed violence in Darfur and continued delays in the deployment of the full joint UN and African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur.
Likewise, Sudan has refused to cooperate with prosecutors from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which last year indicted two Sudanese in connection with the war in Darfur. Neither has been arrested because Sudan said it is not a party to the Rome Statute which created the court.
Fighting in the north-south border region of Abyei stopped following the signing of the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended 21 years of war that claimed the lives of an estimated two million people and displaced some four million.
The relative quiet has facilitated the exploitation of oil reserves in the region, but drilling activity has come under attack by Darfur rebels who say the Sudan government uses petroleum revenues to fund its war in Darfur.
The fresh fighting in the Abyei region in the south central part of the country, however, was the result of clashes between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and nomadic Misseriya tribesmen.
Both sides have accused the other of provoking the attacks, with the SPLA claiming that the Sudan government has armed the Misseriya tribesmen who traditionally graze their cattle in the region for several months each year.
The Abyei region has been occupied for more than a century by the southern Ngok Dinka tribes, and in recent years has been under the control of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), headed by President Salva Kiir, which governs the semi-autonomous South Sudan.
But tension between the north and south renewed months ago as each side continued a vicious tug-of-war over rights to the Abyei region.
As part of the 2005 CPA, the issue was to be resolved by the independent Abyei Border Commission.
But Sudan president Omar al-Bashir last year rejected the panel's decision that Abyei belonged to the South, and instead claimed it was part of the north based on documents from 1905.
Hereeka Izz El-Deen Hareeka, the leader of the Misseriya, blamed the escalation on the SPLA which has intervened on behalf of the Dinka Ngok tribe.
Recently, the Misseriya leaders named Mohamed Omar al-Ansari as their appointed governor for Abyei. Al-Ansari immediately ordered South Sudanese to vacate offices to make room for the Abyei Liberation Front, which he says has five battalions of up to 3,000 armed fighters each.
He also urged women and children to be evacuated from Abyei.
Meanwhile, Luka Biong Deng, the South Sudan minister of presidential affairs, said that the SPLA has no intention of leaving Abyei.
President Kiir has said this recent round of fighting was an attempt by the al-Bahsir government to negate the CPA.
He said Misseriya fighters have been armed by the Sudan government with heavy weapons and artillery and similar attacks in December and January included soldiers with Sudanese army IDs.
Some speculate that the upsurge in fighting may be a ploy by the Sudan government to call off next month’s national census, a necessary step leading to the national elections set for 2009.
If national elections are put back, people in South Sudan fear this will affect the timing of the 2011 referendum in which the South Sudanese will decide whether to remain part of Sudan or seek independence. South Sudan is already semi-autonomous.
With the status of Abyei unresolved, the validity of the referendum vote, which could include Abyei, might be challenged.
These fears appear to be well founded.
This past weekend, officials with Sudan's ruling National Congress Party said next month’s census could not take place in Darfur because of the continued fighting there.
Former Darfur rebel leader Minni Minawi, who is now with the government, said that a national census or an election would be incomplete without Darfur. But with so many Sudanese refugees in neighboring Chad, neither a census nor an election would be appropriate.
Officials in South Sudan, however, argue that fighting in Darfur should not prevent the rest of the country from being counted or from voting.
Senator Feingold failed to make impartial assessment of Ethiopia
Mekonnen Kassa
March 5. 2008
On March 3, 2008, Wisconsin Senator Feingold took the respected Senate floor to spread fear citing unconfirmed “credible accounts”, to defame the Ethiopian government, and to declare his cynical appraisal of state of affairs in Ethiopia to date as “the political crisis that has been quietly growing and deepening over the past few years may be coming to a head.”
Contrary to the Senators alarmist declaration, there is abundant evidence that corroborates the bright direction Ethiopia is headed. Unless Senator Feingold has been acting like the proverbial ostrich by burying his head in the sand, or got duped, once again, by the ever conniving and power hungry expatriate politicians here in the US, how could he have missed the excellent progress taking place in Ethiopia including the genuine democratization effort, efficient good governance policies, respect for human rights, and outstanding economic development.
Ethiopia’s legal institutions, the anchors that keep the democracy ship stable and the backbone of rule of law, are increasingly asserting their independence after 60 years of serving as surrogates for both the monarchy and later the communist junta. The courts are now in the business of deliberating by interpreting the Ethiopian constitution, and have passed judgments by carefully examining evidence presented to them.
The judges who presided over the trial of election related violence rendered a guilty verdict against the accused. Following the traditions and customs of Ethiopia, the elders got involved and mediated a pardon for the convicted criminals. The Ethiopian government and the Ethiopians elders deserve the full and complete credit for getting the democratic political process back on track after the impasse created after the 2005 election. But Senator Feingold bestowed it to illegal and infringing pressure of foreign powers as the scheme that secured the pardon and release of imprisoned “opposition leaders.”
These so-called opposition leaders are the ones who tried to create resentment between diverse ethnic people of Ethiopia without regard to the “destructive and far-reaching consequences” of their actions. How come Senator Feingold did not sound his alarm in 2005 when Ethiopia was on the verge of impending ethnic violence?
The Senator conveniently ignored the violent protest in 2005 was instigated by the opposition leaders. Seven policemen lost their life, public property worth million was destroyed. The opposition leaders pleaded guilty for their actions and begged for forgiveness from the Ethiopia people, and were subsequently pardoned and released with their citizen right fully restored.
The timing of Senator Feingold’s statement could not have been more off the mark. Right now, Ethiopians are getting ready to hold election for local public offices next month, and the National Election Board (NEB) and the ruling party have done their level best to ensure free and fair election. Tens of thousands of candidates from a multitude of political parties have registered to contest for these offices. Both radio and Television air time has been allotted to all proportionately to the number of candidates registered by the respective parties.
Despite the glaring current reality on the ground, in what can be characterized as a mother of all partisan speeches, Senator Feingold mentioned very old tainted incidents to paint an image of the Ethiopian government while elevating the convicted criminals as those whose “pursuit of transparency and democracy was again thwarted, however, when they tried to register their concerns about the election process.”
The Chicken Little like “the sky is falling” speech of Senator Feingold falls flat on its face once one takes a reality check on the political situation in Ethiopia.
By his deliberately attempt to conceal this fact; Senator Feingold further eroded our confidence in the American congress as the impartial guardian of democracy and rule of law.
The relationship Ethiopia needs, and currently has, not only with US but with the rest of the world is anchored in mutual respect and the protection and promotion of national interest. As we have said before, democratization of the Ethiopian political system is not done to please any foreign friend or foe. But it is precisely because it is the only sure system that can guarantee a united and stable existence of Ethiopia for generation to come.
The gentle Senator from Wisconsin stated “the US-Ethiopian partnership is an incredibly important one – perhaps one of the more significant on the continent given not only our longstanding history but also the increasingly strategic nature of our cooperation in recent years. Ethiopia sits on the Horn of Africa – perhaps one of the roughest neighborhoods in the world, with Somalia a failed state and likely safe haven for terrorists, Eritrea an inaccessible authoritarian regime that exacerbates conflicts throughout the region, Sudan a genocidal regime, and now Kenya descending into crisis. By contrast, Ethiopia seems relatively stable with its growing economy and robust poverty reduction programs.”
Albeit, despite his accurate assessment above, the proposed action by him against Ethiopia is in quite contrast to the US interest, and his unfounded accusation against the Ethiopian government of the tendency to portray political dissent as “extremist uprisings” and the government’s war against a terrorist organization that murdered 77 civilians as “brutal counterinsurgency operation led by Ethiopia’s military in the Ogaden” will end up damaging the US-Ethiopian relationship-the most important US ally in Africa if not the world..
In addition to the interest of Ethiopia’s own domestic security, at the invitation of the legitimate government of Somalia, the Ethiopian government is the only party in the world that took action to change the chaos in Somalia and attempting to bring semblance of peace and stability by denying Al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic Court Union the total control of Somalia. I am at a loss what logic Senator Feingold used to accuse “Ethiopia is contributing to increased regional instability.”
Democracy does not flow from the fountain pens of US Senators sitting in mahogany decorated offices located inside the marble halls of US congress. The real work of takes place far from there and gets done in the huts, valleys and mountains of Ethiopia.
I like to give Senator Feigngold the benefit of the doubt and assume he may be genuinely concerned about the situation in the Horn of Africa region in general, and the process of democratization in Ethiopia in particular. But his accusation and condemnation on the Senate floor was grossly distorted and misdirected. Instead, he should encourage the Ethiopia government and the local opposition to continue working together to cultivate a democratic culture, and at the same time, he should condemn the rightwing Ethiopian Diaspora so called opposition from playing a harmful role.
In the future, I like to advice Senator Feingold and other congressmen with similar inclinations, to solicit input from all Ethiopians, including Ethiopian government and EPRDF supporter, before taking on the Senate floor and proposing misguided measures be taken that may cause irreparable damage both to the interests of US and Ethiopia.
geovisit();
March 5. 2008
On March 3, 2008, Wisconsin Senator Feingold took the respected Senate floor to spread fear citing unconfirmed “credible accounts”, to defame the Ethiopian government, and to declare his cynical appraisal of state of affairs in Ethiopia to date as “the political crisis that has been quietly growing and deepening over the past few years may be coming to a head.”
Contrary to the Senators alarmist declaration, there is abundant evidence that corroborates the bright direction Ethiopia is headed. Unless Senator Feingold has been acting like the proverbial ostrich by burying his head in the sand, or got duped, once again, by the ever conniving and power hungry expatriate politicians here in the US, how could he have missed the excellent progress taking place in Ethiopia including the genuine democratization effort, efficient good governance policies, respect for human rights, and outstanding economic development.
Ethiopia’s legal institutions, the anchors that keep the democracy ship stable and the backbone of rule of law, are increasingly asserting their independence after 60 years of serving as surrogates for both the monarchy and later the communist junta. The courts are now in the business of deliberating by interpreting the Ethiopian constitution, and have passed judgments by carefully examining evidence presented to them.
The judges who presided over the trial of election related violence rendered a guilty verdict against the accused. Following the traditions and customs of Ethiopia, the elders got involved and mediated a pardon for the convicted criminals. The Ethiopian government and the Ethiopians elders deserve the full and complete credit for getting the democratic political process back on track after the impasse created after the 2005 election. But Senator Feingold bestowed it to illegal and infringing pressure of foreign powers as the scheme that secured the pardon and release of imprisoned “opposition leaders.”
These so-called opposition leaders are the ones who tried to create resentment between diverse ethnic people of Ethiopia without regard to the “destructive and far-reaching consequences” of their actions. How come Senator Feingold did not sound his alarm in 2005 when Ethiopia was on the verge of impending ethnic violence?
The Senator conveniently ignored the violent protest in 2005 was instigated by the opposition leaders. Seven policemen lost their life, public property worth million was destroyed. The opposition leaders pleaded guilty for their actions and begged for forgiveness from the Ethiopia people, and were subsequently pardoned and released with their citizen right fully restored.
The timing of Senator Feingold’s statement could not have been more off the mark. Right now, Ethiopians are getting ready to hold election for local public offices next month, and the National Election Board (NEB) and the ruling party have done their level best to ensure free and fair election. Tens of thousands of candidates from a multitude of political parties have registered to contest for these offices. Both radio and Television air time has been allotted to all proportionately to the number of candidates registered by the respective parties.
Despite the glaring current reality on the ground, in what can be characterized as a mother of all partisan speeches, Senator Feingold mentioned very old tainted incidents to paint an image of the Ethiopian government while elevating the convicted criminals as those whose “pursuit of transparency and democracy was again thwarted, however, when they tried to register their concerns about the election process.”
The Chicken Little like “the sky is falling” speech of Senator Feingold falls flat on its face once one takes a reality check on the political situation in Ethiopia.
By his deliberately attempt to conceal this fact; Senator Feingold further eroded our confidence in the American congress as the impartial guardian of democracy and rule of law.
The relationship Ethiopia needs, and currently has, not only with US but with the rest of the world is anchored in mutual respect and the protection and promotion of national interest. As we have said before, democratization of the Ethiopian political system is not done to please any foreign friend or foe. But it is precisely because it is the only sure system that can guarantee a united and stable existence of Ethiopia for generation to come.
The gentle Senator from Wisconsin stated “the US-Ethiopian partnership is an incredibly important one – perhaps one of the more significant on the continent given not only our longstanding history but also the increasingly strategic nature of our cooperation in recent years. Ethiopia sits on the Horn of Africa – perhaps one of the roughest neighborhoods in the world, with Somalia a failed state and likely safe haven for terrorists, Eritrea an inaccessible authoritarian regime that exacerbates conflicts throughout the region, Sudan a genocidal regime, and now Kenya descending into crisis. By contrast, Ethiopia seems relatively stable with its growing economy and robust poverty reduction programs.”
Albeit, despite his accurate assessment above, the proposed action by him against Ethiopia is in quite contrast to the US interest, and his unfounded accusation against the Ethiopian government of the tendency to portray political dissent as “extremist uprisings” and the government’s war against a terrorist organization that murdered 77 civilians as “brutal counterinsurgency operation led by Ethiopia’s military in the Ogaden” will end up damaging the US-Ethiopian relationship-the most important US ally in Africa if not the world..
In addition to the interest of Ethiopia’s own domestic security, at the invitation of the legitimate government of Somalia, the Ethiopian government is the only party in the world that took action to change the chaos in Somalia and attempting to bring semblance of peace and stability by denying Al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic Court Union the total control of Somalia. I am at a loss what logic Senator Feingold used to accuse “Ethiopia is contributing to increased regional instability.”
Democracy does not flow from the fountain pens of US Senators sitting in mahogany decorated offices located inside the marble halls of US congress. The real work of takes place far from there and gets done in the huts, valleys and mountains of Ethiopia.
I like to give Senator Feigngold the benefit of the doubt and assume he may be genuinely concerned about the situation in the Horn of Africa region in general, and the process of democratization in Ethiopia in particular. But his accusation and condemnation on the Senate floor was grossly distorted and misdirected. Instead, he should encourage the Ethiopia government and the local opposition to continue working together to cultivate a democratic culture, and at the same time, he should condemn the rightwing Ethiopian Diaspora so called opposition from playing a harmful role.
In the future, I like to advice Senator Feingold and other congressmen with similar inclinations, to solicit input from all Ethiopians, including Ethiopian government and EPRDF supporter, before taking on the Senate floor and proposing misguided measures be taken that may cause irreparable damage both to the interests of US and Ethiopia.
geovisit();
Eritrea claims UN supports Ethiopia in border deadlock
Eritrea on Tuesday accused the United Nations of siding with its arch-enemy Ethiopia, as UN peacekeepers finalise their pullout of border zones due to a fuel blockade imposed by Asmara.
Eritrea demanded that the world body force Ethiopia to remove its troops from land ruled to belong to Eritrea by a UN-selected commission set up as part of a peace deal following their bloody 1998-2000 war.
"It is astonishing however why the UN Secretariat is abandoning its neutrality and serving the wishes of Ethiopia and its cohorts," said a foreign ministry statement posted Tuesday on a government website.
"This whole episode is a manufactured crisis."
"Washington and Addis Ababa are behind this negative campaign mainly in order to shift the attention from the core issue: Ethiopia's occupation of Eritrean territories," the statement went on.
"The government therefore reiterates its call on the Security Council to shoulder its legal responsibility and act decisively to end the occupation," it added.
Eritrea believes Washington, a close ally of Ethiopia, is using its sway in the UN to back Ethiopia's rejection of the border decision.
On February 22, the UN Security Council condemned Asmara "systematic violations" of its resolutions.
Asmara blocked fuel supplies to the peacekeepers in December, forcing the mission to re-locate to the other side of the Ethiopian side of the disputed border.
The Eritrean government has since claimed that it is due to nationwide shortages, however it has also rebuffed offers by the UN mission to import its own fuel.
All Eritrean-based peacekeepers have now re-grouped to Asmara, apart from 112 who are waiting for orders in the southern port of Assab.
Eritrea demanded that the world body force Ethiopia to remove its troops from land ruled to belong to Eritrea by a UN-selected commission set up as part of a peace deal following their bloody 1998-2000 war.
"It is astonishing however why the UN Secretariat is abandoning its neutrality and serving the wishes of Ethiopia and its cohorts," said a foreign ministry statement posted Tuesday on a government website.
"This whole episode is a manufactured crisis."
"Washington and Addis Ababa are behind this negative campaign mainly in order to shift the attention from the core issue: Ethiopia's occupation of Eritrean territories," the statement went on.
"The government therefore reiterates its call on the Security Council to shoulder its legal responsibility and act decisively to end the occupation," it added.
Eritrea believes Washington, a close ally of Ethiopia, is using its sway in the UN to back Ethiopia's rejection of the border decision.
On February 22, the UN Security Council condemned Asmara "systematic violations" of its resolutions.
Asmara blocked fuel supplies to the peacekeepers in December, forcing the mission to re-locate to the other side of the Ethiopian side of the disputed border.
The Eritrean government has since claimed that it is due to nationwide shortages, however it has also rebuffed offers by the UN mission to import its own fuel.
All Eritrean-based peacekeepers have now re-grouped to Asmara, apart from 112 who are waiting for orders in the southern port of Assab.
Global - An Ethiopian solution to costly food aid
Source: IRINJOHANNESBURG, 5 March 2008 (IRIN) - As food prices hit record highs, analysts warn that a re-think of food aid strategies is needed - and Ethiopia, a traditionally food insecure country, could offer some answers.
Globally, the World Food Programme's (WFP) operational budget for 2008 has now risen to $3.4 billion - "an increase of $500 billion to account for the increased price of food and transport alone," said WFP spokesman Robin Lodge. "This budget is just to cover our current assessed needs, and leaves nothing for unforeseen emergencies or the huge number of people who are now falling into the hunger trap as a result of the rising prices."
Food prices are expected to continue to rise for the forseeable future as a result of surging global demand and reduced cereal stocks, partly on account of biofuel. Edward Clay, senior research associate at the Overseas Development Institute, a UK-based think-tank, noted that the situation called for a major re-think of food aid.
"Globalisation now means that the poor everywhere are affected. There is a need to ask how to anticipate a potentially much more volatile world food economy and this may require different institutional arrangements," he suggested. "How do we ensure that poor people and indeed poorer countries are not crowded out of world food markets?"
Food aid agencies have limited options, but the answer lies perhaps in Ethiopia, said Marc Cohen, research fellow at the US-based International food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Shukri Ahmed, Senior Economist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). "Ethiopia, which now has several million people in need of food assistance, has taken steps to emerge from aid dependency," Ahmed commented.
Among these was attempting to differentiate between people facing chronic food insecurity - currently estimated at more than eight million - and people facing either transitory or acute food insecurity - estimated between one to two million. Such a classification lent itself to providing a better response to food insecurity and targeting increasingly scarce food aid resources more effectively.
As part of a federal Food Security Programme (FSP), Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) provides a combination of cash, farming inputs and food to the vulnerable and chronically food insecure, while the Emergency Food Security Reserve (EFSR) holds more than 400,000 metric tonnes of food available for aid agencies to borrow from in case of emergencies.
Ethiopia's past response
Five major droughts in two decades have left most Ethiopian households reeling, and hundreds of thousands of people still live on the brink of survival. Ethiopia's PSNP arose partly out of concern by the government and the donor community that emergency appeals were regularly falling short of their targets, or providing late and erratic support, according to the Human Development Report 2007/2008 by the UN Development Programme.
"For poor households, delayed support during a prolonged drought can have devastating consequences in both the short and longer term. In 1983-1984 it led to the death of thousands of vulnerable people [in Ethiopia]," the report pointed out.
The PSNP is a multiyear arrangement that started by assisting five million people in 2005 and intends covering eight million by 2009. It has widely been punted by the relief community as a model for building resilience to face climatic shocks.
The EFSR, set up in 1982 "to ensure people did not have to wait for food aid to arrive," said Ahmed, is managed by the government and aid agencies in a transparent manner: aid agencies can borrow from the reserve on condition that they replenish it within a certain timeframe.
"Until the late 1980s the grain reserves in several countries of sub-Saharan Africa were strictly regulated by government, with a strong bias towards the politically more active urban population," Ahmed remarked.
"Low consumer prices were maintained by a combination of low producer prices and heavy subsidies ... Parastatal companies or marketing boards with monopoly rights for the marketing of designated cereals - and, in some instances, the provision of inputs - were established to administer the system."
However, governments could not always provide the parastatals with adequate funds to finance their operations, which often led to reserve stocks being used for normal market operations. "Financial pressures on both governments and the parastatals resulted in insufficient resources being made available to replenish the reserve stocks at the start of the following marketing year," Ahmed said.
"At the same time, the donor community, which was facing increasing demands for food aid, was becoming steadily more disenchanted with the way that reserves stocks were being used, and was increasingly unwilling to provide the resources necessary for rebuilding stocks," he added.
"Progressively, the quantities held in reserves dwindled, eventually ceasing to exist in most countries. Thus, for many countries the strategic grain reserve, while continuing to form an integral part of the government's food security programme, tended to exist in theory rather than in practice."
IFPRI's Cohen said resource pooling - regionally or nationally - was the future of food aid. "Countries have to strengthen their disaster preparedness and become more self-reliant, as Ethiopia has developed its Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Agency and so has Bangladesh. The UN and other aid agencies can continue to provide them with support in developing capacity."
Shahidur Rashid, an IFPRI research fellow based in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, was more cautious: "I think [food aid dependent countries] taking control [of their response to food aid needs] is a rather strong statement.
"A high incidence of poverty, weak infrastructure and institutions, and limited ability to invest indicate that Ethiopia (and many other developing countries) will need aid to support anti-poverty programmes. The challenges are using the aid effectively and, along with economic growth, reducing aid dependency in the future."
Ethiopia is among the poorest countries in the world. Its agricultural sector accounts for about 40 percent of national gross domestic product (GDP), 90 percent of exports, 85 percent of employment, and 90 percent of the poor, according a recent paper by the World Bank's Derek Byerlee and Madhur Gautam, IFPRI's David Spielman, and Dawit Alemu of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research.
"Rural poverty is further compounded by extreme land shortages in the highlands - per capita land area has fallen from 0.5ha in the 1960s to only 0.2ha by 2005," the authors pointed out.Response to price rise
The Ethiopian government has announced a temporary freeze on WFP's local purchases of food for emergency interventions, among other measures to counter high and still rising domestic food prices. The government also banned exports of the main cereals and grain stockpiling, and a temporary 10 percent surtax on luxury imports has also been imposed to help fund wheat subsidies for the poor.
WFP began buying food in Ethiopia in the mid-1990s on the invitation of the government, to help firm up prices, "which tended to fall drastically at harvest time, resulting in farmers often receiving prices which were incredibly low, as farmers were under pressure to dispose of their commodities to meet urgent cash requirements," said Simon Denhere, WFP Ethiopia Procurement Officer.
He brushed aside any assumption that WFP had been prevented from buying locally because its purchases had affected food prices. "WFP's procurement policy is that local purchase will only be implemented where there are marketable surpluses, to the extent that WFP purchases should not have a negative impact on the market, WFP should be a 'residual buyer', so to speak," he explained.
Role of aid agencies in the future
As countries develop, "food aid agencies should gradually go out of business," commented Rashid. He cited India, where the scale of food aid has declined significantly as the country developed its own ability to invest and implement anti-poverty and social safety net programmes. But Ethiopia's PSNP still depends on several aid agencies, "and I don't see Ethiopia, and many other developing countries, break free from such supports in the near future."
WFP's Denhere suggested that the Ethiopian government needed to invest in the supply side of agriculture. "Recent policies have been targeted at the demand side and price controls, often curtailing the activities of traders and buyers and market improvements.
"If WFP were to leave Ethiopia, beneficiaries who have no capacity to enter the market will be worst affected, as they will have no fallback position ... owing to the levels of poverty in the country, many families could face probable starvation."
Globally, the World Food Programme's (WFP) operational budget for 2008 has now risen to $3.4 billion - "an increase of $500 billion to account for the increased price of food and transport alone," said WFP spokesman Robin Lodge. "This budget is just to cover our current assessed needs, and leaves nothing for unforeseen emergencies or the huge number of people who are now falling into the hunger trap as a result of the rising prices."
Food prices are expected to continue to rise for the forseeable future as a result of surging global demand and reduced cereal stocks, partly on account of biofuel. Edward Clay, senior research associate at the Overseas Development Institute, a UK-based think-tank, noted that the situation called for a major re-think of food aid.
"Globalisation now means that the poor everywhere are affected. There is a need to ask how to anticipate a potentially much more volatile world food economy and this may require different institutional arrangements," he suggested. "How do we ensure that poor people and indeed poorer countries are not crowded out of world food markets?"
Food aid agencies have limited options, but the answer lies perhaps in Ethiopia, said Marc Cohen, research fellow at the US-based International food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and Shukri Ahmed, Senior Economist at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). "Ethiopia, which now has several million people in need of food assistance, has taken steps to emerge from aid dependency," Ahmed commented.
Among these was attempting to differentiate between people facing chronic food insecurity - currently estimated at more than eight million - and people facing either transitory or acute food insecurity - estimated between one to two million. Such a classification lent itself to providing a better response to food insecurity and targeting increasingly scarce food aid resources more effectively.
As part of a federal Food Security Programme (FSP), Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) provides a combination of cash, farming inputs and food to the vulnerable and chronically food insecure, while the Emergency Food Security Reserve (EFSR) holds more than 400,000 metric tonnes of food available for aid agencies to borrow from in case of emergencies.
Ethiopia's past response
Five major droughts in two decades have left most Ethiopian households reeling, and hundreds of thousands of people still live on the brink of survival. Ethiopia's PSNP arose partly out of concern by the government and the donor community that emergency appeals were regularly falling short of their targets, or providing late and erratic support, according to the Human Development Report 2007/2008 by the UN Development Programme.
"For poor households, delayed support during a prolonged drought can have devastating consequences in both the short and longer term. In 1983-1984 it led to the death of thousands of vulnerable people [in Ethiopia]," the report pointed out.
The PSNP is a multiyear arrangement that started by assisting five million people in 2005 and intends covering eight million by 2009. It has widely been punted by the relief community as a model for building resilience to face climatic shocks.
The EFSR, set up in 1982 "to ensure people did not have to wait for food aid to arrive," said Ahmed, is managed by the government and aid agencies in a transparent manner: aid agencies can borrow from the reserve on condition that they replenish it within a certain timeframe.
"Until the late 1980s the grain reserves in several countries of sub-Saharan Africa were strictly regulated by government, with a strong bias towards the politically more active urban population," Ahmed remarked.
"Low consumer prices were maintained by a combination of low producer prices and heavy subsidies ... Parastatal companies or marketing boards with monopoly rights for the marketing of designated cereals - and, in some instances, the provision of inputs - were established to administer the system."
However, governments could not always provide the parastatals with adequate funds to finance their operations, which often led to reserve stocks being used for normal market operations. "Financial pressures on both governments and the parastatals resulted in insufficient resources being made available to replenish the reserve stocks at the start of the following marketing year," Ahmed said.
"At the same time, the donor community, which was facing increasing demands for food aid, was becoming steadily more disenchanted with the way that reserves stocks were being used, and was increasingly unwilling to provide the resources necessary for rebuilding stocks," he added.
"Progressively, the quantities held in reserves dwindled, eventually ceasing to exist in most countries. Thus, for many countries the strategic grain reserve, while continuing to form an integral part of the government's food security programme, tended to exist in theory rather than in practice."
IFPRI's Cohen said resource pooling - regionally or nationally - was the future of food aid. "Countries have to strengthen their disaster preparedness and become more self-reliant, as Ethiopia has developed its Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Agency and so has Bangladesh. The UN and other aid agencies can continue to provide them with support in developing capacity."
Shahidur Rashid, an IFPRI research fellow based in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, was more cautious: "I think [food aid dependent countries] taking control [of their response to food aid needs] is a rather strong statement.
"A high incidence of poverty, weak infrastructure and institutions, and limited ability to invest indicate that Ethiopia (and many other developing countries) will need aid to support anti-poverty programmes. The challenges are using the aid effectively and, along with economic growth, reducing aid dependency in the future."
Ethiopia is among the poorest countries in the world. Its agricultural sector accounts for about 40 percent of national gross domestic product (GDP), 90 percent of exports, 85 percent of employment, and 90 percent of the poor, according a recent paper by the World Bank's Derek Byerlee and Madhur Gautam, IFPRI's David Spielman, and Dawit Alemu of the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research.
"Rural poverty is further compounded by extreme land shortages in the highlands - per capita land area has fallen from 0.5ha in the 1960s to only 0.2ha by 2005," the authors pointed out.Response to price rise
The Ethiopian government has announced a temporary freeze on WFP's local purchases of food for emergency interventions, among other measures to counter high and still rising domestic food prices. The government also banned exports of the main cereals and grain stockpiling, and a temporary 10 percent surtax on luxury imports has also been imposed to help fund wheat subsidies for the poor.
WFP began buying food in Ethiopia in the mid-1990s on the invitation of the government, to help firm up prices, "which tended to fall drastically at harvest time, resulting in farmers often receiving prices which were incredibly low, as farmers were under pressure to dispose of their commodities to meet urgent cash requirements," said Simon Denhere, WFP Ethiopia Procurement Officer.
He brushed aside any assumption that WFP had been prevented from buying locally because its purchases had affected food prices. "WFP's procurement policy is that local purchase will only be implemented where there are marketable surpluses, to the extent that WFP purchases should not have a negative impact on the market, WFP should be a 'residual buyer', so to speak," he explained.
Role of aid agencies in the future
As countries develop, "food aid agencies should gradually go out of business," commented Rashid. He cited India, where the scale of food aid has declined significantly as the country developed its own ability to invest and implement anti-poverty and social safety net programmes. But Ethiopia's PSNP still depends on several aid agencies, "and I don't see Ethiopia, and many other developing countries, break free from such supports in the near future."
WFP's Denhere suggested that the Ethiopian government needed to invest in the supply side of agriculture. "Recent policies have been targeted at the demand side and price controls, often curtailing the activities of traders and buyers and market improvements.
"If WFP were to leave Ethiopia, beneficiaries who have no capacity to enter the market will be worst affected, as they will have no fallback position ... owing to the levels of poverty in the country, many families could face probable starvation."
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Ethiopia: Russian Relations Have Good Prospects - Ambassador
The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)NEWS24 February 2008 Posted to the web 26 February 2008 Addis Ababa
There is a very good prospect for bilateral relations between Russia and Ethiopia as they mark the l10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relation between the two countries, Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia Mikhail Afanasiev said.
The month of February is the remarkable month for the cooperation between Russia and Ethiopia as it highlights the starting point since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two Countries as far back as 110 years now.
GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Other_Inset");
The date itself arouses respect and the history of bilateral ties produces evidence for that.
Ethiopia and Russia established their diplomatic relations in February 1898, when the then head of the Russian Extraordinary diplomatic mission P.Vlasov presented his credentials to the Emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II, the ambassador said.
Asked about the recent relation between the two countries in social, economic and political issues, he Russia and Ethiopia were now enjoying a very good relations which he said was based on a solid historical foundation.
"I can boldly assert that the relations between Russia and Ethiopia are very good. The relations are based on a solid historical foundation," the ambassador said in an interview with he held in connection to the 110th anniversary of the diplomatic relations with Ethiopia.
The guiding principles of the modern Ethio-Russian cooperation are enshrined in the Declaration on principles of friendly relations and partnership between the Russian Federation and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which was signed in 2001 during the official visit of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to Moscow, the Russian ambassador added.
"This document is future oriented and will by further enriched in the course of its realization," the ambassador observed.
There is a very good prospect for bilateral relations between Russia and Ethiopia as they mark the l10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relation between the two countries, Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia Mikhail Afanasiev said.
The month of February is the remarkable month for the cooperation between Russia and Ethiopia as it highlights the starting point since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two Countries as far back as 110 years now.
GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Other_Inset");
The date itself arouses respect and the history of bilateral ties produces evidence for that.
Ethiopia and Russia established their diplomatic relations in February 1898, when the then head of the Russian Extraordinary diplomatic mission P.Vlasov presented his credentials to the Emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik II, the ambassador said.
Asked about the recent relation between the two countries in social, economic and political issues, he Russia and Ethiopia were now enjoying a very good relations which he said was based on a solid historical foundation.
"I can boldly assert that the relations between Russia and Ethiopia are very good. The relations are based on a solid historical foundation," the ambassador said in an interview with he held in connection to the 110th anniversary of the diplomatic relations with Ethiopia.
The guiding principles of the modern Ethio-Russian cooperation are enshrined in the Declaration on principles of friendly relations and partnership between the Russian Federation and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which was signed in 2001 during the official visit of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to Moscow, the Russian ambassador added.
"This document is future oriented and will by further enriched in the course of its realization," the ambassador observed.
Bush Praises African Progress, Pledges Continued Assistance
By VOA News 26 February 2008
President Bush talks about his recent trip to Africa as he addresses the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, in Washington, D.C., 26 Feb 2008President Bush says the United States is on a "mission of mercy" in Africa, and has called on the U.S. Congress to approve funding for development programs in the continent.
In a speech Tuesday in Washington, the president highlighted his announcement last week in Rwanda that the United States will spend $100 million to help train and equip African peacekeepers heading to Darfur.
He called on Congress to double funding for programs for education, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Africa. His remarks came in a speech about his recent African tour.
Mr. Bush said he saw striking changes in Africa since his last visit there in 2003, especially in HIV/AIDS treatment and education. He praised the leaders of the countries he visited: Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia - for their dedication to reform and prosperity. He also credited his own millennium development challenge with encouraging African states to fight corruption.
The president called on U.S. presidential candidates in both parties to make African development a priority.
President Bush talks about his recent trip to Africa as he addresses the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, in Washington, D.C., 26 Feb 2008President Bush says the United States is on a "mission of mercy" in Africa, and has called on the U.S. Congress to approve funding for development programs in the continent.
In a speech Tuesday in Washington, the president highlighted his announcement last week in Rwanda that the United States will spend $100 million to help train and equip African peacekeepers heading to Darfur.
He called on Congress to double funding for programs for education, treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Africa. His remarks came in a speech about his recent African tour.
Mr. Bush said he saw striking changes in Africa since his last visit there in 2003, especially in HIV/AIDS treatment and education. He praised the leaders of the countries he visited: Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia - for their dedication to reform and prosperity. He also credited his own millennium development challenge with encouraging African states to fight corruption.
The president called on U.S. presidential candidates in both parties to make African development a priority.
Kenya poll crisis talks suspended
Talks to end post-election violence in Kenya have been suspended, former UN head and mediator Kofi Annan has said.
Mr Annan said that negotiations had become acrimonious and that the situation had become "very dangerous".
He also said he would speak to President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to find a way to move forward "much faster".
At least 1,500 people have been killed in ethnic and political violence since the disputed election, police say.
Mr Kibaki claimed victory in the 27 December election, but Mr Odinga said the poll was rigged.
The government and opposition are stalled on securing a power-sharing deal.
The opposition has threatened to stage protests across Kenya from Thursday if no deal is reached.
On Tuesday, the government said it was surprised that the talks had been suspended.
But a senior aide to Mr Annan suggested that government intransigence was to blame, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports from Nairobi.
PM post
"The talks have not broken down," Mr Annan said.
"But I am taking steps to make sure we accelerate the process and give peace to the people as soon as possible.
We will draw our own conclusions about who is responsible for lack of progress and take necessary steps Condoleezza Rice US Secretary of State
"The leaders have to assume their responsibilities and become directly engaged in these talks."
Earlier, Mr Annan had appealed to the leaders to help move the negotiations forward.
Both sides had agreed last week to create the post of prime minister, which would be taken by Mr Odinga, leading to hopes of a final deal soon.
However, they still needed to finalise which powers he would have.
The government now says the president should appoint the prime minister, which would not be an executive post.
As well as how to divide powers between a prime minister and a president, the rivals are also split on sharing cabinet positions and the possibility of a new election if the coalition collapses.
US warning
During a trip to China, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticised Kenyan parties for their lack of progress, saying she was disappointed by the "failure of leadership".
"The future of our relationship with both sides and their legitimacy hinges on their cooperation to achieve this political solution," she said.
"We will draw our own conclusions about who is responsible for lack of progress and take necessary steps."
Ms Rice visited Kenya last week in an effort to help broker a deal.
In Nairobi, government officials blamed the situation on false reports of deals reached during negotiations.
"We feel we are just being pushed and pushed and this is not fair," said government representative Mutula Kilonzo.
He said that he was confident there would be an agreement, but took issue with the statement issued by Ms Rice.
"This is a Kenyan issue and a Kenyan solution will be the one needed," Mr Kilonzo said.
Justice Minister Martha Karua said the dispute was over whether to entrench a power-sharing agreement in the constitution or just make statutory amendments.
But Musalia Mudavadi of Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement said that from the beginning both parties had agreed that constitutional and legal amendments might be needed.
He said the opposition felt "extremely frustrated" after initially thinking it had made progress.
"We feel it can be done if there is a political will, but we see that lacking," Mr Mudavadi said.
Tanzanian President and African Union head Jakaya Kikwete was expected to arrive in Nairobi on Tuesday to try to salvage the talks.
Story from BBC NEWS:
Mr Annan said that negotiations had become acrimonious and that the situation had become "very dangerous".
He also said he would speak to President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga to find a way to move forward "much faster".
At least 1,500 people have been killed in ethnic and political violence since the disputed election, police say.
Mr Kibaki claimed victory in the 27 December election, but Mr Odinga said the poll was rigged.
The government and opposition are stalled on securing a power-sharing deal.
The opposition has threatened to stage protests across Kenya from Thursday if no deal is reached.
On Tuesday, the government said it was surprised that the talks had been suspended.
But a senior aide to Mr Annan suggested that government intransigence was to blame, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports from Nairobi.
PM post
"The talks have not broken down," Mr Annan said.
"But I am taking steps to make sure we accelerate the process and give peace to the people as soon as possible.
We will draw our own conclusions about who is responsible for lack of progress and take necessary steps Condoleezza Rice US Secretary of State
"The leaders have to assume their responsibilities and become directly engaged in these talks."
Earlier, Mr Annan had appealed to the leaders to help move the negotiations forward.
Both sides had agreed last week to create the post of prime minister, which would be taken by Mr Odinga, leading to hopes of a final deal soon.
However, they still needed to finalise which powers he would have.
The government now says the president should appoint the prime minister, which would not be an executive post.
As well as how to divide powers between a prime minister and a president, the rivals are also split on sharing cabinet positions and the possibility of a new election if the coalition collapses.
US warning
During a trip to China, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticised Kenyan parties for their lack of progress, saying she was disappointed by the "failure of leadership".
"The future of our relationship with both sides and their legitimacy hinges on their cooperation to achieve this political solution," she said.
"We will draw our own conclusions about who is responsible for lack of progress and take necessary steps."
Ms Rice visited Kenya last week in an effort to help broker a deal.
In Nairobi, government officials blamed the situation on false reports of deals reached during negotiations.
"We feel we are just being pushed and pushed and this is not fair," said government representative Mutula Kilonzo.
He said that he was confident there would be an agreement, but took issue with the statement issued by Ms Rice.
"This is a Kenyan issue and a Kenyan solution will be the one needed," Mr Kilonzo said.
Justice Minister Martha Karua said the dispute was over whether to entrench a power-sharing agreement in the constitution or just make statutory amendments.
But Musalia Mudavadi of Mr Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement said that from the beginning both parties had agreed that constitutional and legal amendments might be needed.
He said the opposition felt "extremely frustrated" after initially thinking it had made progress.
"We feel it can be done if there is a political will, but we see that lacking," Mr Mudavadi said.
Tanzanian President and African Union head Jakaya Kikwete was expected to arrive in Nairobi on Tuesday to try to salvage the talks.
Story from BBC NEWS:
An African Story George W. Bush Missed
Mulugta Alemu
26 February 2008
In his one week long, second time itinerary in Africa, US president Gorge W. Bush toured Tanzania, Ghana, Benin, Rwanda and Liberia. His first presidential visit happened during his first tenure in 2003.
George W. Bush’s visit provides a good glimpse as much into the future of US’s strategic relationship with Africa as it does into US’s past imprints during Bush’s eventful eight years in the White House. It is not surprising that an American president whose tenure is so much tainted with myriads of not quite-glorious foreign policy decisions such as the war in Iraq, sought to use his African trip to remind both friends and foes, about the achievement’s of his ‘compassionate conservatism’ which has provided, among others, the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a more than 15 billion USD commitment towards eradication and treatment of diseases such as HIV/AIDs and malaria in the continent.
His carefully crafted schedule ensured that no opening is left which will invite a partisan attack in Washington. He has broadly called for solutions in Dartford and Kenya and applauded positive developments in countries which he has visited. Speculations erupted on his decisions leaving out some countries from his visits. For example, the Ethiopian diaspora opposition attempted to make a big deal out of the fact that Ethiopia was not included in Bush’s itinerary. Well big and important African countries such as Nigeria, South Africa were also not included in his visit. It can also not be said that the president only visited Africa’s model democracies. If that was the case, he would not have found himself in Kigali either.
George W. Bush’s visit has carefully ignored many of the countries that are strategically important for the US. The world’s hegemon needs the support of South Africa and Nigeria to aggressively promote its agenda in the continent. Ethiopia, Sub-Saharan Africa’s second most populous country, is the US’s vital partner in the Horn of Africa. More than 1500 US troops are based in Djibouti. More than 15 percent of US oil import comes from oil-producing African countries. Almost all of these countries are not included in the trip. As such it can generally be said that whether a country is included in the official visit can not be used as a bar for measuring the strategic weight of the country concerned.
But what we know is that a possible trip to Ethiopia would have garnered a fitting story to what Bush wanted to highlight. Ethiopia presents a case for how a responsible government can take best advantage of Western commitment to a national effort of eradication of poverty and diseases. Ethiopian economy is Africa’s fastest growing economy among non-oil producing countries. Ethiopia has a government which has already managed to decrease child mortality by over 40 percent in the last one decade. Educational enrolment for children has already leaped into 90 percent, compared to a meagre 40 percent in the early 90s. No other African country has invested so heavily in infrastructure from roads to IT. Ethiopia and Uganda present the two compelling anti-HIV/AIDs national campaigns that have reduced rate of infection, and provides better opportunity for treatment. Ethiopian villages have now schools, clinics, mills and roads. These investments have improved the lives of women and children in Ethiopia’s rural villages. In general, Ethiopian government is disciplined, pro-poor and clean.
On the political front, Ethiopia remains to be the only country struggling to entrench democracy in the Horn of Africa. As much as the post May 2005 elections violence rolled back some of its previous political gains, Ethiopia still has hundreds of opposition MPs in its federal parliament. Several state legislatures accommodate opposition representation. Almost all of the detained opposition party members are released. Despite hiccups, the private press is thriving and growing. The decision of the government to hold a free and fair district election in April 2008 is testament to its faith that democracy is the only viable modicum of governance for the future.
Of course there are some who don’t share such a positive assessment of developments in Ethiopia. Some have legitimate concerns and expectations whereas others such as very few members of the US House of Representatives have a clearly partisan, US-focused position on Ethiopia that is far removed from issues that are of concern to the Ethiopian people. If Bush had visited Ethiopia, he would have been subjected to an undeniable political ordeal in Washington from these very few congressmen. For long, many commentators have rightly pointed out how initiative masquerading as pro-democracy commitments abroad from some legislators are potentially alienating government who are genuinely committed for partnership with the US and its interest in promoting human rights in Africa. Ethiopia provides a stark example of an egregious shortcoming of such naïve policies.
.
26 February 2008
In his one week long, second time itinerary in Africa, US president Gorge W. Bush toured Tanzania, Ghana, Benin, Rwanda and Liberia. His first presidential visit happened during his first tenure in 2003.
George W. Bush’s visit provides a good glimpse as much into the future of US’s strategic relationship with Africa as it does into US’s past imprints during Bush’s eventful eight years in the White House. It is not surprising that an American president whose tenure is so much tainted with myriads of not quite-glorious foreign policy decisions such as the war in Iraq, sought to use his African trip to remind both friends and foes, about the achievement’s of his ‘compassionate conservatism’ which has provided, among others, the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a more than 15 billion USD commitment towards eradication and treatment of diseases such as HIV/AIDs and malaria in the continent.
His carefully crafted schedule ensured that no opening is left which will invite a partisan attack in Washington. He has broadly called for solutions in Dartford and Kenya and applauded positive developments in countries which he has visited. Speculations erupted on his decisions leaving out some countries from his visits. For example, the Ethiopian diaspora opposition attempted to make a big deal out of the fact that Ethiopia was not included in Bush’s itinerary. Well big and important African countries such as Nigeria, South Africa were also not included in his visit. It can also not be said that the president only visited Africa’s model democracies. If that was the case, he would not have found himself in Kigali either.
George W. Bush’s visit has carefully ignored many of the countries that are strategically important for the US. The world’s hegemon needs the support of South Africa and Nigeria to aggressively promote its agenda in the continent. Ethiopia, Sub-Saharan Africa’s second most populous country, is the US’s vital partner in the Horn of Africa. More than 1500 US troops are based in Djibouti. More than 15 percent of US oil import comes from oil-producing African countries. Almost all of these countries are not included in the trip. As such it can generally be said that whether a country is included in the official visit can not be used as a bar for measuring the strategic weight of the country concerned.
But what we know is that a possible trip to Ethiopia would have garnered a fitting story to what Bush wanted to highlight. Ethiopia presents a case for how a responsible government can take best advantage of Western commitment to a national effort of eradication of poverty and diseases. Ethiopian economy is Africa’s fastest growing economy among non-oil producing countries. Ethiopia has a government which has already managed to decrease child mortality by over 40 percent in the last one decade. Educational enrolment for children has already leaped into 90 percent, compared to a meagre 40 percent in the early 90s. No other African country has invested so heavily in infrastructure from roads to IT. Ethiopia and Uganda present the two compelling anti-HIV/AIDs national campaigns that have reduced rate of infection, and provides better opportunity for treatment. Ethiopian villages have now schools, clinics, mills and roads. These investments have improved the lives of women and children in Ethiopia’s rural villages. In general, Ethiopian government is disciplined, pro-poor and clean.
On the political front, Ethiopia remains to be the only country struggling to entrench democracy in the Horn of Africa. As much as the post May 2005 elections violence rolled back some of its previous political gains, Ethiopia still has hundreds of opposition MPs in its federal parliament. Several state legislatures accommodate opposition representation. Almost all of the detained opposition party members are released. Despite hiccups, the private press is thriving and growing. The decision of the government to hold a free and fair district election in April 2008 is testament to its faith that democracy is the only viable modicum of governance for the future.
Of course there are some who don’t share such a positive assessment of developments in Ethiopia. Some have legitimate concerns and expectations whereas others such as very few members of the US House of Representatives have a clearly partisan, US-focused position on Ethiopia that is far removed from issues that are of concern to the Ethiopian people. If Bush had visited Ethiopia, he would have been subjected to an undeniable political ordeal in Washington from these very few congressmen. For long, many commentators have rightly pointed out how initiative masquerading as pro-democracy commitments abroad from some legislators are potentially alienating government who are genuinely committed for partnership with the US and its interest in promoting human rights in Africa. Ethiopia provides a stark example of an egregious shortcoming of such naïve policies.
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)