Archive for the ‘News’ Category

ADDIS ABABA – Security men on Wednesday arrested prominent Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega and opposition party leader Andualem Aragie.They were both taken to Makelawi Prison in handcuffs at different times in the afternoon, witnessed said.

Eskinder and Andualem were earlier around 8:30 am seen conversing over coffee with two other UDJ members at a cafeteria near the opposition party’s headquarters, a UDJ press release reported.Acclaimed as a widely read journalist whose weekly columns appear on Ethiomedia.com on Fridays, Eskinder has been writing articles critical of the government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. the arreste denounced by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among others.

Ethiopian reporter Argaw Ashine has told the BBC he has fled his country because he was cited in a US diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks last month.He said he was interrogated by officials seeking the identity of his government source referred to in a 2009 cable about press harassment.”It was a bit scary… not a wise idea to stay in such a scenario,” he said.Wikileaks says the cable does not cite Mr Argaw as a US embassy informant and “no journalistic source is named”.But the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says it is the first instance in which a citation in a Wikileaks cables has caused direct repercussions for a journalist.”The threat we sought to avert through redactions of initial Wikileaks cables has now become real,” Joel Simon, the executive director of the US-based media watchdog said in a statement.”A citation in one of these cables can easily provide repressive governments with the perfect opportunity to persecute or punish journalists and activists,” he said.Ethiopian government spokesman Shimellis Kemal told the BBC the country’s laws gave “protection for journalists not to disclose the sources of their information”

Apparently, it was not just Mullah who suffered as servants of Hannibal Gadhafi’s family. A man too frightened to reveal his name led CNN reporters to another one of Hannibal Gadhafi’s properties, a gated, high-walled villa-like house, where the man said more abuse was meted out to staffers.

“Shweyga is not the only one,” he said, describing a Sudanese man who was also scalded with water after he burned an undershirt he was ironing.

Addis Ababa — Some 29 terror suspects, which Ethiopian police said have links with banned rebel group the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), have been arrested by the country’s security services.Among detained, are nine members of opposition parties, Oromo Peoples Congress (OPC) and Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) the National Intelligence and Security Service and Federal Police Joint Anti-Terrorist Taskforce said on Tuesday.He said the foreign staff bore the brunt of the abuse.Another foreign nanny contacted CNN and described Aline Gadhafi as a “sadist” and a “psychologically sick” woman.A room in the villa perhaps bears out the nanny’s words — a prison cell in a private home.Back at the burn hospital, Mullah faces months of recuperation and surgery. Her story generated enormous public response. So far, people have donated more than $16,000 dollars for her care.

Shweyga Mullah, a nanny for Hannibal and Aline Gadhafi, says Aline burned her with boiling water.

Tripoli, Libya - Shweyga Mullah gestures a greeting to her visitors at Tripoli’s burn hospital. Her head wrapped in fresh bandages, her frail body under a red fleece blanket, Mullah is slowly regaining her dignity.Tears stream down her cheeks, not of pain anymore, but relief. She is grateful for all those who have helped her in her ordeal. She prays now for God to heal her and return her to her family in Ethiopia.Mullah worked as a nanny for two of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s grandchildren. When she couldn’t keep one from crying, Aline, the wife of Gadhafi’s son Hannibal, poured boiling water on her head. Journalists discovered her in Hannibal Gadhafi’s plush home after anti-Gadhafi forces overran Tripoli and Hannibal Gadhafi and his wife fled to Algeria.Apparently, it was not just Mullah who suffered as servants of Hannibal Gadhafi’s family. A man too frightened to reveal his name led CNN reporters to another one of Hannibal Gadhafi’s properties, a gated, high-walled villa-like house, where the man said more abuse was meted out to staffers.”Shweyga is not the only one,” he said, describing a Sudanese man who was also scalded with water after he burned an undershirt he was ironing.He said the foreign staff bore the brunt of the abuse.Another foreign nanny contacted CNN and described Aline Gadhafi as a “sadist” and a “psychologically sick” woman.A room in the villa perhaps bears out the nanny’s words — a prison cell in a private home.Back at the burn hospital, Mullah faces months of recuperation and surgery. Her story generated enormous public response. So far, people have donated more than $16,000 dollars for her care.

UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee first raised its apparent concern about the construction of the Gibe III Dam and the possible impacts on Lake Turkana, a World Heritage Site, at a meeting last June. It warned that the Gibe III Dam was likely to significantly alter Lake Turkana’s fragile hydrological regime, and would threaten its aquatic species and associated biological systems.  The Committee urged Ethiopia to immediately halt all construction on the project and called for all financial institutions supporting the Gibe III dam to put their financial support on hold until the Committee reviewed the issue next year. In a letter to the Ethiopian and Chinese governments, (a Chinese state-owned bank is providing some of the funding) the Committee referred to Lake Turkana as an outstanding research area for animal and plant communities, and notes that the area’s rich fossil finds have allowed “reconstructing the history of animal species and mankind over the past 2 million years”. The Minister of Water and Energy, Ato Alemayheu Tegenu, who visited the project last month, said the dam was on schedule for completion in 2013. The two billion dollar scheme will produce 1,870 MW when finished and involve a transmission line to the Gilgel Gibe II project and to Addis Ababa.

The wife and three children of fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are in Algeria, Algerian officials say.A foreign ministry statement said Col Gaddafi’s wife Safia, daughter Ayesha and sons Muhammad and Hannibal left Libya early on Monday.Algeria’s UN ambassador said they were received on humanitarian grounds.Libya’s rebels said sheltering Gaddafi family members was an act of aggression, and called for their extradition.

Col Gaddafi’s whereabouts are unknown.

የአፍሪካ አንድነት ድርጅት ሲቋቋም ዓላማው የአፍሪካ አገሮችን ነፃነት እውን ለማድረግ፣ አፍሪካውያን እንዲተባበሩ ለማስቻልና ከነፃነት ባሻገርም አፍሪካውያን የአፍሪካን ችግር ለመፍታት በጋራ እንዲንቀሳቀሱ ለማድረግ ነው፡፡የአፍሪካ አንድነት ድርጅትም ይባል፣ በአዲሱ ስሙ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ብለንም እንጥራው ዓላማው ይኸው ነው፡፡በተጨባጭ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ወቅታዊ እንቅስቃሴን ስናይና ስንገመግም ግን እኛ አፍሪካውያን የሚሰማን ምንድን ነው? ኩራት ወይስ ኀፍረት?በአይቮሪኮስት ‹‹ከምርጫው›› በኋላ በተከሠተው ሁኔታ ሕዝብ እያለቀ ነበር፡፡ ሥልጣን ልቀቅ አለቅም በሚል ጉዳይ በእንደዚህ ዓይነት ሁኔታ ፈረንሳይ ወታደሮቿን አስገብታ የማረጋጋት እንቅስቃሴ አደርጋለሁ ትል ነበር፡፡ የአፍሪካ ኅብረትስ ምን አለ? ምን አደረገ? ያደረገው ነገር ካለስ የሚያኮራ ወይስ የሚያስነውር?በሶማሊያ በአሁኑ ጊዜ ሕዝብ በረሃብ እያለቀ ነው፡፡ በአጭር ጊዜ ውስጥ ሠላሳ ሺሕ ሕፃናት ያለቁበትና የረገፉበት ሁኔታ ተስተውሏል፡፡ አንዲት እናት በአንድ ቀን አራት ሕፃን ልጆቿን ያጣችበትን ሁኔታ አፍሪካ አይታለች፡፡ አሁንም ያለው ስደት፣ አሁንም ያለው እልቂት ነው፡፡የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ምን እያለ ነው? ምንስ እያደረገ ነው? አፍሪካውያንና የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ዝም ብለው የቱርክ መሪዎች ግን ሞቃዲሾ ገብተው ሁኔታውን ሲያዩና ዕርዳታ ሲሰጡ እየተመለከትን ነው፡፡ አፍሪካኅብረትስ? አፍሪካውያንስ?የአፍሪካ ኅብረት በሶማሊያው ረሃብ ላይ እየወሰደ ስላለው ተጨባጭ ዕርምጃ እንኩራ ወይስ እንፈር?እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያንስ እንደ ኢትዮጵያዊነታችንና እንደአፍሪካዊነታችን ለተራበው የሶማሊያ ሕዝብ የሚገባንን እያደረግን ነውን? ረሃብና እልቂት ምን እንደሚመስል እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን ከማንም በላይ እናውቀዋለን፡፡ በሶማሊያው እልቂት ምን ያህል ተሰምቶናል? ምን ያህልስ ደንግጠናል? ምን ያህል ያቅማችንን ያህል እንኳ ተንቀሳቅሰናል?ያለውን የፖለቲካና የጸጥታ ችግር ረስተነው አይደለም፡፡ ግን ምንም ነገር ላለመርዳት በቂና ሙሉ ምክንያት ሊሆን አይችልም፡፡ አፍሪካውያን ምን እያደረጉ ናቸው? ስንል በቅድሚያ ጐረቤትና አንድ ሕዝብ የሆነው ኢትዮጵያዊ ምን እያገዘ ነው ብሎ መጠየቅ ተገቢ ነው፡፡ የራሳችን ችግርና ረሃብ ቢኖርብንም ሌላውን ትንሽም ብትሆን ላለመርዳት ሽፋን አይሆንልንም፡፡ሌላው በአፍሪካዊነታችን የአፍሪካ ኅብረትን የምንጠይቅበት አጀንዳ የሊቢያ ጉዳይ ነው፡፡ የሙዓመር ጋዳፊ ተቃዋሚዎች የሊቢያ ዋና ከተማ ትሪፖሊን እየተቆጣጠሩ ናቸው፡፡ ሕይወት እየጠፋ ነው፡፡ የተስፋ ብልጭታም ለሊቢያ ሕዝብ እየፈነጠቀ ነው፡፡ነገር ግን በሊቢያ ጉዳይም እየተንቀሳቀሱም እየተናገሩም ያሉት አሜሪካና አውሮፓ በተለይም የኔቶ አገሮች ናቸው፡፡ እነሱ ለምን ተንቀሳቀሱ፣ ለምን ተናገሩ አንልም፡፡ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች ግን በአፍሪካዊት አገር ጉዳይ ምን እየተናገሩና ምን እንቅስቃሴ እያደረጉ ነው? የሚያሳፍር ወይስ የሚያኮራ?የአፍሪካ ኅብረት በሊቢያ ጉዳይ ሊያፍር ይገባዋል፡፡ ሊያፍር የሚገባው ግን በሰሞኑ ይህን አለመናገሩ ወይም ያንን አለመተግበሩ ብቻ አይደለም፡፡ እንደ ሙዓመር ጋዳፊ ዓይነት መሪዎች በአፍሪካ መኖራቸውና የአፍሪካ ኅብረት አባልና አባል መሆናቸውም ሊያሳፍረን ይገባል፡፡ሊቢያ የዘይት ሀብት ቢኖራትም በቤተሰብ የምትተዳደር አገር፣ ተቋማት የሌላት አገር፣ ኋላ ቀር አገር ናት፡፡ አሁንም የዴሞክራሲና የሰብዓዊ መብት አጀንዳ የራቃትና መሪዋ ሕዝብን አይጥና ተምች እያለ የሚሰድብበት አገር ናት፡፡ሆኖም ግን የዘይት መዓት ገንዘብ ስለነበረ ጋዳፊ የአፍሪካ መሪዎችን በጉቦ የሚገዛበት ሁኔታ ነበር፡፡ ‹‹ንጉሥ ነገሥት ነኝ›› ሲሉ ‹‹አዎን ንጉሠ ነገሥት ናቸው›› የሚሉ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች አሉ፡፡ አፍሪካን ልምራ ሲሉ አዎን ጋዳፊ ይምሩን የሚሉ ነበሩ፡፡ የአፍሪካ ጽሕፈት ቤት ትሪፖሊ ይሁን ሲሉ አዎን ትሪፖሊ ይሁን የሚሉ ነበሩ፡፡ ባጭሩ ከጋዳፊ ምጽዋት የሚቀበሉ የአፍሪካ መሪዎች ነበሩ፡፡ ጥገኞች!እንደነሙዓመር ጋዳፊ ዓይነቱ መሪዎች ያቀፈና በነጋዳፊ ጉቦ የሚንቀሳቀሱ መሪዎች የያዘ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት የሚፈጥርብን ስሜት ኩራት ወይስ ኀፍረት?የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ራሱን መፈተሽና መገምገም አለበት፡፡ ለዴሞክራሲ፣ ለፍትሕ፣ ለሰብዓዊ መብት፣ ለፕሬስ ነፃነት፣ ለትክክለኛ ምርጫ፣ ለሰላምና መረጋጋት፣ ለብዙኀን ድምፅ የቆመ ኅብረት መሆን አለበት፡፡በአፍሪካ አገር ጉዳይ አሜሪካ፣ አውሮፓ፣ እስያና ላቲን አሜሪካ አያገባችሁም አንልም፡፡ ኦባማ፣ ካሜሩንና ሳርኮዚ ለምን ተናገራችሁ አንልም፡፡ የዓለም አካል ስለሆነች ስለአፍሪካዊት አገር መናገር ይገባቸዋልና፡፡ አጽንዖት ሰጥተን የምንናገረው፣ በአፍሪካ አገሮች ጉዳይ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት ግልጽና ቀልጣፋ፣ ጠንካራና መፍትሔ የሚያሳይ እንቅስቃሴ ማድረግ አለበት፤ አቋምም መውሰድ አለበት የሚለውን ነው፡፡ አፍሪካ ስትቸገር፣ ጠንካራና ግልጽ፣ ወቅታዊም አቋምና ተግባር በማይወስድ የአፍሪካ ኅብረት አፍሪካውያን የሚሰማን ስሜት ምንድን ነው?እፍረት !!!

Ethiopia on Wednesday recognized Libya’s rebel National Transitional Council as the legitimate authority of the strife-torn north African country and urged the African Union to do the same.”The recent unfolding events in Libya have amply demonstrated that the National Transition Council is in the control of the greater part of Libya,” government spokesperson Dina Mufti told reporters.Dina made the comments at a joint press briefing by Ethiopia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and his Nigerian counterpart Olugbenga Ashiru, whose country recognized the rebels’ authority Tuesday.”(We) have decided to jointly recognize the NTCas the interim legitimate authority in Libya,” Dina said.In a joint statement, the ministers also called on the African Union to recognize the NTC as the official Libyan leaders.The pan-African bloc has still not recognized the NTC even after the 42-year-old regime of Libyan strongman Moammar Qaddafi has nearly been brought down by the rebels.”We ask the African Union and its members to be consistent by extending to the NTC the type of support and recognition that was extended to Tunisia and Egypt,” the statement said.However, Ashiru said the fate of Qaddafi rests with Libyan people and not the international community.”This should be a matter for the people of Libya to decide, I don’t think its proper for anybody to tell them how they want to proceed but all we will ask for is that … justice must be done,” Ashiru said.
An AU ad-hoc committee on Libya will meet on Thursday at the bloc’s Addis Ababa headquarters to discuss the North African country’s crisis ahead of talks by heads of state of AU’s Peace and Security Council.

The Washington Post reports that a 14-year-old German with Ethio­pian roots and a U.S. green card might have a future in the English Premier League. The paper said Gedion Zelalem has trained with Arsenal for 10 days this summer and the team has plans to have Gedion join the team full time, when he turns 16 in 2013.

The United Nations has added its voice to the barrage of criticism on Ethiopia’s massive Gibe III hydropower project, calling for work to be suspended until the negative impacts of the dam have been determined.The World Heritage Committee, which establishes sites to be listed as being of special cultural or physical significance, said the dam’s construction endangered the existence of Lake Turkana.But Ethiopia has categorically denied the accusation and further signed an agreement with Kenya to export electric power. The transmission line connecting the two countries is nearing completion.During an international hydropower summit in Addis Ababa recently, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi defended the decision to expand dam projects.The views of western critics are ironic as Ethiopian facilities are infinitely more environmentally and socially responsible than the projects in their countries, past and present,” he said.Mr Meles articulated his suspicion that there is a conspiracy against hydropower projects in Africa and that those who were advocating against hydropower electricity generation were condemning Africa and its people to remain in extreme poverty.”They are concerned about butterflies’ lives, but not human diseases,” he said.The Ethiopian premier said that most of the activists residing in Europe and North America were not condemning their countries for causing global warming by producing carbon emission gases.Mr Meles is the current African Union spokesperson on climate change.