Ethiopian pop star to leave jail shortly (AngolaPress)

Ethiopia's famous pop star, Teddy Afro, is set to leave jail within five months following an Ethiopian Supreme Court judge decision to reduce his six-year long sentence to two years on appeal, reports said.

 

Ethiopian Supreme Court Judge Daniel Melaku ruled on Wednesday that the popular pop star, jailed in December 2008 for dangerous driving and killing a homeless man on the streets of Addis Ababa and fleeing from the scene of the accident, would be freed within five months, in effect dismissing the manslaughter charges against him and re-sentencing him for a driving offence.

 

The judge ruled that the only crime committed by the pop star, whose anti-government lyrics made him a symbol of the opposition, was that he fled from the alleged scene of the accident and failed to help the victim.

 

The victim of the accident, identified as Degu Yibelte, was drunk and lay on the road before the accident occurred and the other witnesses also failed to assist the victim, the judge ruled.

 

Afro, whose real name is Tewodros Kassahun, remains one of the most famous Ethiopian pop stars.

 

The High Court Judge, who sentenced him to six years, said he avoided giving him the maximum sentence to allow him to reform while in prison.

 

Ethiopian troops again cross into Somalia (Xinhua)

www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-19 00:12:35

 

BIADOA, Somalia, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Heavily armed Ethiopian troops have entered a district in south Somalia nearly a month after the troops left the war-torn country, witnesses said Wednesday.  Villagers in the southern Bakool region say the troops have crossed the border and set up bases in the village of Yeet, in Rabdhure district, 28 km south of the regional capital of Hudur.  Ethiopia withdrew its forces from Somalia after two years of presence in the country following the defeat of the Islamists that run much of southern and central Somalia in the later half of 2006.  It is not clear why the Ethiopian troops entered the region but there have lately been reports of troop movement by Somali government forces in Hudur in the Bakool regional backing officials who fled the southern town of Baidoa when it fell into the hands of the Al-Shabaab insurgent fighters last month.  Baidoa has been the seat of Somali parliament before its capture by the hardline Islamist group of Al-Shabaab which opposes the new Somali government leadership.  Residents in the villages around the border district of Rabdhuure say that the troops arrested a number of locals soon after entering the area.  In January, local officials charged that Ethiopian troops crossed over into the other Somali border region of Hiran in central Somalia, two weeks after their withdrawal from the country but the Ethiopian government denied the allegations.

 

 

 

Great marketing potential to be found in Ethiopia

DAILY DISPATCH ONLINE 

2008/06/19

By LUYTON DRIMAN

THE aptly named Horn of Africa is for me, one of the most unique parts of this continent. Bradmanton Consulting

I cannot help but to discover a certain amount of mysticism during each visit.

The whole process of conducting business in Ethiopia is so different from most other African capital cities, mainly due to the fact that the Ethiopian economy is quite "closed", in as much as the Ethiopian Government has not allowed any international banks to open in the country. This means all import and export transactions are done via the three largest local banks.

The government also owns and controls all the service providers, like the telecommunication industry (fixed line and cellular), which essentially means in order to do business with these parastatals, you have to be registered as a supplier before you are able to tender for any projects. The local currency, the birr, is practically one-to-one with the rand. This means that the birr to the US dollar exchange rate is similar to that of the rand to the US dollar. [Read more]

 

At least nine die in Eritrea jail (Reuters)

NAIROBI (Reuters) - At least nine political inmates have died in a secret Eritrean prison where they are routinely tortured using plastic whips, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday.

The media rights groups said an anonymous source detailed how detainees, including four journalists, were kept day and night under lights. Some were manacled and tortured, it said.

"The prison camp known as Eiraeiro is a disgrace for Eritrea and Africa," RSF said.

Asmara routinely denies criticism from foreign-based rights groups, accusing them of acting on behalf of some world powers.

Information Minister Ali Abdu says the government will not respond to "each stupid comment" by groups such as RSF.

The press freedom organisation called the prison on Eritrea's eastern coastline an "African gulag" and "daily hell."

It said the prisoners' heads were shaved every two months and they were allowed only 20 minutes per week to bathe.

Late last year, RSF called Eritrea the worst nation in the world for press freedom.

Lacking independent media and often accused of harassing journalists, Eritrea is consistently ranked among the world's top violators of press freedom by rights groups.

(Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: Reuters

DMLEK claims inflicting damage on Eritrean army (Walta)

Mekelle, January 29, 2008 (WIC) - Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the Eritrean Kunama (DMLEK) said it has consolidated its attack on the Eritrean government.

According to a press release it sent to WIC, the movement has inflicted damages on the regime.

DMLEK said it destroyed the agriculture office of the government in Binbilina town of Gash Barka Zone along with goods stored in a warehouse last week.

In this same operation it burnt out a military water truck and a tanker in Barentu town, the statement added.

According to the statement, 800 Eritreans caught while fleeing to the Sudan were arrested and jailed in a military garrison in Nakfa. Of those 16 managed to escape and entered the Sudan over the weekend, it stated.

The movement which pointed out the fleeing of more than 26,800 Eritreans to the Sudan finally urged the public and the army of Eritrea to stand up against the dictatorial regime.

Walta Information Center

AU unveils Road Map for peace in Somalia (Walta)

Addis Ababa, January 24, 2008 (WIC) - The African Union's top security official has presented Somalia's leaders a four-point plan for creating stability in the country, according to VOA.

During a four-hour visit to Mogadishu yesterday, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said Somalia is becoming Africa's biggest security challenge and described his stopover as a symbolic show of support for Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.

Djinnit said he outlined to Hussain a proposal to initiate a road map that would be developed by Somali leaders in partnership with the international community.

Its four components would include strengthening the nation's political process through reconciliation, greater international involvement in peacekeeping operations, creating a safe environment for humanitarian aid deliveries, and building the capacity of federal government institutions to face the immense challenges ahead.

The commissioner expressed frustration at what he called the lack of international support for efforts to bring a stable peace to Somalia. He told reporters his eventual goal, and biggest concern, is persuading the U.N Security Council to re-establish the peacekeeping mission it abandoned in the face of uncontrolled violence 13 years ago.

"It is the issue at the heart of our concerns," said Said Djinnit. " We believe Somalia has been abandoned for so long, and the Security Council remains the principal body in charge of the maintenance of international peace and security, and Somalia is becoming the biggest challenge for security in Africa. And therefore the Security Council cannot but assume its responsibility vis a vis Somalia."

Djinnit chided the Security Council for its recent statement saying it was "reiterating its commitment to considering the possibility of deploying" a Somalia peacekeeping operation.

"If you look to ideal situation where peace is prevailing before deploying a peacekeeping operation, you might not get that ideal situation," he said. "So we are therefore calling for flexibility on the part of the United Nations in considering the situation in Somalia and in deciding as early as possible on the deployment of the peacekeeping operation to come and take over from the African Union."

The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, has an authorized strength of 8,000. But nearly a year after it was formed, less than one-quarter of the troops are in place.

Ethiopian troops are backing Somali's military in its campaign against Islamic insurgents, VOA stated.

But Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has repeatedly said he wants those troops replaced by a strong international force. Yet with Somalia among the world's most violent and gun-infested countries, and the United Nations balking at sending a peacekeeping mission, Prime Minister Hussein told reporters it is premature to set a date when Ethiopian troops could withdraw.

" To set a time maybe today it's not so easy, but you can see the efforts of the African Union, you can see the efforts of AMISOM [African Mission in Somalia] from time to time increasing their troops, and this will definitely set a way for us to discuss when and how the Ethiopian troops will be reduced," said Hussein. "So what we will try to do is have a very well-elaborated exit strategy."

Somalia's parliament chose Prime Minister Hussein last November to replace his predecessor Ali Mohamed Gedi.

Source: Walta Information Center

White Nile to Ink Oil Exploration Deal with Ethiopia (Fortune)

White Nile Ltd., a British company quoted by Alternative Investment Market (AIM), will be signing an oil exploration agreement with the Ethiopian government next Tuesday, January 15, 2008, officials at the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MoME) disclosed to Fortune. White Nile’s founder and Chairman, Philippe H. Edmonds, is expected to arrive in Addis Abeba, in order to sign the exploration agreement with Alemayehu Tegenu, minister of Mines and Energy, at the Sheraton Addis.

The deal will grant White Nile exploration rights over a 29,000Km area in Southern Omo and Borena - Southern Rift Basin - in Oromia and Southern regional states. The Council of Ministers has approved the concession request a few weeks ago.

This company will be the sixth firm to enter into oil exploration activities in Ethiopia: The most prominent among them is the Malaysian Petronas that is undertaking exploration activities in Gambella and Ogaden areas after signing an agreement in 2003.

Two years later, a company licensed in The Netherlands, Pexco, was granted a permit to explore for oil in the Ogaden. In 2005, a Hong Kong registered company, South-West Energy, owned by Teodros Ashenafi, signed a similar deal to get involved in the Afar Regional State. Another company conducting exploration in the same region is the United States (US) registered Afar Exploration, granted a license in 2006. The Swedish Lundia Petroleum AB, a company that is active in Sudan and Somaliland, was granted a licence in 2007 to explore for oil in the Ogaden area.

“We look forward to see White Nile conduct as significant exploration activities as all these other companies,” Minister Alemayehu told Fortune.

White Nile is very familiar to the area where it wants to conduct exploration now. It has conducted geological and geophysical surveys on 70,000sqkm area of the Southern Rift Basin for two years, after it entered into a join study agreement with the Ministry in July 2005. Its findings of deep basins, potentially containing sedimentary sections similar to that of the Muglad and Melut basins of Southern Sudan, is reportedly behind its decision to enter into an exploration agreement with the Ethiopian government.

In the new agreement expected to be signed next Tuesday, White Nile will be granted exploration rights for four years. However, depending on the progress it makes, the company’s licence could be renewed for an additional four years, according to Abiy Hunegnaw, director of the Petroleum Department at the Ministry. Following the disclosure of its prospective deal with the Ethiopian government, White Nile’s shares were trading 14pc higher than its 45.5p (8.5 Br) on the London Stock Exchange.

Nevertheless, the Nairobi based company has been a poor performer at the stock exchange last year, according to The Financial Times. Its shares dropped by 70pc in 2007, according to the newspaper, and suffered a loss of 1.4 million pounds (26 million Br). The company has failed to secure an oilfield in South Sudan known as “Block Ba”, claimed by TOTAL of France.

Sudanese state company, Nile Petroleum Corporation Ltd. Controls 44.67pc of its shares.

By ISSAYAS MEKURIA

FORTUNE STAFF WRITER

Sudanese Nile Petroleum to Become Leader in Energy Market (Addis Fortune)

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MoME) is negotiating with the Sudanese giant, Nile Petroleum Co. Ltd (NPC), to grant it fuel blending rights in accordance with a decision made by the Council of Ministers to blend and supply ethanol and benzene. The negotiations are almost complete, sources at the Ministry told Fortune.

 

The talks, which began after MoME presented a Bio-fuel Development and Usage Strategic Document that envisaged using the country's rich ethanol potential, is expected to make Nile Petroleum the leading stakeholder in the Ethiopian oil energy market.
 

A steering committee has been established with representatives drawn from MoME, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise (EPE) and the six oil suppliers to evaluate the technical and financial feasibility studies, though the total cost of the project will be incurred by Nile Petroleum.
 

"We will cover the entire cost of the project once the agreement is finalised," Sharaf E. Babkir, general manager of the Ethiopian branch of Nile Petroleum, told Fortune. "The negotiations are in the closing stages, and we will submit our final proposal early this week."
 

The Ethiopian government chose this company based on a bilateral relations agreement signed with Sudan and Nile Petroleum's capacity.
 

The Ethiopian branch of Nile Petroleum, a subsidiary of NPC, has secured a 20,000sqm plot in Sululta, 24Km north of Addis Abeba, in the Oromia Regional State, for the construction of a fuel depot which will have a combined capacity of 300tns of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and 1,500 cubic metres of Petroleum.
 

NPC was established in 1954 as Nile Import and Trading Oil Company a subsidiary of TOTAL, with the Sudanese government holding a 75pc stake until 1993. The company, totally state-owned since 1993, has a 60pc share of the marketing and distribution of petroleum products in Sudan.
 

The local branch first obtained a license from the Ethiopian Investment Agency (EIA) to distribute LPG and in 2004 it upgraded its license to cover its planned expansion project.
 

Endorsing a strategic document, the Ethiopian government is now focused on exploring the country's bio-fuel resources. It stipulates incentive schemes for sugarcane producers, a major input for ethanol, in addition to encouraging state-owned enterprises to use blended oil. Providing incentives for Flex Fuel Vehicle importers as well as securing finances for the sector has also been recommended.
 

To satisfy the total petroleum demands in the country, Ethiopia annually spends 8.6 billion Br, 87pc of its total foreign trade earnings, and a serious drain on its limited foreign currency holdings.
 

Though the government hopes to switch to alternative energy sourceS to relieve this burden, some petroleum supplying companies are sceptical of the benefit they will get out of this venture.

 

"Though shifting from benzene to blended oil has its own advantages, there is doubt as to who is going to benefit," the marketing manager of one of these companies told Fortune. "There are associated costs like installing new fuelling machineries, and our benefit should be considered when we are made to shift to a new service."
 

Nile Petroleum currently has four tankers in Sululta; two for benzene and two for diesel. However, the two diesel tankers are set to be used for storing benzene.
 

"We will also install another two ethanol storage tankers, which will be increased after three years given a higher demand," Sharaf told Fortune.

 

A veteran expert who for the last 30 years worked in the petroleum industry, however, warns that the blending is sensitive as ethanol is prone to absorbing water.
 

"Though blending is customary in other countries too, if water accidentally enters in the early stages of the process, the project may fail as people will loose trust in it," he told Fortune. "The water makes the ethanol unable to mix with benzene."
 

The necessary supply of the ethanol input is also in question.
 

Of the three state-owned sugar factories, Fincha currently produces eight million litres of ethanol while the other two - Metehara and Wonji Shoa - do not produce.
 

However, as the latter two are under expansion, in addition to the newly constructed huge Tendaho sugar factory, it is expected that ethanol supply would significantly increase, a source at the Ethiopian Sugar Development Agency (ESDA) told Fortune.
 

The total ethanol production is expected to reach 35.1 million litres in 2010 when Metehara and Wonji switch to the production of ethanol rather than Molasses.
 

Nile Petroleum also has planned to open its fuelling stations in Addis Abeba, though its request for plots is yet to find a response from the municipality.
 

"We had requested eight different plots in Addis Abeba to no avail," Sharaf disclosed.

 

The Council of Ministers decided at its regular meeting in 2004 that the petroleum sector should be open to domestic and international investors to curb the distribution problems prevalent in the country.
 

The sector has since seen a couple of investments, mostly by Ethiopians, including NOC, YBP and the Kenyan Kobil.
 

Nile Petroleum, the latest to have joined the sector, undertakes petroleum exploration, refining, storage and marketing in Sudan.

Source: Addis Fortune

Somali car bomb kills Ethiopians (BBC)

Two Ethiopian soldiers have been killed by a car bomb in the Somali town of Baidoa on Wednesday evening.

The bomber's target was an Ethiopian military post close to the hotel where the prime minister, Ali Mohamed Ghedi, was staying.

After the attack, Mogadishu-based Simba Radio aired an Islamist insurgent commander's claim of responsibility for the attempted assassination.

Somali forces have raided the radio and arrested its chief Abdullahi Ali Farak.

A reporter at the station said a journalist was also arrested in the raid, and the radio ordered to shut down.

A reporter at the scene says the area has been sealed off since the blast, but eyewitnesses say a suicide bomber driving a car also died.

"The explosion was so deafening and strong it rocked our entire hotel compound," an aide of the prime minister, Mohamed Abdi Haji, told AP news agency.

Mr Ghedi is in Baidoa for what correspondents expect to be a showdown between him and the president, Abdullahi Yusuf, on Friday.

Cabinet move

More than 20 cabinet ministers have asked parliament to intervene on the simmering conflict between the president and prime minister.

The BBC's Mohamed Ibrahim Mualimu in Baidoa says the ministers who are allied to the president want parliament to vote on whether the government should be dissolved or not.

The two leaders have disagreed on whether the term of current transitional government which was formed in 2004 should end this Friday or in October 2009.

President Yusuf argues that constitutionally the government's term ends this month since it was formed three years ago, but his prime minister insists that the charter legalising their mandate was signed in 2006.

Parliament is expected to convene on Friday but its not clear whether the motion will be tabled.

Source: BBC website

Eastern Africa Power Pool project to kick-start on April (Walta)

Addis Ababa , October 27, 2007 (WIC) - Residents of Moyale are set to benefit from electricity supply from Ethiopia, following an interconnectivity agreement between the two countries, Business Daily reported.

The linkage is the first phase of the Eastern Africa Power Pool project, which aims  at interconnecting more than seven countries in this region. The project will be implemented from April next year.

Executive Secretary of the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP), Callixte Kambanda, said the connection would go on even as several studies leading to the project's master plan continue to be carried out.

Ethiopia has finished its feasibility study and will ''soon'' be rolling out distribution into Kenya through Moyale. Extension from there, however, is subject to Kenya completing a feasibility study that has been delayed since May, it said.

The regional project aims at connecting Kenya to Ethiopia, Uganda to Rwanda, Ethiopia to Sudan, Sudan to Egypt, and Kenya to Tanzania. Other participating countries include Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Burundi and Somalia, it was pointed out.

One of the major challenges facing the regional power project is lack of funding to facilitate the ongoing studies and the infrastructure roll-out, according to the Executive Secretary.

''Because not all members can afford the financial resources required, we shall approach the private sector to come in as partners,'' said Kambanda.

The project aims at guaranteeing access to electricity among participating countries, especially when supply constraints like drought lead to power rationing in the face of growing demand.  

Kenya will be connecting its one millionth customer later this year and plans to connect another one million people in the next five years.

Tanzania plans to connect an additional six million people by 2013.It hopes to get at least 75,000 new users on the national grid annually to increase electricity consumption to 1,100 megawatts over the next two years.

Source: Walta Information Center

Moyale to access power in regional plan

October 26, 2007: Residents of Moyale are set to benefit from electricity supply from Ethiopia, following an interconnectivity agreement between the two countries .
 
The linkage is the first phase of the Eastern Africa Power Pool project, which aims  at interconnecting more than seven countries in this region.
The project will be implemented from April next year.

Callixte Kambanda, the executive secretary of the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP)  said the connection would go on even as several studies leading to the project's master plan continue to be carried out.

Ethiopia has finished its feasibility study and will "soon" be rolling out distribution into Kenya through Moyale. Extension from there, however, is subject to Kenya completing a feasibility study that has been delayed since May.

The regional project aims to connect Kenya to Ethiopia, Uganda to Rwanda, Ethiopia to Sudan, Sudan to Egypt, and Kenya to Tanzania. Other participating countries include Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Burundi and Somalia.

One of the major challenges facing the regional power project is lack of funding to facilitate the ongoing studies and the infrastructure roll-out.

"Because not all members can afford the financial resources required, we shall approach the private sector to come in as partners," said Mr Kambandaa.

The project aims at guaranteeing access to electricity among participating countries, especially when supply constraints like drought lead to power rationing in the face of growing demand.  

Kenya will be connecting its one millionth customer later this year and plans to connect another one million people in the next five years.

Ethiopia has similarly set a target to connect 21 per cent of its population by the year 2050. Tanzania plans to connect an additional six million people by 2013.

It hopes to get at least 75,000 new users on the national grid annually to increase electricity consumption to 1,100 megawatts over the next two years.

Another challenge facing the power pool is the search for alternative sources of electricity, to reduce high dependency on hydro-generated electricity which is affected by the changing weather conditions.

According to the project secretariat, geothermal power will be a key focus.
Source: Business Daily

UN council demands Darfur parties attend talks (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council demanded on Wednesday that Sudan's government and Darfur rebels attend peace talks starting over the weekend and threatened action against anyone impeding the negotiations.

The council statement, which said an urgent cease-fire was the talks' first priority, came after a U.N. envoy appealed to the reluctant and disunited rebel groups to show up, saying they could still consult each other as negotiations proceed.

 One of several obstacles to the talks between the Khartoum government and rebels from Darfur in western Sudan has been the rebels' inability to agree a common platform. The parties are set to meet on Saturday in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte.

Rebel leaders said on Tuesday a prominent Darfur faction chief and five smaller groups would not attend because African Union and U.N. mediators had not heeded requests for a delay to let them form a united position and agree upon a delegation.

The council called on "all parties to attend and to engage fully and constructively in the talks and, as a first step, to urgently agree and implement a cessation of hostilities to be overseen by the United Nations and African Union."

"The Council underlines its willingness to take action against any party that seeks to undermine the peace process, including by failing to respect such a cessation of hostilities or by impeding the talks, peacekeeping or humanitarian aid," the official policy statement added.

The action was not spelled out and diplomats said failure to attend the talks would not qualify for it. The statement "doesn't mean that simply non-appearance equates to impeding the peace process," said British Ambassador John Sawers.

Earlier, U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson, who will mediate in the talks along with AU envoy Salim Salim, said the "moment of truth" had arrived in the 4 1/2-year-old Darfur conflict and it was essential to get the talks going before momentum was lost.

Talking to journalists at the United Nations by video link from the Eritrean capital Asmara, he conceded that expectations might have to be lowered on the open-ended talks U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon originally billed as "final."

Eliasson said invitations had only been sent out a week ago and he did not know which among more than a dozen rebel groups would come. "It's a moving target right now. ... I don't have the final list yet," he said.

HEAT ON REBELS

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes in the Darfur conflict, which began with a revolt against the Sudanese government, but Khartoum puts the death toll at 9,000.

Trying to win over undecided groups, Eliasson said: "I want to very clearly make the point that the consultations that they are carrying on now ... will of course also continue in Sirte.

"The real negotiations will start only after we have the full preparations of the parties," he said.

Sudan's government has pledged to attend the talks and its U.N. ambassador welcomed the Council statement as turning the heat on rebels after previous statements faulting Khartoum.

"It's good that they criticize now and that they point their fingers towards the rebels," Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem told journalists.

Eliasson said he now had "very little hope if any" that Sudan Liberation Movement founder Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, who has a wide following in Darfur refugee camps, would come. El-Nur has demanded a string of concessions from Khartoum.

Eliasson also noted that Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the main branch of the Justice and Equality Movement, had asked for a month's delay. But he said he had assurances that Ibrahim would send high-level representatives to Sirte.

The Security Council statement also called on U.N. member states to urgently provide aviation and ground transport units still needed for a 26,000-strong U.N.-AU peace-keeping force that will assume its duties next year in Darfur.

U.N. officials are worried that a lack of such specialized units, especially helicopters, could delay the deployment.

Source: Reuters

The Genesis Of Eritrea's Slavery Project

On October 23, 1995, exactly 12 years ago, the National Service programme took effect in Eritrea. Over the years, as the pre-war, war and post-war environment came to define Eritrea, clauses in the proclamation that were applicable for exceptional situations such as states of emergency became the norm, resulting in a nation where practically all citizens over the age of 18--anywhere between 400,000-800,000 people--are in a constant state of mobilization for the last 12 years. There are Eritreans who were 18 in 1995, who had every reason to expect to resume their lives in 1997, but who have been in the frontlines for the last 12 years. This, then, is the genesis of Eritrea's enslavement project, the so-called "Warsay-Yeka'alo Initiative."

Under the proclamation, all Eritreans between the age of 18 and 50 are required to participate in the National Service. This is because the National Service program is defined as "active national service and reserve military service." Those recruited for active national service (18-40 year olds) are supposed to avail themselves for 18 months: a six-month military training followed by 12 months of service in national security or national development programmes overseen by the military. The Reserve is for the 40+ Eritreans.

Only four classes of Eritreans are exempted from National Service: (1) Those who already gave national service prior to the promulgation of the law and (2) "fighters and armed peasants who "have proved to have spent all their time in the liberation struggle"; 3) those who, for health reasons, are unable to participate in the national service (but are still required to participate in 18 months of public service.) and (4) those participating in an approved educational programme. Non-exempt individuals may travel out of the country if they post a "60,000 Birr" bond.

The Creeping Enslavement

There are several factors that contributed to the establishment of a campaign-without-end in Eritrea.

1. Absence of Democracy: Like all laws in Eritrea, the National Service was presented as a proclamation. It was not debated by the people, nor the people's representatives, nor was it voted on. It was simply proclaimed as law. Thus, there simply is no mechanism for the people to register their approval or disapproval of the law or whether its harm outweighs its benefits. Not coincidentally, the loudest exponents of the National Service are those who have made sure that they, and their loved ones, are out of its harm way.

2. Bait and Switch: National Service was presented as a noble duty on all citizens and only requiring 18 months of sacrifice. But the proclamation has an escape clause: 18 months of service unless Eritrea is facing mobilization or a state of emergency. And the nation, mostly due to the rash decision of its self-declared leaders, has been in an undeclared state of emergency for more than half of its existence now. Consequently, most of the National Service members have been pressed into service now for 5, 8 and 10 years.

3. Vague Goals: Many Eritreans state that the youth would have been demobilized if the Eritrea-Ethiopia border were to be demarcated. But this assumes that the purpose of the National Service program is purely of a military nature. Depending on the priorities of the regime, this is subject to change. The National Service is a military program (national security), as well as an economic program (national development) and a social program (integration of the society.) A government without any constraints to its power can invoke any reason at all to press the youth into indefinite military service, if it is in its interest to do so.

4. Corruption: The Proclamation speaks of non-existing institutions like the "ministry of local government" and "board" that is supposed to have oversight over the proclamation. But ever since the arrest of Mahmoud Sheriffo, the ministry of local government has been dissolved and its functions divided up among the military command zones and their "desks." The board was supposed to review applications for exemptions from applicants claiming exemption from the service. This is now done by the generals who require huge fees and bribes to bestow the "unfit" certificate on the children of parents with means.

Conclusions

The Eritrean government, which is made up of the leaders of a guerrilla movement whose fighters had no breaks, nor vacations, and knew nothing but work, wants to apply its culture to a younger generation—under the guise of passing over a proud legacy of determination, resolve, and hard work. But there is no professional army in the world that requires of its active-duty members to serve without pay, rotation or breaks. The consequences of trying to apply guerrilla culture to a professional army have been devastating: Eritreans are flowing out of the country by the hundreds and those who remain are embittered by their experience of being the slaves of corrupt and abusive generals. At the root is: the National Service Proclamation.

Source: awate.com

Sub-Saharan Africa growing faster than the world economy, says top UN dev't official (Walta)

Addis Ababa, October 18, 2007 (WIC) - Addis Ababa, October 18 (WIC) - The head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reported that for the first time in years countries in sub-Saharan Africa are actually growing faster than the global economy, according to UN News Center.

''When one looks at the numbers, one can actually feel somewhat encouraged in terms of overall economic progress," UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis said at a press briefing in New York, having just returned from a two-week trip to Eastern and Southern Africa.

He noted that average GDP growth in 2000-2003 was 3.7 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, and 5.6 per cent in 2004-2006, which is '' perhaps the most rapid growth overall in sub-Saharan Africa that we've seen in decades.''

Although the final numbers for this year are not yet ready, growth in the region will probably be around 6 percent – more than 1 percent higher than the global average. ''For the first time in a very long time sub-Saharan Africa is actually growing faster than the world economy,'' he said. '' I think that is quite significant.''

He also noted that over the last six years, oil-exporting countries have grown at about one and a half percentage points faster than oil-importing countries. This means that some of the oil-importing countries are growing quite fast, despite the heavy burden placed on them by high oil prices.

Another significant trend is the fact that during the same time frame, the ratio of investment to GDP has grown from 15 to 20 percent. While that is ''very significant '' in a region that has ''huge'' investment needs, Dervis said it is not sufficient as Africa should probably invest some 25 to 28 per cent of its GDP. '' But still, moving from 15 to 20 is quite considerable,'' he added.

Responding to concerns that sub-Saharan Africa is currently off track for meeting any of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the ambitious targets the world has set itself for slashing poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy by 2015 – Dervis admitted that it will be difficult for most African countries to meet all the Goals by the target date.

However, he stressed that progress has accelerated towards the MDGs, including in relation to primary school enrolment and access to clean water. '' Some countries are making quite rapid progress and that progress is now accelerating,'' he noted.

Dervis praised the leadership in many African government ministries, which he said is characterized by a '' new 'can do,' results-oriented and pragmatic attitude.'' At the same time, he stressed the need to build local and national capacities.

One area in which capacity building is vital is foreign investment, which plays a critical role in Africa in such areas as infrastructure, mining and oil. He stressed that the capacity to negotiate contracts with foreign investors that are truly beneficial to the country and that share the benefits between the foreign investors and the local economy deserves greater attention.

'' In some countries, a good contract can make the difference between a project that will just be an enclave paying very little taxes, bringing very little benefits to the local economy [and] a project that is truly benefiting the local economy,'' he stated.

''Sometimes two or three well-negotiated contracts are financially equivalent to maybe the whole of the foreign aid that goes into an African country.''

Source: Walta Information Center

US company to invest USD 50mln in coffee farm, roasting facility (Ethiopian Reporter)

B&D Food Corporation, an American-based company, is set to invest USD 50 million in coffee farm and erection of a roasting facility in Ethiopia under its recently established subsidiary, BDFC Ethiopia Industry PLC.

The company has already secured 5,000 hectares of coffee farm in Jimma, Oromia region, on which it will be producing "high quality" Ethiopian coffee, company representative  Benjamin Petel told The Reporter in a statement on Sunday. BDFC Ethiopia will also erect a coffee roasting facility around the coffee farm site, which had last week been handed over to it by the Oromia Investment Commission. Presently, the company is finalizing preparation to embark upon the project.

"BDFC Ethiopia intends to begin planting in the coming months and, in parallel, is working on building a processing factory on the plantation grounds," Petel said. "B&D hopes to process the high quality Ethiopian beans in order to produce both roasted and instant coffee blends that are intended to be sold worldwide."

The company will invest over USD 50 million in both the acquisition and plantation of the farm and erection of the roasting facility, Oromia Investment Commission Commissioner Alemu Sime told The Reporter. The company also plans to build resorts in the farm area, according to the commissioner. "Although the company's representatives initially came to Ethiopia only to erect a roasting facility, they had, after visiting the site, also proposed to build recreation centers and launch a coffee plantation farm."

B&D is currently examining several offers of companies bidding to assemble the roasting factory, according to Petel. "B&D's current capabilities and expertise are both in the roasted and instant coffee fields. The company wishes to continue this line, by using the high quality Ethiopia coffee beans and therefore requires a state-of-the-art factory capable of producing the full range of coffees, like the one the company currently owns in Brazil," Petel said.

Three years from plantation on the farm, the company's projected export of roasted and instant coffee is 12,500 tonnes (on an annual basis), according to Petel. The vast majority of B&D Ethiopia's produce is intended to be processed and sold as instant and roasted coffee.

"B&D Ethiopia will hopefully create job opportunities for several hundred people. It is currently examining these figures and hopes to determine its employee capacity soon." Petel said.

B&D Ethiopia is destined to become a major exporter of roasted and instant coffee beans in Ethiopia, as there are barely companies engaged in that line of business, albeit the country being the birth place of coffee.

B&D Food Corp.'s management has 30 years of experience in the coffee business. Based in the US, the company operates in the food and beverage industry, specifically in coffee and related products. It has a coffee production facility in Brazil. 

By Hayal Alemayehu

 

Source: Ethiopian Reporter

Somalia to send delegation to Beijing Olympics (china.org.cn)

Somalia, though not totally free from the plague of civil conflicts, will send a delegation to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

 

Duran Farah, head of international relations of Somalia National Olympic Committee (NOC), told Xinhua News Agency on Thursday in an exclusive interview that the Somalia NOC has maintained taking the responsibility to organize a delegation to take part in the Olympic Games over the past years, despite many difficulties.

 

The Horn of Africa country has been without authorities since 1991.

 

The Beijing Olympic Games will not be an exception and Somalia will send a delegation which is not large, said Farah.

 

The official noted that the Somali delegates will not only come from those living within Somalia but include some people residing abroad to escape domestic strife to present opportunities for both the groups.

 

For the preparation work done by the Chinese side, Farah revealed that some Somali official has been to Beijing to see the situation. "There are lots of hot preparation going on at the moment (in China), and we are confident about the Beijing Olympic Games and eager to be there."

 

In addition, Farah said China has played a role in promoting the sports development in Somalia. The largest stadium in East Africa thirty years ago was built by Chinese in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

 

Farah was in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to participate in the Olympic Solidarity Forum preparing a delegation for participation in the Olympic Games, which was organized and funded by the International Olympic Committee.

 

The two-day forum started on Thursday during which the Chinese side will report their preparation work for the Beijing Olympic Games.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2007)

Restraint urged after Sudan split (BBC)

The US has called on the ruling parties of north and south Sudan to exercise restraint after the ex southern rebels withdrew from the unity government.

Diplomats fear the move could jeopardise the 2005 deal that ended the 21-year north-south civil war. [Read more..]

Mafia accused over nuclear waste

A Mafia clan linked to six blood feud murders is being investigated for the alleging trafficking of nuclear waste and plutonium production, reports claim.

Two members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia, a Calabrian clan, are accused of shipping radioactive waste to Somalia, along with eight former employees of state energy research agency Enea, the Guardian reports.

Francesco Basentini, a magistrate from the southern town of Potenza, is investigating claims that the mob men were paid off by the Enea staff, taking shipments of waste from the agency's centre in Rotondella, Basilicata, in the 1980s and 1990s.

The allegations were made by a 'Ndrangheta turncoat, who claims an Enea manager paid the two clan members to dispose of some 600 drums of nuclear waste, with 500 shipped to Somalia and 100 buried in Basilicata (the 'Ndrangheta being unwilling to bury the waste in Calabria due to "love of their home region").

An anonymous Enea manager denied the turncoat's allegations, saying: "Enea has always worked within the rules and under strict national and international supervision."

The 'Ndrangheta clan are accused of exploiting links with Colombia to become Europe's biggest cocaine importer, while the August shooting of six Italians in Germany has been linked to a blood feud with a rival clan from San Luca, Calabria.

Nicola Gratteri, the magistrate investigating the murders, argued that nuclear waste disposal and even the production of plutonium would not be an unlikely activity for the 'Ndrangheta, the Guardian quoted him as saying.

"The 'Ndrangheta has no morals and, if there is money in an activity, it will have no problem getting involved, even nuclear waste," he said.

However, he complained the European police forces had a lax attitude to clans like the 'Ndrangheta or the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.

"The mafias were the first to take advantage of Europe's disappearing frontiers," he said, "but when I go to Germany I see they have not introduced the crime of mafia association and do not allow wire taps in public places.

"I'm tired of round tables and conventions; what we need is more courage," he added.

 

Source: inthenews.co.uk

Somali car bomb kills Ethiopians (BBC)

Two Ethiopian soldiers have been killed by a car bomb in the Somali town of Baidoa on Wednesday evening.

The bomber's target was an Ethiopian military post close to the hotel where the prime minister, Ali Mohamed Ghedi, was staying.

After the attack, Mogadishu-based Simba Radio aired an Islamist insurgent commander's claim of responsibility for the attempted assassination.

Somali forces have raided the radio and arrested its chief Abdullahi Ali Farak.

A reporter at the station said a journalist was also arrested in the raid, and the radio ordered to shut down.

A reporter at the scene says the area has been sealed off since the blast, but eyewitnesses say a suicide bomber driving a car also died.

"The explosion was so deafening and strong it rocked our entire hotel compound," an aide of the prime minister, Mohamed Abdi Haji, told AP news agency.

Mr Ghedi is in Baidoa for what correspondents expect to be a showdown between him and the president, Abdullahi Yusuf, later this week.

Source: BBC

US policy on horn of Africa aimed at dismantling Al Qaeda network, says Frazer

Addis Ababa : United States policy towards the Horn of Africa is aimed at dismantling the Al Qaeda terrorist network and ensuring stability, good governance, democracy and sustainable development, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi E. Frazer says.

Frazer told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate last week that the policy the US government was pursuing in the Horn was not beyond ensuring peace and helping advance development in Ethiopia and neighbouring countries.

She said that the over 100-year Ethiopia-US relationship was based on mutual understanding and friendship while the activities being carried out jointly by the US and Ethiopia as well as civil society had won appreciation.

The pardons granted by the Ethiopian government to the leaderships of the CUD based on their request and in accordance with the law of the country had opened a door for political tolerance, she said.

Frzaer said the improvement of the code of ethics governing the members of the House of Peoples Representatives was a good measure taken to give attention to opposition parties.
She called on opposition party leaders to get ready for negotiation and contribute their share in building democracy in the country.

Frazer said when she visited Gode in September this year, she had observed the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) was becoming provocative. She said the killing of nine innocent Chinese and 77 Ethiopians was a manifestation of its provocative act in the region.
She urged the Ethiopian government and international community to exert efforts aimed at minimizing the danger posed by ONLF.

She also expressed the US government's commitment to provide emergency support and other aids to the people in the regtion.

Frazer said the Eritrean government was fuelling the situation in Ogaden by providing support to the ONLF and other extremists in Somalia.

The deployment of Ugandan troops as part of an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Somalia and the recent national reconciliation conference held in Somalia were glimmers of hope for ensuring peace in that country, Frazer added. She said the US would extend the necessary support to re-build war-devastated Somalia.

Frazer expressed eashington's concern over the human rights violations in Eritrea, where no election had been held since the country's independence 14 years ago.

She said Eritrea, which has no constitution at all, is a country where there are thousands of prisoners of conscience languishing in prison.

Source: Indian Muslim News and Information

Clashes between allies in Darfur (BBC)

Fighting has erupted in the Darfuri town of Muhajiriya, controlled by the one rebel faction to sign a peace deal with the government in May last year.

The Sudan Liberation Army faction run by Minni Minnawi came under attack from government troops.

The SLA say dozens have died, and others are being treated for wounds by the African Union peacekeeping force.

Amnesty International says Sudan's Armed Forces are gathering in large numbers in at least six Darfuri towns. [Read more..]

Somali Prime Minister, Hawiye clan leaders reach truce (Walta)

Addis Ababa, October 09, 2007 (WIC) - Somalia's Prime Minister has reached a truce with Mogadishu's dominant clan, some of whose fighters had supported Islamist-led insurgents in battles with government troops and Ethiopian forces earlier this year, Reuters reported.

Hawiye clan elders met Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi on Monday in the capital.
Speaking after the talks, Gedi said the clan leaders would now work with his administration to take on the insurgents.

"We agreed a truce and we agreed that we do something about their complaints...
We agreed we work together against anyone carrying out violence," Gedi told reporters late on Monday.
Responding to accusations that government troops have been heavy-handed in their hunt for rebels, Gedi called on his army officers to control their men, whom he said should perform their duties with respect and discipline.

Mogadishu has been relatively calm in recent days and the outcome of Gedi's meeting with the clan leaders was eagerly anticipated by many war-weary residents, according to the news agency.

Hawiye spokesman Ahmed Diriye told Reuters the government and insurgents both had a responsibility to end the clashes.

"If the truce gets enforced, I do hope that all people who have political agendas on their mind, opposing the government, will compromise with it," he said.
Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Dheere praised the new accord.

Source: Walta Information Center

AU to send 8 000 troops to Somalia (Mail & Guardian)

The African Union announced on Monday it would send an extra 8 000 peacekeepers to Somalia but said dialogue remained the only solution to the bloody conflict in that country. [Read more..]

Sudanese bilateral relations bolstered by Sana'a forum: Ambassador Ali Abdo (Walta)

Addis Ababa, February 27, 2007 (WIC) – Ethio-Sudanese bilateral relations have further been bolstered by the Sana'a forum, Ethiopian Ambassador to Sudan said.

Ambassador Ali Abdo told WIC yesterday that various commercial, social, political, security and infrastructure agreements reached between the two countries are being implemented.


In addition to the regular trade relations of the countries, business transactions along the border are in particular increasing due to the prevalent peace and security, he said.


In order to beef up the trade relations between the two countries attention has been given to the construction of Gedarif-Metema-Gondar, Gedarif-Humera and Assosa roads, the ambassador said, adding that the Gedarif-Gondar asphalt road construction has already been completed.


Relations in the spheres of electric power supply, telecommunications and air transport have reached high level and the stretching of ''tele fabric'' has been finalized while Ethiopia has started negotiations on the sale of electric power, it was indicated.


As the economy of Sudan grows, Sudanese investors will undoubtedly prefer Ethiopia for investment, Ambassador Ali said, adding that there is also an encouraging start.


Currently Sudanese investors have started coming to Ethiopia to engage in industrial and agro-industry sectors and the embassy has given due attention to introducing alternative investments in the country.


According to him, efforts are also well underway to realize the agreements of the countries in conserving natural resources, preventing desertification and eradicating communicable diseases.


The relationship between the two countries has now reached such a high level as to be exemplary for the countries of the region thanks to the efforts of the leaders, Ambassador Ali stated.

Source: Walta Information Center

U.S. and Ethiopia teamed in Somalia (Michigan Daily)

U.S. struck al-Qaeda targets from eastern Ethiopia
By Michael R. Gordon and Mark Mazzetti, The New York Times

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military quietly waged a campaign from Ethiopia last month to capture or kill top leaders of al-Qaida in the Horn of Africa, including the use of an airstrip in eastern Ethiopia to mount airstrikes against Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia, according to U.S. officials.

The close and largely clandestine relationship with Ethiopia also included significant sharing of intelligence on the Islamic militants' positions and information from U.S. spy satellites with the Ethiopian military. Members of a secret U.S. Special Operations unit, Task Force 88, were deployed in Ethiopia and Kenya, and ventured into Somalia, the officials said.

The counterterrorism effort was described by U.S. officials as a qualified success that disrupted terrorist networks in the East African nation, led to the death and capture of several Islamic militants and involved a collaborative relationship with Ethiopia that had been developing for years.

But the tally of the dead and captured does not as yet include some Qaida leaders - including Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam - whom the United States has hunted for their suspected roles in the attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. With Somalia still in a chaotic state, and U.S. and African officials struggling to cobble together a peacekeeping force for the war-ravaged country, the long-term effects of recent U.S. operations remain unclear.

It has been known for several weeks that U.S. Special Operations troops have operated inside Somalia and that the United States carried out two strikes on Qaida suspects using AC-130 gunships. But the extent of U.S. cooperation with the recent Ethiopian invasion into Somalia and the fact that the Pentagon secretly used an airstrip in Ethiopia to carry out attacks have not been previously reported.

The secret campaign in the Horn of Africa is an example of a more aggressive approach the Pentagon has taken in recent years to dispatch Special Operations troops globally to hunt high-level terrorism suspects. President Bush gave the Pentagon powers after the Sept. 11 attacks to carry out these missions, which historically had been reserved for intelligence operatives. [for more story read here...]

Meles holds talks with Italian PM, EU Commissioner

Addis Ababa, January 30, 2007 - Prime Minister Meles Zenawi held separate talks here yesterday with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and European Union (EU) Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Development Louis Michel.

The Commissioner said during the talks that EU had decided to provide a 150 million euro assistance to Ethiopia with unanimous vote.

During the talks with Meles, Prodi said on his part that his country is desirous of further strengthening its cooperation with Ethiopia.

He said his government would exert every effort aimed at encouraging Italian entrepreneurs to invest in Ethiopia.

Prodi said Italy would also continue to be Ethiopia’s political and economic partner.

Referring to issues in Somalia, he said the Italian government would support Ethiopia’s proposal aimed at bringing about peace and stability in Somalia as it is giving prime attention to ensuring of peace and security in the Horn of Africa.

Meles said on his part stressed the need for holding a broad-based discussion in which all parties would participate in.

He told the Italian Prime Minister that one-third of the Ethiopian troops have already withdrawn from Somalia. Meles called upon the international community to extend the necessary support to Transitional Federal Government of Somalia.

They reached agreement to bring about lasting peace in Somalia.

During the talks with Meles, Commissioner Michel said that EU had decided to give 150 million euros to Ethiopia.

He said the cooperation between the two sides would further be strengthened in the years ahead.

Meles briefed Michel on the over-all activities in Ethiopia.

He also said EU has been providing assistance to the development activities in Ethiopia.

(ENA)

Source: Walta

US Somali ‘peace force’ worries EU (Business Day)

Reuters
BRUSSELS — European Union (EU) experts say the US is pushing for deployment of a regional peacekeeping force in Somalia and this could trigger a wider war in the region, European commission sources said on Tuesday.

However, a US state department official in Washington said: “The whole premise that the US wants to forcibly impose an outside peacekeeping mission on to that situation in Somalia, that is 100% false.” The official declined to be named.

The commission sources said its department for African development had warned EU governments that such a deployment could give cover for a larger military operation against the Islamists who control Mogadishu.

The warning said a peacekeeping operation without the consent of all sides would be seen as an “invading force” and exacerbate the risk of conflict.

A United Nations Security Council committee is considering what action to take after receiving a report last week that there were extensive illegal arms flows into Somalia, both to the Islamic Courts Union and to the shaky interim government.

The sources said US officials had drafted a document calling for a partial lifting of the arms embargo and the deployment of a regional peacekeeping force.

One EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some members shared Brussels’ misgivings but Britain and France were reluctant to oppose the US due to the “terrorism issue”.
European Commission experts were also concerned the EU could come under pressure to fund a regional force through its Africa Peace Facility. The African Union has requested €15m for the mission.

US officials have said the administration is considering several ideas for Somalia, possibly including a regional force. The US has made it clear that neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia and Eritrea should not be allowed to interfere in Somali affairs.

The Brussels experts say a regional force could legitimise an Ethiopian military presence denied by Addis Ababa, and undermine EU-backed efforts to reach a political settlement. For more story...

Ethiopian deaths spark fears of devastating war (Independent)

By Leonard Doyle, Foreign Editor
Published: 23 November 2006

First two Ethiopian trucks were destroyed by land mines, then Islamic fighters opened fire on the convoy, which witnesses said was made up of more than 80 vehicles and headed for Baidoa, the headquarters of Somalia's transitional government.

By the time it was over six Ethiopian soldiers were dead, and as many as 20 injured, in a battle that many predict will be the opening salvo in a devastating regional war.

The shootout last Sunday - the first known battle between the forces jockeying for control in Somalia - could have devastating consequences for up to 12 countries, while bringing George Bush's War on Terror to the Horn of Africa. Washington and its Ethiopan ally like to paint the Islamic Courts as a terrorist umbrella backed up with thousands of jihadi fighters. However, the spreading crisis now threatens to draw in a wide array of belligerents, including hardline jihadi fighters and al Qaida operatives.

The Islamic Courts are a loose coalition of Islamists - including many moderates - drawn from the country's Hawiye clan, the most powerful group in southern Somalia, and have a well trained militia and independent sources of funding.

The movement's reputation for strict Islamic code was underscored this week, when nearly 100 people were arrested for watching a film in Merka, a seaside town about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Mogadishu.

Yesterday hundreds of Ethiopian troops were seen patrolling a road leading to Somalia's transitional government headquarters after the brief but intense firefight in the area this week. Ethiopia has vowed to "crush" the Islamic Courts movement, which has ousted the country's government set up under UN auspices two years ago.
Ethiopia says it has sent "military advisers" - not soldiers - into Somalia. But the country's Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, has promised to send tens of thousands of troops across the border if the Council of Islamic Courts attacks.

Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew the country's dictator and turned on each other. Formed with the help of the UN two years ago, the current administration has failed to assert any real control outside the southern town of Baidoa.

The rise of the Islamic Courts, and the prominence of jihadi Islamists within the organisation, has sent shock waves through the international community. Washington says the Courts are shielding al Qaida terrorists responsible for bombing its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

Kenya is alarmed by links between the Courts and its own Islamic dissidents. Ethiopia sees the courts as a direct threat and a proxy for its enemy Eritrea.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have also for decades vied to ensure Somalia is little more than a satellite state.

A report prepared for the US State Department by the former US ambassador to Ethiopia and Somalia, Prof David Shinn, warns that 12 countries could be drawn into the conflict.

The report has underscored the reality that the perennial bloodshed and instability in Somalia is a product of a ferocious regional power struggle.

Source: The Independent

The Rise of an Islamist Somalia

By Daniel Mandel
New York Post November 16, 2006

Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, fell to the pro-al Qaeda Supreme Council of Islamic Courts back in June. As the group gradually takes control of the rest of the country, the U.S. government still can't decide what to do about it.
That America is loath to intervene in Somalia is easy to understand; U.S. forces got a bloody nose there in 1993 at the hands of Somali warlord Mohammed Farrah Aideed (the "Black Hawk Down" episode). But "hands off" seems pretty foolish, too - for the Islamic Courts is not just another gang like the conglomerate of warlords it defeated in June; it's an al Qaeda ally.

Its chief is Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, who has been on the official U.S. list of global terrorists since November 2001. Aweys headed the Courts' precursor in the '90s, the al Ittihad al Islamiya, which was funded by al Qaeda, and he's one of one of three men wanted in connection with the 1998 al Qaeda bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

It was armed thugs under the command of an al Qaeda-trained Aweys protégé, Aden Hashi 'Ayro, who gunned down Sister Leonella Sgorbati in Mogadishu on Sept. 17 - after another Islamic Courts cleric, Sheik Abubukar Hassan Malin, called for Pope Benedict's murder for the pontiff's remarks on Islam.

Western nations continue to disburse humanitarian aid in Somalia - but Mideast states send jihadists and the money to arm them. Afghan, Kashmiri, Pakistani, Palestinian and Syrian fighters are entering the country. Money from that estimable American ally, Saudi Arabia, is the Islamic Courts' chief source of funds.

The old, fractious, largely unarmed but internationally recognized Transitional Federal Government is still holding out in parts of the country. Its president, Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed, even survived a Sept. 18 suicide car bombing (Somalia's first) that killed six of his officials. But the Courts are now poised to launch an offensive against the remnants of the prior government in the inland city of Baidoa.

What is America doing? Begging Islamic Court-backing neighbors (like Eritrea) not to "destabilize" the situation. The State Department's spokesman, Sean McCormack, reassures us brightly that it is "working with the Arab League" - that is, with those munificent Saudis and others - to somehow form a coalition between the failing government and the Islamic Courts.

In other words, the State Department is pressing for successful rebels to join with the government they're fighting to replace. State's efforts may explain why the speaker of the Somali parliament, Sharif Hassan Sheik Aden, recently made a beeline to Mogadishu to come to terms with the Islamic Courts, without consulting President Ahmed or anyone else, a move that might cause the legal government to collapse altogether.

The United States, in short, is wasting time and talent working with dubious allies to entrench an al Qaeda ally. Instead, it should be orchestrating the forces at its disposal to eliminate the Islamic Courts before the group subjugates a country strategically located at the Horn of Africa - only a boat ride from Yemen and thus the Mideast's gateway to black Africa.

The U.S. military is stretched by other commitments, but the 1,600-strong Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa is based in nearby Djibouti, with Marines, special-operations forces, civil-affairs teams and a U.S. and international naval task force. And next-door Ethiopia has a military force with experience fighting Somali Islamists, having destroyed the al Ittihad al Islamiya in the mid-'90s. In July, Aweys called for a jihad against the Ethiopian forces, estimated at 4,000 strong, who are reported to be preparing to defend Baidoa against the Courts' attack.

But all this will amount to little without purposeful American direction - instead of diplomatic myopia and an empty "peace process."

Daniel Mandel is a fellow in history at Melbourne University.

Source: Frontpagemag.com.

Somali leaders and diplomats search for a way to avoid war (International Herald Tribune)

AIROBI, Kenya: Cool seasonal rains have slowed the march to war between Somalia's Islamic militants and the secular government, but in the weeks ahead the tropical sun will break through the clouds, dry the muddy roads, shrink the flooded rivers and, many fear, ignite a civil war.

There have been minor skirmishes in the past few weeks. After 20 years of neglect, Somalia's road system is in tatters and virtually impassable when it rains. That means neither side can move troops or maintain supply lines. No one wants to fight in the mud.

Diplomats are trying to take advantage of the military stalemate to break the diplomatic deadlock. When the rains end, the fighting could begin. Read more ...