China, Russia Lead UN Bid to Stabilize Somalia, Combat Piracy

According to Bloomberg, China and Russia are leading a new effort at the UN to
curb the threat of piracy off the coast of Somalia and defeat al-Qaeda-linked
terrorists fighting to seize control of the Horn of Africa nation...

I think this is a good move and hopefully will  succeed. Good luck to them.

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