Meles funeral could turn into a violent riot – analysis

Ethiopian security chief Getachew, Addis Ababa police chief Hassen Shifa, and EDF chief of staff Samora are very concerned that the mass funeral attendance might get exploited by “anti peace forces” to turn it into “uncontrollable” pandemonium.  Samora’s solution to such eventuality is to flood Addis with close to one division elite army recently mobilized from the country’s tense region in the north. Snipers are stationed at every available high rising building in the city to kill any suspected person instantly.  It is believed that...

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Addis Ababa under Tight Security

By ESATAddis Ababa streets are being patrolled by a horde of armed federal police forces. No clear reason is given about the exceptionally heightened security arrangement. Many suspect there is a fear within the government that the Muslim community could restart there protest as the days of burial of the Prime Minister draws. Another hypothesis that is being floated by observers is that the government is taking extra precaution to guarantee the success the ongoing official mourning ceremony at Maskel Square. It is not yet clear if the now 9th...

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Ethiopian man suspected of murdering 101 caught hiding in Denver

By Will C. HoldenA man with several aliases who was convicted of killing 101 and torturing many others in his native Ethiopia was hiding out in Denver, according to authorities.  Referring to the man as Kefelegn Alemu Worku, Homeland Security Investigators and Immigration Customs Enforcement officers said others may have known the Ethiopian by a number of names, including Habteab Berhe Temanu or Tufa.  Federal authorities said they now know Worku stole an identity to gain U.S. citizenship and to put a past life behind him — one in which...

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Zenawi tried to make dictatorship acceptable

by The Independent August 31, 2012 THE death of Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s prime minister, on August 20 reveals much about the country he created. Details of his ill health remained a secret until the end. A short broadcast on state television, late by a day, informed Ethiopians that their “visionary leader” of the past 21 years was gone. He died of an unspecified “sudden infection” somewhere abroad. No further information was given. In the two months since the prime minister’s last public appearance the only Ethiopian newspaper that reported...

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Sudan agreed to accommodate Egyptian commandos to destroy Nile dam – Wikileaks

By Ethiopianreview The latest release by Wikileaks has the following: ATTRIBUTION: STRATFOR sourcesSOURCE DESCRIPTION: Egyptian diplomatic sourceSOURCE HANDLER: RevaFollow-up to insight on Egypt asking Sudan to station commandos in Sudan for ‘worst case’ scenario on the Nile issue:Sudanese president Umar al-Bashir has agreed to allow the Egyptians to build an a small airbase in Kusti to accommodate Egyptian commandoes who might be sent to Ethipoia to destroy water facilities on the Blue Nile… [Click here to the full text]...

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Ethiopia: 10 000 volunteers for Meles' funeral

About 10 000 volunteers will be deployed to coordinate the funeral of late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Sunday. Meles died last week on Monday in Belgium due to an undisclosed illness and will be buried in the capital Addis Ababa. A committee tasked with organising the state funeral said the volunteers were drawn from various youth associations in the country and they would work closely with security forces. One million people are expected to attend ceremonies that would begin at Meskel Square and in various parts of the country. Thousands...

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Ethiopia’s Aman stuns Rudisha

Ethiopian teenager Mohammed Aman trumped world and Olympic champion David Rudisha of Kenya in emphatic style in the men’s 800m in the Diamond League meeting here on Thursday. This race, Rudisha’s only outing since he won gold in London earlier this month in a new world record of 1min 40.91sec, had been billed as another chance for the 23-year-old Kenyan to better his own mark. But no one had counted on the kick of 18-year-old Aman, who finished sixth at the Olympics but who importantly last year became the first and last man to defeat Rudisha...

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President Obama Announces Presidential Delegation to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to attend the State Funeral of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi

President Barack Obama today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to attend the State Funeral of His Excellency Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.  The Honorable Susan E. Rice, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, will lead the delegation on September 2, 2012.  Members of the Presidential Delegation: The Honorable Donald Booth, United States Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia The Honorable...

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Four Eritrean journalists die in prison: watchdog

Eritrea is routinely labeled by watchdogs as one of the world's worst offenders against human rights, but the Horn of Africa country rejects the allegations and often accuses rights groups of working for foreign intelligence services to undermine its government. "After several weeks of investigating reports from sources ... and from prison guards who fled the country, Reporters Without Borders has been able to confirm that three more journalists - Dawit Habtemichael, Mattewos Habteab and Wedi Itay - have died in the northeastern prison camp of...

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Ethiopia Releases Journalist, Drops Charges - 08/30/2012

Ethiopian journalist Temesgen Desalegn was released from jail late Tuesday as all charges against him were dropped. Editor-in-chief of Feteh newspaper, Temesgen was released after a week of imprisonment during which he was put in solitary confinement and denied bail because officials feared he was a flight risk. However, the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice decided there were no grounds for his imprisonment and dropped all the charges against him, which included defamation, instigating the public to overthrow the government and using his newspaper...

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