Hailemariam Desalegn parroting dead tyrant

By Abebe Gellaw | September 28, 2012 Hailemariam Desalegn’s recent interview with Peter Heinlein of VOA confirms that his rise to the helm of power can be largely attributed to his opportunistic imitation of how the late dictator talked and walked as well as his commitment to serving TPLF bigwigs that control him as their Trojan horse. Hailemariam called political prisoners such as famed journalist Enskinder Nega and Andualem Aragie “terrorists” that wear two hats operating legally and illegally as operatives of terrorist...

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Ethiopian flight 409 might be a victim of Israel-Hizbullah war (Wikileaks)

Ethiopian flight 409 might be a victim of Israel-Hizbullah war (Wikileaks) Wikileaks has released documents today that shed new light on what has cause the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 in 2009. The new WikiLeaks releases are email threads from the global intelligence firm Stratfor dating back to the time of the Ethiopian Airlines crash. While investigations were taking place in Beirut and Paris, Stratfor was prying for answers from different high level sources. The sources included a hospital director in Beirut, a Lebanese military...

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Ethiopia gets World Bank loan to boost fight against poverty

The World Bank has approved US$ 1.15 billion interest-free credit to help Ethiopia promote regional trade, support education and hire extra teachers and tens of thousands of health and agriculture extension workers, bank officials said Wednesday. The Bank approved a four-year country aid strategy which aims to improve the service delivery within the state institutions. This was endorsed by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors in New York, US. The latest loan facility accounts for nearly a third of Ethiopia's annual aid package of...

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Ethiopian Airlines to build large cargo terminal

A German company, ICM Airport Technics, has been awarded the turnkey project for the construction of an Ethiopian Airlines cargo warehouse that has a capacity to store 1.2 million tonnes per annum, for an undisclosed sum. The company, which provides material systems for airports, and Ethiopian Airlines are negotiating over finances before signing the contract, according to a source close to the matter who wanted to remain anonymous. “The new warehouse will mean no capacity shortage, which translates to no complaints and the best of service,”...

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Ethiopia Finally Has a New Prime Minister

by Alemayehu G. Mariam Hailemariam Desalegn It seems Ethiopia finally has a new prime minister. Two days ago, the leaders of the ruling EPDRF party approved Hailemariam Desalegn, the current deputy prime minister [DPM], to replace the late Meles Zenawi as party chief and prime minister. But Hailemariam will not be sworn in until early October according to Bereket Simon. No explanation was given for the two-week delay. Prior public statements by...

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Ethiopian PM in Mogadishu for presidential inauguration

GALKAYO, Somalia (AP) Somalia's new leader was inaugurated Sunday amid tight security in the capital, Mogadishu, four days after President Hassan Skeikh Mohamud survived an assassination attempt. Mohamud, a teacher and activist, won the election last week against outgoing President Sheik Sharif Sheikh Ahmed by the legislative vote of 190 to 79. The inauguration ceremony was attended by some regional leaders, including the prime minister of Ethiopia and the president of Djibouti. The attempt on Mohamud's life on his second day in office highlighted...

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Ethiopia's ruling party has named Hailemariam Desalegn as its leader

An official says Ethiopia's ruling party has named as its leader acting Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who took over after the death last month of longtime leader Meles Zenawi. As chairman of the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front, Hailemariam, 47, will almost certainly be confirmed as the country's prime minister. Bereket Simon, Ethiopia's communications minister, said Saturday that Hailemariam would be sworn in soon, perhaps...

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EPRDF Council Meeting Begins

A two-day EPRDF Council meeting began today (September 14th) here inAddis Ababa. The EPRDF secretariat announced that the 180 member council will agree on a chairman and deputy-chairman for the Front following the death of Prime Minster Meles Zenawi.  It is also expected to decide on a number of related matters. In addition the Council is expected to deliberate on other political and organizational activities that will be carried out over the next year. The Council is also expected to examine a document on leadership building and draw up...

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IMF Urges Ethiopia to Slow Nile Dam Project to Protect Economy

Ethiopia should slow the construction of Africa’s largest hydropower plant to avoid the dam and other projects starving the rest of the economy of funds, the International Monetary Fund said. The government began work on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, situated on the Blue Nile River near the Sudanese border, in April last year. The 80 billion-birr ($4.5 billion) project that will generate 6,000 megawatts, partly for export to the region, is scheduled to be completed in 2018. “I think there’s a need to rethink some of those projects a little...

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IGAD Countries Discuss Human Capital Development Strategy

The seven IGAD countries, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, South Sudan, Kenya, Sudan and Uganda sent more than 80 representatives to Djibouti for a consultation on the first Human Capital Development Strategy organized by the African Development Bank. Human Capital Development is essential to safeguard the peace and security of the region and the continent noted Dileita Mohammed Dileita, Prime Minister of Djibouti. It is also essential to consider employment opportunities for young people who are the future of the continent he said. Young people...

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ETHIOPIA RULING PARTY TO CHOOSE MELES SUCCESSOR

Ethiopia's ruling coalition will hold a two-day governing council meeting from Friday to choose a leader to succeed former prime minister Meles Zenawi, who died last month, it said. "The council assigns the chairperson of the organisation that replaces our great leader, who departed from us suddenly," said an online statement Thursday by the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). During his 21 years in power, Meles was both EPRDF chairman and prime minister. Government spokesman Bereket Simon told AFP that "automatically the...

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Millions in Ethiopia face severe food shortages

Humanitarian assistance is desperately needed for over 3.5 million Ethiopians, the government here has reported. It comes as the seasonal rains that were expected in the East African country had not come, leaving more and more in dire need of help. “We are working hard to coordinate with international aid agencies to assist those in need, especially farmers,” a ministry of agriculture official confirmed to Bikyamasr.com on Thursday. He added that without the rains, “Ethiopians in rural areas are to struggle to survive without adequate assistance...

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Ethiopia to form oil and gas company, Ogaden region unsettled

The announcement made public on Thursday by Ethiopia’s Mines Minister Sinknesh Ejigu that the government is to form the Petroleum Development Enterprise to increase oil and gas resources in partnership with private companies has unsettled the Ogaden region. Citizens and activists in the Eastern state near Somalia are worried that the new company is to be used to explore and use the are to take natural resources from the people, who have been battling for independence for nearly three decades. “We are concerned that this could lead to an increase...

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Tirunesh Dibaba to contest first ever Half Marathon

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Tirunesh Dibaba, after her latest 10,000m victory in last month’s London Games, will turn her attention to winning the Bupa Great North Run on 16 September. Dibaba will make her debut over the distance from Newcastle to South Shields, where the elite field includes reigning Olympic and World Marathon champions Tikki Gelanaand Edna Kiplagat. Her appearance in the IAAF Gold Label Event is a clear indication that the 27-year-old Ethiopian, after a highly successful track and cross country career, now intends to switch...

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Government uses fake video to convict Swedish journalists

The regime in Ethiopia uses staged fighting as evidence to convict Swedish journalists Schibbye and Persson. The Sweden TV SVT exposed the hoax after the two journalists safely left Ethiopia after they were pardoned on the Ethiopian New Year eve.SVT can now reveal that the videos that the Ethiopian government used as evidence of the arrest of the Swedish journalists is staged. Our sources even claim that the video was shot two days after Johan...

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An Ethiopian man faces charges after girl says he dragged her into his apartment, then hit her

A 27-year old man in Houston faces several charges after a girl says he dragged her into his apartment, and then hit her, according to a report by local TV channel KTRK.  Police say Gutu Abebe grabbed the 10-year-old girl off her bike and pulled her into his apartment on Saturday.  The girl says Abebe slapped her when she would not take off her pants. Read more from KTRK ABC 7...

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62 Ethiopians arrested in Malawi

Police in Malawi’s northern border district of Karonga have arrested 62 Ethiopians suspected of entering Malawi illegally.”We got a tip from villagers that they spotted a truck full of people with strange faces packed in some bush,” said Enock Livason, a police spokesman in the district.Livason said police followed the tip and arrested the 62 Ethiopians. Four Malawians were also arrested, he said.”We have charged the Ethiopians with illegal entry and their Malawian accomplices, who include the driver of the truck, with aiding and abetting crime,”...

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Ethiopia pardons two jailed Swedish journalists

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia has pardoned two Swedish journalists jailed for assisting an outlawed rebel group and the pair are set for release alongside nearly 2,000 other prisoners, agovernment source said on Monday. Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson were arrested in July, 2011, after entering the country from neighboring Somalia with fighters from the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebel group. "Some 1,900 prisoners have been pardoned and are scheduled to be released in the coming days. The Swedish journalists...

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TPLF to Install Three Deputy Prime Ministers

by Tsinat Haile Coming under pressure from different corners and mainly from the international community, TPLF had no choice left but to cave in to their demands including to the ones that are coming from its surrogate groups and various sections of the society. There are rumors that a final deal has been reached to an arrangement in which HD would become the PM and there would be three Deputy Prime Ministers (DPM’s). Accordingly, Girma Birru...

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Ethiopia starts peace talks with separatist rebels

Admiral Mohamed Omar Osman,Leader of ONLF ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The Ethiopian government and separatist rebels say they have started negotiations. Ethiopian officials and representatives of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, or ONLF, met in Kenya for peace talks last week, the rebels said in a statement Saturday. Although the rebels said the peace process has been months in the making, it was not clear if negotiations gained momentum...

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Saudi Arabia warned its citizens not to travel to Ethiopia

RIYADH (SPA) — The Interior Ministry has warned citizens against traveling to Ethiopia. The warning came after a cable from the Saudi Embassy in Addis Ababa about the tense situation currently prevailing in Ethiopia, including violence against Muslims and the arrests made by the federal police on a daily basis. Some Saudi citizens were among those arrested. The warning will be in effect until the situation calms down, the ministry sai...

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Sudan beats Ethiopia in eight-goal thriller [Video]

Sudan recorded the biggest Afcon qualifying win of the day after beating Ethiopia 5-3 in Khartoum.  The hosts took a 3-1 halftime lead at Al Hilal Stadium in Omdurman on Saturday night before Ethiopia gave them a scare with a dramatic second half rally in this Red Sea derby.  Mudathir Careca put Sudan ahead in the seventh minute before Seyoum levelled for Ethiopia seven minutes later.  Momhmad Bisha put Sudan back in the lead almost...

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Ethiopia’s Ruling Party to Meet Sept. 16 on Meles’s Successor

By William Davison (Bloomberg) — Ethiopia’s ruling coalition will meet on Sept. 16 to select its chairman, who will replace the late Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi, as the party’s chief and probably succeed him as the Horn of Africa nation’s leader. It’s “highly likely” the party chairman will become prime minister, State Minister for Communications Shimeles Kemal said by phone today from the capital, Addis Ababa. Meles, Ethiopia’s leader of 21 years...

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Ethiopia Government in Talks With Rebels, Spokesman Says

By:Bloomberg  Ethiopia’s government has held peace talks with the Ogaden National Liberation Front, an outlawed ethnic-Somali rebel group, Communications Minister Bereket Simon said. “It’s a very positive step and we will pursue negotiations up to the last and try to bring all concerned in that area to the constitutional framework,” Bereket said in a phone interview from the capital, Addis Ababa, today. Proposals to end the conflict in the Ogaden area of Ethiopia’s Somali regional state were agreed during initial talks on Sept. 6 and Sept....

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Ginbot 7 leaders call for negotiation and transitional ‘arrangement ‘

Senior leaders of Ginbot7, Abebe Bogale and Dr. Tadesse Biru, disclosed to ESAT that their movement is working expeditiously to bring EPRDF to the negotiation table or remove it from power altogether. According to them all efforts exerted so far have produced appreciable results and a slew of coercive measures are underway to hasten the process of political change in Ethiopia. The two leaders have emphasised the role EPRDF could play in averting a serious and highly consequential political crises. The only viable way forward is to embrace the...

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Torture suspect pleads not guilty in a Denver court

DENVER (Associated Press) — A chance encounter at a restaurant in a Denver suburb led to the arrest of an Ethiopian immigrant who authorities say tortured political prisoners decades ago in his home country, according to testimony from a Department of Homeland Security official Tuesday. The man authorities identify as Kefelegn Alemu Worku (kah-FEH’-lun ah-LEE’-moo WER’-koo) pleaded not guilty to U.S. immigration charges and denied that he is a former guard at a prison know for atrocities and human rights abuses. “He denies all of it,” said Matthew...

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