Bucknell professor gets death sentence from Ethiopia

By Kristen Holmes December 23, 2009

A Bucknell University professor was sentenced yesterday to death in absentia by an Ethiopian court that convicted him of plotting to assassinate government officials.
Berhanu Nega, of Lewisburg, an associate professor of economics at the Union County school, was one of five people to receive death sentences for planning the attack in 2005 when nearly 200 people were killed in postelection violence.
Nega, 51, denied the charges and called the sentence an expected move of a terrorist government.
"By delivering this sentence they are trying to terrorize the population more than anything else," Nega said in a phone interview. "It is their way of telling everybody if you fight for democracy we will kill you, that is the message they are sending."
Nega said he was at home preparing to take his teenage son to a driving test when he received a phone call with the news.
Nega, an exiled opposition leader of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, was elected mayor of Addis Ababa in 2005.
He was the first elected mayor in Ethiopia's history, but the ruling party declared victory, and Nega was among 100 opposition leaders arrested and jailed. Nega was held in prison for 21 months.
"At one point I was in one cell with 350 people," Nega said. "There was no air to breathe, and I developed a heart condition because of that."
Since his release, he has urged the United States and other Western countries to back democratic movements in Ethiopia and withdraw support for dictatorships.
Born near Addis Ababa, Nega immigrated to the United States in 1980. He earned his bachelor's degree in economics from the State University of New York at New Paltz and his doctorate in economics at the New School for Social Research in New York.
He joined the faculty at Bucknell in 1990, but commuted to Philadelphia for three years while his wife, Nardos Minasse, studied at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.
Nega and his family returned to Ethiopia in 1994 because "we thought maybe there would be a chance to serve and help our country," he said. Nega became active in the democratic movement, taught at Addis Ababa University, and was elected mayor in 2005.
During Nega's imprisonment, supporters including Bucknell president Brian C. Mitchell and university faculty members called for his release, said Tom Evelyn, a spokesman for the university.
"He is a professor in good standing at Bucknell and has a long track record of being a distinguished scholar," Evelyn said.
Nega and others eventually were pardoned and freed. Nega and his family returned to Pennsylvania in August 2007, and the professor resumed teaching at Bucknell. Last week, the Ethiopian government revoked Nega's pardon.
Nega is one of four people sentenced to death yesterday who are living in exile, Nega said. The other is jailed in Ethiopia, Nega said. A sentence of life in prison was ordered for 33 others.
Contact staff writer Kristin E. Holmes at 610-313-8211 or kholmes@phillynews.com.
This article contains information from the Associated Press.
---Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

አኬልዳማ

በአገሬ ሕዝብ ላይ- ሰቆቃ
ምነው አልቆም አለ-አላበቃ
ርህራሄ ተነፍጎት-
እየኖረ በዋይታ
ስው ባምሳያው- ሰብዓዊነት
አልሰማው ብሎ-ኃላፊነት
ሰብዓዊ መብቱ- ተረግጦ
ወገን በወገን ላይ-ዶልቶ
ወገን ሞቶ-ወገን ገድሎ
በፉከራ
ፈጣሪም ሳይፈራ
ዘራፍ ብለን ራሳችን- በራሳችን
እኛው በእኛ ላይ- አምፀን
ጳጳስ ገድለን- ጳጳስ ሾመን
አሃዱ ብለን በስልሳ ራስ- አንገት ቀልተን
የኛን ራስ- እኛው ጠልተን
የአስራ ሁለት ዓመት ልጅ -ገና ጨቅላ
የአስር ዓመት ልጃገረድ- እምቦቅላ
ሽኘን በሞት- በሽለላ
ገዳይ ብለን በፉከራ።

ድንበር ሰርተን- ሸሁን ገፍተን- ካህን ጠልተን
በማናውቀው ርዕዮተዓለም- ተጠምቀን
ሽብር ሆኖ ቀይና ነጭ-ወገን ከፍሎ
አንዱ ሌላውን-ሊያጠፋ ተገዝቶ ምሎ
ልንጠፋፋ-ተገዳድረን
በጥፋት ካህን ፊት-ምለን ተገዝተን
ላንተኛ- በሃሳብ የተለየን ወንድማችን
አፈር ሳይሆን

እናት አሳዝነን- ለአባት ማቅ አልብሰን
እርር አርገን
ልጆች ከጉያ- ተነጥቀው
ለመቃብር -ተዳርገው
ዋይታ በዝቶ- ለቅሶ ቢሆን
ዘፈን ጠፍቶ -ሳቃችን ሆኖ ሃዘን
ሺህዎች -እንደቅጠል ቢረግፉ
ቢበዛብን -የእኛው በእኛ- ፍጡር ግፉ
አኬልዳማ ሆነ ቃሉ- አኬልዳማ
የሞት ጥላ አጥልቶብን-የእልቂታችን ካራማ።

እኛው በእኛ ላይ- ከፍተን
እንደ ወንድማማች- በሰላም አብረን
መኖር ተሳነንና-ቀጠለ ጥፋታችን።
ዛሬም እንደትናንቱ- በሃሳብ ለተለየን
ይሙት በቃ- ብለን በየን
እንደ ፋንታ በላይ- ሁሉ
ይሙት አልን ሙሉነህ- ይሙት አልን ብርሃኑ
እንደ መርዕድ እና አመሃ- ደምሴና ቁምላቸው
ፈረድን-
ይሙት በቃ በመስፍን
በመላኩና በአንዳርጋቸው።

መደብን ከመደብ- ጎሣን ከጎሣ ሆነ ብለን
ኃይማኖትን ከኃይማኖት- በማጋጨት ተክነን
ከጎሰኝነት ከሃይማኖት ከመደብ ወገንተኝት
መጽዳት አቅቶን
በኢትዮጵያዊነት ጥላ ስር -ማረፍ ወንጀል ሆኖ
ደም ይፈሳል ጅረት ሆኖ- ቱግ ብሎ
የጥቂቶች ፍላጎት- በአብዛኞቻችን ጀርባ ተጭኖ
አሜን ብለን እንድንኖር- ህግ ህኖ
መልካም ስራ ተንቆ
ወንጀል በተገላቢጦሽ
መልካም ተብሎ
የምንኖርባት ምድር- ሆናለች አኬልዳማ
የሞት ጥላ ያጠለባት- የጥላቻ ካራማ

ልዩነታችን የሚፈታው- ሆነና በጠመንጃ
ገዥ ሆኖ አፈሙዝ- ግኡዝ ፍጡሩ ሳንጃ
የትኛው ጅኒ- አጋንንት ቢያርፍብን ነው
ምድራችን ለዓመታት- አኬልዳማ የሆነው?
መቸ ይሆን የሚቆመው
እኛው በእኛ ላይ የፈጠርነው
መከራው?

ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ታህሳስ 2002 ዓ.ም.
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com

አረንጓዴ ሰው

“ሕዝባችን ተስብሰብ-ለሰበሩ ዜና
ባለጸጋው ጻድቅ- መሆኑ ይሰማ
ይኸ ባለጸጋ- ይኸ ያገሬ ሰው
ይኸ ባለሆቴል- ይኸ ወርቅ አንጣሪው
የሥራ ዕድል ፈጥሮ- ልቤን አስደሰተው”

ብሎ ጋዜጠኛው -ፅፎ አነበብኩና
ስለዚህ ባለሃብት- ሃሴት አረግሁና
እኔም የበኩሌን-ለገስኩት ምስጋና
“አንደበት ይከፈት-ጆሮወች ያዳምጡ
ለዚህ ባላፀጋ- ሽልማቶች ይምጡ
በል እግዜሩም ስማ- ፅድቅ ተለውጧል
ከዛሬ መነኩሴ- ባላፀጋ በልጧል
“ፀሃይ ትቁምለት- ትዘግይ ጨረቃ
ይኸ ባለፀጋ- እስኪል ድረስ በቃ
እስከሚበዛለት -ሃብቱ እስከሚስፋፋ
ሌሊቱም ቀን ይሁን -ብርሃን አይጥፋ።”

ብዬ ምስጋናየን- ሳዥጎደጉደው
ይኸ የአጎቴ ልጅ-የተበሳጨው
ከእኔ የተለየ-ሚስጥር ያውቅ ኖሮ
እንዲህ ሲል ነገረኝ-ሃሳቡን ቀምሮ።

“ለተራበ ማብላት-ለታረዘ ማልበስ
ታማሚ ማጽናናት-ለችግርም መድረስ
መጾም መፀለዩ-ቅንነት ማሰቡ
መች ሆኖ ተገኘ- የዛሬ ሰው ግቡ!

“ከደሃ ቀምቶ- ከደካማ ዘርፎ
ቢኖርም ቢሞላም- ተርፎ ተትረፍርፎ
ወርቅና አልማዝ ይዞ- ነዳጅ አስቆፍሮ
ሆኖ መገኘት ነው-ካለመጠን ከብሮ
ሰውን ሰው ያሰኘው- የለየው ዘንድሮ።

“የስው ልጅ ሲፈጠር- በጌታዬ አምሳያ
ነበረ ለታላቅ- ለክብር ማሳያ
ዛሬ የስው ልጆች- ወረቀትን ፈጥረው
ቁጥር ጽፈውበት- አንድ ሁለት ብለው
አረንጓዴ ቀለም- ቅርጻ ቅርጹን ስለው
ከራሳቸው በላይ- ለብር ክብር ሰጥተው
መኖር ጀምረዋል-ከሱ በታች ሆነው።
…
“መልኩን ሳፈላልግ- ጠይም ወይም ቀዩን
ቀረና የእርሱነት- መምሰል አምሳያውን
ንዋየ ፀሎቱ- ገንዘብ ሆኖ አምላኩ
አረንጓዴ ሆኗል- ባለጸጋው መልኩ።
…
“አንተን መሳይ ሰወች- እናንት ኋላ ቀሮች
ጠይምና ጥቁር-ቀይ አመላካቾች
ልታውቁ ይገባል- የዛሬን እውነታ
በጠይም በጥቁር- በቀይ ሰው ፋንታ
የሰው ልጅ ውበቱ- የሚያምር ቁመናው
አረንጓዴ ሆኗል- የእርሱ ሁለመናው።

“ገንዘቡ ዳኛ ነው- ፖሊስም ጠበቃ
ሃይሉ ልክ የሌለው- ተቆጥሮ አያበቃ
ፍትህና ክብር -ገዥ በገንዘቡ
ይኸ ባለጸጋ- ባለ ወርቅ ቅቡ
ሕጻን ሴት ያገባው- ሕፃን እቁባቱ
የስው ሚስት የቀማው- አድርጎት መብቱ
ሁሉ ሰው ጌታዬ- ብሎ የሚጠራው
እርሱን ነው የሚያደንቅ- ጋሸ ጋዜጠኛው።

ብሎ ተናገረ- ይኸ የአጎቴ ልጅ
ስለ አረንጓዴው ሰው- ለሁሉ እንደማይበጅ።

ትናንት ህጻን ሆኘ-ሳድግ በሰፈሬ
የሰው ልጅ መጠሪያው- ልዩ ነው ከዛሬ
አይደለ በልብሱ- በፀጋ በሃብቱ
አይደል በቁመናው- ተክለ-ሰውነቱ
አይደል በትምህርቱ- በዕውቀት ሊቅነቱ
ሰው በሰውነቱ- ሲለካ የማውቀው
ፍጹም ልዩ ነበር- ዛሬ ከምናየው።

አንገቱን ለፍትህ- አንደበቱ ለእውነት
ውሸትን የጠላ- ግፍን የሚጋፈጥ
ከክፎወች ሸንጎ- ፈጽሞ የራቀ
አንቱ የተባለ-በአገር የታወቀ
ነበር የሰው መልኩ-ለእውነት መቆሙ
ትናንት የምናውቀው- የሰው ልጅ መልካሙ
ዛሬ ተለየና -ውበት ተቀይሮ
ዓይናችን የሚያየው- ብር ሆነ ዘንድሮ።

እስኪመለስ ድረስ -አይንም ወደ ድሮው
ስንናፍቅ ከዋልን- ገንዘብን እንደሰው
እውነትም ይዛባል-ፍትህ ይሰወራል
ገንዘብ የአገር ዳኛ- ጠበቃ ይሆናል
…

አንተ ጋዜጠኛ- አንተ ወሬ አቀባይ
እስኪ እንደ አጎቴ ልጅ-አንተም እውነቱን እይ
ያ ባለጸጋ ሰው- በዓለም የከበረ
እውነቱን አሰማን- ማን እንደነበረ?

ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ጥቅምት 2002
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com

ጥጃ- ለዘመን መለወጫ

በግንባሩ ወግቶ- ቢያጠቃኝ በርግጫ
ቢላ ቢላዋ አለኝ- ለዚህ ክፉ ጥጃ።
ዘመን ተለውጦ-ዘመኑ እስኪተካ
“ይወርዳል… ይለቃል”- ወሬ እንዳልተቦካ
ይኸ ጥጃ እምቢ አለ- አልሄድ ብሏል ለካ!

ሰፈሩን አመሰው-አጉል ተፈራግጦ
ሰው ግራ ገባው- በጭንቀት ተውጦ
እረኛ አይመልሰው-አዳኝ አያድነው
ሰውን እየጎዳ-ከአካል እያወጣው
ለህልፈት ሲዳርግ- እፎይታ ሲያሳጣ
ኑሮን ክፉ ትርኢት- ሲያበዛበት ጣጣ
ምን ጉድ ሆነ እና ነው- ይህ የሰፈር ጥጃ
ጀግና የለም እንዴ-የሚያውቅ ጠመንጃ።

እናንት አድርባዮች- ዘመን ስትለውጡ
ከዚህ ክፉ ጥጃ- አብራችሁ አትውጡ
ብትቀሩ ይሻላል- እናንተስ አትምጡ።
እናንት ወገኖቼ- ከብት የምታረቡ
ይህን ክፉ ጥጃ- ከእናንተ አትደንቡ
እናንተ ተለዩ- ወደተራራው
ያ ክፉ ጥጃ ነው- ገደል የሚያምረው።

አጨደው ሰርዶውን- የሰፈሩን ሙጃ
ምላሱ መርዝ አለው- እግሩ የጦር ሳንጃ
ረሃብ ላይ ጣለው-ፍየልና በጉን
አጉልኛ ጠባት- ያች ደግ እናቱን
ጀግና ምነው ጠፋ- የሚያድን ላሚቱን።

ቄራ ሰራተኞች-በግ የምታግዙ
እስኪ በዚህ ዓመት-ይህን ጥጃ ግዙ
ገበያ ውሰዱት-ለዚህ አዲስ ዓመት
አራጅእንዲወስደው- ሁሉን የሚያውቅበት
አቅርበው ለሽያጭ-ሲራራው ነጋዴ
በሰላም ልተኛ-ይረፍልኝ ሆዴ።

ከሰሜን ከምስራቅ- ከምዕራብ ከደቡብ
ተሰባሰብና- ሁሉም ያገሬ ህዝብ
ደስ ብሎን እንድንውል- ዘመን መለወጫ
ጨፌ ጎዝጉዛችሁ- ቄጠማ ወይ ሙጃ
አንገቱ ላይ አርጉ- ቢላዋ ወይ ሳንጃ
ገላግሉን በአንድዬ- ከዚህ ክፉ ጥጃ።

ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
መስከረም 2002 ዓ.ም.

Uneasy Choice: Where do we stand on Gibe III Dam?

By Tsegaye Mulushoa

I. INTRODUCTION

Once again the lobbying power of the likes of Egypt (the so called “Environmentalists”) has been proved to be of far superior. The second biggest aid receiver of the United States, next to Israel, for making peace with Israel and maintaining this status qua along with its effort to soften the fiery stand of few Arab countries’ logged against the very existence of Israel as a nation, Egypt can pull any strings at any time and still win over the flow of Nile and the Water Policy of Ethiopia, thanks to the poverty stricken, donor-dependent and financially starved Ethiopia. As it stands now, a handful Environmentalists can do the same.

The Environmentalists lobbied European Investment Bank (EIB) to withdraw funding from Ethiopia’s dam, and sure enough, they got what they wanted. Financing from the EIB for Gibe III has been stopped. Why? The Bank said it has decided to pull back its Euro 1.55 billion hydropower dam funding …following the calls from the Environmentalists that “the Gibe III Dam threatens the food security and local economies that support more than half a million people in Southwest Ethiopia,” almost verbatim to what the so called environmentalists argued, spearheaded by the likes of the controversial Terri Hathaway and Peter Bosshard.

Reportedly, EIB financed the Gibe and Gibe II dams, conducted a pre-assessment of the Gibe III Dam, and contributed funds to the project's economic, financial and technical assessment. Gilgel Gibe III dam is expected to be Africa’s tallest dam with the height of 240 meters and Ethiopia’s biggest investment.

Snaring Choice

Ethiopians all over the world can’t take our eyes off issue number one: The demise of tribal EPRDF leadership who grossly affected the unity and sovereignty of the nation and violates the civil, human and democratic rights of our people. However, the Gibe III issue may force all of us to make hard choices and help the current regime’s effort win over EIB so that the bank will reverse its decision. By far, it is an asset which will benefit the generations to come. Alas, for most of us, it is a situation or predicament from which it is impossible to extricate our self from the vicious cycle of Zenawi’s cruel administration and the danger to the national interest of Ethiopia. It will not be an easy choice; rather, it is a choice which we would have to make in pain for the sake of our country and aspiration of the future generations.

II. BACKGROUND

Fengjie is a small city with an ancient cultural center along the Yangtze River in central China, which is about to disappear as the world's largest dam takes shape. By the end of 2009, about one million residents of this ancient city would be relocated to another location. Then, the land which has had the ancient city would be the world biggest dam.

At the eve of the disappearance of this ancient city, the most vocal issue has been if such large-scale disruptions be outweighed by the presumed benefits of the multi-billion dollar dam. Experts argued for and against it. The success will be that damming the World's third-longest river (Yangtze River) will create a reservoir 365 miles (600 km) long. Aswan Dam of Egypt, Merowe of Sudan and other dams have had similar problems and gains.

It is inherent with any dams to cause forced or voluntary evacuations, pollutions, loss of spectacular scenery that has inspired poets and painters for centuries…shrines, mosques, synagogues, churches, cultural sites and archeological excavations. Dams affect farmlands and the river's marine life, a vital source of food in several communities. They consume (flood) large areas, and cost billion of dollars, making a big dent on a given national economy. In spite of these inherent problems, countries seem willing to pay the price, and take the risks to build dams because the end result is acquiring thousands of megawatts of cleaner hydroelectric power which would offset the burning of polluting coal (and other materials) and boosting their national economies.
Gibe III dam is no way different from dams built all over the world. It has its own inherent advantages and disadvantages. After weighing the potential benefits and burdens, Kenya and Ethiopia have reportedly signed the power purchase agreement outlining the terms of electricity sales in 2006. Nonetheless, Environmentalists are less impressed with this agreement as the large share of its electricity will be sold to consumers in other parts of Kenya and not in the Turkana region of Kenya. These environmentalists vehemently opposed the construction of Gibe III.
Unlike the Ethiopian Gilgel Gibe III, these so called Environmentalists did not intervene with equivalent lobbying force to stop the construction of the Aswan Dam of Egypt and the Merowe High Dam of Sudan, also known as Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project or Hamdab Dam (“Merow”). The Reason…well, Sudan is not Ethiopia when it comes to Egypt, and Asawn…well, it is Egypt’s dam. After all, Egypt claims the totality of the Nile River water with Sudan. So, that goes for Egyptians’ trust of Sudanese and mistrust of Ethiopians. What is unfortunate is that the Environmentalists’ similar allegation against Gibe III Dam.

III. SUDAN’S MEROW DAM

Merowe is a large construction project in Merowe Town in Northern Sudan, about 350 km north of the capital Khartoum. It is situated on the river Nile, close to the 4th Cataract where the river divides into multiple smaller branches with large islands in between. Merowe is a city about 40 km downstream from the construction site at Hamdab. The main purpose of the dam is generation of electricity. Its dimensions make it the largest contemporary hydropower project in Africa.

Merowe’s Effects on Environment and Inhabitants: When it comes to concerns, Merow is not different from Gilgel Gibe III, be it environmental or people.

Displacement: It caused the displacement of an estimated 55,000 to 70,000 people who were residents of the area which covered by the reservoir lake, mainly belonging to the Manasir, Hamadab and Amri tribes.
Human Rights Violations: UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Miloon Kothari once issued a statement, calling for a halt to dam construction at Merowe until an independent assessment of the dam's impacts on the more than 60,000 people who stand to be displaced by the dams at Merowe and Kajbar. Kothari alleged reservoir of Merowe destroyed dozens of homes in the area and put many more at risk.
Archeological Concern: The dam covered a place where it was inhabited by people through nearly all periods of (pre)history, but very little archaeological work has ever been conducted in this particular region. Recent surveys have confirmed the richness and diversity of traceable remains, from the Stone Age to the Islamic period. However, now there won’t be any chance for archeology.
Environmental Impact:
Sedimentation: The resettlement area is a vast area with an expected 50,000–70,000 inhabitants who would be going through a transitional period for a few years before the get acclimatised & psychologically adapted to the new-life ahead. Governing by the two eminent health impact experiences of New Halfa resettlement projects and Aswan Dam in Egypt, strategic health planning ought to start early to foresee what water born diseases and other ecological health problems (such as bilharziasis, malaria) are likely to prevail and to plan how to guard against that.
Evaporation: The creation of the reservoir lake will increase the surface area of the Nile by about 700 km². Under the climatic conditions at the site, additional evaporation losses of up to 1,500,000,000 m³ per year can be expected. This corresponds to about 8% of the total amount of water allocated to Sudan in the Nile Waters Treaty.
International and Domestic Concern: More so it had an International political impact as Nile is shared by 10 Riparian countries and domestic concerns because of South Sudan and Darfur unrest.
Regardless of this the environmentalists who worked hard to stop the financing of Gibe III have not made efforts to stop construction of Merow Dam.
IV. EGYPT’S ASWAN DAM

Aswan (Assuan) is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. Two dams straddle the Nile River at this point: the newer Aswan High Dam, and the older Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam. The aim of this water project was to prevent the river's flooding, generate electricity and provide water for agriculture. The old Aswan Dam is about 1000 km up-river from Cairo or 686 km as the crow flies heading 166.8 degrees. The new Aswan High Dam is 4 km upriver from the older dam.

Aswan Dam has caused a number of environmental and cultural problems:

Displacement: It flooded much of lower Nubia and over 60,000 people were displaced. However, it allowed new settlements to be planned on an improved basis.
Archeological Concern: Lake Nasser flooded valuable archaeological sites such as the fort at Buhen.
Environmental Concern:
Fishing: Mediterranean fishing declined after the dam was finished because nutrients that used to flow down the Nile to the Mediterranean were trapped behind the dam.
Erosion: There is some erosion of farmland down-river as the river replenishes its sediment load. Erosion of coastline barriers due to lack of new sediments from floods will eventually cause loss of the brackish water lake fishery that is currently the largest source of fish for Egypt, and the subsidence of the Nile Delta will lead to inundation of the northern portion of the delta with seawater, in areas which are now used for rice crops. The red-brick construction industry, which used delta mud, is also severely affected. There is significant erosion of coastlines (due to lack of sand, which was once brought by the Nile) all along the eastern Mediterranean.
Fertility: The delta itself, no longer renewed by Nile silt, has lost much of its fertility.
Evaporation and Disease: As salt water stagnates and evaporates it leaves behind salt crystals on the soil, causing salinisation and decreased yield. Furthermore, the standing water is a breeding ground for snails carrying the parasite bilharzias, the second most socio-economically negative parasite, second only to malaria. Due to the Aswan Dam inhibiting the natural fluctuations in water height, i.e. floods, the bilharzias disease has flourished causing great expense to the Egyptian economy and people. The battle with the disease continues. The valuable silt which the Nile deposited ashore in the yearly floods and made the Nile floodplain fertile is now held behind the dam. Silt deposited in the reservoir is lowering the water storage capacity of Lake Nasser. Poor irrigation practices are water-logging soils and bringing salt to the surface.
Pollution: The increased use of artificial fertilizers in farmland below the dam has caused chemical pollution which the traditional river silt did not. Indifferent irrigation control has also caused some farmland to be damaged by water-logging and increased salinity, a problem complicated by the reduced flow of the river, which allows salt water to encroach further into the delta.
Atalantic Ocean: The Aswan Dam tends to increase the salinity of the Mediterranean Sea, and this affects the Mediterranean's outflow current into the Atlantic Ocean. This current can be traced thousands of kilometers into the Atlantic.

V. GIBE III DAM OF ETHIOPIA

Are the concerns of Gibe III different from the concerns of Merowe of Sudan, Aswan of Egypt, and Yangtze of China? If not why did EIB pulled its financing of Gibe III Dam? EIB made a decision to stop financing of Gibe III dam due to the pressure exerted by Environmentalists and activists from Friends of Lake Turkana, Kenya[1], Reform the World Bank Campaign, Counter Balance (Italy)[2], and International Rivers (Cameroon)[3] .

Environmentalists argued that the dam would affect “the ecosystems of Ethiopia's Lower Omo Valley and Kenya's Lake Turkana … [by] wreak havocking on the Omo River's natural flood cycle.” African Resources Working Group (ARWG) disputed the findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment done by the Ethiopian Government citing more potential risk to the environment and the indigenous communities, mainly:

i. They urged the Bank not to fund the Gibe III because the affected communities could not withstand any more pressure on the little resources along the lake.
ii. Gibe III Dam would lead to the ecological and economic collapse around Lake Turkana, adding that it would also fuel tension in the volatile east African region, specifically[4]:
· Retreat of Lake Turkana (7m in depth in first 5 years); they said the construction of Gibe III dam would leave the lake and its inhabitants devastated as the lake could start drying up when its main source, the Omo River, is depleted by a huge dam in Ethiopia.
· A significant increase in lake salinity, and destruction of aquatic organisms
· Destruction of Indigenous Econom[ies]
· [Transboundary] Issues between Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya
· Hampering of Possible Regional Development
iii. They vehemently argued that Gibe III dam would violate human rights and social justice of the inhabitants of Lake Turkana as the dam is destroying their source of livelihood as well as their environment.
Nonetheless, the environmentalists have admitted that “ the idea of dams producing hydroelectric power” is not something to be disregarded, but they encouraged Ethiopia to pursue an alternative forms of energy development that avoid unacceptable trade offs which jeopardize indigenous economies and destroy the eco-system, like constructing small dams. Ethiopia is the poorest nation in the globe, and it is not an easy task for Ethiopians to pursue such an alternative route, loosing what could be a boost for its national economy. Hathaway knows that this task will not be an easy one, but he and his allies are telling Ethiopia that at any cost Ethiopia has to maintain the maximum river flow or slow construction of the dam to allow for adequate flow of water into Lake Turkana rather than the drastic five year damming plan currently in place.[5]

Next Stop: Africa Development Bank (ADB)

The so called Environmentalist group next stop is the ADB which they planned to pressure to stop funding. Reportedly, they have submitted complaints to the ADB in March and April alleging the Gibe III Dam violates the Bank’s policies on environmental and social assessment, poverty reduction, resettlement, public disclosure, and trans-boundary water management. They went to the extent of convincing donors not to fund ADB what they are not prepared to fund through EIB.

VI. CONCLUSION

EIB should not have stopped the financing of Gibe III. As it is shown is other dams across the globe, there are cons and pros of each and every construction of dam. The fair issue and the standard should always be if the benefit outweighs the concerns in constructing such huge dams. EIB and Environmentalists should stop using double standards and in no way shall not justify their partiality towards their financiers.

Had the government of Ethiopia not violated the human, civil and democratic rights of its citizens, Euro1.5 Billion could have been raised by Ethiopian Diaspora members saving Ethiopia from unnecessary saga with EIB and Environmentalists. Therefore, what EIB should know is that, at any cost now or later, Ethiopians will complete Gibe III dam construction. However, EIB would stand to loose its goodwill and trust with Ethiopians and the international community.


The author can be reached at tmulushoa@gmail.com.

[1] Contact Person, Ikal Angelei, +254 736 685 118 or +254 722 343 160
[2] Contact Person, Caterina Amicucci,), +39 349 852 0789
[3] Contact Person, Terri Hathaway, , +237 22 02 34 12; Peter Bosshard +1 510 848 1155
[4] http://internationalrivers.org/en/ngos/ikal-angelei-friends-lake-turkana-kenya
[5] Ibid

US threatens Eritrea over support for al-Qaeda-linked terrorists

The US has warned Eritrea it risks American military action for its support for a Somalian terrorist group linked to a plot to attack President Barack Obama.

By Damien McElroy in Asmara Last Updated: 7:05PM BST 17 Apr 2009

The US has warned Eritrea to withdraw support for a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda
The Red Sea dictatorship has drawn the wrath of America by backing extremist Islamic groups in Somalia as part of a proxy war with Ethiopia, its former ruler.
It champions al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-linked group that American intelligence believes has trained a dozen of its own citizens to carry out attacks in the US.

President Obama's January inauguration was hit by FBI warnings about a potential suicide threat from 12 American citizens that had left Africa to infiltrate the US and disappeared.
Subsequently Washington quietly warned Eritrea, a former Italian colony which was occupied by Britain during the Second World War, it could suffer the same fate as Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 attacks, if the plot was carried out.
"Eritrea has chosen the wrong path," said a source. "There are consequences for working with al-Shabaab when President Obama cannot afford to look weak on terrorism by not retaliating if there is an attack on the homeland."
But President Isaias Afewerki told the Daily Telegraph that he would continue to oppose an American and British-backed Somalian government that declared al-Shabaab its principal enemy when it took office in February.
While Western governments have growing confidence in the new government, led by Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, Mr Isaias diminished the new leader as a stooge.
He called for a fresh peace conference in which his allies would be granted a significant role. "There is no government, there is not even a nation of Somalia existing," he said. "There has to be an alternative solution. Attempts to impose this new government on Somalia will not work. Peace is not guaranteed without a government agreed by all Somalis."
Mr Isaias has not forsaken his broad opposition to American foreign policy. He mocked the use of Western military force to target Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa. "Addressing piracy with military force is not going to work," he said. "Piracy, like famine and drought is a secondary issue."
Mr Isaias presides over one of Africa's youngest but most isolated states– it gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993.
The 63-year old former guerrilla relishes a reputation as an international pariah. He was broadly condemned after Eritrea became the first country to invite Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir on a visit following the International Criminal Court's decision to issue charges for crimes against humanity in Darfur.
"By being the first country to host General Bashir after he was indicted by the International Criminal Court, Eritrea put itself on the wrong side of history," said Andrew Mitchell, the Conservative's International Development spokesman, who used a meeting with Mr Isaias in Asmara to lodge a protest against the visit.
Few see any prospect of Eritrea repairing its relations with the West as long as it maintains a constant war footing against Ethiopia. Internal repression has grown steadily worse as it maintains a standing army of 300,000 from a population of just over four million.
The regime operates a system of National Service that has been described as a "giant prison" for people under 40. The thousands fleeing the country are viewed as deserters and dozens are shot attempting to cross the border.
Prisoners, including 11 parliamentarians that have disappeared, are subjected to horrific torture, including the so-called "Jesus Christ" – crucifixion on trees in the desert.
The Eritrean leader made no attempt to deny the practice of modern slavery or torture. He claimed the imperative of building the nation was his overriding concern.
"We are a small, young country in the process of making ourselves, you cannot compare our unique reality with other nations," he said. "We are the most stable and most prosperous nation in terms of age but establishing a nation on the continent of Africa is not easy."

Dead man walking

By Yilma Bekele April 10, 2009

When the prison guard shouts: Dead man walking! You step aside। The guard is warning people that the inmate walking by is on death row and he has nothing to lose by killing you. You just step out of the way and let the dead man keep his date with destiny. more

Horn of Africa beset by troubles

By Elizabeth Kennedy, Associated Press Writer April 12, 2009

NAIROBI, Kenya - The pirate standoff with the U.S. Navy has burned Somalia into the West's consciousness as a base for lawlessness and terror, but the hostage crisis illuminates a potentially dangerous picture confronting a far greater area. more

Reading the tea leaves

Reading the tea leaves

Alemayehu G. Mariam ǀ April 13, 2009

Pax Obama

President Obama made a historic speech to Turkish lawmakers last week, but his message was global in scope and contained nuggets of his foreign policy yet to unfold. The first chords of Pax Obama (Obama’s offer of peace to the word) restore not only much needed sanity to U.S. foreign policy, but also erect new pillars that will support America’s future engagement with the rest of the world: Respect for American democratic values, respect for Muslims and the Islamic faith, respect for human rights and the rule of law, mutually shared respect among friends, and even respectful agreement to disagree with foes. more

With a Friend Like This

Ethiopia was supposed to help America in the war on terror. But it's only made matters worse.
Jonathan Tepperman
NEWSWEEKFrom the magazine issue dated Apr 20, 2009

Few people outside Ethiopia have ever heard of Birtukan Mideksa. And that's just how the government wants it. Since December, Birtukan has been kept in solitary confinement, one of hundreds of political prisoners there. Her apparent crime? Organizing a democratic challenge to the increasingly iron-fisted rule of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
In the past year alone, Meles's ruling party has rigged elections, effectively banned independent human-rights groups, passed a draconian press law and shrugged off calls for an investigation into alleged atrocities in the restive Ogaden region. Yet in the same period, his country has become one of the largest recipients of U.S. aid in sub-Saharan Africa, getting a cool $1 billion in 2008. The Bush administration claimed that Ethiopia was the linch-pin of its regional counterterrorism strategy and a vital beacon of stability. But the evidence increasingly suggests Washington isn't getting what it pays for, and is supporting a brutal dictator in the process. Candidate Obama pledged to strengthen democracy in Africa; if he's serious, this is a good place to start.
America's warm relations with Ethiopia date to the days after 9/11, when the country's Christian-dominated government came to be seen as a natural U.S. ally in a region targeted by Islamic extremists. After disputed elections in 2005, however, Meles—once hailed by President Bill Clinton as part of a promising "new generation" of African leaders—began clamping down on dissent.
Yet Washington tolerated his lapses because it needed his help fighting Qaeda-linked Islamists in next-door Somalia. In December 2006, Ethiopia's U.S.-trained Army duly invaded its neighbor, ousting the radical Islamic Courts Union government there. But the adventure hasn't worked out as planned. No sooner had the ICU been toppled than an even more radical group, Al-Shabab, sprang up to fight the invaders. And although Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopia's foreign minister, recently told NEWSWEEK that the Islamists have been militarily "shattered," they now control much of the country's south and have tightened links with Al Qaeda. Meanwhile, the Ethiopian troops have pulled out, and the country they left behind has been thoroughly devastated. Two years of fighting forced about 3.4 million Somalis, some 40 percent of the population, from their homes. Yet only a few high-ranking terrorists were eliminated, and Russell Howard, a retired general and senior fellow at the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations University, says the occupation only "empowered" the radicals.
Such failures—and Ethiopia's growing repression—suggest Washington should rethink the relationship. Just what Ethiopia offers the United States today is unclear. Addis Ababa has contributed troops to U.N. peacekeeping forces in Darfur and Burundi and plays a large role in shaping the policies of the African Union. But this shouldn't earn it unquestioning U.S. support.To reset ties, the United States should push Ethiopia to democratize. And it must urge it to reconcile with its archnemesis, Eritrea. Resolving the conflict between the two states is key to addressing a whole range of threats to U.S. interests. Tiny Eritrea won independence from Addis Ababa in 1993, but the two countries fought a 1998–2000 border war and relations have remained hostile ever since, in part because Ethiopia, with tacit U.S. support, has ignored an international ruling that redrew their border. Too weak to challenge Ethiopia directly, Eritrea has funneled support to its enemy's enemies—including Al-Shabab and its America-hating foreign fighters. Eritrea also recently instigated a border conflict with Djibouti, home to an important U.S. military base.
Washington should thus push Ethiopia and Eritrea to make amends; better relations would mean an end to their proxy war in Somalia, which has helped turn that state into a Qaeda haven. Should it choose to use it, the United States has plenty of leverage. Most U.S. spending on Ethiopia goes for health and food aid, which aren't easy to cut. But the Obama administration could make military aid and weapons sales contingent on Meles's improving his behavior. The House of Representatives passed a bill in 2007 to do just that, but the measure died in the Senate without White House support.
Much will now depend on the man Obama has nominated for the State Department's top Africa job, Johnnie Carson. Carson's record is promising: while ambassador to Kenya from 1999 to 2003, he helped persuade longtime President Daniel Arap Moi to step down, clearing the way for multiparty elections. Should he bring similar pressure to bear on Washington's new African ally, Birtukan, Ethiopia's other political prisoners, Africans throughout the Horn and America itself would all benefit.With Jason Mclure in Addis AbabaSource: URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/193503© 2009

Open Letter to the Editor of Aiga Forum, Isayas A. Abay

Ato Isayas Atsbaha Abay
Aiga Forum, Owner and Editor
San Jose, California
United States of America

Dear Isayas Abay,

Save our affiliation to parties/ fronts, we all have roughly “virtuous dreams” for our country. A vast majority of Ethiopians necessitate our politicians to succeed in bringing the much needed development to our country and in that tackling the evils of poverty, disease, illiteracy, dictatorship, repression and war even though the blazing statements thrown out from different aisles of parties/ fronts are unhelpful.

Alas, it is true and irrefutable fact that few in the opposition circle reject Meles because of his background (ethnicity, region etc.) as there are few from Tigray who buttress him because he is from Tigray and is Tigrean (though his mother was from Eritrea). The concept that the leader is “our race, ours…(in this case from Tigray…Wedi Tigary)” is by far and in all counts the feudalistic, regional and tribal complex, a complex of an exaggerated estimate of ones own value and importance, which surprisingly some in the opposition have also sought to claim and/ or reclaim. This is an outdated mentality and a backward thinking by which the civilized world buried and moved on for better. The perfect example and proof is that the mainstream in the United States have voted overwhelmingly to their first black president, Barack Obama.

Be that as it may, what I see in you is that more like supporting Meles regardless of whatever he does (because he is from Tigray and is Tigrean) which does not meet your level of maturity. I am mindful and aware of the fact that you are an Engineer with several years of experience working for Cisco (and may be other companies as well), well read, mature, and without doubt can deliver real issues way beyond belittling issues in relation to poverty, healthcare, investment, education, good governance, democracy, human right as well as parties/ fronts with legitimate/ illegitimate agendas. Furthermore, regardless of who we allegedly are ethnically and where we come from, I am not doubting your knowledge on Ethiopian history that most Ethiopians can trace our ancestors to common Tigrean, Amhara, Oromo, Gurage, Afar, Somali, Agnuak great, great, great…grand, grand, grand…mothers and fathers, to those who made us big historically, but in no ways our support sways towards repression over freedom. However, I have a feeling that you kept moving towards the center of ethnic favoritism, hate mongering, false accusation, character assassination and the like.

1. The most egregious and recent one is your inane and odious statements directed at Obang Metho. You claimed that Obang is being “used by the opposition to falsely present the impression that minorities had a meaningful role within their power structures when in fact, such roles were only reserved for insiders.” This statement of yours is mortifying, immoral and out of character which should not be replicated, and it is your moral duty to recant your statement.
2. You were also unfolding the good old days of Meles, the time he locked up Seye and his family in prison recently when you accused Seye for joining Medrek. You may say that Meles was victories back then and continues to be one (You continued to call him “the Lion”), but as the saying goes, “one person’s good old days is another person’s bad memory.” Hence, Seye and his supporters may forgive Meles but will not forget the fact that Meles put Seye in prison without the due process of law for the sake of protecting Eritrea’s interest over Tigray and of course Ethiopia. Hence, whatever you do, it is once again your moral duty to leave Seye and his family alone. He has suffered enough and yet joined the vision what has been considered “best for Ethiopia” by the majority of Ethiopians.
3. Character assassinations, false accusations, and hate mongering against Andargachew Tsige, Dr. Berhanu Nega, Judge Birtukan Mideksa, Hailu Shawel, Hailu Araya, Professor Mesfin Woldemaraim, Seye Abrha, Alemayehu Gebremraim, Obang Metho, Gebru Asrat and others are becoming your daily tasks, and it is getting worse by the day. Your act is immoral and unacceptable in all accounts, and you, Isayas Atsibha Abay, are responsible for using fighting words which would endanger the fabric of our society and country.
I, as an individual, hereby request you to come back to your reasonable conscience and stop your evil deeds. Nonetheless, please note that I am not in anyways trying to limit your freedom of speech as I don’t have the authorities of Meles Zenawi’s alike; however, I would like to inform you that your statements are "fighting words”-those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. “It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality.” Individuals who propagate hate, false accusation, and character assassination like you need to bring their actions to a halt for the sake of our people.

The chapters we have recorded so far after the 1974 revolution are communist memoirs, manifestos etc where by oppressors and oppressed have been categorized, if not made up. Because Ethiopia did not have a proletariat class, Derg, Meison, EPRP, TPLF etc categorized ethnic Amharas as Oppressors and others as Oppressed, which is totally ridicules. It is totally absurd to cast Amharas as oppressors as they like most other ethnic groups still:

• wears Lemid (sheep or goat skin) with per capita income of less than a quarter a day,
• struggle to cop-up with drought and starvation, and
• farm as their ancestors did 3,000 years ago— with oxen, wooden plows and rainfall।

Under no circumstance, they fit the likes of oppressors। It is also wrong to portray Ethiopian former rulers in their entirety as Amharas when the unabashed history of Ethiopia had recorded all Ethiopians sharing the responsibility of governing and defending Ethiopia. The idea that Amharas were oppressors and Ethiopian former rulers in our long history were Amharas is simply baloney and an evil-child of Mengistu, Meles, Isayas, Iyassu, Lencho etc and blown out of proportion by people like you. However, this is not to say that there was no oppression; in fact there was oppression all over Ethiopia but it was not targeting selected few.

The next chapter we write needs to be a chapter which will serve the next generation to coexist peacefully without any regard to ethnicity and religion. In order to become Pro-Meles, I don’t think you need to engage in false accusation, hate mongering, demonizing individuals, character assassination and the like. You may support your dictator as you wish, but I personally beg you to repent for the sins you have committed on issues I mentioned herein above. If you can, join the struggle to democratize Ethiopia, the struggle for unity and sovereignty of Ethiopia, human rights, democracy, rule of law etc. If not, at least avoid hate and false accusation which will affect the next generation and the generation to follow. Please govern yourself in a Godly way.

The Week of Pains (the Himamat) is right at the corner, so please repent and think of all Ethiopians who are under siege, dire poverty, in their sick bed, in prison and/or lost their property or life without the due process of law.

Hope we will see the Dawn of Ethiopia soon.

Sincerely,

Dagmawi Dawit
Email: ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com

Abusing self-determination and democracy: How the TPLF is looting Ethiopia

By Matthew McCracken

The article appeared in Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law [Vol. 38: 183] back in 2004. The academic article is a good analysis on how the TPLF is looting Ethiopia under the disguise of "self-determination," that never has happened. We believe so many Ethiopians may not have had a chance to read this scholarly analysis. The file was scanned from the original. more

What the cancelled Economist business roundtable conference reveals about Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia March 22, 2009

Source: http://www.geocities.com/~dagmawi/Zebenya/09/Economist_conf_cancelled_Meles_Zenawi.html

Conference Dates: Monday-Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009

It was to be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa. Realising potential in one of Sub-Saharan Africa's biggest markets was the theme. It was the first time the Economist Magazine had organized a business roundtable conference for Ethiopia, although such conferences have been common in other countries for many years now.

Here is how the economist describes its conferences:

"Economist Conferences, a division of the Economist Intelligence Unit, is the leading provider of international forums for senior executives seeking new insights into strategic issues. These meetings include industry conferences, management events and government roundtables held around the world. As part of The Economist Group, the publisher of The Economist newspaper, we are a highly respected brand with a 162-year history and an unrivalled reputation for excellence and independence."
"Each meeting organised by Economist Conferences delivers objective and informed analysis. Our meetings provide unusually high-level forums where senior executives can gain insights, exchange views and compare strategies."
- Economist Conferences - Executive Meetings

The Addis Ababa conference was to have been attended by Meles Zenawi and other top government officials, executives of many important businesses in Ethiopia, such as the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, executives of international firms investing in Ethiopia, such as the general manager of Golden Rose Agro Farm, the Vice President of Sainak Potash, (an Indian mining firm active in the Dallol area), and many others.
Click on the link to read the preliminary conference program: First Business Roundtable with the Government of Ethiopia
It can safely be assumed that the Economist invested considerable sums in arranging and publicizing the conference. On their part conference participants paid fees, and arranged travel and lodging to Addis Ababa.

Independent, Objective, Informed

Several key words in the Economist Magazine's description of its conferences should be highlighted further:

INDEPENDENT
OBJECTIVE
INFORMED

These words are TOXIC to Meles Zenawi and the TPLF. Is there any part of the Ethiopian administration that is INDEPENDENT of Meles Zenawi's control? Let alone administration, Meles has expanded the government's control into vast areas of human life that other citizens of the world enjoy freely.

Is there any type of OBJECTIVE analysis found in the state media? Is it possible to make any type of OBJECTIVE comment or criticism of the Ethiopia government? Ask the former auditor general Lemma Argaw, fired by Meles in 2006 for presenting an OBJECTIVE report to parliament. Ask the acting auditor general Assefa Desta, who was publicly insulted by Meles, again, for trying to be OBJECTIVE.

The Ethiopian public is today one of the least INFORMED group of humans on the planet concerning public issues of importance to them. This is by design. The media is tightly controlled. Websites are blocked. External radio transmissions are jammed. State media consists of junk propaganda outlets that are detested even by supporters of Meles.

Given the above, the prospects for an independent, objective, and informed public conference with senior Ethiopian government leaders would have been expected to be dim.

Ethiopian Government Says it Won't Participate: Friday, March 20, 2009

On Saturday, March 21, the Reporter Newspaper in Addis Ababa reported the following:

The Economist canceled Friday what would have been its first business conference with the government of Ethiopia scheduled to run under the theme 'Realizing potential in one of sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest market' on March 23 and 24, it was learnt.
The cancellation of the conference came suddenly amidst high expectations and hopes that the event will serve as a ‘best and ideal’ platform to sell Ethiopia to foreign investors and high profile business executives, according to knowledgeable sources.
The Economist Conference canceled the event after it failed to reach an agreement concerning an article which was supposed to be included in the conference material, according to the event organizers.
"The government of Ethiopia has decided that it will no longer participate in the business roundtable," the Economist Conference emailed to The Reporter. "The decision was made today [Friday] by the Ethiopian government after they had reviewed the Economist article we planned to include in the conference material. We have therefore decided to cancel the round table."
- The Economist cancels conference with gov’t - The Reporter, 21 March 2009

Two things are surprising about the cancellation of the conference. First, as mentioned above, the Economist is very experienced with organizing these types of conferences in countries all over the world. Thus it is surprising that they would find themselves forced to cancel a conference at such a late date - only two days before it was to occur.
Second, the reason given is surprising (at least at first glance). How could an article be the cause of conflict? The Economist is an independent magazine that does not accept censorship. They have described themselves as independent and objective. They have a 162-year reputation to protect.
However, upon reflection, for Ethiopians this should not be a surprise. This is standard Meles operating behavior. There must have been agreement between Meles and the Economist on the ground rules for the conference. It is safe to assume that the Economist made it clear to Meles that they would only hold the conference if the Ethiopian government promised not to censor the conference materials. It is safe to assume that Meles agreed, probably boasting that Ethiopia had the freest press in all Africa, and that he had never censored any article, and that the problems of the press in Ethiopia were entirely due to violations of the law.
Perhaps the Economist thought that Meles was an honorable person, with generally accepted personal ethics and principles. But that is not the Meles Ethiopians know. A good example of Meles' character was the 2005 election and its aftermath. Meles employed a tactic of brinksmanship. WIth the country in a dangerous state, he would negotiate with the opposition, seemingly reach agreement, and then at the last minute add new demands. Over and over he repeated this, even through the pardon process.
And it worked for him. This style has worked for Meles for his whole life beginning with the early TPLF days.
But on March 20, 2009, it didn't work with the Economist Magazine. Meles probably expected the magazine to panic. Many foreign conference participants had probably already travelled to Ethiopia. The Economist would probably be liable for these airfares and lodging expenses. The Sheraton conference fee would not be refundable at this stage. Many other staff time and advertising expenses would be wasted. Moreover it is bad publicity for the Economist. So Meles felt confident about issuing an ultimatum to the Economist about the content of the article.
But the Economist is not at the mercy of Meles. He can't imprison the reporters and editors of that magazine. He can't send security agents to the homes of the Economist publishers to beat, threaten and kill them. Unlike Ethiopians living under Meles, the Economist can write off the loss and move on.
Meles will tell his followers that he defended Ethiopia's sovereignty by canceling the conference. He will try to make this into a racial or ethnic issue, the same way he tried to mobilize support in 2005 by ethnicizing the entire election.

Conclusion

Meles is a petty, childish, spiteful little man. Many Ethiopians have borne the brunt of his nastiness. Birtukan Mideksa continues to suffer because of his personal spite. His highly negative character has had a profoundly negative influence on the tone and substance of Ethiopian political discourse.
The only good outcome of this incident is that the substandard personal character of Meles - his willingness to sacrifice Ethiopia's interests out of spite, his complete untrustworthiness, and his unethical negotiating style - will now be widely publicized internationally.

Eritrean Sovereignty & Ethiopian Civil Polity at Stake

By Firdu Yitayew

Surprisingly, both Afeworki and Zenawi still continue blowing their whistle of fictitious and self-proclaimed theories of Eritrea and Ethiopia thesis; and try to mobilize their respective public to join drum-beating for war yet to come. Nearly 2-decades after Afeworki and Zenawi have seized power, the Eritrean sovereignty question remains on shaky-grounds and at stake. Its internal and external problems reflect distinct political, economic and instable sovereignty crisis characters. More so, Afeworki’s Eritrea remains isolated from the rest of the world due to his contemptuous and malicious internal and external actions since he came to power in 1993. My assertions to these crystal clear Eritrean crises are based on the following 11-points:
(1) Contemptuously spearheaded by Meles Zenawi, TPLF/Woyane/ cohorts were sworn in to recognize Eritrea’s self determination already since TPLF’s inception in the heart of Eritrea.
(2) Principally TPLF worked hand and glove with the EPLF/Shaabia/ during the anti-Derg armed struggle ascertaining to Afeworki and EPLF army the fraternal belief TPLF holds as regards Eritrea’s self determination question.
(3) In 1993 when the de facto Eritrean independence was declared, TPLF cohorts were the first to declare their recognition of the verdict of EPLF leading to its brokered power seizure in Eritrea.
(4) During the 1998-2000 border conflict Meles Zenawi ordered the Ethiopian army to withdraw from land it occupied deep inside Eritrea; simply to live-up to the oath he and his cohorts made during the comradeship with EPLF.
(5) Playing on the fear-factor of the Eritrean army, Meles Zenawi is telling the world that no provocation is coming from the Ethiopian side and that the TPLF-leadership will not be the first to shoot the bullet under any circumstances. What he does not say is that TPLF has the might to crash any such venture by Afeworki’s army.
(6) To this day there is no clear demarcation between Eritrea and Ethiopia putting the sovereignty issue of this young nation questionable and leaving it in critical breakout of war at any time in the near future. Heaven knows what may happen if and when one of these two despotic tyrants is toppled from power.
(7) Issayas Afeworki’s who once said: “we don’t rule out federation or co-federation in 1991-2” eventually started the 1998-2000 war on the excuse to regain the Bademe area which he called it “meaningless or senseless” later on.
(8) Although every reasonable government and organization of the world is asking the two Ethio-Eritrean tyrants to enter into unequivocal dialogue, demarcate the boarder and provide Ethiopia and its 80 million population an outlet to the sea, out of empty pride and sheer contempt both Afeworki and Zenawi keep on refusing to arrive at feasible solutions; in fact both have given deaf ears to pleas and suggestions for negotiated settlement coming from the world community.
(9) Particularly, Afeworki and his dictatorial regime keep on taking provocative stance including evicting the UN-peace keeping mission from the buffer zones.
(10) Afeworki’s and Zenawi’s contemptuous and despotic policies seem not to open the space for bringing peace and fair universal suffrage including opening the access to Assab Seaport; rather, both leaders exert their despotic power on both Eritrean and Ethiopian public. As a matter of fact, neither Eritrean nor Ethiopian will benefit out of the decisions made by these senseless war-mongering dictators; except Afeworki’s and Zenawi’s diehard cohorts. War with Eritrea’s neighborhood is Afeworki’s hidden agenda for suppressing internal uprisings; and crying foul while ready to invade is Zenawi’s outright military tactic.
(11) Eritrean youths are fleeing the country by thousands simply to escape anticipated war and tired of lingering in the boring SAWA-military garrisons where there is unilateral life-style of fighting and carrying arms.
Diaspora Ethiopian and Eritrean communities as well as the international community at large remain keen witnesses to the fact that arrogant dictator Issaias Afeworki had, since the start, been rejecting the path of peace. Viewing the quest for peace through its warped vision of military exigency, Afeworki has demonstrated an appetite for the peaceful option when faced with military defeat, while rejecting that same option when it believed it had the upper hand. In the end, Afeworki ensured the failure of the Algiers peace talks with its customary intransigent positions; but to no avail of viable solutions.
That means the fate of Eritrea to date remains in limbo and in stiff stalemate. The Eritrean elite community that helped in the write-up of fictitious arguments about Eritrea’s colonial claims seems silent as the despotic Afeworki continued to rule his people hard-handed and given them a blow calling these elites as self-aggrandized capitalist running dogs.
Grave Diggers Dumped into Despotic Ditches
Whereas Afeworki’s Shaabia regime in Eritrea prohibits “ethnic-self determination up to secession” doctrine within Eritrean bounds of nine (9) distinct ethnic sub-regions; Afeworki continues to advocate for national unity and integrated cohabitation policy within a united Eritrea run under one flag, one nation and one leader; and that leader is – Issayas Afeworki. Likewise, Afeworki strictly works to bring into semblance the two common religions (Christian and Muslim) existing within Eritrea.On the contrary to the Eritrean outlook, Afeworki and his tyrannical regime persistently preach and persuade ethnic-led manipulative political leadership within Ethiopia. Indeed, the Shaabia tailored motto for Eritrea reads: “United we stand; divided we fall”.Decades back, the motto tailored by Afeworki and his Shaabia cohorts for likely consumption by liberation fronts’ coming from Ethiopia reads: “Divided we stand firm; united we fall.” Hence, Afeworki’s manipulative and ethnic-led political whim establishes its “national self-determination” notion on the basis of what was fictitiously fabricated, exclusively tailored, spear-headed and spread with clandestine intents made between Afeworki and Zenawi to enhance the good-old Shaabia’s principal dream of keeping a divided and weakened Ethiopia at bay. But this same tactic is negatively affecting both regimes. Tirelessly Afeworki is urging and supporting opposition groups like OLF, AFD, EPPF, UIC, Al Qaeda, G-7; while Zenawi is supporting Eritrean opposition groups led by Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) embracing 13 sisterly Eritrean political organizations.To this day, I have never ever read, heard or witnessed the kind of crime and animosity done by any other leader against one’s own citizen and nation as is happening with Afeworki and Zenawi. By virtue of their affinity and kin-tie, the former remains tyrannical forcing Eritrean people to dwell within labour and SAWA camps and pay by their sweats, tears and blood in the name of self-sufficiency; while the latter keeps Ethiopia as a land-locked nation where tribally divisive polity of Kilil keeps on killing consistently the nationhood and national spirits of Ethiopians by each day that goes by. Afeworki and Zenawi can fool some people some of the time; but they cannot fool all the Eritrean & Ethiopian people at all times. Consequently, they are paying the price for their malicious actions in the same manner as they incurred their tyrannical acts on their own nations and peoples.
TPLF continues to hold power in Ethiopia under gun-points and have no respect at all towards the nation and its people. When and if needed, it uses TPLF’s specially trained invading forces that shoot and kill on the spot mercilessly; and takes everything it feels important for its advantages and mere existence. The entire TPLF cohorts are buying time simply by snatching Welqite-Tsegede, Tselmet, Alem Wouha Zuria, Woldiya, Kobbo, Alamata and other nearby places from Gonder and Wollo regions and keeping them within the newly devised bounds of Greater-Tigray. To any rational minded person this reflects TPLF’s bad-ego and self-centred thinking. For as long as Ethiopians at home are left without quickly healing from this TPLF–spread hate-cancer (which is founded on TPLF’s Ethnic Apartheid policy known as Kilil), Ethiopia will regress backwards and continue to allow TPLF to play its deception, scam, hoax and swindle, smoke and mirrors by shading snake oil and strengthening tribal centers and fortifications; while at the same time pretentiously pushing tribal-power to the regional institutions for its own full power-control in all of the six regions designated within TPLF’s amputated Ethiopia where parties and communities are instructed to play within the bounds of TPLF’s ethnically divisive political cards only.
At the end of the day, the outcomes of these actions has left the two sisterly populations with 2-distinct geopolitical controversies that still remain as key sources of constant tensions; that may even trigger bloody conflicts and war. These unresolved 2-weak-points of EPLF and TPLF include, but not limited to, the following quarries: (a) the 1000km long border disputes between Ethiopia and Eritrea are not yet demarcated; will this be realized at all? (b) Ethiopia’s access to the sea has never been a point of discussion for Zenawi’s dictatorial regime. Would Assab port remain unresolved? Would Assab be inclusive during future settlement attempts? Or would it indefinitely remain as a source of tension between the two sisterly nations?
What do these conditions mean to Ethiopian and Eritrean stakeholders? It means that stakeholders must immediately face the good, the bad and the ugly challenges intertwined within these two key national socio-economic issues. It means that it is high time for them to pave the way in which feasible or plausible solutions are arrived at in a timely manner. Stakeholders representing the two sisterly nations must talk the talk and walk the walk in order to arrive at palatable and sustainable solutions that can revitalize the socio-economic conditions there of.
But evident enough, Afeworki continues spreading his ethnic-venomous political propagation focused on sheer hate and revenges all around the region surrounding Eritrea. Contemptuously, Issayas Afeworki’s despotic regime continues to dig its own final grave as his own malicious deeds and creations are pushing him more and more towards his down fall from power. For instance, faced with tough times, the political and economic plights in Eritrea continue to cause untold exodus and dispersion of young Eritrean people due to Afeworki’s one-man tyrannical and oppressive regime. Although totally alienated from the rest of the world and from the African Union, Afeworki continues to commit flagrant violations of human rights by turning Eritrea into a country where democracy and justice are absent; where its population yearnings for independence and freedom are ultimately trapped in intimidation, indecency and serfdom. The time is becoming ripe enough for consistent challenges coming not only from its neighbouring countries but mainly from Eritrean opposition groups operating in Diaspora. One such group is the Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA) embracing 13 sisterly Eritrean political organizations. In its 9-year on operation, the EDA has laid out its strategy, on how to dismantle and up-root Afeworki’s persistently repressive rule and tribulations eventually.
As far as Ethiopia’s socio-economic interest is concerned, no matter what comes may the issue of Assab Port must be resolved instantly with regard to Ethiopia’s rightful access to the sea. Otherwise, this may eventually become one of the serious points for popular opposition against the TPLF-led dictatorial regime. Possible rationales for the access to the Assab seaport concern the following 4-points: (1) Ethiopia needs an outlet to the sea in order to maintain its socio-economic interests and geopolitical security; (2) for quite a long while, prior to 1935 and between 1952 and 1990 Assab Port used to be part of during which time this Port was prearranged by TPLF to be given as a good-will gesture to Eritrea without asking the consent of 80 million Ethiopian population; (3) the 1993 Eritrean referendum was conducted on emergency grounds; without formally carrying-out the border demarcation prior to the 1993 de facto Eritrean independence inauguration date; (4) keeping Ethiopia landlocked will prolong the suffering of both the Eritrean and Ethiopia peoples since it will remain the source of constant tension and fear factor for any future skirmishes between the two nations.
Putting contempt and empty pride aside, Eritrea becomes a stable nation when and only when it forges the proper geopolitical ingredients for enhancing mutual coexistence with Ethiopia. Peace, stability and economical prosperity will shrine in Eritrea only when Assab Port is left as Ethiopia’s legitimate corridor to the sea.

Time to Dismantle Ethio-Eritrean Despotism to its Demise

By Alex Birhanu / February 10, 2009

Under Issayas Afeworki, the despotic god-father of pirates and terrorism, Eritrea succeeded to enter into a series of conflicts with all its neighbors indiscriminately since 1994; while at the same time internally skirmishing aggressively with the soul freedom fighting Afar peoples along the Red Sea Coastal areas.

To add insult into injury, the conflict between Eritrea and Djibouti is still lingering on the desks and files of the Security Council of the United Nations in New York without getting its due response.

Currently, due to persisting misfortunes both at home and abroad, Issaias Afeworki’s tyranny is temporarily ailing its political stance beyond repair and only counts the arrival of its doomsday. All its Machiavellian tactics of governance by using spy soldiers at home and by spreading terrorist tactics using voluntarily allied foot-soldiers have collapsed and all its cards are likewise burnt-out. The arrogant fascist branded totalitarian dictator - Issaias Afeworki’s Shaabia regime has gone to the extent of harboring fundamentalists and dashed into Somalia simply to simply quench the desires of his fund raising friends among few Arab governments but in vain. By now, Issaias knows it better that he is just buying time; he knows it well too that he can no longer collect Diaspora funds through Eritrean youths spread all over the globe. Obviously, the totalitarian mantle and dictatorial road which Issaias Afeworki’s despotic regime has chosen to move on may buy him a little while; but definitely his tyrannical tyrant regime can no longer continue tossing terrorism until his ultimate downfall is realized sooner or later.

Deceitful Political Deal

What was invented, willed, devised and kept alive for their strategic alliance since 1975 between God-father-Issayas Afeworki and his junior-Meles Zenawi was exercised more so in a reversed order between 1991 and 1997. As such Zenawi became the foremost runner on Eritrean secession matters while Afeworki pretended as his subordinate until he secured the momentum for acquiring most of what he initially aspired for. The inept excuses these two despotic principal dictators gave for their step-by-step actions of the time were mainly two-pronged: (1) that of the emergency situation of the aftermath of war in both countries as a priority issue to be given due attention.; and (2) the need for a transitional charter in order to endorse the de facto independence of Eritrea as equally crucial.

To this effect the July 14, 1991 conference in Addis Ababa was led by Dictator Zenawi who tirelessly pressured on TPLF / EPRDF partisans to adopt a new ‘Charter’, wherein he made it clear to participants that “… no individual, group, or party, including the TPLF / EPRDF itself, was there because of democratic mandate from the Ethiopian people. No one was deputized by the express will of the people but because of martial victory or support thereof. Hence soon after the Conference TPLF / EPRDF issued the “charter” with the primary aim to endorse the de facto independence of Eritrea; while at the same time to introduce its own ethnic-federal rules within Ethiopia” [For details see 2 & 3].

At the time, Herman Cohen who brokered the 1991 soft-landing of the TPLF / EPRDF in Addis Ababa and that of the EPLF in Asmara told the Conference stating: “… by not allowing Ethiopia a country of 70 million people access to the sea - if this is not the crime of the century then it is the biggest mistake of the agreement”. In the conference room, Herman further took Zenawi aside and told him: “… look you got to negotiate access to the sea. For the interest of the country you are going to lead, for your name and for the name of the group that you lead, it is very important you do that.” All Zenawi did was: look straight into Cohen’s face, smiled and vanished into the conference room [For details see 2 & 2.1].

Also, Jimmy Carter, the ex-president of USA, who had known Zenawi as a close friend, also made further efforts in clarifying the crucial importance of bringing Ethiopia’s access to the sea to the negotiation table. In his words: “Look Mr. Zenawi, you got to bring this issue to the table. It doesn’t matter weather Eritrea agrees on it or not; … put it on the table and leave it there. A future generation of the two countries will deal with it. At least you will not be responsible for land-locking 70 million people. For Christ sake you got to do it”. Again Zenawi looked into the eyes of former President Carter and remained speechless [For details see 2 & 2.1].

At the July 1993 National Conference for Peace and Democracy spear-headed by the TPLF / EPRDF regime, both the late Professor Asrat Weldeyes and the late Dr. Mekonnen Bishaw expressed their resistant reservations about the mandate or legitimacy of the conferees to make such principal and fundamental decisions involving the severing act of component parts of the people and territory of Ethiopia. These two gentlemen questioned two basic faults being committed at the time, namely: (1) the tactic in which the Conference participants were selected; and (2) the decisions passed regarding the eventual Eritrean cessation. Procedurally, they reiterate resiliently the equivocal need for a national referendum conducted both by the Ethiopian and Eritrean people alike, but in vain [For details see 4].

Notwithstanding several appeals and requests made by senior personalities in defense of Ethiopian interests and rightful proprietorship on key resources, the TPLF / EPRDF regime decided to bring its agencies into play to engage in lobbying, facilitating and in taking active steps to urge the international community and key agencies including the United Nations to make the Eritrean myth and dream come true; so that the new Eritrea could acquire its de facto independence from Ethiopia. Meanwhile, in such crucial national matter, the war weary Ethiopian people were never consulted by the contemptuous TPLF / EPRDF regime. Instead they were told that the government was taking essential steps for Ethiopians’ own good; in Meles Zenawi’s own view, with independence of Eritrea, Ethiopia could safely put its own home in order and do its own business of nation-building made as the result of the peace and tranquility with Eritrea [For details see 3].

Connecting to Cut-off

In the next four years stretching between 1993-1997, Eritrean citizens were heavily engaged in their own nation building while at the same time using the Ethiopian currency to conduct both Eritrea’s domestic and foreign businesses; the Ethiopian air lines became its de facto air carrier; and true to form, Eritrea, a country that didn’t grow a single coffee tree, became the main coffee exporter of the region. To one’s dismay, Eritrean citizens were provided more access to major Ethiopian public and private business resources than ordinary Ethiopians within Ethiopia. Afeworki, the Eritrean strong man, the architect God-father known for setting-up of pirates and politico-business kiosks within Eritrea for all sorts of so called liberation fronts(LFs), was hailed as the persona of wisdom and vision whose intelligence was so compelling that those very close to him and benefited from his mentorship needn’t worry about acquiring university education! This period was remarked as a grand period for Eritrea’s short-lived progress [For details see 3].
As far as Eritrean independence is concerned, the conspiracy, the frictions and factions that have been taking place endlessly during the last 18 years are all remaining in limbo. To this day, there has never been any official border demarcation laid on the ground between Ethiopia and Eritrea. (1) The de facto independence waged by Afeworki and his tyrannical junta through coercion on his people stating: “if you vote red you will be dead”; (2) the give-away action taken by Meles Zenawi and his despotic fascist-fed-army through denial of the right to the Ethiopian people from participating in the process of referendum; and (3) the continued suppression being made by Meles Zenawi’s dictatorial regime on Ethiopians not to reclaim Assab Port as Ethiopia’s rightful outlet to the sea; are all implicitly null and void; and a matter of time to revert.
Amidst all these geo-political chaos, both Ethiopian and Eritrean peoples are suffering due to the despotic, tyrannical regimes holding the government seats by force.
Suffice to mention what the well-known modern history professor, Dr. Tekeste Negash, time and again has pointed out: “Myths in whatever form they appear do more harm than good. Unfortunately Eritrean nationalist thought and practice is replete with myths; … and in the process of myth-building, Eritrean myth-builders were actively assisted by the present government in Ethiopia.” [For details see 4].

Obviously, the myth telling about Eritrean state shall decompose by itself soon and come to the fore for as long as Ethiopians are united and stand firm not to buy the false myth being propagated by TPLF / EPRDF and EPLF alike. More so Ethiopians should be careful of the gangs of Ginbot-7 who once were voluntarily ganging-up and dancing to the pipe tune of Meles Zenawi. Now these wolves and gangs of G-7 have resorted to gang-up with and dance to the pipe-tune of Eritrea’s Afeworki. Unless we are hand-cuffed and blind folded, the gang of G-7 will never succeed to draw us into the already failed Afeworki’s camp of totalitarian tyranny. We should no longer contemplate to look into the Meles and Afeworki’s conspired camps that ultimately resulted in breeding and spreading reign of tyranny, fascism, totalitarianism, contemptible despotism in the region. Rather we should look for other options to liberate Ethiopia from the yoke of tribally laden totalitarian and tyrannical regimes we face today.
In Tekeste’s own words: “Gone are the days when Eritrean partisans believed about the strategic and economic importance of Eritrea to Ethiopia. Also the myths of Eritrean economy and Eritrean entrepreneurship have been greatly weakened. … Eritrea is a resource poor country, and as long its resources remain what they are, Ethiopia will remain as the most important partner. This economic argument does not take into account the common history and culture. … The political and economic realities of an independent Eritrea are quickly leading to a revision of earlier perceptions. During the war of independence it was commonly believed that Eritrea was more important to Ethiopia. As the negative impact of Eritrean secession on Ethiopia does not seem to be so noticeable, one can argue that Ethiopia is far more important to Eritrea.” [For details see 5].

These critical national issues are still without proper replies. The sooner an all out unity of Ethiopian political groups is formed to take over power, a lasting justice will be done to matters left lofty by the two contemptuous and despotic dictators that keep on tossing a one-man-show on each side of the Ethio-Eritrea isles.

Conclusive Comments

In conclusion as regards Eritrea, Afeworki can no longer continue to fool Eritreans in Diaspora. No matter how much Shaabia is trying to deceive all eyes watching Afeworki’s single-handedly led totalitarian regime, Eritreans are alertly observing the troubled, drained and domineering EPLF regime; and are taking it with bitter salt. Some are even daring to air-out by waging enough is enough.
At either side of the isles, corrective actions must be operational without any delay; the voices and choices of the people must be given the upper hand to take their fate in their own hands. The ever growing and ongoing - one man show – and protagonist political platform, characterized for the most part by brutal dictatorial governance and despotic polity within the Ethio-Eritrea bounds must be clogged once and for all.

In particular, as regards the current situation in Ethiopia, let me site from the recent message of Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam: “If we want to see a more just and equitable society in Ethiopia, a country where the rule of law is supreme and where government fears its people, each one of us must act. Every Ethiopian is a power for good or evil. We have to make the choice to be a force for good. By every thought we contemplate and act we perform, we can bring about greater unity and harmony among the people. This is a burden of responsibility we carry for ourselves now, and for the next generation. The power of one for good or evil can not be underestimated. We have seen for nearly two decades how one man with a small group of henchmen has been able to destroy an entire nation. What we must also see is that many individuals working together can heal the wounds inflicted upon our country and set it on course to its glorious destiny.” [For details see 6]. In all fairness, we need a leader who will balance the power base and will bring lots of prosperity and dignity to Ethiopians of all walks of life. Afeworki and Zenawi have been in power for so long and enough is enough. No one should be more equal than the other. We need egalitarian and democratic framework to start with and leadership that is ready to serve the nations and its peoples vested interests harmoniously. Indeed, we have come a long way and sacrificed dearly in dispensing with the 2 despotic Ethio-Eritrean dictators. Don’t let new tyrants from the inner circle of Afeworki or Zenawi come into our lives any more.

Foot Notes
[1] Source: Mekonnen Kassa, Ethiopia – It is all about access to the sea – 01/24/07 http://nazret.com/blog/index....&tb=1&pb=1[1.1] Source:[2] Source: Agere Aleme, Time to regain the hitherto lost political chances – Dec. 27, 2006. http://www.abugidainfo.com/www.ethioforum.org/For...t=681.html[2.1] Source: Indian Ocean Newsletter N° 1208 17/02/2007[3] Source: Professor Negussay, Commentary On the 12/12/00 Ethiopia-Eritrea Algiers ‘Peace’ Deal; http://www.ethiopians.com/Views/Commentary_on_AlgiersDeal.htm[4] Source: Prof. Tekeste Negash – Eritrea and Ethiopia: From Cooperation to Competition; May 2, 1998. http://www.geocities.com/~dagmawi/News/News_Aug18_TekesteNegash.html[5] Source: Ibid. http://www.geocities.com/~dagmawi/News/News_Aug18_TekesteNegash.html[6] Source: Prof. Alemayehu G. Mariam, Ethiopians United Can Never be Defeated!http://nazret.com/blog/index.php?blog=15&title=ethiopians_united_can_never_be_defeated&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

BBC : UN in Eritrea pull-out ultimatum

UN in Eritrea pull-out ultimatum
The UN Security Council has given Eritrea a five-week ultimatum to withdraw its forces from a disputed border region with Djibouti.
The UN resolution also called for Eritrea to remove its military equipment from the Ras Doumeira region and the island of Doumeira.
A number of people died in June last year during clashes between Djibouti and Eritrea over the area.
The French-drafted resolution demanded Eritrea "comply immediately".
It also welcomed the fact that Djibouti had pulled out its forces from the disputed areas, as requested by the Security Council last June and condemned Eritrea's refusal to do so.
Since Eritrea gained independence in 1993, the Horn of Africa country has been involved in two serious conflicts over territory with its neighbours.
As well as last June's clashes over the Ras Doumeira promontory on the shores of the Red Sea, there have been confrontations between Djibouti and Eritrea in 1996 and 1999.
Last October, the US warned Eritrea that it faced "appropriate action" from the UN if it refused to co-operate to resolve its border dispute with Djibouti peacefully.
The impasse has assumed a greater strategic significance because both France and the US have bases in Djibouti, a former French colony.
The US has more than 1,200 troops there as part of its anti-terrorism task force in the Horn of Africa.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/7829406.stmPublished: 2009/01/14 18:33:23 GMT© BBC MMIX