By Kaleyesus Bekele -Saturday, 09 January 2010

A student died in a riot that erupted last Thursday at the Technical College of Ardayta College in the Western Arsi Zone of the Oromia Regional State.

Some students of the college told The Reporter that there were long standing disputes between the students and the management of the college. According to eye witnesses, the students smashed windows of classrooms and the library in the premises of the college. They said the students also broke the glasses of vehicles belonging to the college.

Members of the Oromia police who were called in by the college administration shot three students the witnesses said, adding one of the students passed away after he was taken to Assela Hospital. The other two students who were wounded are being treated at Yirgalem Hospital.

An official working at the college's administration and finance department said that there were only eight policemen who tried to quell the riot in which all the challenge's students participated. The official confirmed the death of the student. He added body was sent to his family in Kemisse town in the Amahara Regional State.

The official said the riot flared up following the students' grievance with the outcome of the election of different committees in the college.

The Oromia Police in Western Arsi Zone were not available for comment.

http://en.ethiopianreporter.com/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2128&pop=1&page=0&Itemid=26

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Kidnappings and Disappearances of Students in Southern Ethiopia | HRLHA
January 10, 2010

An urgent appeal letter from the Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) – Urgent Action No. 8 January 2010

January 8, 2010

Your Excellency Prime Minister Meles Zenawi
PO Box 1031
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Tel. 251 11 1552044 or 251 11 1113241
Fax: +251 11 1552030

In a recently launched wave of kidnappings and arrests against students in southern Ethiopia, three Oromo students of the Awassa University have so far disappeared; and the extra-judicial action against students is said to have continued.

According to HRLHA informants in the area,

1. Nagga Gezaw, second year Civil Engineering student, and

2. Dhaba Girre, third year Management student

were kidnapped and taken away from the university campus by members of the security and police forces of the Federal Government of Ethiopia on the 5th of January 2010 while Jatani Wario, second year Co-operative student, was taken away from the campus in the same manner by the same kind of forces on the 6th of January 2010. The whereabouts of the three Oromo students were not known ever since they were kidnapped by the government security and police forces. HRLHA informants have learnt, though it has been difficult to trace and document, that there are more students that have faced the same fate and might be in the same situations as a result of these most recent extra-judicial actions.

According to some insiders, the kidnapping and disappearance of the three Oromo students of the Awassa University is related to the students’ movement taking place in Gujii/Borena Zone of Oromia Regional State – which was triggered by the alleged poisoning and contamination of local rivers and stream waters by uncontrolled and/or unregulated waste products from the activities of gold mining industry at Lega Dembi.

During the UN’s Universal Periodic Review of Ethiopia on December 9, 2009, the Ethiopian delegation testified in front of the member states that there were no human rights abuses in Ethiopia; and guaranteed that any form of human rights abuses would never be committed. However, within a one month time, the bad human rights record of the Ethiopian government has surfaced once again.

The Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) expresses its deep concern over the safety and well-being of the three Oromo students and others. Given the very bad record of the Ethiopian prison officials and the worst situations of prisons in Ethiopia, as confirmed and reported on by many regional and international human rights agencies as well as diplomatic bodies, the case of the three Oromo students becomes very worrisome.

HRLHA calls upon governments of the West, all local, regional and international human rights agencies to join hands and demand the immediate halt of such kinds of extra-judicial kidnappings, mass arrest and imprisonment of innocent students and other civilians by the Ethiopian government.

The HRLHA is a non-political and non-profit organization that is engaged in challenging abuses of human rights of the people of various nations and nationalities in the Horn of Africa. It works on defending fundamental human rights including freedoms of thought, expression, movement and association. It also works on raising the awareness of individuals about their own fundamental human rights and that of others. It encourages the observances as well as due processes of law. It promotes the growth and development of free and vigorous civil societies.

Garoma Wakessa – Executive Director
Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA)

Cc:

Ministry of Federal Affairs
Siraj Fegisa
P.o.Box 5718, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel 251 11 1512766 or 5159330
Ministry of Justice
Brihan Hailu
PO Box 1370, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: +251 11 1517755
+251 11 1515099 or 15157950
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Federal Commissioner of Police
Mr Workneh Gebeyehu, Federal Police Commission, Ministry of Federal Affairs
PO Box 5068, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Simone Joseph – Foreign Affairs Officer
U.S. Department of State
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights & Labor
Washington, D.C. 20037
Tel: +1-202-261-8009
Fax: +1-202-261-8197
Joseph, Simone O (DRL) [mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ]
European Commission Delegation to Ethiopia
Paola Cerea – Human Rights Project officer
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Fax: + 41 22 917 9022
(particularly for urgent matters)
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR)
48 Kairaba Avenue, P.O.Box 673, Banjul,
The Gambia.
Tel: (220) 4392 962 , 4372070, 4377721 – 23
Fax: (220) 4390 764
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Amnesty International – London
Telephone: +44-20-74135500
Fax number: +44-20-79561157
Human Rights Watch – New York, Tel: +1-212-290-4700
Fax:+1-212-736-1300
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Souce: HumanRightsLeague.com

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Ethiopian Students Kidnapped By Security Forces For Protesting The Contamination Of Local Rivers - Advocacy for Ethiopia

By Admin On January 12, 2010

Advocacy for Ethiopia (AFE) is concerned about the safety of three Ethiopian students abducted by Ethiopian government security forces.

The three students:

Nagga Gezaw,

Jatani Wario and

Dhaba Girre

are students at Awasa University. According to sources inside Ethiopia, the abduction and kidnapping of the three students is related to the students’ involvement in protesting the contamination of local rivers and streams from waste products of the gold mining industry at Lega Danbi.

The three students were kidnapped and taken away from the university campus by members of the security and police forces of the Federal Government of Ethiopia in early part of January 2010. To date, the whereabouts of the three students are not known.

In past years, international human rights organizations have repeatedly documented the harsh treatments that Ethiopian security forces commit on detainees. Past human rights violations also show a pattern of detainees being beaten, food and medical treatments denied.

Advocacy for Ethiopia is concerned about the safety and well being of the three students and urgently demands their release. Advocacy for Ethiopia condemns these types of kidnappings and arrests, and calls on all who believe in the rule of law to call for the immediate halt to these kinds of violations of human rights.
Furthermore, to facilitate an environment that is free of oppression and intimidation; Advocacy for Ethiopia demands the release of all political prisoners prior to the upcoming general elections to be held in Ethiopia in May 2010.

Advocacy for Ethiopia is a global coalition of civic groups that advances human rights, the rule of law, good governance, the protection of the environment and socially and ecologically sustainable development in Ethiopia. Contact:

P. O. Box 892, El Segundo, CA 90245-0892. USA
www.advocacyforethiopia.org
Tel: 202-386-3037
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

http://www.abugidainfo.com/?p=13113&print=1

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Anti-Somalia, Anti-Ogaden Falsehood of Western Academia: Fabrication of Fake Ethiopian History

Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
January 10, 2010

Most of the troubles attested in Eastern Africa are not due to the racist and barbaric elites of the Amhara and Tigray-ruled Abyssinia. By themselves, the rancorous, hatred-promoting, Monophysitic (Tewahedo) Abyssinians would never be able to expand their influence outside the small and arid land which is theirs, and which will be finally left to them.

Similarly, most of the plights occurred in the wider Horn of Africa region are not due to the colonial diplomats and military who repeatedly tormented the area, spreading death and facilitating genocides.

The main reason for the Hell, in which numerous Kushitic and Nilo-Saharan African nations find themselves engulfed, is the evil, fallacious literature that has been ceaselessly composed by Anglo-French academia and systematically diffused worldwide in a peremptory way in order to deceive all possible players.

Foe identification is the task no 1 for all the terrorized and tyrannized nations of Eastern Africa from Sudan´s Furis, Nuer, Dinka and Bejas to Abyssinia´s Afars, Oromos, Sidamas, and Ogadenis, and from Kenya´s Somalis, Oromos and Luos to the multi-divided Somalis.

What actually condemned all these nations to underdevelopment, tyranny, and even genocide is what stands at the origin of the European colonialism: a false perception of African History, a premeditated falsification of the historical past of many great African nations, and a systematic diffusion of the falsehood that the Anglo-French Freemasonic academia meticulously elaborated during the past two centuries.

Egyptology, Coptology, Islamology, African Studies, Kushitic Studies, Berberic Studies, and every other Orientalist discipline that has been developed with a focus on an African civilization is the result of a vicious and villainous will to superimpose Europe´s mediocre, poor and unauthentic past over the irreversible reality of six (6) millennia of great and genuine, inventive and unsurpassed Asiatic and African civilizations. Compared to them, the ancestors of today´s Europeans were low, ignorant, trashy, lewd, barbaric and cannibalistic.

Africans Programmed to Total Extinction

Worse than this, the falsification that has been methodically elaborated, systematically diffused worldwide (by means of many tricks), and tyrannically imposed on all Africans (by means of colonial rule) has another – definitely more inhuman – raison d'être: the production of socioeconomic, educational, cultural and political developments that will lead all the survivors of genuine African civilizations to total extinction.

False interpretation of the past could just be a researcher´s mistake, which is a possibility for every human. But dozens of thousands of lies involved in the fabrication of a pseudo-African History, geared only to eliminate all Africans by means of cultural, religious, socio-behavioural and even physical genocide, are not a coincidence, let alone a mistake. They are the elements of a fake reality that, projected on all Africans, becomes the means of the unnatural and cruel justification of today´s Africa´s troublesome situation.

The elaboration of the evil and inhuman Anti-African falsehood needs a 100-volumed encyclopedia to be enlisted, let alone commented. The interaction between Freemasonic Anglo-French academia and diplomacy brings the falsehood produced in institutes, universities, research centers and academia to the corridors of foreign ministries, embassies and decision making centers and lobbies.

Thence, the criminal Anti-African act is exported to the puppet regimes and the tyrants that the Anglo-French colonial power fittingly enthroned in the fallaciously divided continent. These gangster-like local elites, only to obtain the permission of further staying in power, do implement and enforce these lies, false concepts and anti-African interpretations of the African History at the local level; and this happens at the prejudice of all the indigenous nations that are thus menaced with ultimate extinction.

The falsehood diffusion process has been intensified with the involvement of mass media that generate tones of fallacious reports, analyses, and commentaries, thus totaling misleading either average Europeans and Americans or endangered Africans on the subject. Wikipedia represents only a more recent dimension of the intensified falsification of the African History. Every entry concerning African History, and Eastern African History more particularly, is full of falsifying data, innuendos, farfetched assumptions, and deliberate misinterpretations produced only to gear a most distorted version of "history". Truths are not said to leave therein enough space for lies.

False Contextualization of Events

In History, falsification takes very often the form of false contextualization of events; this means that, although the author mentions correctly an event that took place indeed, he misplaces it within a historical context that did not exist, and which is very difficult if not impossible for the average reader to detect, let alone refute.

Much of the falsification effort consists in skilful narratives, syntactical structures, and mere usage, involving attributive adjectives, resultative adjectives and the like – all correctly used in order to create a fake environment around the undisputed, but altered within its context, event. It takes strong skills in error analysis to detect this sort of falsification.

Of course, learned indigenous people with a background in the History of their nation are able to immediately identify the errors contained in a book or article about their past, but the Freemasonic colonial elite counts on the limited scope of these persons´ possible reaction.

In other words, an English historian or political scientist, who writes in order to falsify the History of Somalia, ´knows´ that the Somalis, who can easily demonstrate the fallacious nature of his text, have no access to mass media and publication houses allover the world to refute and discredit him.

They count on the fact that the inhuman tyranny imposed on almost all Africans nations reduces their life scope to mere survival, and thus they feel that their hands are free to further propagate their Anti-African falsehood.

In itself, their historical forgery´s political use that they intend to make is all that matters for them. Studying the history itself of the Orientalist disciplines helps discover how they maneuver politically the academic falsehood that they produce, and by projecting this situation into the future, one can anticipate further developments.

As the subject is vast, and the falsification effort was materialized in thousands of articles, entries and books, I intend to unveil the falsification contained in a single text, by progressively refuting all points of falsification.

This method serves as model for many young African scholars and students who want to counterattack and outmaneuver the Freemasonic Anglo-French conspiracy against Africa in its entirety.

I will therefore be publishing excerpts of a 20-page article about Somalia, criticizing the errors point by point. For this purpose, I selected the article "The Ogaden: A Microcosm of Global Conflict" by Ezekiel Rediker.

Ezekiel Rediker is a Senior at Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he wrote this paper for Mr. Paul Schaltenbrand´s U.S. History course in the 2003-2004 academic year. This article was selected by the Concord Review (http://www.tcr.org/tcr/essays.htm) for the Emerson Prize, so this means that in the United States, there are academic institutions (http://www.tcr.org/about.htm) that offer prizes and awards for the forgers, the falsifiers and the deceivers. For a country where people accepted with almost no protest that their monies be effectively stolen (in the form of trillion dollar level bailout) by the Wall Street plutocracy, this does not necessarily mean much. It does mean however much for the Ogadenis and the other Somalis because it demonstrates that they are all targeted for national annihilation and physical extinction.

I will therefore be progressively republishing excerpts, commenting, and refuting the fallacies contained in the said article. Latin numbers inserted in the text correspond to points of my commentary. Modern European numbers in the text corresponds to the author´s footnotes.

The Ogaden: A Microcosm of Global Conflict

By Ezekiel Rediker

The British author Salman Rushdie (I) once said: "To be Somali is to be a people united by one language and divided by maps."1 Rushdie was referring to the colonization of East Africa by European powers, a process that split the Somali people (II) and created enormous havoc in its wake. After the "Scramble for Africa", European nations did not respect ethnic and tribal boundaries as they created new states. (III) They divided the region inhabited by the large and geographically dispersed Somali tribe into Italian, British, and French protectorates. After Africa won its independence from Europe, borders were redrawn again. Four nations with significant Somali populations were created: Somalia, Ethiopia (IV), Kenya, and later Djibouti.

Yet independence did not create stability. Within a decade, Somalia´s dictator, (V) Siad Barre, an advocate of Somali pan-nationalism, (VI) attempted to unify the five regions that comprised "Greater Somalia." (VII) These included the two former British and Italian protectorates that formed the country of Somalia, the Northern Frontier Districts of Kenya, the former French Somaliland, which became the Republic of Djibouti, and the Ogaden and Haud regions of Ethiopia. Barre´s idea of Somali pan-nationalism eventually led to a major war over the Ogaden region with Ethiopia, intense Cold War rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States, (VIII) and finally the collapse of Somalia. (IX) The Ogaden war not only helped to destroy Somalia, but had brutal repercussions in neighboring countries as well. To this day, guerilla warfare continues in the Ogaden region, (X) and the Somali Ethiopians (XI) of the region continue to suffer tremendously. (XII) The historic conflicts over the Ogaden are complex, involving longstanding ethnic rivalries, Asian and European imperialism, Cold War competition, and tribal nationalism. (XIII) The Ogaden is thus a microcosm of the many forces that have shaped the history of the African continent.

Commentary

(I) In the first line of his text, the author demonstrates his partial stance, helping every criticism, and infuriating any objective reader. Referring to the most loathed and most despised person among all the Muslims of the earth is a provocation against all the Somalis. As such, it discredits the author from the first moment. It is precisely the same with someone writing the History of Judaism and mentioning in the first line of his book Hitler´s views of the Jews.

Using terms and expressions about Somalia that have been aired by a renegade of Islam is an insult against the Muslim nation of the Somalis, and clearly demonstrates the premeditated nature of the entire undertaking. Knighted by the queen of England, Salman Rushdie merely added insult to infamy. The disastrous beginning heralds an ominous text.

(II) The term ´people´ is wrongly used here; whenever we refer to several historical periods (and the author covers the span of five – out of 35 – centuries of Somali History), we have to use the term ´nation´. ´People´ is the correct term when refer to present times or only to one historical period in the past. When we refer to the times of Caesar, we can use the term the ´Roman people´; if we refer to the Romans diachronically, we have to use the term the ´Roman nation´.

In this case, the author tries to deprive the Somalis of their great past that eclipses by far the meager and unimportant past of the Amhara and Tigray Abyssinians who have become the tool of the evil colonial powers in Eastern Africa over the past two centuries. As such, and only because of this attempt, the author should be considered as an enemy of the Somali Nation and be dealt with accordingly, through denunciations and condemnations.

(III) The sentence may be correct, but it is said as if there are no moral consequences; yet, the evident repercussions of this evil Anglo-French Freemasonic plan involve more than a dozen of genocides perpetrated throughout Africa. Narrating this truth without any comment of moral content deprives the author from any humane character. It is as if writing the History of Modern Europe, an author states amongst other details that Hitler exterminated so many millions of people. It is unethical, and as such, evil. It sheds light on the rancorous personality of the author who writes only to deliberately falsify. This personality belongs exclusively to Freemasons.

(IV) The country´s name is Abyssinia. Using the false term ´Ethiopia´ means automatic contribution to, or support of, the multileveled and multifaceted genocides perpetrated by the Amhara and Tigray Ethiopianist gangsters. The term ´Ethiopia´ was used by the Ancient Greeks and Romans for the Kushitic state of Sudan; its modern use for the colonial state of Abyssinia consists in Crime against the Mankind. See: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/calling-abyssinia-as-ethiopia-part-of-the-oromo-ethiopian-genocide.html

(V) Improper use of a term that would be rejected by the majority of the Somalis. ´President Siad Barre´ is the correct term. It would be interesting to know whether the author would call Hassan II of Morocco a Butcher, and not a king. However, the use of this term merely adds perjury to falsehood.

(VI) Another false term; there has never been "Somali pan-nationalism", neither can it be. Such terms refer to an all-union of several peoples speaking similar languages; terms like Pan-Turkism, Pan-Turanism or Pan-Slavism are correct because they call for a union among Turks, Turkmen, Azeris, Uzbek and others (for the former two terms) or among Russians, Poles, Czechs, Serbs, Macedonians and others (for the latter term). But all the Somalis either in Ogaden or in Kenya and elsewhere speak the same language and are one nation.

And how should we call the criminal deeds of the English to illegally occupy Ireland and Scotland? Pan-Anglism?

Referring to the term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-nationalism

(VII) The term ´Greater Somalia´ is a metaphor; what corresponds to this term, as land and population, consists in mere expression of the Somali Nation´s wish to unite and form one nationhood. The term is void of any chauvinistic and nationalistic contents because it describes territories inhabited exclusively by Somalis.

Except, the villainous desire of the heinous author is to promote the permanent division of the Somali Nation. Such a desire, coming from a person so far and so irrelevant of the African reality, can only be due to bribery or chicanery.

(VIII) This assumption is totally false; the US did not support Somalia against the Soviet and Cuban armies that defended the illegal interests of the Amhara and Tigray cannibals. There was no "intense Cold War rivalry" because of the war between Somalia and the USSR.

(IX) This is another lie; there is no relationship between the defeat of the Somali army (1978) and the collapse of the Siad Barre administration (1990). The only link between the two events is the permanent, evil predisposition of the Freemasonic regimes of the colonial states of England and France against the Somali Nation. But this goes back to the beginning of the colonial times in Eastern Africa.

(X) There is no guerilla in Ogaden; there is a national liberation struggle against the illegal Abyssinian occupation of Ogaden. This predates the Ogaden War and the liberation effort undertaken by President Siad Barre. The Somalis of Ogaden never accepted the criminal and paranoid transfer of colonial territory from England to Abyssinia that occurred in the late 40s and the early 50s.

(XI) There are no ´Somali Ethiopians´; the subjugated Somalis of Ogaden have nothing in common with Abyssinia. They deny the right of that country to either occupy Ogaden or be called ´Ethiopia´, and they passionately act to irreversibly split and ultimately demolish the Hell ´Ethiopia´.

(XII) How comical! The author criminally lies by saying a half truth; yes, the Ogadenis are suffering. But because of whom? This is what the unethical character of the writer cannot afford to confess. Ogadenis suffer – as testified by the devastating HRW Report – because of the inhuman methods of tyranny, mass extermination and genocide applied against them by the racist Amhara and Tigray Abyssinian rulers, and more specifically the Meles Zenawi regime.

(XIII) Tribal nationalism is an inexistent term. A tribe is part of a nation, so there cannot be such a term, because its two components are contradictory to one another.

In a forthcoming article, I will republish and refute further parts of Ezekiel Rediker´s falsification effort.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/printFriendly/136027

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Anti-Somalia, Anti-Ogaden Falsehood of Western Academia: Fabrication of Fake Ethiopian History - 2

Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis -January 11, 2010

In an earlier article titled ´Anti-Somalia, Anti-Ogaden Falsehood of Western Academia: Fabrication of Fake Ethiopian History´ (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/136027), I specified as main reason for African nations´ multifaceted mistreatment, inhuman persecution, and severe endangerment the evil, fallacious literature that has been ceaselessly composed by Anglo-French academia and systematically diffused worldwide in a peremptory way in order to deceive all possible players.

People can be successfully programmed for extinction only if people are forced to believe that they are insignificant, trivial and marginal. The success of the imposition of the colonial model, the triumph of the Western colonial interference, and the prevalence of colonially promoted pseudo-states (´Ethiopia´, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, Niger, Kenya) are all due to a multifaceted program of falsification of the African History and the ensuing historical self- minimization, cultural under-evaluation, socio-behavioural self-deprecation, and national diminution.

The Anglo-French Freemasonic falsification of the African Past has been methodically elaborated, systematically diffused worldwide (by means of numerous trickeries), and tyrannically imposed on all Africans (through indigenous, financially corrupted, intellectually besotted, and locally imposed tyrants) in order to facilitate the Freemasonic – Zionist plan of mass extermination of all Africans.

Only when you convince an entire people that their nation´s value is next to nothing, you ensure that, plunged in despair, they will fail to react to the evil plans that target them, as they will be assuming their reaction as useless or ineffective.

To exemplarily refute an Anti-Somali, Anti-Ogadeni falsification of East Africa´s History, I selected the article "The Ogaden: A Microcosm of Global Conflict" by Ezekiel Rediker (http://www.tcr.org/tcr/essays.htm); I republished a first excerpt of the 20-page article about Somalia, Ogaden and Abyssinia (fallaciously renamed Ethiopia), and refuted the errors point by point.

In the present article, I will continue the republication and refutation of the aforementioned article´s excerpts. Latin numbers inserted in the text correspond to points of my commentary. Modern European numbers in the text corresponds to the author´s footnotes. In the present article, I also the bibliography used by the author.

The Ogaden: A Microcosm of Global Conflict

By Ezekiel Rediker

The History of Conflict: 1400-1855

To understand the conflict in the Ogaden during the 20th century, it is necessary to go back to the 15th century, when the Abyssinian Christian Empire, (I) the predecessor of modern day Ethiopia, (II) and the Muslim city-state of Ifat (III) fought periodic wars (IV) for control of the Ogaden region.2 (V) In the 16th century, the legendary Muslim general Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al Ghazi, or "Ahmed the Left-Handed," led an offensive (VI) that drove the Abyssinians out of the Ogaden. (VII) Ahmed the Left-Handed declared a Jihad (VIII) on the Abyssinian Empire (IX) and attempted to convert to Islam the peoples of the lands he conquered. (X) He was assisted by the Ottomans who supplied food and weaponry.3 (XI) Yet Ahmed the Left-Handed soon overreached himself, (XII) leading his troops deep (XIII) into Abyssinian territory. There, he was overwhelmed by the forces of the newly-expanded, (XIV) Portuguese-backed Abyssinian army. (XV) Having defeated the armies of Ahmed the Left-Handed, (XVI) the Abyssinian Empire (XVII) reclaimed the Ogaden.4 (XVIII)

The Abyssinians struck a crushing blow against the forces of the Muslim Sultanates and the Ottoman Turks. (XIX) They became the dominant power in the region. (XX) Fighting between the two powers ceased, (XXI) and Muslim herders, (XXII) who previously avoided the Ogaden because of hostilities with the Abyssinians, (XXIII) migrated to the region in large numbers.5 (XXIV)

Muslim herders began to bring their livestock to the Ogaden for annual pasturage. (XXV) They migrated in and out of the Ogaden according to rainfall, and combed the region for the most fertile grazing spots. These Muslim herders were ethnic Somalis, and to this day, the region is peopled almost entirely by their descendants.6 (XXVI)

The Ogaden thus became a land of Muslim Somali herders, (XXVII) a migratory people (XXVIII) who followed the predictable patterns of rain and pasturage. According to Dr. Said Samatar, the "precolonial Somali lived in a world of egalitarian anarchy."7 (XXIX) Somali nomads have no centralized government, and according to British anthropologist I.M. Lewis, this "lack of formal government (XXX) and of instituted authority is strongly reflected in their extreme independence and individualism."8 (XXXI)

Lewis also noted that the Somali nomad has "an extraordinary sense of superiority as an individual" (XXXII) and believes that he is "subject to no other authority except that of God."9 (XXXIII) Various Somali tribes fought wars over territory and cattle, and a delicate power-sharing balance was created to preserve cordial relations between the clans. Fierce clan loyalty and the refusal (XXXIV) to accept a centralized Somali government later contributed to the collapse of the Somali state in the 1990s.10 (XXXV)

Between the late 16thcentury and the early 19th century, the peoples of the Ogaden lived largely in peace. They were relatively unaffected by the struggle between Arab merchants and the indigenous Somali clans for control of East African seaports (XXXVI) such as Mogadishu, Bimal, Merka, and Baraawe. As herders, people of the Ogaden did not play a major role in the slave trade, which was the primary cause for conflict between ethnic Somalis and Arab traders.11 (XXXVII)

Footnotes

1 Salman Rushdie, "Somalians are not Ethiopians,"

Washington Post (July 6, 1991) p. a17

2 Marian Aguiar, ed., Encyclopedia Africana: Third Edition

(Microsoft, 2000) s.v. "Ogaden"

3 Gamal Nkrumah, "Dichotomies and Dilemmas" (2003)

Available Online at http://www.uneca.org/water/

dichot_dilemmas.htm.

4 Ibid.

5 Aguiar

6 Graham Hancock, "Somalia: Wounds of Nationalism that will not Heal," New African Development Journal 11 (1977) pp. 634-635

7 Said Samatar, Somalia: a Nation in Turmoil (London,

The Minority Rights Group, 1991) p. 6

8 Ibid., p. 6

9 Ibid., p. 6

10 Ibid., pp. 6-8

11 Lee Cassanelli, The Shaping of Somali Society

(Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982) (no page given)

Bibliography

Primary Sources:

Binder, David, "Band and 19-Gun Salute Greet Somali Premier at White House," New York Times November 28, 1962, p. 10

Boyd, Oseye, "Educating the Future of Africa: Somalia

Relief Fund Builds Bridges," The Recorder March 16, 2001, p.

D1

Burton, Richard, First Footsteps in East Africa (London,

1856). Available online at http://www.wollamshram.ca/1001/

East/east.htm

Frankel, Max, "Somalia Accepts Soviet Arms Deal," New York Times November 11, 1963, pp. 1, 9

Hancock, Graham, "Somalia: Wounds of Nationalism that

will not Heal," New African Development Journal 11 (1977)

pp. 634-635

Harden, Blaine, "Foes and Death Stalk Kenyan Nomads;

Modern Weapons and Land Pressures Escalate Rural Violence," Washington Post April 10, 1988, p. a01

Neil, Henry, "Kenya Screening Ethnic Somalis in Disputed

Program; Kenya Screening Somalis in Controversial Program," Washington Post December 27, 1989, p. a08

Oberdorfer, Don, "Eased East-West Tension Offers Chances—Dangers Series: Beyond the Cold War," Washington Post May 7, 1989, p. a01

Omar, Mohamed Osman, The Road to Zero: Somalia´s Self-Destruction (London, HAAN Associates inc., 1992)

Richburg, Keith, "Orphan of the Cold War: Somalia Lost Its Key Role; Local Embassy Workers Await Americans´ Return," Washington Post October 15, 1992, p. a24

Savage, Gus, "A View from Capitol Hill: An Independent Reports on Washington," Columbus Times October 15 1981,

p. 4

Topping, Seymour, "African Nations Wooed by Soviet," New York Times July 1960, p. 3

Vick, Karl, "Starved for Aid in Africa," Washington Post April 12, 2000, p. a1

Walz, Jay, "Somalia Facing Grave Problems," New York Times July 5, 1960, pp. 1, 2

Zalatimo, Dima, "Fall of Barre Government Welcomed by Somalis in Washington, D.C.," The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs March 1991, p. 24

Anonymous], "Somalians are not Ethiopians," Washington Post July 6, 1991, p. a17

Anonymous], "Africa Update," Christian Science Monitor July 25, 1991

Secondary Sources:

Aguiar, Marian, ed., Encyclopedia Africana: Third Edition (Microsoft, 2000)

Cassanelli, Lee, The Shaping of Somali Society (Philadelphia, University Pennsylvania Press, 1982)

Hashim, Alice Bettis, The Fallen State: Dissonance,

Dictatorship, and Death in Somalia (New York, University Press of America Inc., 1997)

Lewis, I. M., Peoples of the Horn of Africa (Lawrenceville, New Jersey, The Red Sea Press Inc., 1998)

Nkrumah, Gamal, "Dichotomies and Dilemmas," 2003,

Available Online at http://www.uneca.org/water/

dichoto_dilemmas.htm

Pike, John, "Ogaden Crisis," 2002, Available Online at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/ogaden.htm

Samatar, Ahmed, Socialist Somalia: Rhetoric and Reality (London, Zed Books LTD., 1988)

Samatar, Said, Somalia: a Nation in Turmoil (London, The Minority Rights Group, 1991)

Commentary

(I) Before already the first point of the commentary, I have to clarify that even the title of the chapter (or unit) is fake. It suggests two dates, 1400 and 1855, as historical landmarks of the Somali History or in a wider context, of the History of Eastern Africa. These dates are fake; they represent nothing. Nothing started in 1400 to end in 1855. No one can possibly find a reason or an argument to eventually substantiate the author´s attempt to start his falsification in the year 1400! He could have started in the year 1200 or more reasonably in 622 or at the times of the Roman Empire or even at the times of Somali kingdom of Punt whereto a great maritime pharaonic expedition was sent by Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt ca. 1475 BCE, when the ancestors of the Axumite Abyssinians were unknown among the unknown in Yemen, their country of origin.

Similarly, there is no sufficient reason to choose as historical landmark the date 1855; the author may have used the date to indicate the beginning of colonial times in Somalia, but again this is totally wrong.

The truth is hidden in the first sentence of the next chapter (unit); for East African History´s iniquitous forger Ezekiel Rediker, the ´beginning´ of a historical period in Somalia starts with the travel of a shameless racist, Anti-African, Anti-Islamic and Anti-Somali English Freemason who believed utterly in, and promoted, slavery, felony, perjury, incest and Satanism: Richard Burton.

Prominent among the incestuous, the English Orientalist represents one of the most nefarious figures of the History of colonialism, one of the filthier names that brought disaster, venom, hatred and fallacy to Africa and the Orient in general.

He traveled illegally to Mecca disguised as a Caucasian Muslim. Then, he proceeded to Somalia and went up to Harar advancing through Somalia´s northwestern provinces. He then composed a report of his travel under the title ´First footsteps in East Africa or, An Exploration of Harar´ (first published 1856).

The fallacious, racist, Anti-African contents of the book would be enough reason for all the African nations to prohibit the presence on African soil of any English or English origin person.

I republished the whole book in fourteen (14) parts, exposing Burton´s villainous predisposition against the Somalis and other African nations, notably the Oromos.

Here are links to some of the aforementioned articles:

R. Burton´s Undeserved, Racist Insults against Oromos and Gadabursi and Issa Somalis

(http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/69301)

English Orientalist R. Burton exploring Berbera, slandering Oromos, and denigrating Somalis

(http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/69652)

R. Burton´s Preface: Fervent Call for Urgent Colonization of Berbera – 1856 (http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/69970)

References to the rest can be found in the aforementioned.

Richard Burton is the main reason of all the Somalis´ troubles; in fact, he acted as an agent of the English Freemasonry, and the Foreign Office, and it is on his advice that the English illegally invaded Berbera and thence expanded their tyrannical control over Northern Somalia and Ogaden. Less known is the fact that Richard Burton is also the author of several classified reports kept in the Foreign Office and other papers sealed in the darkness of a heretic Freemasonic Lodge located in London. Access to them is allowed to high levels of Freemasonic hierarchy, and these documents bear witness to his real evildoings in Africa.

Then, this evil person´s travel to Somalia was pathetically taken as Somalia´s historical landmark by the vicious falsifier Ezekiel Rediker. The author disregards the fact that for all the Somali authorities of that period, Rishard Burton was an insignificant mosquito with which they did not bother to deal. If they did not do so, they should not be blamed; they just undermined the extent of the Satanic possession of a human being. As normal human beings, all the Somali authorities of that period could not imagine that barbarism, inhumanity and iniquity could possibly reach so far.

Proceeding through the text now, we find Ezekiel Rediker´s reference to a 15th century Abyssinian Christian "Empire" as absolutely false and utterly ridiculous. The territory controlled by the tiny Abyssinian state was less than one fourth of today´s province Amhara in Abyssinia. It spanned over parts of today´s provinces Amhara and Tigray. Whenever wars occurred, either the Abyssinian ruler undertook a temporary raid in a nearby land or foreigner invaders occupied parts the tiny area of the Abyssinian state.

By definition, small lands do not entitle the local rulers to an empire. These rulers may eventually pretend anything but no such claim can be seriously taken into account by a modern historian. It would be comical!

And more importantly, such claims were not taken into consideration by any other ruler, king or emperor in the entire area that spans from North Africa and Egypt to India.

The so-called Solomonic dynasty of Abyssinia ruled a tiny and impotent state, that was constantly attacked by its Muslims neighbours; Ezekiel Rediker´s fictional Abyssinian "empire" did not have a fixed capital precisely because, in order to survive, the barbaric Amhara rulers had to run from caves to cliffs and from remote peaks to invisible bird´s nests to keep themselves out of the enemy´s direct eyesight.

This does not make anyone, from Yekuno Amlak to Amda Siyon I and from Dawit II to Gelawdewos, much of a king, let alone an emperor!

Size of the state is one point, royal and/or noble descent is another. None of the pseudo-Solomonic dynasty´s rulers was of noble descent. Yekuno Amlak, the vulgar pseudo-dynasty´s founder, was of low descent and rose to power after he was guided by the villainous black magician Tekle Haymanot to disobey and betray his own king, the last ruler of the Agaw Kushitic dynasty.

The gang of Satanists that imposed Yekuno Amlak (under pseudonym Tasfa Iyasus) as head of the Amhara kingdom assassinated the last Agaw king, deleted his name from every document, and declared him "unknown" or "hidden".

Of so lowly descent Yekuno Amlak was that the Mamluk Sultan Baibars of Egypt and the Rasulid Sultan Al Muzaffar Yusuf I of Yemen made foul of him, and did not allow the priest (abuna) sent from Alexandria´s Coptic Patriarchate to reach the unimportant Amhara state and become there the head of the local Christians.

At their best, the barbaric, heinous, villainous and rancorous rulers of the pseudo-Solomonic dynasty were the execrable offspring of voluntary incestuous intercourse suggested by the pseudo-Christian Amhara monks in order to help them perpetuate their grip over a minor people, decimated in the battles and reduced because of the voluntary acceptance of Islam from the part of many Abyssinians.

In fact, to be true and to correspond to the historical facts, the so-called Abyssinian emperors were mere captains, chieftains or rather thugs-in chief.

It is really paradoxical that Ezekiel Rediker, who so well studied Richard Burton´s published book, does not mention the English Freemason´s reference to the Muslim Hadiya king´s attitude, who - as late as the mid 19th century - turned down an invitation sent to him by the Abyssinian king, whom the Hadiya king despised as barbaric, vulgar and extremely low, although the Abyssinian state had expended meanwhile.

To end, I have to point out that the Ethiopian Christian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia – which all spanned in the area of Northern and Central Sudan – were far larger and more developed than the state of the pseudo-emperors of Ezekiel Rediker.

(II) Calling the tiny and isolated Amhara kingdom, which never controlled even part of today´s Eritrea´s Red Sea coast, "predecessor of modern day Ethiopia" is a filthy lie. More than 82% of the population of today´s Abyssinia (falsely called Ethiopia) would undeniably reject the assumption that their past has anything to do with the Amhara kingdom of Yekuno Amlak.

You cannot attribute the historical past and the cultural heritage of subjugated nations to that of the cruel and illegal invader.

It is as if you pretend that Spain is or can be considered as "predecessor of modern day Mexico".

Does this sound strange?

If yes, this happens only because the Mexicans removed the Spanish yoke, whereas the tyrannized Ogadenis, the Oromos, the Afars, the Sidamas, the Kaffas, the Kambaatas, the Gedeos, the Shekachos, the Hadiyas, the Anuak, the Wolayitas, and the Gumuz have not yet removed the Amhara – Tigray Monophysitic (Tewahedo) Abyssinian yoke.

(III) After the monstrous hyperbole "Abyssinian Empire" comes the equally paranoid sarcasm "city-state of Ifat"! Ezekiel Rediker´s double-faceted forgery involves at the same an enormous exaggeration and an incredible shrinking!

Ezekiel Rediker´s "truth" and historical analysis is simple indeed; of those whom he wants to intentionally promote he makes a hot air balloon! And of those whom he wants to intentionally combat he makes a chewing gum!

Thank God, modern technology, the Internet, and the existence of the various search engines offer now to anyone, erudite historian or inquisitive reader, the possibility to check the veracity of a pretension.

If you search in Google, placing within brackets the words "city-state of Ifat", you will need only seconds to realize that allover the world the only falsifier to incredulously postulate this falsehood is …. the parsimonious Mr. Ezekiel Rediker!

Such is the degree of the calumny that the equivalent would be to call today´s China as the "city-state of Beijing". The extraordinary attempt demolishes Ezekiel Rediker´s entire composition because it reveals a pernicious character and a malignant predisposition to distort.

Ifat was the capital of the great Afar – Somali Empire of Awdal, which at the period under discussion was ten times larger than the tiny and barbaric state of Abyssinia of which Ezekiel Rediker makes a fake empire in order to pass under silence the real empire of Awdal that was highly developed, spanned throughout the Horn of Africa, and in addition, it was fully accredited and respected at the international level.

(IV) Periodic wars is a comical and false term; the Awdal empire was far too wealthy and developed to be possibly interested in warring with the Amhara kingdom for the arid mountain cliffs that the latter controlled. Usually, the Amhara kingdom was involved in wars with other Kushitic kingdoms, of the same small size as its own, and when over-pressurized, the Abyssinians attacked Aedal with the hope of possibly controlling some stretch of the Red Sea coastland and thus have access to the maritime trade that could become a source of increased income.

(V) The Ogaden region was totally out of the scope of the Awdal Empire´s wars with the tiny Amhara state. The best proof is that there was never a single battle fought on Ogadeni soil. Most of the battles took place on the territory of today´s provinces Afar, Oromia, Amhara and Tjgray, plus in parts of Eritrean territory. To offer an example, the battle of Amba Sel was close to a Blue Nile´s tributary named Walaqa! This is hundreds of kilometers far from Ogaden´s easternmost borderlines.

(VI) Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim was certainly a religious leader who rose to supreme political power. He was therefore a king and not a general. Of course, the racist and barbaric, pseudo-Christian monks of the Abyssinian state did not want to accept this reality, but their sick minds, evil desires, and inhuman attitudes cannot possibly influence the sound mind of an objective researcher today.

If the demented monks of the barbaric Abyssinian state did not accept Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim as King of Awdal, too bad for them! They went to Hell, when the great Somali conqueror burned their filthy palaces and pseudo-Christian temples.

By calling Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim merely an imam and a general, the racist Anti-African pseudo-historians of the West try to place him at a rank lower than that of the trashy Amhara pseudo-king.

The extent of the falsification is again enormous because in real History, the head of the Amhara king Dawit II was crushed to death in the battle of Debre Demo, under the Somali foot, which is a permanent and irreversible humiliation of the entire Amhara nation and its memory typified the rancorous Amhara soul.

And where is Ezekiel Rediker´s responsibility to respect - as an author – the existing historical sources?

Nowhere.

Even the Portuguese historical sources (those of the real enemies of the Great Somali King Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim) call him as "King" (Cristovao da Gama). In this regard, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crist%C3%B3v%C3%A3o_da_Gama

(VII) This is Ezekiel Rediker´s fictional history or rather Baron Münchhausen's Narratives about Eastern Africa. How could King Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim possibly drive Abyssinians out of a land (namely, Ogaden) where they had never even dreamt to reach, let alone occupy? Already, Ezekiel Rediker´s case of methodic falsification seems to reflect a pathological case.

(VIII) There cannot be found any historical reference to confirm this lie; King Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim, to detroy the Abyssinian barbarism, did not need to declare a Jihad, and there hasn´t been any historical source to ever mention something similar. The falsification in this case is purely intentional and absolutely political of content; by involving the term ´Jihad´, a term widely diffused to essentially uninformed and deliberately besotted (because of the mass media) Western readership, Ezekiel Rediker intends to portray the King Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim as sort of Osama bin Laden before his time!

Then, if we consider the great visionary, intellectual, mystic and King Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim as a terrorist, how can we accurately describe Menelik and Haile Selassie, except by labeling them bestial cannibals and inhuman monsters worse than the most ulcerous Nazi gangster?

(IX) Times and again, there was no Abyssinian empire at those days.

(X) Another fallacy is the reference to a fictional effort supposedly carried out by King Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim in order to convert people to Islam! In most of the lands he invaded, trying to eradicate the Abyssinian barbarism, the local populations were Muslim and they accepted him wholeheartedly because he removed the burden of the Amhara threats that were due to the tiny Amhara state´s efforts for expansion.

I will continue my commentary in a forthcoming article.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/printFriendly/136140

==========================

AS ETHIO-EGYPTIAN ACCORD TAKES EFFECT, AL AHRAM RUBS SALT ON OLD WOUNDS - By Genet Mersha

By Admin On January
As any prudent person would, I value pragmatism, especially if it promotes mutual benefits and facilitates common search for solutions to difficulties in inter-state relations. In that regard, official pronouncements by the prime ministers of Ethiopia and Egypt at the year’s end have somewhat conveyed that very impression about their budding relations. Its outcome is the singing of a memorandum of understanding on 31 December at Addis Ababa, fostering a consultative mechanism whose scope and seriousness probably makes it the first of its kind between the two countries.

Usually the dark side of diplomacy is that what is unsaid publicly has far reaching implications more than what is reported in the media, be it bilateral visits or agreements singed as groundbreaking venture. That is what I felt, after reading Gamal Nikrumah’s piece “Eyeing Abyssinia: Egypt stakes out a special place in Ethiopia” (Al Ahram, Jan 7-13 issue, courtesy of www.nazret.com [1]). It encouraged me to at the new bonfire within the context of the needs and realities of the two countries. Nevertheless, more troubling for me is Mr. Nikrumah’s interpretation of ‘compromise’ and ‘pragmatism’ that has bedecked his entire article. On a minor point, he has chosen to lump them together in such a way that he makes them sound as if they were two interchangeable concepts.

However, real life has taught me, and I must say I easily recognise compromise and pragmatism when I see them. Their texture is distinct, although they are capable of interlacing with shared convictions between two parties. I am not so certain, if “Eyeing Abyssinia: Egypt stakes out a special place in Ethiopia”, reflects that understanding. I acknowledge the article rather for its crisp delivery of the writer’s pride in his country’s diplomatic finesse in a manner that it harks back to the ill-fated Egyptian efforts through the centuries to ensure its control of the source of the River Nile.

In the light of the foregoing, it is befitting to ask whether the content of the latest understanding between the two countries is as the officials say. Alternatively, as an anterior to Egyptian foreign Ministry, is Al Ahram under instruction to spin the story as a diplomatic coup for Prime Minister Ahmed Nazief. Or, is there something that has not yet been made public? Alternatively, is Al Ahram encouraged to interpret the agreement through the prism of the existing and the unyielding Egyptian policy interests mapped out by Kedhive Isamail (1862-1879)? To what end? If the whole purpose of the article is to calm down domestic concerns, it does not show that Egypt is prepared to honour its part of the deal. If that were the case, it would have chosen to prepare its people for a sense of fairness and equity in sharing the Nile waters.

It would be dishonest of me to say, I am optimistic at this point; nor am I against their agreement. That is because I understand perfectly Ethiopia’s limitations. However, what I cannot understand is why interpretation of the new agreement on the part of the Egyptians is still characterised as an exchange between water rights and investments and technology related cooperation. Incidentally, it is not only the Egyptians that are seen on that mistaken path this time around. Ethiopian officials have done little to speak out in response and in the deportment the Egyptian minister of water works, as mentioned here down somewhere, has made clear his unchanging position.. Instead, our officials thronged to place on the Egyptian plate their respective wish list.

Official pronouncements on the agreement

In spite of the ease of his persona, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif seemed to go out of his way at the press conference to emphasise repeatedly that his visit to Ethiopia primarily is “to enhance trade and investment ties between the two countries.” As it happens, 120 businesspersons accompanied him, notably their size a quarter more than the 90-member trade delegation that visited the country last October. True by the sign of things, this time around Egypt appears determined to put its money where its mouth is.

At the state level, it has kicked of with a ‘sovereign wealth’ sort of investment by the National Bank of Egypt that has now become the first central bank owning a 20,000-hectare farmland in Afar region. In addition, private investors have envisioned a number of projects and investments that ranged from construction in Amhara region, possible establishment of five pharmaceutical companies, to manufacturing enterprises and an industrial zone in Oromia. I would not be surprised if the Egyptian bank should quietly spread the scope of its activities in a country where the law prohibits foreign banks from carrying out banking operations.

Otherwise, so far so good, so long as Ethiopia does not slump under the weight of economic dependence on Egypt and succumb to political arm-twisting that this usually entails. For now, at least, the Nile water quota was not ‘officially’ on the agenda of discussions or negotiations. If news sources are accurate in their reporting, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi freely broached the topic seemingly to reassure his powerful guest of Ethiopia’s keenness and good faith in seeking solutions to the sharing of Nile river water fairly. In that connection, he stressed Ethiopia’s “readiness to address the issue of the Nile on the basis of a win-win result for the mutual benefit of all the peoples and countries of the Nile Basin” (Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press release).

Someone gave me the sense that he was at pains to stress to sceptics “it would be a huge mistake to choose not to engage Egypt on other matters until the Nile question is resolved” (Reporter), although the media reporting that did not testify to that. Therefore, his approach, as implied by the press release and the reporting media, is presumed to be to use this agreement as a bridge to address the equitable sharing of the Nile waters in future. Shall we say, it is confidence-building measures, even though I am not entirely certain to whose confidence it refers?

Al Ahram’s interpretation of the agreement

The light speed with which the relations between Ethiopia and Egypt are being calibrated and the building blocks are set in process has made the whole thing seem like a torrent, a thing that has surprised Gamal Nikrumah. However, he is less than candid in his assertion, in attributing the whole thing to Ethiopia’s ‘compromise’ and ‘pragmatism’, as mentioned above. He writes, “The Ethiopian compromise, publicly acknowledging Egypt’s right to its quota of Nile water, is an answer so obvious that one wonders why it was not on the table already. Now that it is, Ethiopia’s pragmatism may produce better results.” It is not clear whether this reflects ignorance of history or is blindly one-sided, a shortcoming that has made his whole effort look like deviously antithetical to fairness and justice.

Furthermore, Mr. Nikrumah tries to give credence to his view by stating, “Ethiopia has no intention of circumventing the will of Egypt by building the new dams [the three dams agreed upon at the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)]. Instead, Ethiopian officials explained that they wish to interest Egyptian investors into putting their money into such ventures. Egyptian officials readily resolved to accede to Ethiopia’s wishes albeit conditionally.”

The key here is what Egypt’s Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Allam has said. He was clear about the mission and mandate of his office under the new agreement. Mr. Gamal Nikrumah quotes him confidently asserting, “We have agreed to the offer as long as it doesn’t affect Egypt’s Nile water quota.”

Recall in this connection, the rapprochement between Ethiopia and The Sudan egged on Egypt into a trilateral undertaking between the three countries. The then Egyptian Minister of Water Resources Mohammed Abu Zeid on June 29, 2004 for the first time ever declared publicly¸ ”Ethiopia has the right to build dams”, into which The Sudan chipped in similar support (ENA, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt reach agreement on Nile River projects). This created huge optimism about the direction of Ethio-Egyptian relations, the euphoria of which was no less than the present.

Not surprisingly, Mr. Abu Zeid was relieved of his post sometime later, judged as poor negotiator (www.enafrik.com). Even then, when he was in office for the greater part of the ten-year life NBI, 39 articles have been agreed, according to Ethiopian sources, although the negotiations remain stalled over a single subparagraph, 14 (b), the one that deals with the water-sharing proposal to which Egypt and The Sudan are mortally opposed. As a new minister, Mr, Allam seems keen to keep his job, whose constant flights to the capitals of the upper riparian states has got him the nickname ‘the lobbyist.’

Therefore, it should not come as a surprise the ‘Ethiopian pragmatism/compromise’ Gamal Nikrumah refers to give rise to two questions. First, what is that an uttered compromise? Secondly, what does Ethiopia get in return, if the alleged compromise is in reference to the three medium-sized dams, which have already been agreed upon at the NBI forum? The answer probably lies in what different Ethiopian officials are expecting from Egypt, as Mr. Nikrumah’s article seems to suggerst. These are: (a) Prime Minister Meles says, “We have moved from mutual distrust to friendly economic cooperation.” (b) Ethiopian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tefera Derebew solicits, “We are confident that Egypt is willing and capable of supplying Ethiopia with much needed appropriate technology for sustainable development.” (c) Ethiopia’s Minister of Trade and Industry Girma Birru says Egypt would participate in the construction of an industrial zone.

Can Ethiopia truly benefit from this agreement?

There is no doubt that cooperation with other countries is beneficial, so long as our country knows where its interests lie and promotes them to its benefit in every possible way. This requires fine-tuning laws and regulations, preparing institutions to challenging responsibilities with the rising number of foreign companies and business activities. There must be the political will to fight both official and ordinary corruption. The manifest characteristic of pragmatism in form and substance is its belief in the need to gauge regularly the benefits of projects undertaken jointly with other governments and economic cooperation with foreign companies and their investments. The mere rise of the scale of investments is not necessarily a plus on its own, or effective for national development unless overtime it makes dent on unemployment, income generation, capacity building and transfer of technology.

In the case of Egypt, their diverse involvement requires greater diversification and improved production on the part of Ethiopia to increase its exports to Egyptian markets without, which the current planned level of Egyptian investments would hugely tilt the balance of trade in favour of Egypt. Already, as it stands now trade volume has reached $100 million. Available data indicate that in 2008, Egypt has exported to Ethiopia over $80 million, while Ethiopia’s export is a skimpy $13.4 million. The nine months figures for 2009 indicate further deterioration in that regard.

Another problem is transportation of goods, as the country’s exports are likely to increase because of the massive lands that have been rented out to foreign countries and governments. Although the Ethiopian government claims the products would satisfy domestic markets first, this is simply untrue. First, the objective of those huge farms is for markets in the home countries, the rest of which would seek foreign markets. This is a function of better prices on one side and the weak purchasing power of Ethiopians on the other. Secondly, the increased volume of exports imposes huge burden on local transportation of goods and to and from the ports of Djibouti and The Sudan, perhaps Berbera too. It is not clear whether government has mapped out strategy and producers so that local producers would not be discriminated against systematically in use of transport and port arrangements.

There is no doubt, by dictates of circumstances we have become a nation of sceptics. It follows that this is also one of those things that have to be judged in the coming months and years by how much the Ethiopian government would give priority to the country’s longstanding interests, benefits and privileges of its people. I recall writing about our country’s foreign policy that stoops low to those that come with a ‘fist fool of dollars’, especially citing the case of the Saudi Arabian embassy at Addis Ababa that demanded property owned by two of our decorated athletes to be transferred to it and got it. There have been several painful moments in our country’s history, when our national interests failed to be the guiding post and citizens are first-class relative to foreigners.

Another problem is joint venture has taken a different meaning in Ethiopia. A foreign company claims it is a joint venture, but there is no evidence that to show the identity of its partners. This is very common practice among Chinese companies in developing countries. For instance, Norinco-Lalibela Engineering & Construction Share Company (NORI-LA) claims it is an international share company, established in accordance with the commercial code of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. That is quite all right. Then it discloses its joint venture agreement was made on April 7, 2004 between Chinese and Ethiopian enterprises with a total capital of about $34 million. When one browses its webpage, it does not their partners. It is a normal practice to say who their joint venture partners are, but not in this case. I raise this example because it is important to see and understand how foreign companies operate in the country and whether the country derives the benefits, it is entitled to.

Finally, I must state that an inherent problem in Ethiopia’s policies, domestic or external, is the question of balance. Often emotions flare with a short fuse, creating problems of inconsistency. Growing relations with Egypt requires a careful balancing act, a quality in short supply. Closer ties should not curtail Ethiopia’s freedom of action, as that would affect its relations with the rest of Africa. They are many and their networks extensive. For instance, if one takes our side of the region, the other upper riparian states and the East and Southern African economic initiatives under the AU are one to bear in mind. It should not also alter the political cohesion that over the years has evolved within IGAD, where those upper riparian member states have maintained through the years beneficial relations with Ethiopia.

On Al Ahram’s insensitivity

As I come to the end of this article, I must register my strong resentment against the tone of Mr. Gamal Nikrumah’s kicker, “Eyeing Abyssinia.” Even to a disinterested reader, its yearning for a return to an ignominious era is glaring. Perhaps what its author has made evident is Egypt’s undying desire to keep alive Egypt’s goal of controlling the River Nile, with or without Ethiopia.

He must be aware though that Ethiopia has not accepted the 1902 treaty with colonial Britain. Nor has it been agreeable with the 1959 agreement between Egypt and the Sudan, setting out water use quota among them, without contributing a bucket of it. If Al Ahram’s thinking, as reflected in the title of Mr. Nikrumah’s article “Egypt stakes out a special place in Ethiopia” is anchored on the Nile question, nothing has changed for Ethiopia that would make her overlook those two treaties/agreements.

By the terms of the 1959 treaty, annually the River Nile doles out to Egypt 55.5 billion cubic meters of water—representing 87 percent of the Nile’s flow—and 18.5 billion cubic meters to The Sudan. In contrast, Ethiopia uses less than one percent of it, of course, about which we cannot put the entire blame on Egypt and The Sudan, as our underdevelopment has played part. Nonetheless, the case for sharing equitably with Ethiopia should have been evident to him as a respected journalist.

In fact, Mr. Nikrumah insinuates as though Ethiopia has said, “take whatever you want, but make sure you cooperate with me in the economic field. Even then, the best he could is to state, “Egypt, too, [compared with Israel] stands poised to prove that it can offer technical assistance to Ethiopia. Though no small challenge, it is one that can be met.”

Nonetheless, referring to the visit by Minister for International Cooperation Faiza Abul- Naga, he expresses his worries that it would be costly for Egypt.

=======================

Standing vigilant against regional threats

Saturday, 09 January 2010
There are perennial developments taking place in Ethiopia's neighboring countries which have been posing a security concern for it for quite a long time. However, recent developments particularly should concern us very much and require us to come together and be vigilant.

The situation in Mogadishu is alarming and a cause for concern. It is evident that the problem is not attributable to a conflict between the peoples of Somalia and Ethiopia or discord between the governments of both countries.

More than that and beyond, a series of serious developments which had been obstructing peace and stability have now escalated to become a grave security threat. Somalia has reached a stage where it can not be claimed that it is being governed by the Mogadishu government. This state of affairs is unlikely to change under circumstances currently prevailing. Neither Africa nor the rest of the world has given the problem due attention; they are not seeking genuine solutions for it. Consequently, it can get out of hand and seriously endanger Ethiopia's security.

The UN Security Council recently decided to impose various sanctions on senior officials of the Eritrean government. The Council's decision was right. Though the people of Eritrea should have been living in peace and development after decades of war and suffering, they are still the victims of war and poverty due to the belligerence of their leaders who think that they can not hold on to power unless they wage wars.

The imposition of sanctions, however, will not stop the Eritrean government from sowing conflicts and terror. In fact, it may lead it to commit even more brazen and dangerous acts out of desperation.

It should be especially borne in mind that the Eritrean government alone is behind its actions. It has backers who fund it, supply it with arms which they themselves ship, and provide it with training and other forms of support. These backers have no love for Ethiopia and do not want to see the region become peaceful and developed.

The future of Sudan is not clear. The 2011 referendum in South Sudan on whether the region is to secede from or continue to be part of Sudan can have unforeseen consequences. It is possible to guess but not to know for sure who will be behind the resulting problems. As Ethiopia shares a long border with Sudan, the referendum will definitely have a serious impact on Ethiopia.

Presently, a problem that seemed remote but is actually close to home is unfolding in Yemen. It has become apparent that the conflicts in the country, which hitherto had assumed a civil war dimension, are not internal problems only. They even led the UK, US and France to temporarily close their embassies in Yemen.

We Ethiopians have particularly long historical ties with the people of Yemen. We have strong trade links; Yemen is situated close to Ethiopia. As such, any problem which occurs in that country is bound to affect Ethiopia and exacerbate the problem.

Though we separately treated the problems prevailing in Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Yemen, they can be alarmingly intertwined and feed off each other.

This means that Ethiopia is surrounded by a similar set of problems which should be combated not only on one front but concertedly on all fronts.

This state of affairs conveys to us one clear message: we can face a serious and difficult challenge at any given time.

Are we ready for this eventuality?

Every one knows the problem exists. The government can not fail to know about it. We dare not say that the government is doing nothing about it because we have no doubt that it has put in place the necessary contingency plans.

The extent and depth of the problem should not, however, be appreciated by the government alone. All Ethiopians should stand in unison to overcome it.

Ethiopia is gearing up for the May 2010 national elections. Political parties are undertaking intensive preparations to emerge victorious in these elections. However, when our national security is at stake all of us must stand together. All political parties must set aside their differences and stand guard for and defend the national interest.

The problem is surfacing particularly in the backdrop of the global economic downturn which has affected Ethiopia too. Our preparation may be impeded by financial constraints. But we have to make preparations regardless.

Apart from the economic downturn, Ethiopia is also experiencing drought and is thus in need of assistance. Nevertheless, it is imperative that we make preparations.

The problem admittedly has to be handled with cake. It may seem to have a religious dimension. But Ethiopia is not a hotbed of religious conflicts. It is home both to Christianity and Islam. However, any problem that has a religious overtone can have disastrous consequences.

The greatness and patriotism of a people is tested at times of difficulties. Standing for one's country and people in the face of a problem that comes from outside is an important measure in this regard. In the past we have passed this test several times with flying colours. The problem is hovering over the country once again now.

So what should be done about it?

Let's come together, be vigilant and strong as a people, a nation and a government!

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