Ethiopia must take back Eritrea's Assab port says Opposition leader Yacob (Jimma Times)

Dr. Yacob Hailemariam, senior executive member of the opposition party Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ), told the media that Ethiopia “must regain her Assab port.” Speaking to local newspapers, Yacob said the Assab port issue is not a closed case.Dr. Yacob, who previously worked as the lead prosecutor in the United Nations tribunal on war crimes in Rwanda and as a professor of law in American university, has often referred to the Assab case as a matter of international law and justice. He mocked the new “illegal” border agreements, saying the signatories cannot pick and choose which laws and treaties to uphold. When Prime Minister Meles Zenawi signed several agreements with Eritrean leaders Dr. Yacob declared “the question of Aseb is not going to be put to rest by mere signatures” of unelected and illegitimate politicians since the people of Ethiopia have always had access to the sea for several millennia...[Read more]

Millennium Dam: a turning point in the Ethiopian History (Walta)

Molla Mitiku

Between the two mountains: Lebeyate and Negro, in the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, history will repeat itself. The history made by our forefathers against foreign conquerors in the Northern Mountains of Ethiopia will be certainly repeated by this generation by making poverty a history...Read more

Ethiopia Plans to Build New Hydropower Plant to Generate 5,250 Megawatts (Bloomberg)

Ethiopia will build a new hydropower plant in the Nile River basin that will generate 5,250 megawatts of electricity, Water and Energy Minister Alemayehu Tegenu said. ..Read more

Ethiopia’s to increase defense budget amid rising tension with Eritrea (Sudan Tribune)

 Ethiopia will increase its military spending to safeguard itself from its enemies, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Saturday, days after Addis Ababa threatened to take military action against neighboring Eritrea.Zenawi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the National Defense Forces, did not disclose how much the increase would be...More

Ethiopia minister says ready to send troops into Somalia if Asked

By: Abdalle Ahmed
Mogadishu (RBC) Ethiopia's State minister for foreign affairs Berhan Jipkirist
dismissed claims about Ethiopian forces fighting inside Somalia alongside with
the transitional federal government forces of Somalia. The minister interviewed
by Almasri Al-Yom newspaper has denied that any of Ethiopian forces entered into
the Somali border and took fighting against Al Shabab rebel group...Read More

Thousands Homeless after Radical Muslim Attack

According to CBN News a few hours ago, some Islamic extremists set fire to 59
church buildings and 28 Christian homes in Asendabo...

It is a serious issue for that country. This must stop immediately. What does
everyone think about this?

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At least nine die in Eritrea jail (Reuters)

NAIROBI (Reuters) - At least nine political inmates have died in a secret Eritrean prison where they are routinely tortured using plastic whips, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday.

The media rights groups said an anonymous source detailed how detainees, including four journalists, were kept day and night under lights. Some were manacled and tortured, it said.

"The prison camp known as Eiraeiro is a disgrace for Eritrea and Africa," RSF said.

Asmara routinely denies criticism from foreign-based rights groups, accusing them of acting on behalf of some world powers.

Information Minister Ali Abdu says the government will not respond to "each stupid comment" by groups such as RSF.

The press freedom organisation called the prison on Eritrea's eastern coastline an "African gulag" and "daily hell."

It said the prisoners' heads were shaved every two months and they were allowed only 20 minutes per week to bathe.

Late last year, RSF called Eritrea the worst nation in the world for press freedom.

Lacking independent media and often accused of harassing journalists, Eritrea is consistently ranked among the world's top violators of press freedom by rights groups.

(Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: Reuters

DMLEK claims inflicting damage on Eritrean army (Walta)

Mekelle, January 29, 2008 (WIC) - Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the Eritrean Kunama (DMLEK) said it has consolidated its attack on the Eritrean government.

According to a press release it sent to WIC, the movement has inflicted damages on the regime.

DMLEK said it destroyed the agriculture office of the government in Binbilina town of Gash Barka Zone along with goods stored in a warehouse last week.

In this same operation it burnt out a military water truck and a tanker in Barentu town, the statement added.

According to the statement, 800 Eritreans caught while fleeing to the Sudan were arrested and jailed in a military garrison in Nakfa. Of those 16 managed to escape and entered the Sudan over the weekend, it stated.

The movement which pointed out the fleeing of more than 26,800 Eritreans to the Sudan finally urged the public and the army of Eritrea to stand up against the dictatorial regime.

Walta Information Center

AU unveils Road Map for peace in Somalia (Walta)

Addis Ababa, January 24, 2008 (WIC) - The African Union's top security official has presented Somalia's leaders a four-point plan for creating stability in the country, according to VOA.

During a four-hour visit to Mogadishu yesterday, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said Somalia is becoming Africa's biggest security challenge and described his stopover as a symbolic show of support for Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.

Djinnit said he outlined to Hussain a proposal to initiate a road map that would be developed by Somali leaders in partnership with the international community.

Its four components would include strengthening the nation's political process through reconciliation, greater international involvement in peacekeeping operations, creating a safe environment for humanitarian aid deliveries, and building the capacity of federal government institutions to face the immense challenges ahead.

The commissioner expressed frustration at what he called the lack of international support for efforts to bring a stable peace to Somalia. He told reporters his eventual goal, and biggest concern, is persuading the U.N Security Council to re-establish the peacekeeping mission it abandoned in the face of uncontrolled violence 13 years ago.

"It is the issue at the heart of our concerns," said Said Djinnit. " We believe Somalia has been abandoned for so long, and the Security Council remains the principal body in charge of the maintenance of international peace and security, and Somalia is becoming the biggest challenge for security in Africa. And therefore the Security Council cannot but assume its responsibility vis a vis Somalia."

Djinnit chided the Security Council for its recent statement saying it was "reiterating its commitment to considering the possibility of deploying" a Somalia peacekeeping operation.

"If you look to ideal situation where peace is prevailing before deploying a peacekeeping operation, you might not get that ideal situation," he said. "So we are therefore calling for flexibility on the part of the United Nations in considering the situation in Somalia and in deciding as early as possible on the deployment of the peacekeeping operation to come and take over from the African Union."

The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, has an authorized strength of 8,000. But nearly a year after it was formed, less than one-quarter of the troops are in place.

Ethiopian troops are backing Somali's military in its campaign against Islamic insurgents, VOA stated.

But Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has repeatedly said he wants those troops replaced by a strong international force. Yet with Somalia among the world's most violent and gun-infested countries, and the United Nations balking at sending a peacekeeping mission, Prime Minister Hussein told reporters it is premature to set a date when Ethiopian troops could withdraw.

" To set a time maybe today it's not so easy, but you can see the efforts of the African Union, you can see the efforts of AMISOM [African Mission in Somalia] from time to time increasing their troops, and this will definitely set a way for us to discuss when and how the Ethiopian troops will be reduced," said Hussein. "So what we will try to do is have a very well-elaborated exit strategy."

Somalia's parliament chose Prime Minister Hussein last November to replace his predecessor Ali Mohamed Gedi.

Source: Walta Information Center