Ethio-Djibouti Relations to Union

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Ethio-Djibouti Relations to Union

By Roobdoon Forum

 

Introduction

Since the outbreak of the ongoing conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia in 1998, Djibouti has become a vital strategic gateway for landlocked Ethiopia, the second most populous state in sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia has enjoyed steady economic growth in the past several years, despite its increasing involvement in various local and regional conflicts. Hence, as an emerging regional power in turbulent and insecure Horn of Africa, Ethiopia is coveting to have a secure outlet to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean ports.

 

President Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti hails originally from the city of Dire Dawa in eastern Ethiopia and enjoys close cooperative relationships with the regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Lately, Ethiopia has bestowed to Djibouti large tracts of fertile land for its agricultural consumption. See:

 

http://www.wardheernews.com/News_08/July/29_Djibouti_first_lady.html

 

In a recent interview with the Ethiopian journal, Addis Fortune, President Guelleh was quoted as saying that he will welcome the deployment of Ethiopian troops in Djibouti to ward-off threats emanating from Eritrea. See:

 

http://www.wardheernews.com/News_08/July/17_Interview_Guelleh.html

 

The two countries have the potential to complement with each other. Ethiopia is endowed with fertile productive highlands and abundant water resources, while Djibouti maintains long coastline facing the strategic straits of Bab-el Mandeb straits of the Red Sea. Are the two neighborly countries working towards a comprehensive economic integration or confederation? Would economic necessities transcend ethnic and national aspirations and inevitably determine the configuration of state boundaries in the Horn of Africa region? The following historical documents highlight the national interest and aspirations of both countries towards integrated economies and open borders.

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Djibouti to Advance Ethio-Djibouti Relations to Union

Addis Tribune

May 08, 1998

 

Addis Ababa - In an interview with the pro-government monthly magazine "Efoyta" (Miazia, 1990 E.C.), H.E. Mr. Ismail Omar Geleh, Djibouti's Defence and Security Minister and Chief of Staff of the President's Office, said that the authorities in Djibouti would make every effort to expand the horizon of mutual cooperation and support between Ethiopia and Djibouti to the extent of political, economic and social integration.

 

Important statements with economic content made by H.E. Mr. Ismail were as follows.

 

"With respect to port tariffs and services, we would like to assure our Ethiopian brothers and sisters that we are ready to take measures to reduce port dues and fees and relieve port congestion. To ever cement our eternal brotherly and sisterly relations with Ethiopia, we have already started making a move to lift certain tariffs and provide special customer service for Ethiopians."

 

"Concerning the security of the Red Sea, Djibouti is an integral part of the Red Sea region. While upholding the fact that Djibouti is strategically located near the strait of Bab el Mandeb, we are nevertheless not aware of any agreement signed among the surrounding countries. It can quite safely be said that the Red Sea is an internationally utilized lake"

 

"On the issue of foreign military or other bases around the Red Sea, this is a question hat has been firmly laid to rest since the end of the Cold War. On our part, if there are any foreign bases around the Red Sea, we believe they should be immediately dismantled as they pose a threat to the security of the region. Coming back to the port of Djibouti, the port was built with the explicit intention of serving Ethiopia. Similarly, when the first railway in Africa was laid down, the intention was to transport goods from and into Ethiopia. On the other hand, Ethiopia is Djibouti's lifeline. Ethiopia's large size ensures a wide market capable of utilizing ports located not only in Djibouti but also in Eritrea and Somalia."

 

"There is a bilateral agreement between Djibouti and Eritrea to obviate resort to a price war in respect of the provision of port services to Ethiopia. The port of Djibouti is the country's major source of government revenue. We are ready to lay down the foundation for cooperation among port authorities in the surrounding region. We are holding talks with the port authorities in Aden, Mitswa and Assab to try and establish uniform rates for merchant shipping services and formulate tariffs in a way that will benefit all of us. Although certain changes are certain to be made in some port dues and fees, those pertaining to Ethiopia will remain the same."

 

Referring to relations with France, H.E. Mr. Ismail said: "France should realize one basic fact, and that is, Djibouti's sovereignty is decreed and guaranteed by law. Whatever relations we try to cultivate with all counties (other than France) should not be seen as an offshoot of our relations with France. Djibouti is a country that promotes policies that are closely geared to her own national interest."

 

"The French government has some reservations about some of the policies we advance. Sometimes, it voices direct opposition to these policies. However, we shall not refrain from signing and implementing inter-country agreements which we believe are in the best interests of our country and those of our neighbors. We are the only ones who know how much we will benefit by entering into any separate agreements with other countries. The integration which we are trying to create with our neighbors has a strategic goal. France will leave the region sooner or later, but our neighbors are going to remain here with us. This must be clear. Sometimes, mass media owned by the French government echo words of intimidation. They also attempt to put pressure on us in different other ways. There are also those who still try to make Djibouti a prisoner of her colonial past. However, Djibouti shall proceed with her own policy initiatives undeterred. The promotion of the principle of regional cooperation is an enduring objective of our country."

 

"The French military base in Djibouti is governed by clear and explicit agreements which ensure the sovereignty of the state of Djibouti and guarantee that it shall not be a source of anxiety for the security of the region. There has never been a time when the French base in Djibouti was a threat to the security of the region. The French military base in Djibouti, whose mission is clear to all and sundry, will never pull the trigger against anybody. On the other hand, those foreign forces alleged to be swarming around the region without having made their missions explicit are, in my opinion, a source of regional insecurity. Since they are here to engage in military and intelligence operations, they pose a threat that is targeted at the region. In view of Djibouti's earnest aspiration to make the Red Sea a region of peace, it calls for the removal of all foreign military bases from the area."

 

 

American troops based in Camp Lemonier, Djibouti

Touching upon Djibouti's relations with the United Stated of America, H.E. Mr. Ismail said: "Relations between Djibouti and the U.S.A. have shown marked improvement. Our diplomatic relations have been upgraded to ambassadorial level. American companies have been granted concessions for the exploration and prospecting of petroleum, gold and other minerals. We shall make unstinted efforts to strengthen our bilateral relations in the economic sphere. I do not accept the proposition that America will replace France in the region. The idea of rotating in a limited orbit in politics is passe. Our relations with the U.S.A should be seen in the context of developing our economy and not in terms of building a military base to replace the French one. Negative comments have been made by the French government on our diplomatic and economic ties with the U.S.A, and as a result, our relations with France are getting rather complicated with each passing day. On top of this, some French organizations have tried to scare the Americans away by alleging that there is no peace and stability in our country. They have left no stone unturned to sabotage the oil and mineral prospecting and exploration work, which is being intensified, through a campaign of disinformation. Such hostile propaganda is likely to strain and damage our relations with France sooner or later. But it will exert no pressure on our efforts to explore our natural resources.

 

American companies are well aware of the objectives of the propaganda being disseminated by Radio France Internationale. The warp and woof of all our relations with other countries are Djiboutian in nature and character. The mining concessions we granted to the Americans are directly tied up with our national economic interests"

 

Our brief comments on the above statements would be as follows. It would be advisable for the Ethiopian government to reciprocate Djibouti's overtures for closer diplomatic and economic ties with Ethiopia. Joint investment in the improvement and development of the port of Djibouti, the Ethio-Djibouti railway and the road link between the two countries on the basis of clearly stated cost settlement agreements would be a logical first step. As economic links grow and the possibility for further economic integration emerges, the idea of using a common currency could be floated provided strict adherence to internationally accepted principles and practices with respect to such a monetary arrangement by both countries can be guaranteed. On the political plane, a confederation would be an initiative worth considering. However, whatever steps the two countries take to enhance their political, economic and social ties, the principle of mutual and voluntary consent must be honored at all times.

 

Copyright© 1998 ADDIS TRIBUNE.

© 1998 Chamber World Network International Ltd

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Ethiopia pursues federation with Djibouti

Gregory R Copley

 

Defence & Foreign Affairs Strategy Policy

September 01, 2000

Volume 28, Issue 9

 

ETHIOPIAN Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, visiting the US in September 2000 for the United Nations Millennium Summit, and then extending his visit to Washington DC for more substantive meetings, said that an overarching political union between Ethiopia and Djibouti was "vital", as a matter of principle. In response to a question about possible federation or confederation between the two countries, Ato Meles said: "Economic consolidation in the region is essential, and might require political integration."

 

This would further solidify Ethiopia's revived trading relationship with and through Djibouti's Red Sea port, bypassing the need to resume trading through Eritrean ports, particularly Assab, just up the coast from Djibouti, and in territory controlled by the Afar people who, with the Issas, make up the population of Djibouti.

 

Prime Minister Meles, at a press conference at the Washington National Press Club on September 15, 2000, responded to a question as to why his Government did not push forward during the recent war with Eritrea to seize Assab, given that "99 percent of Ethiopians feel that Assab belongs to Ethiopia, not Eritrea". Prime Minister Meles said that the 1908 Treaty which Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II had signed with the Italian Government had ceded the area around Assab historically part of Welo, not Eritrea, or the region controlled by the Bar Negus [King of the Ocean], subordinate to the Emperor - to Italian control, for a distance of 60km from the Red Sea coast.

 

Mr Meles conceded that most Ethiopians, some 85 percent of which live in rural areas, may not have been aware of that legal fact, but said that Ethiopia, "as a law-abiding country" had to reject the seizure of land by force, which was just "thuggery" In any event, he said, "port access is just a service which can be bought or sold. We have the money and we are going to shop around" and in the case of Eritrea [and its control of Assab], we want to know if the "shop" is run by a law-abiding owner. "If we do not use Assab," he said, "it will be a watering hole for camels", noting that there were 10 ports in the Horn of Africa which Ethiopia could potentially use to overcome its landlocked status. Ethiopia was understood to be negotiating actively for the use of Mombassa, Kenya, as a port for southern Ethiopia, and new highways would be developed for that route.

 

He said that settlement of a final border demarcating the Eritrea-Ethiopia boundary would be based solely on colonial-era treaties, not on colonial-era maps, as well as in line with current international law.

 

Prime Minister Meles, who officially opened the new Ethiopian Embassy in Washin! ton DC on September 14, 2000, said that he had held talks with the US Secretaries of State and the Treasury, National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, Defense Department off cials, the World Bank, and Congress. However, there were few US officials at the official, and lavish, opening of the new Embassy, reflecting the continued caution by the US Administration and Congress over the Meles Administration. There were, on the other hand, many hundreds of pro-Meles Ethiopians flown into Washington DC from Ethiopia and elsewhere in North America to ensure a positive reaction at the Embassy opening. Hundreds of strenuously vocal Ethiopian opponents of Meles were across the street for several hours during the opening, protesting the Prime Minister's visit and policies. There were also protestors at each venue at which Prime Minister Meles appeared.

 

Ethiopian-born Saudi businessman Sheikh Mohammed al-Amoudi, who owns more land in Ethiopia than anyone else, donated the lavish catering at the Embassy opening. He had also donated the Ethiopian stone used for the new building's facing.

 

In a bid to improve his Administration's standing in Washington DC, the Meles Administration hired former US Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Robert Strauss to act as its lobbyist. Strauss's fees are known to be extremely high, and the Meles Administration's coffers were, at least until August 2000, believed to be empty, with some civil service salaries being paid-for directly by Sheikh al-Amoudi. There has been speculation that Mr Strauss's fees, too, were now being paid by Sheikh al-Amoudi.

 

So far, however, hiring Mr Strauss has not helped. Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jesse Helms, earlier in September 2000, reportedly said privately that he would ensure that neither Eritrea nor Ethiopia received any financial support from the US after wasting billions of dollars on the "senseless war" which they conducted during the previous two years.

 

Prime Minister Meles - whose background in the Tigre People's Liberation Front (TPLF) was left of center - was asked whether he felt that the proposed November 5, 2000, final interment of the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I would be a unifying event for Ethiopia. Meles equivocated. It would not, he said, be a "disuniting event", but it would not be a "uniting event" Nonetheless, he said that it would be "an event worth noting" Significantly, however, although Government handling of the matter had been delegated to Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin - ostensibly the second most powerful figure in the Government - it is known that Sheikh al-Amoudi had donated US$100,000 to the funeral organizing committee. This would not have occurred had the Government been unmindful of the potential for problems if the funeral did not go well.

 

The Crown Council of Ethiopia, the last remaining Ethiopian Imperial institution, in exile in Washington DC, is also known to be concerned about the funeral arrangements, being undertaken by a group of infighting private Ethiopians who seem bent on making personal capital out of the event. Haile Selassie's grandson, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council, will, however, attend the funeral.

 

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on September 15, 2000, to authorize the proposed 4,200strong UN peacekeeping force (UNMEE) to monitor the ceasefire between Eritrea and Ethiopia and oversee the redeployment of troops from the disputed border. The vote came as Prime Minister Meles said that negotiations on reaching an overall peace settlement with Eritrea would start at the end of September or in early October 2000.

 

UNMEE will supplement the UN observer mission of 100 military personnel approved by the Security Council on July 31, 2000. The first seven observers arrived in the border area on September 13, 2000. The agreement to end the hostilities was signed June 18. Prime Minister Meles said that the final list of peacekeeping donor countries had to be approved by both Eritrea and Ethiopia, but reports indicated that the UN had already asked Japan to contribute personnel to UNMEE.

 

Mr Meles was asked whether the Ethiopian Government planned to end its practice of ethnic separation of Ethiopia's 70 or so main ethnic groups, especially in light of the murder recently of a number of Amhara farmers who had gone into areas occupied by Oromo peoples. Meles said: "We have had armed conflicts based on ethnic differences. I know that we have taken a different approach to handling this [matter]." However, he said, "ethnicity is not a sickness; it should not be the cause of conflict". As a result, the Government did not plan to allow the ethnic groups to move from region to region. He blamed earlier attempts by Ethiopian governments to create an Ethiopian identity, and to end ethnic differences, as the cause of conflict.

 

Mr Meles, in fact, was himself instrumental in such conflict, as a leader of the TPLF, which had been fighting for Tigrean secession from Ethiopia until it won control of all Ethiopia in 1991 as a result of the collapse of the former Dengue Government when the collapse of the Soviet Union ended foreign military and economic support to it.

 

He also said that his Administration would not end the process of land nationalization. He said that land reform had been "distorted" after 1975 when the Dengue had forcibly collectivized farmlands. "We have preserved since 1991 the rational elements of [the post- 1975 collectivization] he said. " [Today] the peasants can do everything with the land except sell it" They can, he said, lease it, leave it to their children or farm it. "In the famine, the first thing people would do with their land is sell it," forcing some 10-million people onto the urban job market. Ethiopia could not possibly hope to sustain such a situation, he said, and added that there was therefore no intention to change the land nationalization situation. He did say, however, that nationalized properties and factories would not be returned to their former owners, but compensation would be paid to all, as a matter of policy. Some compensation claims were still being processed, he said.

 

© Copyright International Media Corporation Ltd. Sep 2000

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Many thanks to Roob Doon forum for collecting and commenting on these important articles on the strategic shift of policy of the two Horn African States.

 

The economic principle of comparative advantage comes into play.

[Che -Guevara]

Melez is preparing his Tigray region for the eventual disintregation of Ethiopia.

[NASSIR]

"port access is just a service which can be bought or sold. We have the money and we are going to shop around"

Meles is a heavy weight business man. :cool:

[Liqaye]

My gawd these tigreans bore me.

[General Duke]

The Horn is moving in a new direction..Though why Djibouti would have a union with Ethiopia makes no real sense to me.

[Koora-Tuunshe]

^ I think it's trade union, but the political integration will take some time.

[rudy-Diiriye]

well ethio is the king there so they rule... everyone else is the subject. thanks to tfg mofos

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Ethio-Djibouti railway rehabilitation well underway

 

Addis Ababa (WIC) – The rehabilitation of the old Ethio-Djibouti railway trucks is well underway with 40 million Euro, Ethio-Djibouti Railway Enterprise General Manager disclosed.

 

Enterprise General Manager Ti’ume Tekle told WIC the 114 Km rail truck in need of rehabilitation out of the 781 Km long rail and the rebuilding of 40 bridges is going on very well.

 

The maintenance and reconstruction of the more than hundred years old trucks is progressing according to plan, the General Manager said, adding that it will be finalized and go operational next year.

 

As the maintenance is given special attention, the Enterprise is constructing new rail trucks at some particular places, according to the General Manager.

 

The Enterprise is currently providing cargo service from the port of Djibouti to Diredawa and will extend the service to Addis Ababa, he indicated.

 

Alongside the maintenance and reconstruction of worn out rail trucks, preparations are underway to raise the number of cargos and locomotives as well as to update its communication methods, according to the General Manager.

 

Representative of the Italian based Construction Company, CONSTA Joint Venture, on his part said the maintenance and reconstruction of the railway is going on well and will be completed according to plan. The maintenance is carried out with the state-of-the-art technology and the company intends to take up contracts in other railway constructions, the representative indicated.

 

Employees of the Ethio-Djibouti Railway Enterprise are doing their levels best to improve and scale up its services, it was learnt.

 

Source: Walta Information, Aug 17, 2008

[rudy-Diiriye]

when did somalis become xaabashi naago!! Ti’ume Tekle kulaaha...waryaa, aint no xabaashi gonna make dime there!

 

clan cheerleaders just dont get!! now u pedelling xabaashi business... really so low.

[Xidigo]

http://soomaalinews.com/daawo.html

[Koora-Tuunshe]

Xidigo, why do you post that link? lol