Does the ONLF and their exaggerations ever stop?

[Thankful]

Remember the other news concerning the 5 men that were allegedly ship to Ethiopia from Bosasso? This is why I asked for proof before, anyone with any common sense would know the news tends to be "almost certainly exaggerated."

 

Is it fair to say that if they are capable of telling a bold face lie like this article shows, that they could do the same thing about the total truth on the 5 men in Bosasso?? :confused:

 

Reuters

 

 

Ethiopia rebels spread jitters in oil region

Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:34pm GMT Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+]

* Ethiopia ****** rebel claims said to be exaggerated

 

* Hundreds said killed in fierce fighting in oil-rich region

 

* Rebel leader warns foreign oil companies

 

 

By Barry Malone

 

JIJIGA, Ethiopia, Dec 11 (Reuters) - A rebel group's claims to have captured seven towns and killed 1,000 soldiers in fierce fighting in Ethiopia's oil-producing ****** region are almost certainly exaggerated, foreign aid workers in the region say.

 

Ethiopia's ****** National Liberation Front (ONLF) staged bold raids on government positions last month and aid workers say several hundred people were probably killed on both sides.

 

But while the guerrillas are capable of causing instability in the vast Somali region, which includes the ****** and accounts for one-fifth of the country's landmass, experts say they cannot hold territory.

 

"They attacked more than twenty places," one aid worker, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters in Jijiga, the regional capital. "But they only managed to take one town, not seven."

 

A culture of secrecy and suspicion has surrounded the volatile ****** region ever since the ONLF overran a Chinese oilfield in 2007 and killed 74 people.

 

Now that foreign firms including Malaysia's Petronas [PETR.UL] and Vancouver-based Africa Oil Corporation (AOI.V) are back at work in the region, some are wondering whether the investment will be worth the risk.

 

Ethiopia is offering up to 14 more exploration permits over the next three years, and the government is keen to make sure the guerrillas do not attack again. [iD:nGEE5AN1QK]

 

The rebels routinely warn oil companies to stay away.

 

"The people of ****** want to have their mineral wealth developed, but not if it will be used to subjugate them further, which will be the case if the regime attains this wealth," Abdirahman Mahdi, the ONLF's foreign secretary, told Reuters.

 

Most analysts say the group has no chance of overthrowing the government.

 

"In the Somali region they can carry out hit-and-run assaults on government sites as well as on outposts of foreign entities, like Chinese energy explorers," Mark Schroeder, an Africa analyst with Stratfor, told Reuters.

 

"But they cannot hold large stretches of territory."

 

 

"STRUGGLE FOR SELF-DETERMINATION"

 

Journalists are not allowed to travel in ****** without an escort and have been arrested and expelled from the country for doing so. Reuters went to the ****** with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.'s food agencies, Ertharin Cousin.

 

In heavily-protected Jijiga, soldiers patrol a nervous population. Foreign aid staff return to protected compounds before a 9 p.m. curfew. Cafes and bars have been attacked with grenades.

 

The region borders chaotic Somalia. The part known as the ****** after the region's largest clan is the centre of conflict between the ONLF and government soldiers and militias.

 

Mahdi, who rarely speaks to the media, told Reuters the rebels wanted a referendum on independence for the region's Muslim, ethnic Somali people. And he dismissed claims the ONLF was helping Somalia's Islamist al Shabaab rebels, who are waging a violent war against that country's U.N.-backed government.

 

"The ONLF, as a matter of policy and principle, does not and will not collaborate with extremist organisations," he said. "This is a struggle for self-determination."

 

Analysts say that, along with its potential mineral wealth, the desert region's location between Somalia and Addis Ababa makes the Ethiopian government determined to hold on to it after a long history of hostilities with its neighbour.

 

The government says the ONLF has no popular support and is funded by rival Eritrea in an attempt to destabilise Ethiopia.

 

Bereket Simon, the Ethiopian government's head of information, told Reuters the rebels had regrouped since 2007, but called November's attacks a "last desperate act".

 

Locals said the rebels were believed to be planning more assaults.

 

The rebels and the government routinely accuse each other of terrorising the local population, burning villages and murdering and raping civilians.

 

The ONLF accuses government forces of stopping food aid and commercial supplies from reaching their strongholds, putting thousands of drought-affliced civilians at risk of starvation.

 

Ambassador Cousin's visit was carefully managed by the United Nations and the Ethiopian government. Her convoy rarely left main roads, and she said saw no evidence of the ONLF charges. (Editing by Daniel Wallis and Paul Taylor)

[Kamaavi]

Heh,funny how investigations turn out when the suspects control the investigating ,,,

[Thankful]

Think what you want, but Do you actually believe YOUR rebels announcement that a freakin 1000 soldiers died???? You and I know both that 1000 did not die, This is the blantant misinformation that I was talking about and why the true story of the 5 men in Bosasso needs to be investigated. The ONLF are known to exaggerate news, it is no different with the continuously changing stories on that whole Bosasso arrest.

[Kamaavi]

Why ThanksfulSP, I thought you have already began investigating the case or control the investigating. Are you suddenly having second thoughts?

[Fabregas_Bruv]

Originally posted by ThankfulSP:

Think what you want, but Do you actually believe YOUR rebels announcement that a freakin 1000 soldiers died???? You and I know both that 1000 did not die, This is the blantant misinformation that I was talking about and why the true story of the 5 men in Bosasso needs to be investigated. The ONLF are known to exaggerate news, it is no different with the continuously changing stories on that whole Bosasso arrest.

Man,the annoucement was covered by almost most of the international media agencies who all reported that the ONLF claimed to have captured hundreds of villages and smoked many Xabashi occupying soldiers. The validity or the truth of the story is not important, rather what is that this caused a great deal of embarrassment to the Ethio GOV and it was forced to publicly deny these claims. So expecting a rebel group to be truthful about the number of cities it captured or how many soldiers it killed is pretty silly. Even governments lie about the number of insurgents they killed. War is deceit! Exaggerations can harm the morale of the enemy.

 

Having said that, this story and the story of the detainees are two completely different cases which would have to be analysed according to their own conditions and evidences. You are clutching at straws.

 

ps. why do I get the impression that you are more concerned about defending the reputation of the holy clan grail aka Puntland rather than if the detainees story was factual?

[Thankful]

Having said that, this story and the story of the detainees are two completely different cases which would

have to be analysed according to their own conditions and evidences.

I agree with you 100% and have been saying this since day one. But some on here have already rendered a verdict before an investigation even started. If all is true and a case is being brought foward, we will see all the evidence and we can then decide if the allegations have any merit.

[General Duke]

It's like the kid who cried Wolf. No one will believe them when they actually make any impact on the ground. Good luck to them but the truth is an important weapon lads.

[Kamaavi]

Originally posted by Fabregas_Bruv:

ps. why do I get the impression that you are more concerned about defending the reputation of the holy clan grail aka Puntland rather than if the detainees story was factual?

[Cowke]

ThankfulSP. Anyone that takes ONLF claims as true are either doing so for "Qabil" sake or their totally insane and warrant being put in their closest mental ward.

 

I personally don't believe the onlf media unless it backed up with respected media outlets or indepedent research organizations. Those respected media outlets & organizations I'll keep to myself, however Reuters is definitely 1 of them.

 

My advice to all is to take the "ONLF" spin-doctors and their news with a pinch of salt.