Ethiopia Boost its Military: Ignored Somalis' Plight Oil

[Abu-Salman]

Ethiopia ups military budget, blames Eritrea threat

 

 

Ethiopia has boosted its defence budget by more than $54-million to gird for a possible resumption of hostilities with Eritrea over their disputed border, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Parliament on Tuesday.

 

"Our military budget has been raised proportionally from three billion to 3,5-billion birr [a rise of 16,7%, equivalent to $54,3-million]," Meles said.

 

The rise was "only 1,7% of our total budget", he added. Ethiopia's total budget is estimated at more than $2.2 billion.

 

"The Eritrean government has repeatedly opposed our request to negotiate the implementation of the border and warned of a repeat of full-out war. As a result, we had to build our defence capabilities," Meles said.

 

"We believe the government in Asmara is well aware of our capabilities and another invasion would lead to their downfall," he warned.

 

Eritrea last week said Addis Ababa's rejection of a 2002 frontier ruling by the United Nations-appointed Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, granting the flashpoint town of Badme to Asmara, was an aggression.

 

The stand-off between the two neighbours has worsened -- with much flexing of military muscle -- ahead of the expiration this week of the commission's mandate to fix the border.

 

Earlier this month UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about the military build-up along the border and urged the two countries to break the stalemate in efforts to demarcate the disputed frontier.

 

A 1998 to 2000 border war between the two countries left 70 000 people dead. -- AFP

 

 

Soldiers continue human rights abuses in Ethiopia's beleaguered southeast, say residents AP, November 28, 2007

 

 

KEBRIDEHAR, Ethiopia: Ethiopian soldiers have abused civilians, committing arson and rape, in a southeastern area where they are fighting rebels, but there have been some improvements in aid delivery, residents said. Ethiopia's prime minister said his troops are fighting a counterinsurgency in the Og-aden, and would not make the mistake of violating human rights. A top United Nations relief official who visited the region Tuesday said much more remains to be done. A thin, pensive 30-year-old man, who asked not to be identified out of fear, told The Associated Press about two incidents on Friday in which the army burned two villages, Lebiga and Korelitsa, to the ground, killing one man. The army, the man said, was killing his neighbors "like goats." Officials in the area said they had heard similar reports. They also asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

 

The man also described gang rapes and public hangings in the region and said that villagers had been told not to speak to international observers. Officials in the area also said villagers had been told not to speak to outsiders, and that also was mentioned in a September report by a U.N. fact-finding mission. Another man, 26, who also asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, accused the government of withholding food in order to punish fighters and supporters of the Og-aden National Liberation Front, a separatist movement that in April attacked a Chinese-run oil exploration field in the region, killing 74 people. In May, the Ethiopian military began counterinsurgency operations, which has stymied trade and some food aid. On Tuesday, the region appeared calm. Government soldiers dotted the flat, arid landscape and towns of Jijiga and Kebridehar, though there was no evidence of any significant military operations. Women — some wearing scarves of hot pink — fluttered through the streets. Men in Jijiga walked along the main promenade. But when questioned, residents were reticent. One man in Kebridehar said he believed the streets were full of military intelligence officers. In the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told journalists Wednesday that human rights abuses and a humanitarian crisis, "didn't exist. Doesn't exist. Will not exist" in the og-aden. "This is a counterinsurgency. I am not going to tell you there hasn't been anyone beaten up. I am absolutely confident that there has not been any widespread violation of human rights," he said. Meles, a former rebel, said that he would not repeat the measures taken against him by previous regimes and his government will not commit, "widespread human rights violations." "We know firsthand how to fight an insurgency and how to avoid og-aden mistakes," Meles said. John Holmes, the U.N.'s humanitarian chief, on Wednesday described the humanitarian situation in the og-aden as "potentially serious." "I didn't get the impression that we are in a catastrophic situation now," Holmes told journalists, adding, however, "there's an awful lot of challenges still to address." Those challenges included opening up transport and trade, expanding food distribution and addressing human rights concerns, he said. Holmes said he discussed these issues Wednesday with top Ethiopian officials, including Meles. Holmes said he heard many secondhand reports of human rights abuses and said that "they come from numerous and sufficiently varied sources to be taken seriously." He did not give details. In recent months, Ethiopia has expelled the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Dutch branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres from og-aden. But in recent weeks the government has allowed 19 non-governmental organizations to return to work in the og-aden. The U.N. fact-finding mission said in September that the situation in the og-aden had deteriorated rapidly and called for an independent investigation into the humanitarian issues there. The mission also said that recent fighting in the region had led to a worsening humanitarian situation and a doubling of the price of food. It also called for a substantial increase in emergency food aid to the impoverished region where rebels have been fighting for increased autonomy for more than a decade. Simon Mechale, director of the Ethiopian government's Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Agency, said on Tuesday that his talks with people in the region provided a more optimistic picture. "From what I have seen so far, I did not see any amazing or disturbing thing," he said. The Og-aden National Liberation Front is fighting to overthrow the government for what it says are human rights abuses and to establish greater autonomy in the region being heavily explored for oil and gas. The government accuses the rebels of being terrorists funded by its archenemy Eritrea.

 

 

Ethiopia to maintain crackdown on Og-aden rebels: PM

 

 

ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Ethiopia will sustain its crackdown on separatist rebels in the restive Og-aden region, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Tuesday, adding that scores of insurgents had been killed. The military launched a crackdown on the region after the Og-aden National Liberation Front (ONLF) attacked a Chinese-run oil venture in April, killing 77 people. "We are maintaining our previous strategy of taking legal and proportional measures against the anti-peace elements in the Og-aden," Meles told parliament. "Scores of ONLF and OLF (Oromo Liberation Front) rebels have been killed and wounded from the actions we have taken so far." Earlier this month, the rebels accused the army of bombing villages and killing several people, but the government denied killing civilians. The barren oga-den region has long been extremely poor, but the discovery of gas and oil has brought new hopes of wealth as well as new causes of conflict. It is about the same size as Britain with a population of around four million. Between 650,000 and one million civilians -- already affected by recent flooding -- have been displaced by the clampdown.

[NASSIR]

Do you see now why Eritrea is fighting a proxy war in Somalia?

 

Is Eritrea helping Somalia or utlizing our country to its own national security interest?

[me]

^What is our interest? Is being under Xabashi occupation our interest?

[Fabregas]

Originally posted by Caamir:

Is Eritrea helping Somalia or utlizing our country to its own national security interest?

It is probably doing the latter! But the same can be said of Ethiopia!Are the Ethiopians no securing their national interest, just like the Eritreans are doing? Eritreans interest is to keep Ethiopia preoccupied by arming resistance movements and Ethiopia's interest is to have friendly regimes in Somalia that are indifferent to their policies towards the Ocadenia and willing to include Ethiopian backed Somali warlords in any reconcialition or meeting that takes place in Somalia!

[Castro]

Yey is puppet of Meles.

Meles is enemy of Afwerki.

Therefore, Afwerki is our friend.

 

Simple really.

[Chimera]

pst pst hey hey..listen....A friend of mine saw 2000 Eritreans surfing on the Somali Indian Ocean with hawaiian shirts on and then they magically flew away - Offrecord

 

day later..

 

we have confirmation from reliable sources that Eritrean troops are training insurgents - Meles the Rat slash Bat

 

---

 

I concurr with the words of Meles the Rat slash Bat *fart* we must stop Eritrea's dangerous behaviour *fart *fart* and badme should be returned to Zion *faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaart**...ehem that will be all, thank you - J. Frazer