BBC apologises over Band Aid money reports

[PasserBy]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11688535

 

And this is the reaction from the government of Ethiopia.

 

Statement made by the Office for Government Communication Affairs on the BBC’s Inadequate and Delayed Apology

 

 

The BBC, whose prestige towers all international media organizations, retracted its report in which it claimed to have evidence that during the 1985 drought aid was diverted to purchase arms as a baseless and inappropriate broadcast. By its own statement, the BBC had to apologize to Sir Bob Geldof who, at the time, was the chief organizer of Band Aid.

 

As much as Sir Bob Geldof deserve apology, it is a strange oversight that the apology did not extend to all those who were maligned by the BBC report. At the very least Ethiopia and the Ethiopian government should have been included in the BBC’s apologies for the smear campaign they suffered at the hands of irresponsible reporters. All the more so because the BBC has not stopped issuing unverified information about diversion of food aid for political ends in Ethiopia.

 

On this occasion, while encouraged by the fact that the BBC has accepted partial responsibility for its mistakes, the Ethiopian government would like to remind the likes of Human Rights Watch to refrain from fabricating similar white lies which they are eventually bound to retract in embarrassment.

[PasserBy]

And this is what the wretched Somalilander, Rageh Omaar, wrote at the time of BBC's blatantly false report.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/08/rageh-omaar-live-aid-geldof

[Taleexi]

Rageh Omar is a role model and, one of our brightest sons in the diaspora. Nevertheless, report-kan xaraaradii qabiilka ayaa yare qaaday oo dhiidhi la gashay after all he is a Somali! , let us be fair and evaluate figures in wholeness, Rageh distorted the facts on the said report but overall he is an awesome reporter that we can all be proud of, at least methinks.

[Che -Guevara]

^Rageh was spot on but you think him being Somali renders him less reliable-I would recommend you read the Crisis Caravan by Linda Polman !

[Liibaan]

By Rageh Omaar:

In my own country, Somalia,

where al-Qaida-affiliated groups have dictated how the World Food Programme delivers emergency food

By Rageh Omaar:

As a Somali, looking at what happened in my country during the US-led humanitarian intervention in 1992

and what is happening today, what I find unacceptable is that a humanitarian operation can be elevated to the status of being above criticism.

[Ibtisam]

Originally posted by 'Liibaan':

quote:By Rageh Omaar:

In my own country, Somalia, where al-Qaida-affiliated groups have dictated how the World Food Programme delivers emergency food

By Rageh Omaar:

As a Somali, looking at what happened in my country during the US-led humanitarian intervention in 1992

and what is happening today, what I find unacceptable is that a humanitarian operation can be elevated to the status of being above criticism.

I did not read the full report, BUT I cannot help agree with those two statements. Humanitarian Operations cannot be elevated to be above criticism, particuarly when it is carried out with military help!!.