Ethiopian rebels deny that their aim is to take over the capital

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Ethiopian rebels deny that their aim is to take over the capital | Africanews

Ethiopian rebels, TPLF, deny that their presence in the capital, Addis Ababa, would cause a bloodbath

Source: Africanews | Latest breaking news, daily news and African news from Africa

Cynthia Shepard Perry, a Republican and 25 year career diplomat, has served three Republican presidents. President Ronald Reagan appointed her as Chief of Education and Human Resources of the U.S. Agency for International Development where she served from 1982 to 1986, and named her Ambassador to Sierra Leone from 1986 to 1989.

President H.W. Bush appointed her ambassador to Burundi where she served from 1989 to 1993. President George W. Bush appointed her as U.S. Executive Director of the African Development Bank in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, and Tunis, Tunisia in 2001. As director, she promoted microlending projects for small start-up loans, especially for women. In addition, she analyzed African loan requests for schools, bridges, and projects to reduce poverty.

Her foreign service also included Director of Teacher/Peace Corps for Crossroads-Africa (1971-73); a member of diplomatic delegations to Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, and Liberia (1974); UN Economic Commission in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1976); and Consultant to U.S. Information Services in Kenya, Nigeria, and Zambia (1973-1976).

Born on Nov. 11, 1928, in Lost Creek near Terre Haute, Indiana, she was one of nine children. Her parents were farmers who also taught her piano and painting. In 1946, she graduated from segregated Otter Creek High School where she loved writing and was often the winner of writing contests. Her interests in geography and global topics were fueled by her father’s service in France in World War I and her brothers’ assignments in World War II.

In her 1998 memoir, All Things Being Equal: One Woman’s Journey, she states that “at age 16 she planned to be an ambassador.” With the help of family and the high school principal, she developed a 25-year plan. Her journey began with political science and foreign language degrees from Indiana State in 1968 and a Doctorate of Education from the University of Massachusetts in 1976. During her doctoral program, she recruited volunteers for work in Africa. She worked in several

Irvin Hicks was a career Foreign Service Officer who rose from a communications clerk position to serve three times as a U.S. ambassador. Hicks served in the Department of State during the nascent years of African Independence from European colonial rule. Hicks was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Seychelles by President Ronald Reagan. He served as Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in the capital city of Victoria from 1985 to 1987. In 1992 President George H.W. Bush nominated Hicks to be Deputy Representative of the United States of America to the Security Council in the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador. He was later appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary by President Bill Clinton to Ethiopia. Hicks was Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa from 1994 to 1996.

Irvin Hicks was born March 16, 1938, in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1961 he took a job as a clerk typist at the Department of the Army in Washington, D.C. He left this position in 1962 to join the Department of State where he would serve as a career Foreign Service Officer (FSO). After training for the position of communications clerk he was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Libreville, Gabon. While in Libreville he also held the position of accounts assistant until 1964. Later the same year he returned to the United States for training in the State Departments’ Foreign Service Institute, which included language training in French.

After Foreign Service training Hicks was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Bamako, Mali. He served in various capacities including accounts assistant, budget and fiscal specialist, post management assistant and administrative support officer. In 1968 he took leave from the Department and served until 1969 as budget director for the Community Development Agency in New York.

After his brief absence he returned to the Department in 1969 as an administrative support officer. From 1970 to 1973, he was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Bangui, Central

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) was formally launched just over a year ago in a blaze of optimism.

It aims to phase out all tariffs on commerce on the continent of 1.2 billion people, a goal that backers say could give trade a mega-jolt as only 15 percent of trade by African nations is with continental neighbours compared to 70 percent with Europe.

\"Everybody can see, objectively, nothing can be done on the 1st of July,\" AfCFTA's brand-new secretary general, Wamkele Mene of South Africa, told AFP.

Then there is the task of figuring out how AfCFTA should dovetail with eight existing regional organisations in Africa, such as ECOWAS and the six-nation East African Community (EAC).

\"The regional economic communities remain, including the customs unions in Africa such as the EAC, ECOWAS and so on,\" said Mene.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said he had ordered a military response to a deadly attack by the ruling party of the Tigray region on a camp housing federal troops.

\tBut the journey to the May 15 status lasted roughly two months (exactly 55 days) from the day an index case was recorded and reported by the ministry.

\tBy May 8th, case tally had reached 39 but the good news from the Health Ministry was the recovery of 37 out of the number.

Two days on, the 38th recovery was recorded before the final on May 15 meant that there was no active case in the country.

Mauritius was the second to declare virus-free status with 332 cases, 322 recoveries and 10 deaths as of May 11, a case stat that remains valid as of May 17 according to tallies from the John Hopkins University portal.

The Health Ministry delivered virus updates – cases, recoveries and directives; whiles the Task Force came in with the guidelines relative to containment measures and other fine details.

\tEthiopia will soon have a COVID-19 field hospital on the outskirts of the capital Addis Ababa.

\tEthiopia has recorded back-to-back one-day spikes, record 61 new cases on Saturday and a further 81 on Sunday toppling the Saturday record.

Ethiopia’s tally has therefore jumped by 193 new cases in a space of five days.

\tEthiopia’s case count spiked on Monday by 35 new cases (a daily record) whiles 14 new cases were recorded today.

Mozambique on Saturday allowed the repatriation of 100 Indians who were stranded in the country over Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Mozambican authorities have not released 16 African refugees and asylum seekers who have been in prison for the past 18 months, a lobby group said Saturday as the world marked the World Refugee Day.

The refugees and asylum seekers include 15 Congolese and one Ethiopian who have been in detention in Pemba, Cabo Delgado province, since their arrest in January 2019, Amnesty said.

“The biggest tragedy about the continued arbitrary detention of these refugees is that 18 months after their detention, they remain in the dark as to why they have been arrested in the first place,” Amnesty International deputy director for southern Africa, Muleya Mwananyanda, said in a statement.

The continent of Africa is the worlds second-largest based on land area and population just after Asia. It has a population of around one billion people (as of 2009) and covers 20.4% of the Earths land area. Africa is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west.

Africa is known for its biodiversity, varied topography, culture and varied climate.

The continent straddles the equator and encompasses the entire tropical band. Africas northern and southernmost countries also stretch out of the tropics (from 0° to 23.5° N and S latitude) and into the northern and southern temperate latitudes (latitudes above the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn).

As the worlds second-largest continent, Africa is divided into 53 officially recognized countries. The following is a list of Africas countries ordered by land area. For reference, the countrys population and capital city have also been included.

Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza, who died of a heart attack aged 55 according to an official statement released on Tuesday, has left behind a mixed legacy.

Viewed as a pan- Africanist by his East African Community (EAC) peers and as a ruthless dictator by his critics, Nkurunziza was a dominant figure in Burundi's politics in the last 26 years.

\"Death has robbed East Africa of a prominent leader whose contribution to the integration and progress of the region shall be sorely missed,\" President Uhuru Kenyatta said in a statement.

Libérat Mfumukeko, a Burundi national who serves as EAC's Secretary- General, said in a statement on June 9: \"President Nkurunziza's unequivocally decided to lead Burundi into the community in 2007, having figured out that the economic, social and political homogeneity of the region provided vast opportunities for his country's economic recovery and national reconciliation.\"

Nkurunziza, a former leader of a Hutu rebel group, was elected by lawmakers after promising peace but oversaw a crackdown on political opponents and the media when he was re-elected five years later.

Addis Ababa — The Extraordinary African Union (AU) Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government Vide-Teleconference Meeting, held on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, (GERD) issued on June 26, 2020 the following communiqué:-

COMMUNIQUE OF THE EXTRAORDINARY AFRICAN UNION (AU) BUREAU OF THE ASSEMBLY OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT VIDEO-TELECONFERENCE MEETING ON THE GRAND ETHIOPIAN RENAISSANCE DAM (GERD), 26 JUNE 2020

President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa of the Republic of South Africa, and Chairperson of the African Union (AU) convened a video-teleconference Meeting of the African Union (AU) Extraordinary Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, on 26 June 2020, to discuss developments pertaining to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The Meeting of the Bureau was held pursuant to consultations undertaken by His Excellency, President Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Union with the three Negotiating Parties concerning the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), namely, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

The Bureau of the Assembly was addressed by His Excellency, President Abdel Fattah al Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt; His Excellency, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmad of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; and His Excellency, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok of the Republic of Sudan, with regards to their respective positions pertaining to the GERD matter.

In this regard, the Bureau of the Assembly agreed to augment the Tripartite Committee dealing with the GERD issue consisting of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan with the participation of observers, namely South Africa in its capacity as Chairperson of the AU, Members of the Bureau of the AU, and experts from the Commission, with a view to addressing outstanding technical and legal issues.

The Bureau of the Assembly and participating Heads of State and Government welcomed the intervention of H.E. President Ramaphosa and expressed their deep gratitude for his initiative to bring together the three Parties to the GERD in order to find a negotiated solution on outstanding matters.

Angry protests were reported Tuesday in the capital, Addis Ababa, after Hachalu Hundessa was shot dead on Monday.

A well-known Oromo activist, Jawar Mohammed, was among 35 people arrested during the latest unrest.

\tThe arrest of prominent Ethiopian pro-democracy activist Jawar Mohammed has been confirmed by multiple sources from the country.

The arrest comes in the wake of mass protests against the shooting and killing on Monday night of a famed Oromo musician and activist in Addis Ababa.

\tThe latest incident is the second major face off between Jawar and state security agents.

The Ethiopian government says operations by its defence forces are underway in Tigray its northern region

The move comes after the government of prime minister Abiy Ahmed declared an “unexpected war” on it’s northern state, threatening the stability of one of the world’s most strategic regions, the Horn of Africa.

Birhanu Jula Gelalcha, Deputy Chief of the Ethiopian Army described the war a shameful one. \"O ur country has entered into a war that it did not want. This war is a shameful war. It does not have a point. The people of Tigray and its youth and its security forces should not die for this pointless war. Ethiopia is their country.\" the army chief explained.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) are accused of an unprovoked attack on the Ethiopian army’s northern command, and of trying to loot its weapons.

Tensions between the government and TPLF, which used to be part of the governing coalition before falling out with Mr Abiy, have escalated in recent months.

The TPLF has accused Abiy’s administration of trying to destroy Tigray’s right to self-determination and conspiring with Ethiopia’s northern neighbour Eritrea to stage a military attack.

(Tigrinya) Debretsion Gebremichael, President of the Tigray Regional State. berated the government's move.

\"In the regions around Tigray there is a massing of military forces. Consequently I have announced at a news conference to say that they are surrounding us with their forces. I stated that they have decided to go to war and we should all prepare to foil it. This is our proclamation, so let it be clear\". Gebremicheal said.

He stressed there was no reason for this because the people of Tigray held an election. \"There was nothing new that happened. This is the action of a self-loving government that is trying to resolve, albeit though not possible, political differences through force, weapons, and war. That is why they have declared war on the people of Tigray.\"

On Tuesday, the federal parliament proposed that the TPLF be designated as a \"terrorist organisation.\"

Reuben Earl Brigety II is a naval officer, educator, international humanitarian specialist, and diplomat. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on September 7, 1973, to Dr. Barbara and Dr. Rueben Brigety Sr. In 1965 his father became the first African American to graduate from the University of Florida’s College of Medicine.

Brigety is a distinguished midshipman graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1995. While in the Navy, he held several staff positions, including speechwriter and analyst in the Pentagon. He later won a scholarship to pursue a Master’s in International Relations at the University of Cambridge in England, which he earned in 1997 before returning to active duty. Upon deciding to return to pursue his doctoral degree in international affairs, Brigety received a discharge from the Navy in 2000 after which he returned to Cambridge where he earned his doctoral degree in 2003. During these early professional and educational endeavors, he honed his expertise in human rights issues and African affairs.

Dr. Brigety worked as a researcher for Human Rights Watch’s Arms Division, conducting field work in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2001 to 2003, followed by assistant professor postings at George Mason University and American University from 2003 to 2009. He also consulted with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Office of Emergency Operations’ Humanitarian Policy Unit, in 2004.

From 2007 to 2009, Dr. Brigety was special assistant to the assistant administrator for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Simultaneously, he was director for the Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress and a senior advisor for Civil-Military Affairs for the Joint Strategic Assessment Team at the U.S. Central Command in Washington, D.C., and in Doha, Qatar, from 2008 to 2009.

From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Brigety served as deputy assistant secretary of state in the department’s Bureau of Population,

Addis Ababa — Statement co-signed by the ministers of finance and / or ministers of development of the following countries: Angola, Cameroun, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Tunisia.

African finance ministers called for $100 billion fiscal stimuli, the IMF has already extended debt relief to the 17 low income countries on the continent, and through other mechanisms has disbursed over $US17 billion in emergency funding to countries to address the Covid-19 pandemic.

A solution to finance Africa's commercial debt service could free up over $44 billion of fiscal space for Africa in 2020, providing immediate liquidity to governments – a much needed immediate bridge to renewed growth for Africa and the global economy.

H.E. Mr Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Integration

April 2007 national elections—the country’s first transition from one democratically elected president to another—were marred by widespread allegations of fraud, ballot stuffing, violence, and chaos. Just days before the election, the Supreme Court ruled that the election commission’s decision to remove from the ballot Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a leading candidate and a bitter rival of President Olusegun Obsanjo, was illegal. Ballots were reprinted, but they only showed party symbols rather than the names of candidates. Umaru Yar’Adua, the candidate of the governing party, won the election in a landslide, taking more than 24.6 million votes. Second-place candidate Muhammadu Buhari tallied only about 6 million votes. International observers called the vote flawed and illegitimate. The chief observer for the European Union said the results “cannot be considered to have been credible.” An election tribunal ruled in Feb. 2008 that although the election was indeed flawed, the evidence of rigging was not substantial enough to overturn the election results.

The rebel group in Nigerias oil-producing region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, declared a cease-fire in September. Since the insurgency broke out in 2004, Nigerias oil production has been significantly reduced, from about 2.5 million barrels a day to 1.5 million.

Deadly violence broke out in July 2009 in northeastern Nigeria between government troops and an obscure fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram, which is opposed to Western education and seeks to have Sharia law implemented throughout the country. The groups name translates to Western education is sinful. As many as 1,000 civilians died in the battles. The fighting began after militants attacked police stations and seemed to be preparing for a pitched religious war against the government. The police, followed by the army, retaliated and unleashed a five-day assault against the sect. The groups leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was killed in the campaign and the group was nearly decimated.

[East African] Ethiopian authorities on Thursday warned of a possible \"terror attack\" in the capital Addis Abba.

Ten countries account for 80% of the new coronavirus testing taking place across Africa, a regional body has said, indicating that little testing is taking place in many countries around the vast continent.

[Ethiopian Herald] ADDIS ABABA - Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) announced that it is mobilizing resources to help member states consolidate solidarity to cope with burden imposed on the health system, peace and security, natural disaster and COVID-19 pandemic.

Ethiopia is the second-most populous country in Africa with 110 million people, and by far the most important power in the Horn of Africa.

[Nation] Negotiations among Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) resumed Monday afternoon, the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy announced.

A unit of Al-Shabaab militants chopped off the right hand of a resident at Don-Burale village, near Qoryoley town in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region on Monday.

The incident took place at a square at Don-Burale village, about 124 km southwest of the Somalia capital Mogadishu and attended by villagers called to witness the event.

An Al-Shabaab judge presiding over the case named the man as Osman Manurey Mohamed who was accused and sentenced of breaking into a shop in the village, stealing Somali Shillings notes amounting to 6 million (equivalent to US$240).

On May 13, 2020, Al-Shabaab sentenced a man named Abukar Haji Omar, 50, to death for practising obscurantism.

\"This man has been claiming to possess supernatural magical powers over the past five years,\" said an Al-Shabaab judge chairing the execution by a firing squad.

However, some progress may be expected following the passing of the National Communications Law in October 2017, aimed at setting a legal and regulatory framework for the telecoms sector.

Through the anarchy which continues to disrupt the country, the telecoms market, dominated by the competitive mobile sector where seven networks compete for customers, has flourished.

The forming of a new government in 2017 has given rise to hopes that the country may stabilise and become more attractive to foreign investment, which is needed to take the telecoms and broadband sector to the next level.

During the coming year the telecoms sector to various degrees is likely to experience a downturn in mobile device production, while it may also be difficult for network operators to manage workflows when maintaining and upgrading existing infrastructure.

The report also covers the responses of the telecom operators as well as government agencies and regulators as they react to the crisis to ensure that citizens can continue to make optimum use of telecom services.