Awramba Times

By Gizaw Legese

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism is not suspected in the crash of Flight 409

Awramba Times (Addis Ababa):- The authorities of Lebanon  have recovered 34 bodies after an Ethiopian Airlines jet caught fire and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea early Monday morning.

Ninety people were on board the Boeing 737-800 — including one Canadian citizen — when it caught fire shortly after takeoff from a Beirut airport. It crashed into the sea shortly after 2:30 a.m., local time.

Lebanon’s public works and transportation minister, Ghazi Aridi, said the plane went down about 3.5 kilometres off the coast.

The cause of the crash is not immediately known, though Lebanon has seen stormy weather since Sunday evening.

Aridi told reporters “the weather undoubtedly was very bad.”

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism is not suspected in the crash of Flight 409, which was headed to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

“Sabotage is ruled out as of now,” he said.

Pieces of the plane and other debris have washed ashore in the aftermath of the crash, including passenger seats, a baby sandal and bottles of medicine. A Lebanese defence official told The Associated Press that several children are among the dead.

Aridi said the plane’s 83 passengers included 54 Lebanese citizens, 22 Ethiopians, one Iraqi, one Syrian, one Canadian of Lebanese origin, one Russian of Lebanese origin, a French woman and two Britons of Lebanese origin.

The nationality of the plane’s seven crew members was not immediately released.

In Ottawa, Foreign Affairs released a statement indicating that a flight manifest indicated “there was one Canadian citizen on board the flight.” The department did not provide any additional details about the individual.

Consular officials are in contact with the family, Foreign Affairs said.

Friends and relatives seeking information on Canadians believed to be on Flight 409 are asked to call Foreign Affairs at 1-800-267-6788, or 1-613-996-8885.

The French Embassy reported that the wife of Denis Pietton, the French ambassador to Lebanon, was also on board the plane.

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Ato Girma Wake told reporters in Addis Ababa that he had no information about the fate of the people on board the plane, nor about the cause of the crash.

Wake said the plane had been serviced Dec. 25 and passed inspection.

He also said the plane had been leased in September from CIT Aerospace, a U.S.-company based in New York.

Wake also said the airline would be sending accident and crisis management experts to Beirut.

Ethiopian Government has sent a rescue expert’s team early this morning to Beirut the team is already working on gathering all pertinent information.

Last Friday, US air manufacturer Boeing announced that Ethiopian Airlines has ordered 10 next-generation 737-800s, in a deal valued at 767 million dollars aiming to expand its fleet and broaden its network, which has been operating Boeing planes since the airline’s founding in 1945.

Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:41am GMT
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Ethiopia has taken more than 100 Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebels into custody after they surrendered and handed over a cache of arms, the government said through state media on Sunday.
A number of rebel groups operate in the Horn of Africa country, launching hit-and-run attacks and worrying potential investors in oil and gas exploration.
“Members of a political force operating under the name of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) handed over themselves to the government in an organised manner,” state-run Ethiopian Television (ETV) reported.
The group included Lucho Burbura who has been one of the group’s top military commanders and its head of foreign relations, ETV said.
The OLF did not immediately deny the reports but said on Sunday it had killed three Ethiopian troops and captured five in renewed fighting.
The OLF has fought for autonomy for its southern homeland since 1993. The Oromos are Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group but have not held power in modern times.
The Ethiopian opposition says the government falsely accuses Oromo politicians of OLF membership as an excuse to arrest them before national elections in May.
Oromo politicians in the capital Addis Ababa, who did not want to be named, told Reuters on Sunday that the reports on state television looked credible.
A government official in neighbouring Kenya, who also asked not to be identified, told Reuters the OLF rebels had been hiding out on their side of the border.
“More than 103 fighters were brought here (Moyale) by hired trucks (and) taken to Ethiopia, where they gave all their guns and uniforms,” the official said.
The official said Kenya was about to deploy thousands of troops to flush the rebels back into Ethiopia. He said Ethiopia would offer defectors amnesty.
Ethiopia — which has a system of “ethnic federalism” under which major ethnic groups control the regions where they are the majority — fights other separatist groups, including the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).
Ogaden is eyed by foreign oil and gas companies who think its huge deserts might be rich in mineral deposits.
Analysts expect the rebels to try to disrupt the national elections.

አውራምባ ታይምስ (አዲስ አበባ) ድምጻዊ ቴዎድሮስ ካሳሁን (ቴዲ አፍሮ) ዛሬ ከሰዓት በኋላ በአዲስ አበባ አዲስ ቪው ሆቴል የግጥም ዝግጅት አቀረቡ፡፡

ድምጻዊው ያዘጋጃቸውን ግጥሞች በመጽሀፍ  መልክ በማሳተም ገቢው ለታዋቂው ሰዓሊ ለማ ጉያ አበርክቷል፡፡

  ቴዲ አፍሮ ቀደም ሲል በአውሮፓ ኮንሰርቱን ሲያዘጋጅ ለኢህአዴግ ቅርበት ካላቸው ወገኖች ጋር ውል መፈራረሙን ተከትሎ በውጭ ከሚገኙ በርካታ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ተቃውሞ ቀርቦበት እንደነበር ይታወሳል፡፡ ነገር ግን አዘጋጆቹ “የጥቂት ጽንፈኛ ዲያስፖራዎች ሴራ ነው” በሚል የሰጡትን ምላሽ ተቀብሎ በሰላማዊ ሰልፍ እንዲፈታ ብዙ ከጣሩለት ወገኖቹ ጋር በመቆራረጥ ስራውን ቀጥሏል፡፡ ብዙዎች በተለይ በአገር ውስጥ ያሉ ኢትዮጵያዊያን ሁኔታው ብዙም ግልጽ ስላልሆነላቸው በግዮኑ ኮንሰርት በርካታ ቁጥር ያለው ተመልካች ሊገኝለት ችሏል፡፡

   በዛሬው ዕለት ግን ቴዲ በአዲስ ቪው ሆቴል ብዙዎችን ያስደመመ አሳፋሪ ስራ   በመስራት የፖለቲካ አቋሙን ግልጽ አድርጓል፡፡ ቴዲ አፍሮ ለአስተባባሪዎቹ በሰጠው ትዕዛዝ ከኤሌክትሮኒክስ ሚዲያ የኢትዮጵያ ሬዲዮና ቴሌቭዥን ድርጅትና የሚሚ ስብሐቱ ኤፍ ኤም ከጋዜጦች ደግሞ ኢትዮ ቻናል እና ሪፖርተር ብቻ እንዲገኙ ስም ዝርዝር በመስጠት ከነዚህ ውጪ ማንም ሚዲያ እንዳይገባ ከልክሏል፡፡

በዝናብ በጸሐይና በፖሊስ እየተደበደቡ የፍርድ ሂደቱን ለህዝብ ሲያሳውቁ የነበሩና  (ዛሬ በፖለቲካዊ አቋሙ ምክንያት በጠላትነት መታየታቸውን በመዘንጋት) በቦታው ላይ ደርሰው ለመግባት ጥያቄ ያቀረቡ ሚዲያዎች  በጋርዶቹ ዛቻና ማስፈራሪያ ከአካባቢው እንዲጠፉ ተደርጓል፡፡

  ድምጻዊው ለምን እዚህ ውሳኔ ላይ ሊደርስ እንደቻለ አውራምባ ታይምስ ከራሱ ከቴዲና ከማናጀሩ ለማወቅ ያደረገው ጥረት አልተሳካም፡፡

Thursday 7 January 2010

(LONDON) — The London based Tullow Oil, is expected to prospect oil in Ethiopia after a deal signed with the US SouthWest Energy which holds acreage in the Horn of Africa country.

According to the HIS International Oil Letter, a weekly news letter on oil industry, Tullow will explore oil in Ogaden basin in blocks 9a, 9, and 13. SouthWest Energy’s blocks cover a total area of approximately 29,000 sq. km in the north-east part of the Ogaden Basin.

The Ethiopian government believes that the Ogaden basin, which covers 350,000 sq km (135,100 sq miles), contains gas reserves of some 4 trillion cubic feet. Officials point to neighboring countries such as Sudan and Yemen as evidence there could be major oil deposits under Ethiopia’s deserts.

The Ethiopian government downplays threats by an active rebel group in the region and stresses there would be five basins out of the troubled region.

The rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) attacked an oil field in April 2007 where the separatist group killed 74 people, including nine Chinese employees of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, part of Sinopec, China’s biggest refiner and petrochemicals producer.

Eritrea Ambassador to Nigeria,Mohammed Omaro

January 7, 2010 12:56AMT

Eritrea’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mohammed Ali Omaro has condemned the recent decision of the United States of America government to place Nigeria and other 13 countries on its terror ‘watch list’.

Mr. Omaro, who described the US decision as unfair, said it appears the Americans did not do proper consultation before arriving at that decision.

“It is very unfair.We have to call a spade a spade, not a bigger spoon. What is happening? Who decided it and what is the reason for that decision? Now,

the latest news is that America included 14 countries in a list; not to prevent them from visiting America, but to be liable to hard checks. This is what we call double standard. Are all these countries hosting al-Qaeda? Hosting terrorists? It is the way of American administration’s thinking and that is the way they are. We hope they will change.” Mr. Omaro who, Wednesday, briefed journalists in Abuja on Eritrea’s reaction to the recent sanctions imposed on the country by the United Nations’ Security Council, said the United States of America has not always been fair in its dealings with African countries.

“The double standard policy of the US in the world at large, and in the Horn of Africa in particular, is the main cause of conflicts, instability and human sufferings,” he alleged, while also claiming that the US secretly masterminded the sanction placed on Eriteria by the global organisation.

Unhappy with the US He added, “The UN security council’s accusation against Eritrea of refusing to solve its border dispute with Djibouti is also a travesty. Eritrea has not occupied an inch of Djiboutian territory and does not have any claim over any Djibouti territory. It is in fact a fabricated crisis aimed at diverting Eritrea from its legal battle to reclaim its occupied territory by Ethiopia.

The whole issue is fabricated by the USA to cover its unlawful and unjustifiable full support for Ethiopia that is still occupying Eritrean Sovereign territories despite the final and binding verdict by the Eritrean-Ethiopian Boundary Commission, EEBC.” The EEBC was established by the UN in accordance with the Algiers agreement to delimit and demarcate the disputed border between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

On December 23, 2009, the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Eritrea over what it said was the country’s role in Somalia and its refusal to withdraw troops following dispute with Djibouti. The sanctions include arms embargo, travel restrictions and freezing of assets.

The Ambassador condemned USA’s accusation of Eritrea’s role in supplying arms to Somali opposition as preposterous, in light of large naval and air force presence in the Red Sea and the naval forces roaming the Indian Ocean, adjacent to Somalia.

“How could Eritrea evade all these military bases and sophisticated surveillance system to deliver arms to Somali armed groups?” he asked.

Efforts by NEXT to reach US Ambassador to Nigeria, Robin Sanders proved abortive as she was said to be attending a meeting and cannot respond on the matter at the time.