Oromia: Seife Nebelbal Radio News and Interviews

Friday, January 27, 2012 | Seife Nebelbal in Amharic

Xalayaa: Hogganoota QBOtiif – Tokkummaan qabsaa’ota Oromoo yoomiyyuu caalaa amma barbaachisaa dha

Abdii Boruutiin | Amajjii 27, 2012

Duraan dursee, xalayaa kana yoon barreessu haala Qabsoo Bilisummaa Oromoo (QBO) isin caalaan beeka jechuuf otuu hin taane; yookaanis ammoo isin caalaa dandeettii qabaadhee isin gorsuuf ykn isin ajajuuf otuu hin taane, akka ilma Oromoo tokkootti dhaamsa Oromummaa fi Sabboonummaa isiniif erguufi. Xalayaan kiyya kun dubbisamee kan hirraanfatamullee yoo ta’e, yoo xinnaate yeroo isa dubbistan, eessaa kaanee eessa akka jirru; garamittis deemaa akka jirru akka yaadattanii fi haala keessa jirrus sirriitti akka hubattan isin gaafachuufi. Keessumaayuu warri mooyxannoo bara dheeraa qabsoo kanarraa argattani fi wareegama guddaa kaffaltanii as geessan, bu’aa ba’ii keessa dabartan hundaa yaadachuu dhaan; qabsoon keenya kun akkamitti daandii gaarii akka qabatu godhuuf yoomiyyuu caalaa dirqama keessan akka baatan abdiin qaba. Read more…

Norwegian Government backs 400 Ethiopian asylum seekers departure

Norway has signed an agreement with Ethiopia enabling nationals to return home, officials say

Ethiopian protesters, Oslo Cathedral

January 27, 2012, Oslo (The Foreigner) -The new deal means will enable around 400 paperless Ethiopians living in Norway illegally from authorities’ point of view to go back. Deputy Minister of Justice Pål K. Lønseth encourages them to return to Ethiopia voluntarily, giving them 40,000 kroner.

“We will not be using the option of forcible returns before the 15th March, meaning they have the opportunity to apply for a voluntary one soreturn. So the can return to Ethiopia under general conditions,” he tells NRK.

According to him, 15,000 kroner is “if they choose to reintegrate themselves in Ethiopia”, the rest is financial support towards measures after their arrival.

Approximately 100 Ethiopians went on hunger strike last February, locking themselves inside Oslo Cathedral, in protest against their treatment by the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). Read more…

EU to press Ethiopia over Swedish journalists

The Local (Jan. 24): The EU is continuing its efforts to convince the Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi to immediately release two Swedish journalists jailed in the country for terror crimes.
“Our message that the Swedes should be freed immediately will be conveyed by commissioner Andris Piebalg,” said Maja Kocilancic, spokesperson for Catherine Ashton to daily Dagens Nyheter (DN)
“It is the same that we said in our statement after the verdict – that the Swedes should be released at once.” Read more…

Resettlement Debate Highlights Ethiopia’s Rights Problem

By William Davison

January 27, 2012 (African arguments) – Human Rights Watch released its latest highly critical report on Ethiopia last week, claiming abuse and coercion in a resettlement program. While Ethiopia’s government detests the interventions of foreign rights groups, a restrictive law means there are virtually no domestic monitors of abuses.

‘Waiting Here for Death’ screamed the headline of Human Rights Watch’s latest report on Ethiopia.

The study released last week said that “tens of thousands of indigenous people had been forcibly moved” in the Sudan-bordering Gambella region as part of a resettlement program.

The sensational report, which alleges a series of abuses by security forces overseeing the scheme, had the desired effect, with the group’s finding plastered across Western media. “Ethiopia evicting its own people to feed others: Human Rights Watch,” said the header in the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph. Read more…

Ethiopia’s Ayele Abshero breaks course record in Dubai Marathon in debut

January 27, 2012, DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Ayele Abshero broke the Dubai Marathon course record in his marathon debut Friday, finishing in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 23 seconds to give Ethiopia a morale-boosting victory over rival Kenya in an Olympic year.

The 21-year-old Abshero moved up to the full marathon distance after breaking the hour mark in the half marathon last year in the Netherlands. He moved to the front of a pack at 21.1 miles, then pulled away from countryman Dino Sefir Kemal at 24.2 miles. Kemal was second, 27 seconds back.

“I prepared very well for this marathon. Even though this is my first marathon, I was confident I would perform well,” Abshero said. “By winning, I’m very happy. For the next marathon, this win will be a big motivation … If I can go to the Olympics, I will try and do something special.” Read more…

Ummanni Oromoo Waraana Wayyaanee Gojjam Irraan Oromiya Seenaa Jiru Dura Dhaabbate.

Qeerroo, Amajjii 27, 2012 (Naqamtee)

Waraanni Wayyaanee Gojjam irraan Wallagga seenaa jira; hanga Amajjii bultii 26, 2012  waraana Wayyaanee Goojjaam irraan daangaa Oromiyaa seenee naannoo Heebantuu fi Kiiramuu irraa qubachiisaa jirtu dura dhaabbachuun ummanni Oromoo fi addatti dargaggoonni Oromoo daandii konkolaataa irraatti muka muruun, dhagaa guuruun humna waraana Wayyaanee karaa darbaa dhorkaa jiraachuu gabaafame. Read more…

Ethiopia: Journalists, politicians get jail time

January 26, 2012, ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — An Ethiopian judge on Thursday handed down prison sentences ranging from 14 years to life to three journalists and two politicians.

The five were arrested last year and charged last week under Ethiopia’s controversial anti-terrorism laws. Ethiopian officials had said they were involved in planning attacks on infrastructure, telecommunications and power lines.

Judge Endeshaw Adane gave the verdicts Thursday.

Ethiopia’s federal high court found Elias Kifle, editor-in-chief of a U.S.-based opposition website, guilty of terrorism. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Kifle was tried in absentia.

The judge gave prison sentences of 14 years for Wubshet Taye, deputy editor-in-chief of the recently closed-down weekly Awramba Times, and Reeyot Alemu, a columnist of independent weekly Feteh.

Opposition politician Zerihun Gebre Egziabher was sentenced to 17 years in prison, and the other opposition member, Hirut Kifle, was sentenced to 19 years. Read more…

Ethiopian rebels: Ethiopian forces responsible over the death of tourists.

Sudan Tribune (Jan. 24) An Ethiopian rebel group has taken responsibility over a deadliest attack last week in a remote area of Ethiopians north east Afar region.
The Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF), a rebel group fighting for greater autonomy for the East African Afar region, in statement Sunday admitted to abducing two Germans and two Ethiopians but denied killing the five European tourists.
The group instead said Ethiopian forces were responsible over their death which according to the statement occurred during a battle with the armed rebel members.
Read more…

US Navy SEAL raid in Somalia shows campaign ahead

This undated photo taken at an unknown location and released by the Danish Refugee Council on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 shows American Jessica Buchanan from the Danish Refugee Council's de-mining unit. U.S. military forces helicoptered into Somalia in a nighttime raid Wednesday and freed two hostages, American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, while killing nine pirates, officials and a pirate source said. (AP Photo/Danish Refugee Council)

Jan 26, 2012, WASHINGTON (Boston Globe) —The Navy SEAL operation that freed two Western hostages in Somalia is representative of the Obama administration’s pledge to build a smaller, more agile military force that can carry out surgical counterterrorist strikes to cripple an enemy.

That’s a strategy much preferred to the land invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan that have cost so much American blood and treasure over the past decade. The contrast to a full-bore invasion is stark: A small, daring team storms a pirate encampment on a near-moonless night, kills nine kidnappers and whisks the hostages to safety.

Special operations forces, trained for such clandestine missions, have become a more prominent tool in the military’s kit since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that led to the ongoing war in Afghanistan. The administration is expected to announce Thursday that it will invest even more heavily in that capability in coming years.

The SEAL Team 6 raid in Somalia, which followed last May’s operation that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, has political dimensions in an election year.

It gave an added punch to the five-state tour President Barack Obama began the day after he delivered his State of the Union speech. Obama did not mention the raid that was unfolding during his Tuesday night address, but he dropped a hint upon arriving in the House chamber by telling Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, “Good job tonight.”

The SEAL mission also helps soften the blow of defense cuts the White House is seeking in spite of a chorus of criticism by hawkish lawmakers. Not to be discounted is the feel-good moment such missions give the American public, a counterbalance to the continued casualties in Afghanistan.

After planning and rehearsal, the Somalia rescue was carried out by SEAL Team 6, officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, according to two U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a secret mission. It was not clear whether any team members participated in both the raid in Somalia and the bin Laden mission in Pakistan. Read more…

Ethiopian blogger risks death penalty as judge confirms charges

NEW YORK, January 26, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Jailed Ethiopian dissident blogger Eskinder Nega will stand trial in March for all of the terrorism accusations initially advanced by prosecutors, a federal high court judge ruled yesterday, local sources said. If convicted on all charges, he could face the death penalty.

Judge Endeshaw Adane of the third criminal bench of the Lideta Federal High Court in the capital Addis Ababa reviewed evidence presented by government prosecutors yesterday and confirmed all six charges against Eskinder. His trial will begin March 5.

Five other journalists, all in exile and to be tried in absentia, initially faced the same terrorism charges. At yesterday’s hearing, the judge confirmed all six charges for two of those accused and dismissed all but one charge against three others. Read more…

Oromia-Ethiopia: G7’s Non-Credible and Dangerous Political Move

By Malkaa Guutuu | January 25, 2012

(Gadaa.com) – It is a sad reality that the Ethiopian Empire is saddled with all manners of socio-economic and political problems that seem to only get bigger and more complex with time. Generations in that ill-fated country have now grown up with grinding poverty, recurring famine, which have consumed the lives of millions, and inter-group conflicts caused mainly by political and national oppression of one group by another, etc. Millions have fled these tragedies and continue to do so, in some cases, taking incredible chances against their own lives.

My goal in this article is not to rehash these tragedies, nor argue their causes. For that, one may consult the numerous publications that have been produced about these gut-wrenching human tragedies. Instead, my main purpose is to use insights from game theory to make the case that the most recent “alliance” between G7 and some Oromo Galtuus, who gracelessly consider themselves a faction of the Oromo Liberation Front, is a costly undertaking that further complicates the ongoing saga in the empire, because it sends dangerous signals to the main stakeholders. In doing so, I will also identify a necessary condition that must be observed by sensible political actors if a stable “Nash Equilibrium,” solving the age-old problems afflicting the country, is to be found. Read more…

Ethiopia: ‘G7′ Betrayal

Tensions rise between Eritrea and Ethiopia after killing incident

Jan 25, 2012 (Capital) -A group of 27 tourists travelling in the Afar Regional State were attacked by gunmen last Tuesday at around three in the morning. Five European tourists were killed, four injured and two tourists and two Ethiopians were kidnapped.

The region, near the border with Eritrea, is one of the most interesting parts of Ethiopia – and one of the most dangerous. Before the attack, Germany’s Foreign Ministry had warned tourists to avoid the area. However two Germans were victims of the killings. Two Hungarians and an Austrian were killed, while an Italian and a Hungarian and two other Ethiopians were injured.

On Wednesday afternoon, 11 tired-looking survivors still dressed in trekking outfits arrived at Bole International Airport. Read more…

Ethiopia: ‘Journalists Are Not Terrorists’

January 25 (All Africa) Reporters Without Borders has just visited Ethiopia, where two Swedish journalists, Kontinent news agency reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson, were sentenced to 11 years in prison on 29 December on charges of entering the country illegally and supporting terrorism.

During the visit, from 9 to 12 January, the two Swedish journalists decided to request a presidential pardon instead of appealing against their conviction. “In Ethiopia, there is a long tradition of pardons and we have chosen to leave it to this tradition,” they said, announcing their decision on 10 January in Addis Ababa’s Kality prison. Read more…