Get Ethiopian troops out of Somalia
Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia celebrates with an Ethiopian flag after he won the Men's competition of the 33rd Berlin Marathon in Berlin in Germany, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006 in a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 56 seconds. Around 40,000 runners from more than 100 countries took part in the event. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber) Somali Islamists take main Somali port city
Forces belonging to the Islamic Courts Union have captured the southern Somali port city of Kismayo after the regional commander ruling the region fled. "Kismayo has fallen and not a single bullet was fired," an Islamist source in the capital Mogadishu told Reuters on Monday. The Islamic militia moved into the city after Colonel Abdikadir Adan Shire, also known as Barre Hiraale, the leader of the Juba Valley Alliance, a clan-based militia that controlled the area, fled on Sunday, officials and witnesses in Kismayo said.(More...)In a related story: Somalia`s Increasingly Beleaguered Government Has Accepted an Offer of CIA Assistance to Investigate a Pair of Political Car Bombings
EPRDF’s rule coming to an end by attrition
(By Zerihun Tesfaye)
With the unleashing of terror in the urban centers and the rural communities of Ethiopia after the debacle of the May 2005 elections, what little legitimacy Meles & his clique might have claimed over the years were totally lost. Events unfolding in the past year have made this abundantly clear. The semi state of emergency Meles declared the day after the elections can only be seen as an admission of the loss of this legitimacy and, at the same time, as a declaration that from that time onwards, his rule is going to rest on the security apparatus and the military.
How difficult must it be then, when the institution on which he and the clique pinned their hopes for their future rule starts being eroded under their watchful eyes in such a short time. Such is indeed the case when you have two Generals (a decorated war veteran!) Colonels, other officers and soldiers defect en masse; and to make it worse, declare their intention of joining opponents of the regime and declaring their intent to fight for its overthrow.(More...)
Get Ethiopian troops out of Somalia
(The Christian science monitor)
Ethiopia's actions seem to be in the best interest of the United States, as a militant Islamic regime in Somalia would be a major complication in the war on terror. However, Ethiopia is neither suited to promoting peace in Somalia nor interested in pacifying the troubled land. In truth, no country stands to gain more than Ethiopia from a war against the Islamic militias in Somalia. Ethiopian troops in Somalia are regarded as hated foreign interlopers whose sole purpose is to prop up an unpopular and powerless regime. Ethiopian soldiers on Somali soil strengthen the Islamic Courts by allowing them to claim the mantle of nationalist defenders, which garners them popular support and undermines the country's transitional government. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is not only aware that his actions have increased the possibility of conflict, but is counting on the outbreak of war to win him aid.(More...)
Deputy chairman of the Sudanese ruling National Congress Party for Political and Organizational Affairs Nafei Ali Nafei participates in the celebrations of the Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the ruling party in Ethiopia, on convocation of the party’s 6th conference Sunday. Member of the Secretariat of External Relations at the NCP and member of the delegation Ambassador Osman al-Sayed said in a statement to State-run SUNA that Nafei would address the EPRDF conference.(More...)BRAD PITT ON his Ethiopian baby’s HAIR
In discussing his Ethiopian daughter Zahara in the October issue of Esquire magazine, actor Brad Pitt reportedly offers white parents advice on how to care for the hair of a black child, based on his experiences with "Z." "For white people who might be having a little trouble with black-person hair, Carol's Daughter is a fantastic hair product," he says, according to the product’s Web site. (See image here-We got it for Z. Now her hair has this beautiful luster. And it smells nice, too." Zahara, adopted by Angelina Jolie and Pitt on July 6, 2005, was born Tena Adam in Ethiopia on January 8, 2005. The celebrity couple picked her up at a Wide Horizons For Children orphanage in Addis Ababa. 
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