British minister assails Eritrea over border

Monday 19 December 2005 01:52.
Dec 18, 2005 (ADDIS ABABA) - Britain's junior foreign minister for Africa Saturday accused Eritrea of building up tensions with Ethiopia by placing restrictions on the UN mission (UNMEE) monitoring the disputed border between the countries.


"The decision to remove, the order to remove some detachments of those UNMEE forces, the decision to prevent helicopter flights by UNMEE forces raises tension," said David Triesman, a parliamentary under-secretary of state with responsibility for Africa.


"I think that's a mistake and we are trying to convey that to president Isaias (Afwerki), although at present he is not willing to see representatives of the international community."


Triesman said it was "absolutely critical that everybody deals with the UNMEE forces in the way that the United Nations specified, and that everybody takes seriously resolution 1640," which ordered Eritrea to reverse its order expelling UN peacekeepers earlier this month.


The soaring tensions along the Ethiopian-Eritrean border have raised fears of a new war between the rival Horn of Africa neighbors.


Triesman said that Ethiopia was complying with the UN order. "In terms of moving troops back to a safe distance from the border, prime minister Meles (Zenawi) has been able to demonstrate that he has done so," he added.


Triesman confirmed to reporters that Britain had suspended part of its aid to Ethiopia following the post-election violence that took at least 48 lives last month in one of Africa's poorest countries. But he said this was part of a general review of aid spending.


"There has been no cutting of aid," he said. "The whole of the development aid is right now under review."


"We remain completely convinced that the need to provide aid in respect of some of the poorest people in the world remains a commitment."


But he added, "we need to find ways of ensuring that aid gets directly to the people."


(AFP/ST)

بريطانيا تتهم اريتريا بتأجيج التوتر مع اثيوبيا

اديس ابابا: اتهم مساعد وزير الخارجية البريطانية ديفيد تريسمن، اريتريا امس السبت "بتأجيج التوتر" مع اثيوبيا من خلال فرض قيود على مهمة الامم المتحدة لاثيوبيا واريتريا.
وقال تريسمن في تصريح صحافي ادلى به مساء امس في اديس ابابا، ان "الامر بابعاد بعض فرق قوات مهمة الامم المتحدة لاثيوبيا واريتريا وقرار منع الرحلات التي تقوم بها مروحيات هذه القوة، يؤججان التوتر. واعتقد ان ذلك خطأ".
واضاف الموفد البريطاني الذي قام بزيارة استمرت يوما واحدا لاديس ابابا "من الضروري جدا ان يتعاون الجميع مع قوات مهمة الامم المتحدة لاثيوبيا واريتريا بموجب القواعد التي وضعتها الامم المتحدة، وان يأخذ الجميع على محمل الجد قرار" مجلس الامن الصادر في 23 نوفمبر.
واوضح انه لم يحصل على الموافقة للاجتماع بالرئيس الاريتري ايساياس افورقي على رغم طلبه، وغادر اثيوبيا مساء السبت حيث التقى رئيس الوزراء ميليس زيناوي.
وطالبت اسمرة الاسبوع الماضي بمغادرة اعضاء من مهمة الامم المتحدة لاثيوبيا واريتريا وخضعت الامم المتحدة لمطالب السلطات الاريترية وانهت امس الجمعة ترحيل عناصرها الذين شملهم قرار الابعاد.
ومنذ بداية اكتوبر، تمنع اريتريا ايضا مروحيات مهمة الامم المتحدة لاثيوبيا واريتريا من التحليق فوق اراضيها.
وفي 23نوفمبر، تبنى مجلس الامن قرارا طالب بموجبه اريتريا بالتوقف عن عرقلة عمل قوات الامم المتحدة تحت طائلة فرض عقوبات، وطلب من اثيوبيا الاسراع في الموافقة على ترسيم الحدود بين البلدين لكنها لم تلوح بأي تهديد.

ويأتى ذلك فى الوقت الذى استكملت الأمم المتحدة سحب 180 من موظفيها الغربيين من اريتريا أمس وهو الموعد النهائي الذي حددته اسمرة لطرد قوات حفظ السلام التي تراقب حدودها المتوترة مع اثيوبيا.

وذكرت صحيفة " الشرق الاوسط " نقلا عن "جيل بيندلي تيلور سينت" ، المتحدثة باسم بعثة الأمم المتحدة في إثيوبيا واريتريا، ان آخر شخصين على متن طائرة ركاب عادية غادر هذا الصباح.. ونعكف الآن على شحن المتعلقات.

وتعمل الأمم المتحدة منذ أمس على توزيع موظفيها الاميركيين والكنديين والأوروبيين بشكل مؤقت في إثيوبيا بعدما أمرت اريتريا بخروجهم.

وغادر رئيس مهمة حفظ السلام التابعة للأمم المتحدة "جان ماري جويهينو" اريتريا أمس بعدما أخفق في إقناع أسمرة بالعدول عن قرارها طرد الغربيين

Missing Eritrean diplomat presumed kidnapped

By Gedab News
Dec 15, 2005, 15:33 PST

Mr. Menghis Mekonnen, the Third Secretary at the Eritrean embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, is missing. He was last seen two nights ago at the residence of Mr. Andeberhan Berhe (“Wedi Berhe”), the First Secretary and Chief of Intelligence at the Eritrean embassy to Sudan. Sources believe that he was kidnapped by the PFDJ, the ruling party in Eritrea.

A few months ago, Menghis traveled to Asmara and got married but returned alone when the government would not grant his wife an exit visa. Undeterred, his wife crossed the Sudanese border and joined her husband in Sudan, where they had been living as a family for the last two months.

Shortly after his wife joined him, the diplomatic passport of Menghis Mekonnen was revoked.

Asked by the wife on the whereabouts of her husband, Wedi Berhe responded that Menghis had left his (Wedi Berhe’s) residence in the Riyadh district of Khartoum, in a taxi, at about 8:00 PM local time. The same day, Eritrean officials from the embassy visited Menghis’s home to retrieve his documents and other belongings but the request was refused by his wife.

Background

Menghis Mekonnen had been assigned to the Eritrean embassy in Khartoum since 2000. A veteran EPLF fighter, he had been a radio operator for the front.

Acts of kidnapping, which the EPLF, now PFDJ, described as “the long arm of the front”, are not uncommon in Eritrea’s history. Some of the better known cases include Woldemariam Bahlibi and Teklebrahan Ghebresadiq “Wedi Bashay”, two executives of the opposition party ELF-RC who were kidnapped from Sudan on April 26, 1992.

ስርዓት ህግደፍ ንቡዙሓት ዜጋታት ይኣስር::ስርዓት ህግደፍ ፈተነ ቕትለት ኣብ ልዕሊ ዲክታቶር ኢሰያስ ፈቲኖም ብምባል ንቡዙሓት ዜጋታትይኣስር ከምዘሎ ካብ ኣስመራ ዝመጸ ሓበሬታ የረጋግጽ:: ካብዞም ኣብ ቀረባ ጌዜ ዝተኣስሩ ሰባት እዞም ዝስዕቡ ይርከብዎም::
1.ዑስማን ጅምዕ ጃዊድ ኣምባሳደር ኤርትራ ኣብ ኣቡዘቢ ነበር

2.ማሕሙድ ኪዳን ቆንስል ኣብ ዝተፈላለየ ሃገራት ኤውሮፓ ዝነበረ

3.ኢድሪስ መሓመድ ዓሊ ህቡብ ድምጻዊ

4.ጅምዕ ስዒድ ከሚል ጋዜጠኛ ኤርትራ ኣልሓዲሳ

5.መሓመድ ኣደም ሸልሸል ጋዜጠኛ ኤርትራ ኣልሓዲሳ

6.ሰላሕ ቀርየንት ሰራሕተኛ መንገዲ ኣየር ኤርትራ

7.መሓመድ ጅምዕ ኣረይ ሓላፊ ፖሊስ ኤርትራ

Top UN officials sent to Ethiopia and Eritrea after latter’s request to oust UN staff

USG Guéhenno
8 December 2005 – Following the UN’s rejection yesterday of Eritrea’s request for the pullout of personnel of specified nationalities, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has decided to send two top United Nations officials to the Horn of Africa to assess the situation on the ground and suggest next steps to improve it, a spokesman for the world body said today.

Mr. Annan has requested the head of the UN peacekeeping department, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, and the UN military advisor, General Randir Kumar Mehta, to leave as soon as practicable for Ethiopia and Eritrea, whose ongoing border dispute erupted into war between 1998 and 2000.

The UN has already conveyed a message to the Eritrean authorities that it cannot accept their request for a pullout, within 10 days, by staff of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) who originate from the United States, Canada, Europe and Russia.

Both the Secretary-General and the Security Council have demanded that Eritrea rescind its request, which is inconsistent with the fundamental principle of the universality of the peacekeeping operation representing the whole of the international community.

Both the Council and the Secretary-General also demanded that Eritrea reverse its ban on air flights and lift all restrictions imposed on UNMEE’s operations as called for by the Council’s 23 November resolution on the matter.

That resolution threatened actions, possibly including sanctions, against Eritrea and Ethiopia if, in the case of Eritrea, it does not immediately rescind its flight ban, and against both parties if they do not reverse their military build up.

The military situation in the Temporary Security Zone and adjacent areas remains tense and potentially volatile, UNMEE reported today. Troop movements have been noticed on both sides of the border.

UNMEE also said that about 180 people would be affected by Eritrea’s request for the pullout of the nationalities specified, which would encompass 91 military observers, about 10 UN Volunteers and 70 international civilian staff members.

The UNMEE Force Commander noted that that out of a total of 44 troop contributing countries, 18 have been asked to go.

SECRETARYGENERAL CONDEMNS ERITREA'S DECISION

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS ERITREA’S DECISION TO EXPEL PEACEKEEPERS

The following statement is attributable to the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General condemns yesterday’s decision by the Government of Eritrea to request that members of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) who are nationals of certain specified Member States should leave the country within 10 days of the notice.

The Secretary-General stresses that this request contravenes Eritrea’s obligation under the United Nations Charter to respect the exclusively international character of United Nations staff. This obligation is a fundamental principle of United Nations peacekeeping. The request is inconsistent with the authority of the Secretary-General, in whom command of the peacekeeping operation has been vested by the Security Council, as well as with the international responsibilities of the Secretary-General and the staff of the Organization.

The United Nations cannot accede to Eritrea’s request and demands that the Government immediately and unequivocally rescind its decision without preconditions. This is being communicated to the Eritrean authorities. The Secretary-General reiterates the United Nations’ demand that Eritrea reverse all restrictions imposed on the operations of UNMEE. In the meantime, the Secretariat has informed the Security Council of this development
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/sgsm10250.doc.htm

UN Eritrea peacekeepers expelled

Both sides have reinforced their border military positions recently
Eritrea has expelled Canadian, Russian, European and United States peacekeepers from the United Nations mission monitoring the border with Ethiopia.
The decision makes UN observation of the tense border almost impossible, says the BBC's Ed Harris in Asmara.

In a letter to the UN mission, the Eritrean government gave staff of those nationalities 10 days to leave.

Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea are tense and there are fears of a new war over their disputed border.

The two states went to war in 1998. A peace deal in 2000 led to a border ruling by an independent commission.

There are some 3,300 peacekeepers and military observers from some 40 countries, 191 civilians and 74 UN volunteers working at the mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

It is not immediately clear how many staff are affected.

Restrictions

Ethiopia has not yet withdrawn its forces from the town of Badme, which was awarded to Eritrea.

Frustrated with the stalemate, Eritrea has imposed restrictions on the activities of the UN peacekeeping force patrolling the border buffer zone in the past few months.

"Members of Unmee with nationalities from USA, Canada and Europe, including the Russian Federation are requested to the leave the country within 10 days of this notice," said the letter sent to the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (Unmee), according to the AFP news agency.

"This notice comprises all those with the above nationalities irrespective of (the) sector they are working in," said the letter, which was signed by Colonel Zecarias Ogbagaber, Eritrea's liaison officer with the UN mission.

ኤርትራ ንዓቓብ ሰላም ኣባላት ካብ ሃገር ክወጹ ትእዝዝ::

ኤርትራ 5 ሽወደናውያን ዝርከብዎም ኣባላት ዓቓብ ሰላም ኣብ ውሽጢ 10 መዓልቲ ካብ ሃገር ክወጹ ኣዚዛ:: እዞም ክወጹ ተኣዚዞም ዘለው ኣባላት ዓቓብ ሰላም ዝኾኑ ኣሜሪካውያን, ካናዳውያን, ሩስያውያን ከምኡውን ናይ ኤውሮፓ ሃገራት ተወከልቲ እዮም::
ዓቓብ ሰላም ሓይሊ ካብ ኣርባዓታት ሃገራት ብዝተዋጽኡ ሰራዊትን ኣማኸርትን ዝቖመ ምኻኑን ሽወደን ከኣ 5 ተዓዘብቲ ከምዝነበርዋ መርበብ ሓበሬታ ሚኒስትሪ ምክልኻል ሽወደን ይሕብር::
>

Eritrea beordrar FN-personal att ge sig av

Eritrea har beordrat FN-personal som övervakar gränsen mot Etiopien bland andra även svenskar att lämna landet. Inom tio dygn ska FN-styrkans amerikanska, kanadensiska, ryska och europeiska personal ha lämnat landet, heter det i ett uttalande från Eritreas regering.

Läget vid gränsen mellan Etiopien och Eritrea är alltmer spänt. Konflikten gäller var gränsen mellan de båda länderna ska gå, framför allt i det område som heter Badme.

I drygt två år, mellan 1998 och 2000, utkämpade Etiopien och Eritrea ett bittert och mycket kostsamt krig. Omkring 70 000 personer dödades.

Ett 40-tal länder deltar i FN-styrkan som är placerad både i Eritrea och Etiopien. Sverige deltar, enligt försvarets hemsida, med fem observatörer

Cecafa Cup 2005 results

The 2005 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup is hosted in Rwanda between Saturday 26 November and Saturday December 10th, with 10 countries taking part. Kenya have been disqualified for not showing up.

Group A

Rwanda
Zanzibar
Eritrea
Tanzania
Burundi


26/11/05: Rwanda 0-1 Zanzibar

28/11/05: Zanzibar 3-0 Eritrea, Tanzania 2-1 Burundi

30/11/05: Burundi 1-2 Zanzibar, Eritrea 2-3 Rwanda

2/12/05: Tanzania 1-1 Zanzibar, Burundi 0-0 Eritrea

4/12/05: Tanzania v Eritrea, Rwanda v Burundi

6/12/05: Tanzania v Rwanda

Group B

Ethiopia - holders
Uganda
Djibouti
Somalia
Sudan


27/11/05: Somalia 2-1 Djibouti, Ethiopia 0-0 Uganda

29/11/05: Sudan 4-1 Somalia

30/11/05: Uganda 6-1 Djibouti

1/12/05: Ethiopia 3-1 Sudan, Uganda 7-0 Somalia

3/12/05: Djibouti v Ethiopia, Uganda v Sudan

5/12/05: Ethiopia v Somalia, Sudan v Djibouti;


7/12/05: Rest Day

Knockout stages

8/12/05: Winner 'A' v Runner-up 'B'

8/12/05: Winner 'B' v Runner-up 'A'

9/12/05: Rest Day

10/12/05: Final and third-place match

ስርዓት ህግደፍ መንእሰያት ካብ ፖርትሱዳን ይጬውይ

ስርዓት ህግደፍ ካብቲ ግፍዓዊ ኣታሓሕዝኡ ኣምሊጦም ናብ ፖርት ሱዳን ዝኣተው መንእሰያት ናብ ካርቱም ከነብጻሓኩም ብምባል ንዝተወሰኑ መንእሰያት ጬውዩ ናብ ኤርትራ ከምዝወሰዶም ካብቲ ቦታ ዝመጹ ሓበሪታታት የረጋግጹ:: እዚ ከምዚ ኢሉ ኸሎ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ኣብዚ ጌዚ እዚ ምስ መንግስቲ ሱዳን ብዛዕባ ምኽፋት ዶባት ክልቲኡ ሃገራት ዝዛረብ ዘሎ ነቲ ካብ መዓልቲ ናብ መዓልቲ እንዳወሰኸ ዝመጽእ ዘሎ ምውሓዝ መንእሰያት ንምግታእን ንምቁጽጻሩ ክጥዕሞን ደኣ እምበር እቶም ቐንዲ ፖሎቲካዊ ጠንቕታት ምስሕሓብ ዝኾኑ ጉዳያት መሰረታዊ ለውጢ ስለዝገበረ ከምዘይኮነ ተንተንቲ ፖሎቲካ እቲ ዞባ ይሕብሩ:: እግረመንገድና ንኹሎም ኤርትራውያን ኣብ ሱዳን ብፍላይ ከኣ ኣብ ከባቢ ፖርትሱዳንን ከሰላን ዝርከቡ ናብ ካርቱም ንምስጋር ኣብ ዝገብርዎ ፈተነታት ካብ መፈንጥራ ናይቲ ስርዓት ክጥንቀቑ ንጽውዕ::

Eritreans flee as new border war brews

November 30 2005 at 06:47AM

By Nicolas Germain Asmara -
Eritreans are fleeing their country in growing numbers amid fears of a new war with Ethiopia and economic hardships blamed on authoritarian government policies, according to observers.In the first eight months of this year, more Eritreans have risked death to leave the impoverished Horn of Africa nation than in all of 2004, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics.As border tensions with Ethiopia rose and Asmara tightened already tough economic restrictions, 6 113 Eritreans fled between January and August, compared to 5 542 last year, the statistics show.
'It is not at all a subject of grave concern'Of both figures, 69 percent went to Sudan and 31 percent to Ethiopia, where most of them were granted refugee status, according to the UNHCR.Diplomats say the numbers are rising even as those who leave risk being shot if caught and their families face prosecution, something Eritrean officials deny.

"It is not at all a subject of grave concern," information minister Ali Abdu said, adding that "most of the time the UNHCR figures are politicised"."Here and there, some people are going, this is a global phenomenon. The endurance of people differs, some are selfish."In Eritrea, the subject of people fleeing is taboo and few broach the subject.
Eritrea has warned conflict is looming againAsmara-based diplomats and numerous Eritreans say those leaving are doing so to escape compulsory military service, economic hardship, and a lack of freedom of expression.The country has only one political party, has had no presidential elections since independence from Ethiopia in 1993, closed all independent media outlets in 2001 and is regularly criticised for religious clampdowns.Eritrea is also facing an economic crisis, with some fuel prices more than doubling this year and the creation of state-run food and tightened currency restrictions."More and more people are leaving now because of the tensions on the border with Ethiopia and they really don't want to fight a war," said one military-age Eritrean in his 20s.He and others recalled the 1998-2000 war with Ethiopia that claimed about 80 000 lives.The United Nations warned this month that the situation on the border is "tense and potentially volatile" amid troop movements on both sides and the UN Security Council threatened to slap sanctions on each in the event of new war.Eritrea has warned conflict is looming again because of Ethiopia's refusal to accept a 2002 legally-binding border ruling.Diplomats say Eritreans suffer harsh consequences if a member of their family is found to have fled."Usually they arrest the oldest family member," said one. "It could be the grandmother. She is fined up to 50 000 Nakfa (about R22 000) and put in prison."Ali Abdu did not deny that such arrests took place but said they would take place only when the person who fled did so to illegally avoid military service."If people ask to go and they have fulfilled their obligations, they can go via the legal channel," Ali said.But many Eritreans believe the government grants exit visas only to the elderly, forcing younger people who want to leave to rely on often unscrupulous middle men to make the dangerous exit journey.Diplomats say it costs up to $2 000 for an Eritrean to pay a middleman to get them fake documents and then cross into Ethiopia or Sudan."Some Eritreans try to go alone... and they get lost or die of thirst," said one diplomat. "You can get caught and put in prison several months, and even longer if you try to enter Ethiopia."But consequences could be even harsher. "If you are caught, you are either imprisoned or shot," said one Eritrean.

"Dawit Isaak åter fängslad i Eritrea"SVT

Uppdaterad 2 december 2005 - 16:21

Den svenske journalisten Dawit Isaak sitter åter fängslad i Eritrea. Det bekräftades i dag för Leif Öbrink som är ordförande i stödkommittén.


Han greps redan den 21 november på väg till ett läkarbesök, säger Öbrink till TT. Dawit Isaak hade frigetts ur fängelset på lördagen den 19 november och fick bara ett par dygn i frihet som han tillbringade hos anhöriga.

Dawit Isaak har medborgarskap i både Sverige och Eritrea. Han arbetade för en tidning i Eritreas huvudstad Asmara när han och andra regimkritiska journalister fängslades i september 2001.

"En bricka i gränskonflikten"
Stödkommitténs ordförande Leif Öbrink antyder att Dawit Isaak blivit en bricka i spelet om konflikten mellan Eritrea och Etiopien.

-De eritreanska myndigheterna säger att "när konflikten inte är löst och vi får stötta i den kan vi inte hinna ta i det här", säger Öbrink till TT.

Glädjen var stor i Dawit Isaaks familj i Göteborg när beskedet om att han släppts fri kom lördagen den 19 november efter ett intensivt förhandlingsarbete av ambassadör Bengt Sparre. Men glädjen grumlades ganska snart när det efter ett par dagar stod klart att frisläppandet förmodligen inte var definitivt.

UD: Ingen officiell bekräftelse
UD:s presstjänst säger sig inte ha fått någon officiell bekräftelse på att Isaak åter fängslats.

Ambassadör Bengt Sparre återvänder till Eritreas huvudstad Asmara nästa vecka efter att ha varit hemma för överläggningar om hur förhandlingarna om att få Isaak fri ska drivas i fortsättningen.

Some of the Jailed Eritrean journalists

Fellow Eritrean journalists suffering in the jails of PFDJ for more than 1530 days since september 18, 2001. Those in the picture are from left to right
1. Fesehaye Johannes (Joshua) of Setit newspaper
2. Amanuel Asrat of Zemen newspaper
3. Medhanie Haile of Keste debena newspaper
4. Temesghen gebreyesus Keste debena newspaper
5. Dawit (wedi Memher) of Mekaleh newspaper
6. Matewos Hbateab of Mekaleh newspaper and
7. Said Abdelkadir of Hadas admas newspaper

Admas in exile wants
to renew the promise to defend you and other Eritrean political prisoners. 

ስርዓት ህግደፍ ኣብ ከተማታት ኤርትራ ምግፋፍ ይቕጽሎ'ሎ

ኣብ ዝሓለፈ ሳልስቲ ስርዓት ህግደፍ ኣብ ከተማታት ኤርትራ ሓድሽ ናይ ግፋ ማዕበል ጀሚሩ ከምዝቐነየ ካብ ኣስመራ ዝወጹ ሓበሬታታት የረጋግጹ:: እዚ ናይ ግፋ ማዕበል ኣብ ዝቕጽለሉ ዘሎ ሁመት ገለገለ ተጣይሶም ዝነበሩ ኣባላት ዕቑር ሰራዊት ካብ ኤርትራ ንኽወጹ ናይ መውጽኢ ፍቓድ (exit visa) ክወሃቦም ስለዝተፈቕደ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኢሚግረሽን ኤርትራ ብናይ መውጽኢ ፍቓድ ዝሓቱ ሰባት ከምዘዕለቕለቐ ተፈሊጡ:: ብዙሓት ዝተጣየሱ ኤርትራውያን እዚ ስርዓት ሕጂ ፈቕድዎ ዘሎ ነገር ድሕሪ ሓጺር እዋን ከቓርጾ ስለዝኽእል ካብ ዝተፈላለየ ሃገራት ኣፍሪቓ ናይ ቱሪስት ቪዛ ብምውሳድ ተቓላጢፍካ ካብ ሃገር ምውጻእ ዝበለጸ ኣማራጺ እዩ ብዝብል ርድኢት ብብዝሒ ክወጹ ከምዝጀመሩ እሙናት ምንጭታት ሓቢሮም ኣለው::