ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian rebels said German tourists they seized last week were safe and blamed the government for the incident in which five Europeans were also killed on the slopes of a famed volcano.
Addis Ababa had blamed the region's worst attack on tourists in years on gunmen armed by arch-foe Eritrea but a rebel group claiming to fight for the Afar region and its people said the bloodshed occurred when government soldiers attacked one of its patrols.
The rebel Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF) also said its fighters had killed 16 Ethiopian troops, and wounded or captured others, in a statement received Monday.
"Those German nationals who were taken together with the Ethiopian soldiers are safe and (in) good health," ARDUF said.
The German foreign ministry has said two of its nationals are missing after gunmen attacked a group of tourists in Ethiopia's remote Afar region last week, but the rebels did not specify how many people it was holding.
At least five people were killed in the fighting: two Germans, two Hungarians and one Austrian. Ethiopia says the rebels attacked the tourist convoy, but the ARDUF said fighting broke out when Ethiopian troops fired on one of its patrols.
"Our forces killed 16 Ethiopian soldiers and wounded a dozen of them in a battle when the Ethiopian forces opened fire," ARDUF added in the statement dated January 21 and posted on several opposition websites.
"We regret the death of those innocent civilians. ARDUF would like to convey its sincere condolence and sympathy to the families and relatives of dead peaceful tourists," the statement read.
Ethiopia has made no mention of losing any of its troops in the attack, which took place near the famed Erta Ale volcano in Ethiopia's sparsely populated Danakil desert, close to the tense border with Eritrea.
The area, which boasts spectacular moon-like landscapes and is famed to be the hottest place on earth, is popular among adventure travellers.
The rebels also warned Ethiopia "not to engage in another adventure that can endanger the lives" of the hostages.
"We can ensure that their peaceful release will be granted through peaceful negotiation" with Afar elders, ARDUF added.
Addis Ababa has said the Germans have been taken to neighbouring Eritrea, which it accuses of sponsoring the attack, claims dismissed by arch-rival Asmara as "ludicrous" and which the rebels also said was a lie.
"We assert that the government of Eritrea has nothing to do with incident," the rebels said, adding that claims Eritrea was arming and training the rebels were "baseless and unfounded."
In Berlin foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said the German government was aware of ARDUF's claim to be holding two German nationals but was unable to confirm it.
"It's a very complicated matter for us," Peschke admitted at a regular press briefing, adding that the German embassy in Addis Ababa and a ministry crisis cell were working on it and hoped for more clarification soon.
He said six Germans who escaped the clash had returned home.
Eritrea broke away from Ethiopia and won independence in 1993 after a 30-year struggle.
The two Horn of Africa neighbours fought a devastating 1998-2000 border war which claimed at least 70,000 lives and their dispute remains unresolved, with Ethiopian soldiers on land ruled by international courts to belong to Eritrea.
ARDUF has been fighting a low-level insurgency in the remote region to end what it says is "political marginalisation and economic deprivation" by Addis Ababa.
In 2007, ARDUF rebels seized five European tourists and eight Ethiopians. The Europeans were released after 12 days to the Eritrean government, while the Ethiopians were freed almost two months later.
German hostages in 'good health': Ethiopia rebels
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ICER Alert on Afar
There is human catastrophe unfolding in Yemen at this very minute. Two hundred and forty four Eritreans ninety five percent of whom are Afar citizens of Eritrea are in prison some for almost one year. Their crime is simply for entering Yemen without document. Their claim for political asylum until situation at home is improved was completely ignored by the Yemeni authorities and the UNHCR is on the sideline simply watching helpless.
As it is true with most Eritreans, this particular ethnic group is driven out of their traditional areas, prevented from leading their subsistence existence which is fishing on the Red Sea and forcibly conscripted in the open ended military National Service which has become scourge ....
Read more...Desperate Situation of Eritrean Afar Refugees in Yemeni City of Al-Hudeyda
Regrettably, the 300 Afar refugees are languishing in Al-Hudeyda prison where their lives are trapped in a serious threat. Apart from consistent warnings of forcible return to Eritrea, they are facing communicable diseases caused by contaminated food and water. Amongst them are around 50 Afar refugees are in a grave danger of losing their lives to this disease outbreak.
Unfortunately, the ongoing political uncertainty in Yemen exasperated the situation of Red Sea Afar refugees. Going on almost a year in captivity, they haven’t had any access to UNHCR and Human rights organizations, representatives of Yemeni government or any access to medications and basic needs, which is guaranteed to them under UN Geneva convention on rights of refugees.
Yosief Ghebrehiwet on Smerrr Paltalk on Saturday, May 12
On Saturday, May 12, at 12:00 PM (Los Angeles Time) or 21:00 (Berlin Time) Yosief Ghebrehiwet will give a presentation at Smerr Paltalk. The topic is "The Fallacies of the Democracy Project and Nationhood in the Eritrean Context" In this presentation, the following points will be discussed:
- What is wrong with the Democracy Project as practiced by the Opposition? On this part, more than a dozen fallacies will be discussed.
- After discussing the notion of "nationhood" in the Eritrean context, this question will be addressed: What is being done to hold Eritrea together as a nation?
- After looking at the rationale of the past (the Eritrean revolution) and the present (the opposition) movements regarding (1) and (2), we will look at this question: Given the above fallacies and failings, how do we anchor the Eritrean nation in the future?
Read more...
ICER APPEAL: Save Eritrean Refugees from Human Smugglers
The International Commission on Eritrean Refugees (ICER) would like to appeal to all the political groups in particular to those whose operational base is Ethiopia to give focus on the issues affecting refugees in particular to the shady operation going on in the refugee camps. Frankly, since their base of operation is located stone throw away from Eritrea where the bulk of the refugees originate from we believe they are better placed than most of us to influence events, at least in as far as regulating the flow of persons from the refugee camps in Ethiopia and the Sudan. ...
This being the case, therefore, why is it so difficult for the political parties and in particular those operating from Ethiopia where part of the illegal activities is occurring cannot act in earnest to stop it? Is it because they are too preoccupied dealing with the more burning issues, for example, the overthrow of the unrepresentative regime and replacing it with democratic one? ...
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Gebre's Story - an Eritrean Refugee's African Odyssey
Mai-Aini Refugee Camp, Ethiopia — They crossed the border at midnight, grief-stricken at the death of their daughter the previous day. Gebre's two-year-old girl Arsama perished from the flu. The night after they buried her, Gebre, 28, and his wife Teka, 25, decided to make their way to Ethiopia.
Arsama's death was just one reason for their escape. Gebre was exasperated with seven years in the military - part of Eritrea's obligatory decades-long national service - with not even enough money to pay for food for his family. There seemed no end to the misery, Gebre recalled, here in Ethiopia.
Eritrea Ranked as Most-Censored Country by Journalism Group
Eritrea is the world’s most-censored nation, ahead of countries including North Korea and Syria, the Committee to Protect Journalists said.
The three countries are joined in the top 10 by Iran and Equatorial Guinea, the New York-based organization said in a report on its website today. Reporters in Eritrea, a nation in the Horn of Africa which won independence from Ethiopia in 1993, are conscripted into their work and handed instructions on how to cover events, the group said. The last accredited foreign correspondent was expelled in 2007, it said.
“No foreign reporters are granted access to Eritrea and all domestic media are controlled by the government,” the committee said. “Ministry of Information officials direct every detail of coverage.”
Eritrea, the most repressive nation on Earth
It might seem a daunting challenge to determine which of the world's repressive nations offers the least-free news media. We have so many to choose from - Iran, North Korea, Belarus ...
But you might be surprised by the unanimity among organizations that study such things, like Reporters Without Borders, a French group. The consensus choice is Eritrea, a tiny nation most people cannot even pinpoint on a map.
Eritrea, a desperately poor desert state about the size of Pennsylvania, lives in an ugly neighborhood on the Horn of Africa, between Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. But as tyrannical as the neighbors might be, Eritrea is in a league of its own. Conditions there are so bad that an estimated 25 percent of the population has fled over the past 20 years, even though the government classifies emigrants as "traitors," and border guards are ordered to shoot them on sight.
ICER Action Alert: 600 Eritreans held hostages near Shegerab refugee camps
*Reliable source informed ICER that over 600 Eritrean, children, men and women are kept in a ‘slave holding lots’ few kilometers west of Shegerab refugee camps. The story told by an Eritrean who is tirelessly fighting to stop the human trafficking by alerting new arrivals of the dangerous situation awaiting them if they are not careful and also by informing Sudanese authorities of the illegal activities going under their nose. His information sources are the escapee and animal herders around the holding areas where he has good rapport. It is known that the victims are held in about 12 homes, under shade of trees and in mountain caves guarded by Sudanese, Hadendwa and Beni Amer guards. The past two weeks human smuggling have become so brazen that it is done in daytime, at coffee shops and public places with no one to stop it. There are two reasons for that according to our source.
Read more...Eritrea says its president is "fit as a fiddle"
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Eritrea has sought to quash speculation about President Isaias Afewerki's health, saying he was "fit as a fiddle" and lambasting the United States for spreading "lies" over his condition.
Rumors have been rife in the past few years that Isaias, 66 and in power since 1993 after leading his country to independence from Ethiopia, was in poor health and required regular trips abroad for treatment.
Speculation about his health has stirred up debate over who might eventually replace the reclusive leader. Isaias has no obvious successor but the opposition says he might be grooming his son, Abraham, for the top job.
South Sudan: Rebels Armed By Sudan, Eritrea - Small Arms Survey
Juba — Rebels fighting the South Sudan government are receiving weapons and ammunition from Sudan and Eritrea, says a report by Small Arms Survey; an independent research project in Geneva. ...
"In addition to Khartoum, Asmara [Eritrea] is emerging as a likely source [...] for weapons supplied to Southern rebels," the report claims.
Ammunition confiscated by the SPLA from the late George Athor's SSDM forces in Jonglei were identical to rounds were also found with Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) reportedly supplied by Eritrea.
Amid a trail of corpses, little doubt that Sudan, South Sudan are now at war
HEGLIG, Disputed Sudan -- Nine months after Sudan split into two nations in search of a peace brokered by the United States, it is now clear that the two sides are at war.
Diplomats discussing the armed conflict talk of skirmishes and dustups, but a visit to this border region shows that what is taking place here is no accidental exchange of fire by troops confused about where the border lies. Instead, what’s happening is a headlong mobilization involving not just thousands of Sudan’s and South Sudan’s best forces and heaviest equipment, but heavily armed rebels from the distant Darfur region fighting alongside the South Sudanese troops.
Detained Eritrean journalist admitted to hospital in serious condition
Reporters Without Borders has learned that the journalist Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu, in custody since her arrest in February 2009, was admitted to hospital in the Eritrean capital Asmara earlier this year. The organization is extremely worried about her state of health and concerned about the conditions under which she is being held. ...
“The government of President Issaias Afewerki has already permitted the death in detention of at least four journalists. It issues no information on several others and it is not known whether they are still alive. Today, it is the life of Yirgalem Fisseha Mebrahtu that it is playing with.” ...
According to information reaching Reporters Without Borders, Mebrahtu is in serious condition in Asmara’s Halibet hospital.
Read more...Migrants left to die after catalogue of failures, says report into boat tragedy
Council of Europe investigator says deaths of migrants adrift in Mediterranean exposes double standards in valuing human life. ...
Errors by military and commercial vessels sailing nearby, plus ambiguity in the coastguards' distress calls and confusion about which authorities were responsible for mounting a rescue, were compounded by a long-term lack of planning by the UN, Nato and European nations over the inevitable increase in refugees fleeing north Africa during the international intervention in Libya.
Read more...Eritrean leader says U.S. behind Ethiopia raids
"We have seen several attacks, not just one. We prefer not to talk about it and don't intend to be involved in provocations," Isaias told Eritrean state TV in an interview late on Sunday that was later broadcast on the Internet.
"The military incursions were plotted by Washington with the aim of diverting attention from implementing the boundary commission's decision," he said.
