Zoro Zoro Kebete, Noro Noro Wede Merete (Hidar 7, 1907- Ginbot 13, 2001)

Dear friends,

I received the sad news of the passing away of my ninety four year old father, Asfaw Feleke Woldetekle, this morning and he will be buried (see the attachment) tomorrow along my mother. I will  post the interview he made with Addis Zemen, eighteen years ago soon after my mother passed away. I thank everybody who supported us during his illness that I disclosed on "Root for Father" piece last November.

The last six month indeed was hard for him  and thanks to the big support of family members and your encouraging words he hold on but the end has come.

                                                                                   Rest in Peace

                                                                                       Tedla Asfaw

 

Crying Shabia for more than a decade

Tedla Asfaw


Since the Badme war more than ten years ago the TPLF regime and its supporters  have accused the armed opposition movements inside Ethiopia as Shabia agents. OLF, ONLF and EPPF are the major movements "armed and financed" by Isaias to "destroy Ethiopia" according to the TPLF propaganda. The TPLF invasion of Somalia two years ago was also sold as an exercise to neutralize the gathering threat of Shabia supported ICU.

This accusation if it is true Shabia must be strong militarily and financially to launch all these operations in Ethiopia and Somalia. Isaias is also accused by the Obama administration recently in supporting the Islamic extremists in Somalia and some die hard TPLF supporters are renewing their regime change call in Asmara with the help of Obama.

The truth, however, is that Isaias' Eritrea was saved  by Meles Zenawi in the Badme war.  Meles has its own reason not to overthrow Isaias because there was no stooge prepared to replace him on the eventual "capture" of Asmara then. Meles also did not want to be outshone by the victorious army to challenge him in the future. No wonder Meles was spending his time far from the war front that took the lives of  more than seventy thousands Ethiopians writing his own version of "Bonapartism", that has nothing to do with the defense of Ethiopia or the huge sacrifices paid.

During the Badme war Meles was plotting a coup with the help of Adissu Legesse's led Amhara wing  of TPLF to lock up those who accused him of being "soft" on "Shabia". Meles' coup succeeded and became the "Supreme Commander" of TPLF and those who led the Badme war the likes of  Seye Abraha were sent to jail by false accusations. Many Generals have also fled to Asmara after the stolen 2005 election and this month General Tefera Mamo who was a leader on Tsorena front during the Badme war along with many officers have been jailed for plotting to "kill" Meles and other TPLF leaders.

Meles Zenawi who gave second life for Shabia had accused General Kemal Gelchu and high officers for  joining  OLF and EPPF. This accusation is mainly designed to satisfy the Tigrean nationalists who hate Shabia for looking down on them. Unlike OLF and EPPF, the diaspora opposition movements have no tactics and strategy when it comes to Isaias and Shabia. They are just bystanders on this game. Many soldiers and civilians who escape the TPLF regime,however, have made Eritrea  their home, the "safe" heaven, in hostile Sudan and Djibouti who handed back political opponents to TPLF.

The defeat of TPLF on election in 2005, however, is the only loss for the regime that was not blamed on Shabia by TPLF supporters. The rallying cry for this apartheid regime supporters is Shabia in order to avoid the freedom,democracy and  a one man one person vote, the burning issue in Ethiopia, and  the rallying cry for our people back home and here in the diaspora. They failed miserably to recruit new supporters to fight the boggy man, Shabia. "Talk" with Isaias becomes a litmus test for being "Ethiopian".

The Ethiopian Review (ER) Editor Elias Kifle  has been accused  as a "Shabia" agent for his clear stand of fighting TPLF with the collaboration of Isaias is now elevated to "one hundred percent Shabia" for conducting an interview with Isaias in Asmara this past week. The video has not yet been aired but Elias Kifle is now  the number one "enemy of Ethiopia" for TPLF and its one hundred percent loyalists.

We all know the  TPLF boss is busy  giving "lectures" on foreign medias like BBC and others. If Meles is free to spit his venom on foreign medias, why is this not "allowed" for  an independent Eritrea dictator Isaias Afeworki to talk to whomever he chooses ? Do Meles supporters  really know what free media means ? Or do they have to think always in terms of "Shabia" to protect their untouchable "supreme' leader from embarrassment ?

There is no one on this planet who knows TPLF than Shabia's boss, Isaias Afeworki, the man who raise it as a "baby", feed it to build muscle and bone to fight Shabia's war on the mountains of Eritrea. If Al Jazera has the right to interview Isaias, so does Elias Kifle.

 

Ginbot7, from "coup plot to member of Medrek"

Tedla Asfaw


Ato Zeru Hagos of Aiga came with disastrous propaganda , on "Catch22 politics played by Dr. Birhanu Nega",  May 12 . He said, "USA formed  Medrek to replace Kinijit on which UDJ and Ginbot7 are represented among others" . Zeru warned too that "if Ginbot7 do not correct its mistake it might be expelled from Medrek".

This allegation of Ginbot7 , accused of terror and assassination weeks ago, as a "member of Medrek" by Zeru is similar to some opposition groups here in the Diaspora who accused Ginbot7 as a "secret organization formed a year ago by Bereket Simon to divide the real opposition that got momentum four years ago" under the banner of Kinijit.

Both Zeru and some opponents in the Diaspora seem scared by the increasing support Ginbot7 got especially from the Diaspora Ethiopians after the TPLF concocted plot which in a less than a week downgraded to "assassination". For both of them Ginbot7 is the real enemy and it has to be stopped before it makes the real coup, get huge popular support.

Indeed, Ginbot7 was given a propaganda coup on a  silver plate last week by TPLF. It got name recognition in all the world medias and the VOA and German Amharic, the only independent sources of information for millions of Ethiopians, brought Ginbot7 to every home in Ethiopia, a real force to challenge TPLF, and Ato Zeru,however, insisted that this was a PR made by Ginbot7  for its first anniversary.

"The USA made Medrek "replacing  Kinijt is another disastrous propaganda by TPLF. How does then Zeru explain the recent accusation and insult by TPLF on USA administration for not denouncing Dr. Birhanu for "terrorism" ? Why then the Amhara wing of TPLF became a target not leaders of Medrek like Seye and Gebru for "conspiring" with Ginbot7?

 Ginbot7 has nothing to do with Medrek. The Medrek people are pro-TPLF while Ginbot7 had made it clear that TPLF has to be removed by all means and new constitution has to be written with the full participation of all Ethiopian Nationalities. Medrek is not  a replacement of Kinijit as Zeru wanted us to believe, it is to replace Meles with Seye , Aba Dula with Negasso and Beyene with Yacob. We can say without shred of doubt that Medrek is made by TPLF to replace the dying "EPRDF" and extend the rule of TPLF by orchestrating fake election in June 2010 and give legitimacy to the regime that was rejected by Ethiopians in 2005.

Long Live Ginbot 7

Tedla Asfaw

I am not endorsing the Ginbot7 party led by D.r Birhanu on its first anniversary here rather congratulate the Ethiopian masses who went out in millions in all corners of Ethiopia and voted TPLF out of office four years ago on May 15, 2005 or Ginbot 7 on Ethiopian Calender. I am also remembering the fallen heroes gunned down by Agazi commandos on broad day light displayed for all to see.

Here is my big difference with Ato Seye Abraha, one of the founders of TPLF,  who wanted to accuse both the victims and crime perpetrator as "unprepared for peaceful election". Wait a minute, how did he forgot the Miazia 30 rally of more than  two million people in Addis Ababa who went out on pre election rally without a single incident ? The only reason our people were left alone on that day was because of the arrogance of  TPLF cadres who believed that the paid rally in support of TPLF could beat any opposition by the Kinijit/CUD.

The May 15 however proved that TPLF arrogance was unparalleled and it lost overwhelmingly in Addis Ababa and to avoid defeat it massacred our peaceful people. That is the fact and any attempt to paint our people as "violent" is just to cover the crime of TPLF.

The theory of participating on peaceful election in Ethiopia has been dead since May 16, 2005, Ginbot 8 after our peoples aspiration for democracy was stopped by the brutal forces of TPLF leaving more than two hundred dead and thousands sent to jails on many  locations run by TPLF prison enterprise. Now TPLF is preparing to control power and get legitimacy it never got on the last eighteen years in power by preparing a fake election and recruiting new comers on Mederk platform run by Gebru and Seye.

Accusing our people for violent behavior and "opposition organizations" unprepared to challenge the "strong and powerful TPLF" they are working to get a seat with their former brothers until " the unorganized oppositions" are ready in 2015 to challenge TPLF. We haven't heard from them either on the ongoing ethnic cleansing in the army   Bulcha Demeksa accurately characterized it as pre election terror .

Another major election campaign was orchestrated by Meles in the Amhara region a month ago. A poem was read to congratulate "Talaku Mereyachenen" Meles Zenawi and said like this . "Do not worry, all of them will come back to you, Meles", "Hulume Meles Belew Yematalu". The person who wrote this poem accurately captured the so called participants of the the 2010 peaceful election led by Mederek.

Our people readiness to elect their leaders  peacefully  was well documented even by those who financed and armed TPLF and what our people demand right now is their right to organize, speak and print freely not another Lidetu Ayalew type Democracy Talk. Without basic rights of democracy, the new formation like "Mederek  challenging TPLF/EPRDF" on the June 2010 election is just betrayal of our people much worst than the Lidetu Ayalew's betrayal four years ago.


TPLF is running a one party state until our people economy reached to that of Communist China. It transferred itself to a "development party" and can now be called also Tigray People Development Party  (TPDP). Do not worry about the name Tigray they  mean business and is all clear for all doubters. TPLF/TPDP Oromo's wing was dealt with before and the Amhara wing of TPDP is seriously done by imprisoning  Amhara officers in the army who were "conspiring" with Ginbot7 party weeks ago.

Does any one still doubt that TPLF does not mean EPRDF. I hope the Mederek people will tell us if there is anybody  in EPRDF except TPLF. I hope they will not mention Tefera Walewa who will soon be accused of eating the left over "sugar" from Pastor Tamerat Layne who went more than  a decade in jail for "sugar crime".


Our generation have the same choice our fathers and mothers had seventy five years ago, either to live in dignity or die fighting. I choose the latter one and support all real oppositions including Ginbot7 for the common struggle to remove TPLF and empower our people.