HaimanotYegil New Hager Yegara Newe

Tedla Asfaw

The above slogan has been a corner stone of our country's past and survived the challenge for many centuries and that is why you see ordinary Ethiopians in cities and rural areas different religions and their followers live side by side without major incidents.

In all past battles for national sovereignty all Ethiopians, Christians as well as Muslims , fought
invaders and never realigned with their religious affiliation and sacrificed their common country
Ethiopia.

It is indeed true Haimanote Yegil Newe Hager Yegara Newe is a tasted slogan which is also tasted in our own time by the current regime of Ethiopia who failed miserably in dividing our people in language and religion.

The ordinary Ethiopians did not fall on to this trap and the May 2005 verdict they gave is a rejection of this racist policy of the regime.

The regime never learned from this evil enterprise of seeding discourse between different religions and also dividing the same religious groups by recruiting leaders who are known for their political activism than teaching their religious doctrines.

The regime's project which failed in Ethiopia is now given another chance in the Diaspora where we have many churches and producing new ones every other month by further dividing and struggling to pay their rent and some built new establishment some are following the church in Ethiopia and some do not and are now declaring war on each other using the media in
Washington D.C and on Internet.

Ato Abebe Belew the host of Addis Dimts gave the past week program for the current crisis in Mariam church and I heard some call on his radio and insulted him and Ato Negusse of Hagerfiker Radio is vilifying him also on his radio.

If it were not for Ato Abebe Belew's Radio I might not even here this discord because for me this is not the major crisis our country is facing and Addis Dimte should have used its airtime for more pressing national problems.

The church radio can deal with this problem and a radio like Addis Dimts will be a force for a change in Ethiopia if it focused on matters which is concern for all Ethiopians.

Endowment Fund For Rehabiltiation of Tigray (EFFORT) ?

Tedla Asfaw

I followed Ato Gebremedhin Araya's interview on Tensae
Radio (May 24) based on Abaye Tsehai's recent
interview with Dimtsi Woyane.

The claim by Abaye Tsehai that TPLF has been a
fighting and business force that profited from
business deal early in the struggle was exposed by Ato
Gebremedhin Araya from his own account serving in the
finance department of TPLF.

The drought of the time and the international aids and
money was a God given fortune from heaven used by the
leaders of the movement to collect and amass fortunes
in the name of Tigray.

Gebremedhin confirmed to us that talk of business in
Sudan before this drought was lie and TPLF top leaders
used it to camouflage the properties they confiscated
after they controlled power in Ethiopia.

EFFORT he said is a conglomerate of 80 companies under
the control of the top TPLF leaders that is
monopolizing the country's business and it is
Ethiopian people wealth.

Neither the Tigray people nor ordinary member of TPLF
are the owners of the EFFORT and Sibhat Nega told his
host that Tigrayans and others should use the
opportunity EFFORT give them to develop(Lematechen)
and do business in their regions.

Ethiopia is now run by individuals who robbed foreign
food aids and converted into 100 million dollars
according to Gebremedhin's account and building a
company in the name of Tigray and enriching themselves
and Gebremedhin also said these few millionaires also
have accounts and investments in foreign banks under
various names.

Has the World Bank demanded the book of EFFORT to be
audited and tell poor Ethiopians who the share holders
of this giant companies are or is this a question out
of reach not to embarrass themselves?

Gebremedin confirmed that many African corrupt leaders
amassed fortunes by stealing from their own people and
from his first hand information none other than Sibhat
Nega and his buddies EFFORT top the list.

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Mohamed Derir's slip of the tongue

Tedla Asfaw

Mohamed Derir, a member of fake parliament and a minister of culture speech on the sleepy parliament last week awoke Ato Bulcha when the minister labeled Oromiffa as a lesser language than other Ethiopian languages that is used by the Eritrean regime for propaganda.

The OlF media accused Mohamed Derir of insulting Oromo's culture and language by treating Oromiffa as a lesser language and it compared it with Emperor Menelik's alleged instruction which said do not kill anyone even if he or she is an" Oromo " and the reprimanding of " Ababa" Tesfaye the host of children's program in Ethiopian TV.

The OLF media has also instructed nationalists to take the necessary action against Mohamed Derir, a Somali, if he did not apologize publicly.

In a country where freedom of speech and writing is stifled such irresponsible words by people like Mohamed Derir will bring unnecessary tension between Oromos and Somalis from which only the regime benefits.

The prejudice we might have towards our fellow citizens can only be addressed if we take
responsibility for our words and apologize and bringing about Emperor Menelik's alleged instruction is unfortunate.

Such allegations by Tamrat Layene, former prime minister who is now languishing in jail who is known for instigating and accusing Menelik for the Somalis and Oromos population in Harar was part of divide and rule and the OLF media should be careful not to fall on to that trap.

I support the call by the OLF radio for apology from Ato Mohamed Derir for insulting the Oromo people and however I disagree with the " historical " comaprison 200 years ago.

Ande Belu Sewe Atemenu

Tedla Asfaw
Ato Solomon Tekalegn declared himself a patriot when he arrived in Addis this week and was heard saying that the whole Addis is shaking on his victorious
arrival.

On the thirty minutes video interview he gave on the EriTV, on his fact finding mission, re posted on ER, I realized a troubling body language.

I wish experts watch it again and educate us about changing personalities and if this is a disease what can we do about it ?

From Addis yesterday to his supporters in the Diaspora he was heard saying that many in the Diaspora are condemning him about going to Ethiopia and he was challenging us if not to Addis then to Mars ? and the paltalk host was laughing unstoppable.

I will not be surprised if this guy showed up in the Kaliti prison to visit the people leaders he called them in his previous songs as another round of fact finding mission and what he will not do is to sing in a public because people will disappoint him by singing his " Ande Belu Sewe Atemenu " songs.

His trip to abandon the struggle and join the regime is financial according to the interview he gave here in USA and he is worried also being overshadowed by young Ethiopian singers.

Ato Solomon you know from your heart you are not a patriot and you are " Beand Eras Hulet Melase " and many will remember you for your previous famous songs which you are now running away from.

I wish if I had known such financial hardshsip will send someone to negate his own recent past I will be the first one to contribute a penny.

The Ninety Five Percent Ethiopian Diaspora

Tedla Asfaw

Ato Lidetu Ayalew's attack on the Diaspora using his "Third Way " launchers was carried out using Ande Ethiopia Radio in Washington D.C on May 20.

His target was to liberate the 95 percent innocent Ethiopians who are hostage to the 5 percent old politicians of EPRP and MEISON who are using the radios and Internet on their hands to misinform the majority.

The old timers he said are not learning from their past mistakes and wanted the country to go down with them and however Ato Lidetu said we the people have to liberate ourselves from these groups before we even think of making a difference in the Ethiopian politics.

Lidetu Ayalew the majority Diaspora Ethiopians to follow on his foot steps and reject these old timers and follow him to the land of freedom under his young and bright vision.

Ato Lidetu as we know Ethiopians back home rejected him and his time to get attention here in North America and Europe is understandable.

He categorically accused the Diaspora political movements that they were behind boycotting the
parliament after the stolen election two years ago and same allegations were heard from Jandyi Freezer two years ago on Straight Talk Africa program.

On my comment on that program I informed her that she was wrong to blame the Diaspora Ethiopians for the political mess in Ethiopia and the elected parliamentarians were forced to boycott the parliament after they heard the call of their people who elected them.

Jendyi Frezer did not reject my argument and however our young leader Ato Lidetu is insulting the Ethiopian people as if they are not capable of deciding on their future.

The Diaspora Ethiopians are not silent like he tried to characterize and are active and participating and educating the foreigners about the plight of Ethiopians back home.

It can be said without exaggeration that the Ethiopian Diaspora activity is more than any other
Diaspora's activity in any scale you measure it.

Ato Lidetu Ayalew should go on his attack until he finished his ammunition and we know that no one takes him serious.

Professor Abdi Samatar on BBC

Tedla Asfaw
I heard professor Samatar on the BBC(May 15) saying that Melese Zenawi's plan to withdraw from Somalia is not true and in fact he said that appointing Somalis from Ethiopia to rule is underway.

He said that Lower Shabelle is now ruled by Ethiopian Somali and the future of Somalia is to be ruled by proxies which is a recipe for a protracted conflict.

He highlighted the rule in Ethiopia by the minority regime by appointing people of different nationalities to camouflage its direct rule is going to be replicated in Somalia.

On the same program a young man was saying that he was taught like many young Somalis that Ethiopians are their number one enemies and he and many Somalis will never accept to see soldiers from Ethiopia.

However, Somalis have now to retool their thinking and figure out who is Somali from Ethiopia and who is not.

Meles Zenawi's Iraq

Tedla Asfaw

I read an article on Washington Post's website last Saturday and I sent to the writer what I believe should have been covered on the legitimate title of "Ethiopia's Iraq ".

The Iraq war started four years ago by the USA and UK to remove Saddam Hussein and establish a friendly regime there and however the last Christmas war in Somalia is a contracted war to promote the USA interest waged by unelected regime of Ethiopia.

After four years of war in Iraq we have not seen anything achieved there and the American public are now against this war and in the case of Ethiopia the war from beginning have no popular support and in fact the regime used it to destroy its armed enemies of the
Ogaden National Liberation Movement(ONLF) and Oromo National Liberation Movement (OLF).

The killing of Oromo refugees who have been living in Somalia for many years at the early stages of the invasion in Somalia speaks volumes for what this war is all about.

The recent massacre in the Ethiopian Somali region is partly a reprisal for the Somali invasion and the killing in Ogaden by the regime forces and until now USA and UK have not accused ONLF and OLF as a terrorist organization and these movements have not also attacked Westerners.

The involvement of Eritrea , Arab and Muslim tyrants on the side of the Islamists directly put them in the collision course with the USA and that is why this so called war on terrorism seen as " Christian " Ethiopia invading " Muslim " Somalia and similarly the war in Iraq is portrayed as a sectarian war between Shias and Sunnis in Western media.

Ethiopian Christians and Muslims however denounced this war from the very beginning and demanded all foreigners to get out of Somalia and accept Somalis right to live in whatever form of government they choose including without government.

Ethiopians have to remove the Melese dictatorship by mass mobilization and expose the USA policy makers empty rhetoric of freedom and democracy and on this second anniversary we have to show our solidarity with our elected jailed leaders who were sacrificed for the contracting job of Melese Zenawi by the Bush administration.

The time of hiding behind terrorism curtain is now over for George Bush and also costing Tony Blair his job and Melese Zenawi's dictatorial and contracting days are also numbered and Ethiopians will not allow USA and other foreign powers to use them as proxies when they establish a democratic government accountable to them.

Elias Kifle's Courage

Tedla Asfaw
When I came across a pro government website accusing Elias Kifle of Ethiopian Review inciting Ethiopians to destroy big hotels and mines owned by Sheik Almoudi, a bank roller of the EPRDF/TPLF, I went to the Addis Dimte archive of last Sunday to follow the interview.

Ato Elias Kifle emphatically suggested that we should deny income from all sectors used by the EPRDF/TPLF regime to raise money to kill and destroy our people and that is indeed a legitimate call.

The ordinary people in Ethiopia has not benefited in any way from the so called development Ato Lidetu Ayalew and others are preaching daily except seeing few millionaires close to the regime.

Ethiopia is still on foreign food aid and the recent rationing of 25 kg of wheat(American) in Addis is to quite our people to celebrate the coming millennium with full stomach and Ato Bulcha Demekesa's account on the sleeping parliament recently on his constituent survival struggle exposed this development drum accurately.

The illegal war in Somalia which Ato Elias Kifle denounced from its start is costing the regime only human lives and compared to 70,000 we lost in Badme is still manageable for the regime and USA is paying for the rest and our vibrant" opposition " parliamentarians should have asked who is paying the bill in Somalia ? And who is also profiting from this war? The " Third Way " miracle of Ato Lidetu should send an accountant to check the war book.

I wished Ato Elias Kifle had a chance on the interview to explain his previous engagements with Ato Lidetu and his take on the coming back of Ato Lidetu in this "Third Way " Broadway show.

There are many here in the Diaspora who accused Ato Elias Kifle being an anti Ethiopian unity and a supporter of " secessionists " like OLF and ONLF and his answer was valid on this interview, either we have to talk to them or fight them and engaging them is the best for our country and I fully agreed with him.

It is indeed very courageous of him to come out with position on the recent massacre in Ogaden while many so called oppositions politicians in the Diaspora were running for cover is commendable, and characterization of some of his Diaspora critics as people who have soft belly for EPRDF/TPLF after sixteen years of misrule and killing is indeed true and valid.

Tony Blair Vs Ethiopians

Tedla Asfaw

Tony Blair was on the side of the Ethiopian tyrant, Melese Zenawi, and our appeal to him in London in front of his office did not bear any fruit and if Tony Blair thinks Africa's problems would be solved by African Commission led by tyrants like Melese Zenawi he was naive.

Tony Blair is not a friend of ordinary Ethiopians andwe are glad to see him go and the bad seed he planted in Ethiopia soon will be thrown out by popular uprising.

I had a chance to call on the special program on BBC (May 10), world have your say , and told the world audience what most Ethiopians felt about Tony Blair's resignation.

We should come together on June 27 on the day he will step down to send a message to the coming prime minister, Mr. Brown , to reverse the disastrous policy of Tony Blair towards Ethiopia.

Tribute to a true journalist

Associated Press correspondent Anthony Mitchell was a true friend of Ethiopia. He lived and worked in Ethiopia for five years until he was expelled from the country by the Meles regime in January 2006. After his expulsion from Ethiopia, the Associated Press assigned him to Nairobi. It is a real tragedy that his post in Kenya led him to his death as one of the 114 passengers who were onboard the ill-fated Flight 507, which crashed in Cameroon on Saturday.
During the height of the post-election repressions, Anthony Mitchell wrote nothing but the truth, the whole truth. His courage to tell the world what was going on in Ethiopia under the tyranny of Meles Zenawi earned him respect and love among millions of Ethiopians in and outside of the country.
Desperate to hide its crimes, the tyrannical regime targeted true journalists like Anthony and all media outlets that exposed the dirty deeds of the regime. Any local journalists who had courageously told the truth were rounded up and thrown in harsh jails charged with "genocide and treason." Out of desperation, Meles and his cohorts went to the extent of trying to cross the Atlantic with a mission of silencing the Voice of America. To their dismay, that effort brought them ridicule and anger from the White House. Consequently, they were told by the American government to drop the frivolous charges against journalists of the VOA or face the music. Unashamedly, they had no choice but drop all the charges they concocted against the VOA further exposing the feebleness of Zenawi's courtroom dramas.
Anthony Mitchell was not kind enough to do a cover up job for the tyrannical regime as they would have liked him to. With a great sense of journalistic duty, he continued to tell stories with incision what Meles and his cohorts never wished the rest of the world to hear; human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, mass detentions and massive scale repressions.
In January 2006 Meles Zenawi's utter detest for the truth was very evident once again when he ordered the expulsion of Anthony Mitchell from Ethiopia, the tyrant's empire of injustice. According to the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) the government decided to expel Mitchell for "tarnishing the image of the nation repeatedly, contravening journalism ethics" and "disseminating information far from the truth about Ethiopia." However, there has been no agent or power who has tarnished the image of any country other than tyrants who commit crimes against humanity, unleash destruction and starve their people. In fact they were only expressing their allergy to the truth that Anthony Mitchell told with professionalism and utmost integrity.
As Andrew Heavens, who happened to be a friend of the late journalist, wrote on his popular blog Meskelsquare.com, "When a country kicks out a good journalist, the only real loser – in terms of reputation and coverage – is the country that did the kicking." As a result of the expulsion of Anthony, the Meles regime was once more exposed to a barrage of international criticism and condemnation that it has been addicted to. After all, it is a regime that has been committing all sorts of crimes and blames others for tarnishing its faceless image.
Death is unavoidable and inevitable to us all. However, one can surmise the fact that Anthony could not have been on the ill-fated flight had he been allowed to continue telling the truth with passion and honesty from Ethiopia where all true journalists have either been expelled, exiled or jailed.
Addis Voice would like to express its deep sadness over the loss of one true journalist who fearlessly told the truth at the expense of his personal comfort. Anthony’s death is a tremendous loss not only to Ethiopia but also to Africa where so many untold stories cry for true journalists.
May he rest in peace.

Addis Voice

Two dictators in the Horn: Meles Zenawi & Isaias Afewerki

By Roger Williams
Horn of Africa week continues here at Dictators of the World with an examination of Isaias Aferwerki's archenemy, Ethiopian strongman Meles Zenawi.
Meles Zenawi was a 22 year old medical school student when Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in a coup d'etat orchestrated by a group of military officers known as the Derg. The hostility of the Derg towards the people of Tigray [sic] prompted the young Zenawi (being Tigrinya himself) to join, and eventually lead, a Marxist resistance group called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front who were bent on driving out the Derg, especially the eventual Derg chairman, dictator Haile Mengistu Meriam.
After decades of fighting, (and compliated political mergers) Zenawi got his big break when the Soviet Union collapsed, and Mengistu's primary source of military and economic aid completely dried up. By May of that year, the Zenawi led Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front chased Mengistu into exile, and Zenawi took power first as "transitional president" until 1995, when he took the title of Ethiopia's first elected Prime Minister.

"This is not your run of the mill demonstration. This is an Orange Revolution
gone wrong." - Meles Zenawi

Once in power, Zenawi became the darling of the industrialized west, who hailed him as a reformer and a democrat. While it was certainly true that Zenawi's rule was far more democratic than that of his predecessor, it's also true that he's either arranged or tolerated a wide array of "voting irregularities" that keep his party in power. His government has also been widely condemned for ordering an incredibly violent police crackdown on a crowd protesting the rigged elections in 2005 that left nearly 200 people killed, countless injured, and resulted in tens of thousands of arrests. Zenawi was quick to dismiss these condemnations, saying that the protesters in questions were harboring rioters armed with guns and hand grenades, an allegation denied by some eyewitnesses.
And then there's the war. In 1998, the former Ethiopian province of Eritrea led by former colleague Isaias Aferweki, led soldiers into the Ethiopian town of Badme. In no time at all, what had been a minor border dispute turned into a full blown war. During the conflict, the Zenawi government began to expel deporting Ethiopians of Eritrean descent across the deadly front lines to Eritrea, a flagrant human rights violation. Zenawi also used the war as a pretext to begin cracking down on his political enemies, throwing unknown thousands of dissidents in jail and harassing journalists deemed unfriendly to the government.
While less autocratic than his rival in Eritrea, Zenawi has certainly made it clear that he intends to stay in power, and does not mind resorting to vote rigging and political persecution to do so. Ethiopia's cooperation in the fight against Islamic militancy in Somalia has also led to a key alliance with Washington in the war on terror. This alliance has provided Zenawi with access to military and economic aid that might otherwise be denied, and has also caused Washington to look the other way when it comes to Zenawi's abuse of political and human rights in Ethiopia. Zenawi's dictatorship, while not entirely legitimized by the United States, European and African Unions, is tolerated, if only because they find his abuses of political and human rights "less egregious" than those in Eritrea, and because of Ethiopia's ability to keep rebel movements that are deemed to be even nastier in check. Zenawi's critics have rightly alleged that Zenawi has his hands dirty as well when it comes to sponsoring rebel armies in neighboring countries, and it is further suggested that should Zenawi ever find himself at peace at home and abroad he would face uncomfortable demands for political reform from his western patrons. A cynic might even suggest this provides Zenawi with motivation to pursue military solutions to problems that could be resolved peacefully, but as you all know by now, I'm certainly no cynic.
All of this leads us to the current fighting in the Horn of Africa. Will Zenawi or Afewerki come out on top in their proxy war in Somalia? Will they go back to the negotiating table, or simply declare war again?
------------------

Isaias Afeworki

You know, I hadn't actually intended to blog about the escalating violence in the Horn of Africa all week, but honestly, the renewed conflict between Eritrean strongman Isaias Afewerki and Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi is too compelling for anyone with an interest in dictators to ignore. I wrote about the tensions leading up to this conflict yesterday, but what I haven't done is talk about the men themselves, or what they've done to their respective nations.
I'll start with Isaias Afewerki, because quite frankly, he's the more authoritarian of the two. Under Afewerki's rule, the newest country in Africa has also become the most paranoid country in Africa. Under his rule, Eritrea has turned into one of the most totalitarian states in Africa, which is no mean feat when you consider the competition for that title.
As the old adage goes, one man, one vote, one time. Afewerki was elected just once after Eritrea's independence in 1993, and has stayed put ever since. A cautious man, he's decided that Eritrea's newfound independence was too fragile to risk multiple political parties or a privately owned press and has banned both. When foreign journalists in Eritrea started using the word "dictatorship", Afewerki simply kicked them out of the country.

"What is a free press? There is no free press anywhere."- Isaias Afewerki

How bad is it for reporters in Eritrea? Bad. Scandalously so, in fact. The international journalist watchdog group Reporters Without Borders ranked Eritrea's press freedom as the third worst on earth in 2006, behind only North Korea and Turkmenistan. The situation becomes even worse when you consider that Eritrea will be going down yet another notch to the second worst on earth, because Turkmenistan's rating can only improve after Saparmurat Niazov kicked the bucket. Eritrean information minister Ali Abdou provided a pithy summary of Eritrea's attitude towards freedom of speech and information when he quipped, "it's up to us what, why, when and where we do things." Perhaps it comes as no surprise that the government has noted with classic understatement that Eritrea's tourism industry "isn't living up to its potential".
As if the complete and suppression of political freedoms in Eritrea weren't enough, Afewerki has found a remarkably efficient way to expand the size and scope of his government on the cheap. The government has done this by mandating a compulsory (and often indefinite) "government service" scheme that pays people around $45 a month to work as government employees, whether in an office or providing manual labor. Those not inclined to give up their former jobs that actually provided enough money to support their families were given another option: prison without trial. Afewerki's scheme ran into snags when young Eritreans started fleeing to Sudan to avoid indentured servitude to their dictator. Undeterred, Afewerki ingeniously tackled the problem by simply jailing the families of people leaving the country to escape his state mandated poverty.
Finally, how could I fail to mention the state sponsored persecution of religious minorities in Eritrea? Or the country's appalling record on human rights? It's completely superfluous to note that rights and freedoms he's denied to his people isn't exactly keeping Isaias Afewerki awake at night. If there's any personal or political force motivating Afewerki's actions beyond his apparently intractable hatred for Ethiopia, it has yet to manifest itself any discernible fashion. I don't know if it's safe to presume that Afewerki will survive this latest round of badger baiting with Ethiopia, or if his decision to provide money and weapons to anti-Ethiopian militant groups will wind up backfiring on him.
Perhaps the only thing it is safe to say about Isaias Afewerki is that he won't be stepping down, holding multiparty elections, or going back to the negotiating table with Ethiopia anytime soon. We have a natural inclination to root for the underdog, which Eritrea clearly is in relation to Ethiopia. As long as Afewerki is in charge however, this inclination should be put permanently on hold, effective immediately. And speaking of Ethiopia, stay tuned, dear readers! I'll be taking a look at the other combatant in the Somali proxy war tomorrow; Isaias Afewerki's sworn enemy, Ethiopian dictator Meles Zenawi.

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Source: Authoritarianism.blogspot.com

The West and Ogaden Liberation

Do you know that USA and UK keep the Ogaden card alive and used it whenever they wanted to promote their own interest like they did in Barre's aggression of Ethiopia in the 1970 by siding with invading army of Somalia?

Do you know the reason behind not recognizing the Somaliland as an independent nation since it is against the Greater Somalia dream that is still alive and promoted by the West.

Is it Somaliland or Ogaden which has historical evidence as a former British colony or an Ogaden which had been wrestled away from Ethiopia and was under British protection for few years that deserve independence?

Are you surprised that the British and USA administration did not denounce the massacre last week by ONLF in the Somali region of Ethiopia while oppositions in the Diaspora were asked to do so by pro-Melese websites?

Ogaden is a game Westerners will play to deny Ethiopia not to become a formidable power in the Horn and on this mission the Arab tyrants and Muslim fanatics are in the same page with the West.

When Melese is out of power obviously by popular uprising(YE GODANA NEWTE) the West will play their Ogaden card like they did in the 1970 and will drum support for the independence of Ogaden they denied Somaliland now and send their rigs to dig oil and gas.

The only viable option for the oppositions which wanted to keep our united Ethiopia is to be in the game rather than to be a spectator and engaging the ONLF, OLF and other nationalist movements in AFD or other mechanism with no foreign involvements, and the path of condemning them as secessionists and stop engagement is a failure and sooner or later we will
talk or fight.

Regards,

Tedla Asfaw

Ato Lidetu as Third Drummer

Ato Lidetu Ayalew on VOA(Friday April 27) declared that he is neither an opposition nor a supporter of the regime and he found with divine intervention the third way.

After he joined the fake parliament as an opposition and saturated with lectures from Melese Zenawi and getting few minutes like his fellow so called parliamentarians to talk he felt hopeless and now he needs another stage for his ego to lecture us like his boss Melese Zenawi.

I do not believe Ato Lidetu will find listeners unless he contracted some of the EPRDF/TPLF die-hard members on the coming stage drama.

Declaration of the third way is to get attention he lost in the fake parliament and this so called a third way will take him to his political death until he process his Asylum in USA.

EPRDF/TPLF used this coward and will leave him alone because he is a talker with no substance, third way or fourth way Ato Lidetu is irrelevant and he might join the music band, Zero to Third, led by Selemon Tekalegne as a drummer for the millennium.

My Memory on What Happened Thirty Years Ago in Addis Dark Streets

I was a teenager and remember what happened that night in my neighborhood. That night we were asked to join friends for the demonstration against fascist Derg and our protest shortly turned into gun fight and mayhem.

I was in a neighborhood about one mile away from my home and kids of my age were chanting death to Mengistu and down with fascist Derg and EPRP is our party and all of a sudden shots rang around us and we jumped in to the house close by.

We broke out light fuses and streets were dark and hard to tell what is going on and we hide until all is quite and went back home scared to death.

I was told that my home had sheltered many kids and our parents were relieved to see me and my brothers back safely and their wish had been confirmed to be real in the morning after.

In the morning we witnessed bodies on the streets and neighborhoods in cry and parents were looking for children who did not come home that terrible night.

Looking back I see many who protested that night were idealists who wanted change for our people and care less for what it costs and those who were leading the struggle believed that such protest might lead to the downfall ot the regime.

Derg used its cadres and militia to crack down on the protesters and on this anniversary it is important to recognize those martyrs and learn from their sacrifices.

Thirty years after this massacre we are back to square one and our new rulers some of them who were protesters then are now ordering children to be shot at and banned all civil disobedience and put our people in one big prison.

The May 2005 election and its aftermath once again proved that tyrants will not go peacefully and the mass mobilization of our people is a must.

The Ethiopian youth love of their country were not squashed by Mengistu and the current rulers who think that they can rule us by gun surely were trembling when people came out on streets two years ago and fought street battles with the regime secutiy agents.

Melese Zenawi can not stop this coming surge of humanity for freedom and equality and we know that there will be sacrifice and be ready to pay for it.