The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) strongly condemns what appears to be the deliberate abduction of two humanitarian aid workers employed by the ICRC in Ogaden.The abduction or harming of aid workers in Ogaden is unacceptable under any circumstances and represents a clear attempt to divert attention from and undermine the legitimate struggle of the people of Ogaden for self-determination. The continued detention of these aid workers serves no other purpose than to discourage international humanitarian assistance to our people. As such, the perpetrators of this act shall be considered by us to be clear enemies of the people of Ogaden and the ONLF.
The ONLF calls upon the captors to immediately release the two ICRC employees unconditionally and unharmed. We further call upon the ICRC to not be discouraged but rather to step up operations in Ogaden where hundreds of civilians have recently been arbitrarily detained by the Ethiopian government in Jijiga and other towns in Ogaden. These civilian detainees are in desperate need of ICRC intervention and assistance.
We wish to assure the families of the detainees that this act, carried out by a few, in no way represents the wishes of the people of Ogaden.
Ogaden National Liberation Front (O.N.L.F)
onlfpress@onlf.org
Lucy's baby
(by Andrew Heavens)
How often do you get to name a new cultural icon? The icon is the one on the left. It is the fossilised skull of a three-year-old girl who died about 3.3 million years ago in what is now Dikika in Ethiopia's Afar region. That makes her the oldest toddler ever discovered. She was unveiled yesterday in a lecture theatre in the basement of the National Museum in Addis Ababa by proud paleontologist Zeresenay Alemseged (the one on the right) who led the team that found most of her skeleton about five years ago. At the end of his presentation, he turned to the audience of journalists and academics and politicians and asked 'So what shall we name her'. It seemed to be a genuine request. He hadn't decided and wanted us to make the historic decision there and then. He had a few pointers.(More...)-More pictures of Lucy’s baby by Journalist Andrew Heavens
-NPR:Ancient Fossil Child Discovered in Ethiopia
Contact made with Irish man held in Ethiopia
The father of the Irish aid worker abducted in Ethiopia has said he understands direct contact was made with his son by Red Cross officials overnight.Donal Ó Súilleabháin, 41, from Co Sligo, was travelling with six other colleagues when they were abducted by an armed group in the southern town of Godé at about 10am on Monday. Five of the seven aid workers were subsequently released, but Mr Ó Súilleabháin and an Ethiopian colleague are still being held.(More...)
Ethiopian-American group tries to raise profile on Capitol Hill
In the spare moments before the lunch rush and then later before the dinner crowd arrives, Mesfin Mekonen, manager of the Reliable Source restaurant, works a second, unpaid job: lobbyist. Mekonen, who moved to the United States from Ethiopia in 1972 at age 20, is the Washington representative for the Ethiopian-American Council, which is trying to add the Ethiopian diaspora to the list of prominent ethnic lobbying groups.
The Council started in the late 1990s out of frustration at recurrent famine problems in Ethiopia. Determined to convince Congress to provide aid but not sure how the process worked, Mekonen began by appealing to the sympathies of office receptionists, asking them in fluent though accented English to let him talk to a person who best could help.(More...)I'd rather die than go back
A FAILED asylum seeker found hanged left a note saying: "I can't go back. I'd rather die." Engineer Abiy Abebe was found dead in Liverpool just hours after his application was rejected. Liverpool coroner Andre Rebello told an inquest into the 35-year-old's death it was "more likely than not" he had killed himself.Today his family spoke of their horror at his death on July 5.(More...)
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