Worries Mount As Son Remains in Ethiopia

By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2007

The family of a man being held in Ethiopia for alleged ties to Islamic militants is growing increasingly frustrated that he is still being detained despite reports that he would be released.

News reports, a congressman's office and U.S. officials said this month that U.S.-born Amir Mohamed Meshal, 24, would soon be freed. But no one seems to know exactly why he was not.

"It was an emotional roller-coaster for us," said his father, Mohamed Meshal, speaking from their home in Tinton Falls on the Jersey shore. "We started cooking, and marinating the meat for his homecoming and the next minute, everything collapses."

Amir Meshal was in Somalia at a time when much of the country was controlled by hard-line Islamists. Hundreds of people, including Islamist fighters, fled Somalia for Kenya in late December and January after Ethiopian troops invaded the country in support of a weak but internationally backed government.

After his arrest in Kenya, the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi asked Kenyan authorities to deport Meshal to the United States, then filed a formal protest when it learned he had been returned to Somalia and then sent to Ethiopia.

U.S. authorities in Washington have said that after interviewing Meshal in Kenya they determined he was not a threat and hadn't violated U.S. law.

Meshal is one of dozens held by Ethiopia in what human rights activists and lawyers say is an illegal detention program that violates international laws on deportations and the treatment of prisoners. Ethiopia denies the charges, saying that the detentions are part of the fight against terrorism and that it has the right to defend itself.

"I'm worried about his welfare, his safety, his security," Meshal's father said. "Why doesn't the U.S. government demand his immediate release and bring him home?"

The Meshals vehemently deny their son was a fighter, said he had been a tour guide in Dubai and didn't realize he was in Somalia until U.S. officials showed up at their door in early February.

Relatives have not been able to talk with him, although they have received written messages from him through U.S. Embassy officials in Ethiopia who visited him. He told them that he was being treated well.

Earlier this month, U.S. officials said Meshal would soon be freed.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he has been frustrated by the often-contradictory information he has received about Meshal from U.S. government agencies. In a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Holt asked her to intervene.

Said State Department spokesman Tom Casey: "We certainly had hoped that this case would be resolved earlier. We continue to discuss this issue with the Ethiopian government."

Meanwhile, Meshal's family and a lawyer assisting them have raised questions about whether the U.S. government is doing all it can to free him.

Attorney Jonathan Hafetz said that the idea that the Ethiopian government is acting to keep Meshal without tacit U.S. approval is "ludicrous" and that the U.S. government's failure to bring him home "has caused tremendous hardship to his family and flouted the duty it owes to all American citizens."

"The United States should stop equivocating and end this ordeal now," he said.


Associated Press writer Anne Gearan in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Ethiopian Rebels Kill 70 people at Oil Field

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
The New York Times

NAIROBI, Kenya, April 24 — Separatist rebels stormed a Chinese-run oil field in eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday, killing more than 70 people, including nine Chinese workers, in one of Ethiopia’s worst rebel attacks in years.

Dozens of gunmen crept up to the oil field at dawn and unleashed a barrage of machine-gun fire at Ethiopian soldiers posted outside, Chinese and Ethiopian officials said. After a fierce hourlong battle, the rebels rushed away, taking at least six Chinese hostages with them.


Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi spoke during a news conference in Addis Ababa Tuesday.
Andrew Heavens/Reuters

Ethiopia, a close ally of the United States, has been racked by separatist movements for years. But the severity of this attack seemed to unnerve Ethiopian officials, who usually minimize any threats to their control.

“It was a massacre,” Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said in a televised address on Tuesday night. “It was cold-blooded murder.”

The Ogaden National Liberation Front, a militant group fighting for control of eastern Ethiopia, immediately claimed responsibility, circulating an e-mail message that said, “We will not allow the mineral resources of our people to be exploited by this regime or any firm that it enters into an illegal contract.”

The front said that its primary target was the Ethiopian soldiers guarding the oil field and that the Chinese workers had been killed by explosions during the fighting.

Given China’s drive to extract oil wherever it can be found, Chinese workers are often dispatched to conflict zones, and several have been kidnapped in the volatile Niger Delta region of Nigeria. In other parts of Africa, like Zambia, China’s investments have brought resentment from local politicians and residents.

As for the workers kidnapped on Tuesday, the rebel group’s statement said: “O.N.L.F. forces rounding up Ethiopian military prisoners following the battle came across six Chinese workers. They have been removed from the battlefield for their own safety and are being treated well.” But the group did not say anything about releasing them.

Ethiopian officials, who confirmed that 65 government soldiers had been killed, said they were rushing reinforcements to the area and vowed to crush the rebels. But the country’s military is stretched thin.

Pennies promise poetry. Dollars deliver dreams.

Pennies promise poetry.
Dollars deliver dreams.
A buck can buy a book and books change lives.

Instead of asking "a penny for your thoughts", we're asking you to put your two cents in by donating a dollar to Ethiopia Reads during the month of May help in celebration of our fourth anniversary.

Ethiopia Reads was founded in May 2003 by Yohannes Gebregiorgis after he realized how much even one book changed his life. Our mission is to develop a reading culture in Ethiopia by connecting children with books.

Be a part of our efforts to put books into the hands of every Ethiopian child by participating in our give a buck campaign. That same dollar may not travel far here but just imagine all the stories it can tell in Ethiopia.

Thank you. "Amesegenallo."

For more information: visit www.EthiopiaReads.org.

You can donate to Ethiopia Reads and its’ current and future projects by visiting the EthiopiaReads.org website and donating through Paypal.
The Paypal button is on the left side of the page. Your donation will be secure and is tax-deductible as allowed by law.

If you prefer you can mail your donation to:
Ethiopia Reads
50 South Steele Street, Suite 325
Denver, Colorado 80209

Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact Katie Douglas at katie@ethiopiareads.org or Catie Dupont at catie@ethiopiareads.org.

Ethiopian hostages freed after 52 days

Addis Ababa, April 23, 2007 (Addis Ababa)

Security forces in Afar State said the Ethiopian hostages abducted by kidnappers backed by the Eritrean government were set free and entered to Ethiopia after being held for 52 days.

The security forces told Ethiopian News Agency late on Sunday that the Ethiopians, abducted along with five Europeans on March 1, 2007 in a locality called Hamed-Illa, were released due to the immense pressure exerted by Ethiopians residing here and abroad, particularly the Afari elderly.

The Europeans kidnapped along the Ethiopians were set free on March 12, 2007 due to the pressure the international community put on the Eritrean government.

However, the Ethiopians remained hostages under the control of the Eritrean government for 40 additional days after the release of the Europeans abductees.

The security forces said they would exert efforts to disclose detail information about the current condition of the Ethiopians hostages.

Traveling to Ethiopia? Join the TAKE ONE BOOK Campaign

Take One Book Literacy Campaign for Ethiopia

One book can change a life. That is what Ethiopia Reads founder Yohannes Gebregiorgis discovered at 19 years of age when he held his first book. Now you have the opportunity to change a life through Ethiopia Reads’ “TAKE ONE BOOK” campaign. In recognition of the Millenium celebration in Ethiopia this year we are committed to donating at least 2,000 books to children in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia Reads, founded in 2003, works to improve literacy and create a culture of reading in Ethiopia. We do this by planting libraries and publishing books in local languages as well as offering continuing education programs to help educators in Ethiopia nurture a love of reading.

Since Ethiopia Reads opened Ethiopia’s first free children’s library in 2003, thousands of children have experienced the joy of reading. The library received 60,000 visits to the library in 2006. Ethiopia Reads sees first hand the difference that one library, ONE BOOK, and one story can make in the life of a child.

If you or someone you know is traveling to Ethiopia during 2007, Ethiopia Reads challenges you to TAKE ONE BOOK with you, because we believe that education is hope and books can change lives. Books can be dropped off at the Shola Children’s Library in Addis Ababa. Shola is located in Beklo-Bet, behind the Dashen Bank off of Debre Zeit road.

If you are not traveling this year but want to make a difference in Ethiopia, we are collecting books in Washington, DC to send over with other travellers. Books can be dropped at Zethiopia’s office at 11th and U Street, NW.

For more information on the TAKE ONE BOOK campaign, please contact Catie Dupont at catie@ethiopiareads.org or Katie Douglas at katie@ethiopiareads.org.

WILL YOU TAKE ONE BOOK?

Suggested book list:

1. Any type of non-fiction books are appreciated. The kids wear out the Dorling Kindersley type books with nicely detailed pictures.

2. Suggested fiction titles:

· Baby Baboon
· Crafty Chameleon
· Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, by Verna Aardema
· Bringing the Rain to Kaputi Plain
· Anansi Does the Impossible
· Kaldi and the Dancing Goats, the story of Ethiopian Coffee
· Anansi and the Talking Melon
· Anansi the Spider
· Babu’s Song
· Fatuma’s New Cloth
· My Rows and Piles of Coins
· Once Upon a Time
· What’s Cooking Jamela
· The Day Gogo Went to Vote
· Silly Mammo
· Aida
· Kings and Queens of West Africa
· Sundiata: The Lion King
· Seven Spools of Thread
· Journey to Jo’Burg
· Saba: Under the Hyena’s Foot
· Storytellers’ Beads
· Moonlight Bride
· The Dark Child: The Autobiography of an African Child
· The Other Side of Truth
· Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope
· Weep not Child
· Song of Lawino, Song of Ocol
· Purple Hibiscus
· So Long a Letter
· Nervous Conditions
· No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency
· The Magic Gourd
· Bintou’s Braids
· My Great Grandmother’s Gourd
· Tutankhamen’s Gift
· No Turning Back
· Hatshepsut: His Majesty Herself
· Year of No Rain
· Many Stones
· The Ugly Goddess
· Beduin’s Gazelle
· Mother to Mother
· Midaq Alley
· Dreams of Trespass

Ambo Deforestation Puts Mineral Water Factory at Risk

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa)
NEWS
April 23, 2007
By Endale Assefa

The Ambo Mineral water factory which is entirely dependent on Ambo spring water resources for its production is at risk as a result of uncontrolled use of trees for fuel and overgrazing, a research by a senior academic has shown.

According to the research, Podocalpus falcatus (called in Amharic Zigba); an indigenous tree which used to cover the locality has now been destroyed.

The pictorial illustration of the researcher shows the locality was covered with the stated trees.

"Podocalpus tree is capable of facilitating capillarity of ground water to the layers by providing pores to the ground. That is why shores of ponds are mostly found nearby these indigenous trees," Proffessor Legesse heads Indigenous trees research activities at the Addis Ababa University.

"Losing such trees means aggravating percolation of waters down ward." The professor made the remarks while presenting the results of his research conducted on the lose of the indigenous trees and the impact resulting upon the mineral water fountain.

The symposium, which was held at the Addis Ababa City Hall, was organized by the Save Nature Ethiopia, a local NGO working on environmental conservation.

Even if no study has been conducted to prove it, the amount of mineral water yield will decrease in the future and surely, it has already decreased, the researcher noted.

Moreover, pressure on farmland has forced local farmers to plough very close to the main spring area, aggravating the problem, according to the professor.

Professor Legesse said he had discussed the matter with the General Manager of the factory who he said agreed to take measures in an effort to restore the lost biodiversity, such as planting the indigenous trees.

The researcher also talked of the nearby Guder locality where he said there were signs of desertification as a result of intensive agricultural practice using fertilizers.

He said "that part of the land needs to rest and revive, despite the country's food security problem; because, the long term impacts would be relatively worse." Explaining the need for restoring indigenous trees Vis a Vis the comparative disadvantage of foreign trees, Professor Legesse recommended adaptation in relation to the fertility of the land.

"Indigenous trees are the result of evolutionary lines exceeding millions of years hence are very much adapted to the ecosystem of the country," he noted.

"On the other hand, foreign trees are not, let alone the soil degradation resulting by some of them such as the Eucalyptus which aggravate leaching of the soil," he explained.

He said the lose link among similar institutions in the country was a barrier in the efforts to restore the lost heritages of these indigenous trees.

"Thirteen years have passed since AAU started propagating indigenous trees; yet no institution in the country is prepared to learn how we are doing the propagation in the laboratory" the professor said.

Proffessor Legesse Negash pressed the mostly young members of Save Nature Ethiopia said they have now finalized preparations to plant million trees for the millennium.

"Plant Podocarpus falcatus trees," he informed the youngsters.

"This tree lives for more than thousand years-meaning until the next Ethiopian millennium. This could be your gift to the generation to come, though we inherited you a degrading land and hostile environment." Accacia Abyssinia (Girar), Prunus Africana (Tikur Inchet) and Podocarpus Falcatus (Zigba) are among the precious species of indigenous trees on the verge of extinction according to the professor.

USAID/CJTF-HOA Improvements to Abiot Ermija Primary School

On April 18 U.S. Ambassador Don Yamamoto visited the site of a school renovation project at Abiot Ermija Primary School in Kirkos sub-city, Addis Ababa. A U.S. military Civil Affairs Team from the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) is working with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to renovate administrative buildings, and construct a new library facility, latrines, playground and community hall. The Ambassador told journalists invited to join the visit that the U. S. government supports community centered development work in Addis Ababa and elsewhere in Ethiopia. An example of this, he added, is the joint work being carried out at Abiot Ermija Primary School by CJTF-HOA and USAID.

USAID/Ethiopia Mission Director, Glenn Anders, said USAID will furnish the school with computers, books, teaching aids and other supplies. Similar projects are planned for schools in Dire Dawa and Debre Zeit. Nine Naval engineers (also known as “Seabees” from CJTF-HOA are working at the construction site, which will be finalized in September 2007.

Fighting rages in Somali capital as bodies rot in streets

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Heavy shelling and tank fire rocked Mogadishu Monday, the sixth straight day of raging battles in the capital that have plunged the country deeper into chaos and left more than 200 people dead.

Masked Islamic insurgents clashed with Ethiopian troops backing the fragile Somali government's forces in the southern part of the battle-scarred coastal city, pounding each other with machine-gun fire, mortars, tank shells and heavy artillery.

At least four people were killed in Monday's fighting, said Khadija Farah, who saw a shell hit a residential area north of the city and kill three men and a women. Farah added a six-month-old baby was wounded.

The United Nations said the fighting had sparked the worst humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged country's recent history, with many of the city's residents trapped because roads out of Mogadishu were blocked.

Rotting bodies have been left on the streets for days, witnesses said, as it is too dangerous to try to retrieve them. At least six people were wounded early Monday, said Medina Hospital director Dahir Dhere, but he expected fatalities.

Halime Ibrahim, who fled from south of the city, which saw the worst fighting for more than 15 years, said she had seen 11 bodies. "I even failed to recognize if they were men or women," she told The Associated Press.

"Masked Somali fighters who dug in near my house are in an intensive fight with Ethiopian and Somali troops since early morning," said Hassan Mohamed Ali lives in Tawfiq neighborhood and opted to remain behind to look after his family's house. From time to time, Ali was checking the fighting from his window.

The latest fighting flared after Ethiopian and Somali government troops made a final military push to try to wipe out the insurgency, Western diplomatic and Somali government sources told the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The government and its Ethiopian backers were facing international pressure over the mounting death toll and appeared determined to bring order before a planned national reconciliation conference.

Ethiopian troops opened fire with tank shells and artillery from the presidential palace early Monday at insurgent positions in the south, said resident Osman Ali Yusuf who said one of the shells hit near his house. Yusuf, who monitors the fighting from his rooftop, said he had seen two tanks stationed at the strategic Tawfiq junction that divides the south from the north of Mogadishu where the two sides are facing off.

Ethiopians are in the north. The insurgency they are trying to end and which emerged after the defeat of the Council of Islamic Courts is operating from the south of the city of 2 million people. Clan and warlord militia have also joined the fight against the Ethiopians and government forces.

A bid earlier this month to wipe out the insurgency left more than 1,000 people dead, many of them civilians. More than 320,000 people have fled the fighting.

Elman Human Rights Organization that records casualties in the capital, said six insurgents and 41 civilians died on Sunday alone. They did not have any casualty figures for either Ethiopian or Somali government soldiers.

"The killing of civilians like this is a crime against humanity," said Sudan Ali Ahmed, the chairman of the group. "We urge the international community to send a team to investigate these crimes. They are war crimes."

The new tallies bring the death toll in five days of fighting in Mogadishu to at least 212, with more than 291 wounded, according to the human rights group.

A Somali government official warned on Sunday that his government planned a major offensive against the insurgents soon and wanted residents of the capital to move from insurgent strongholds.

"People in Mogadishu should vacate their homes that are located near the strongholds of terrorists, and we will crack down on insurgents and terrorists very soon," said Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle.

In a separate development that could increase tension in the Horn of

Africa, Eritrea suspended its membership in a regional body that mediated the Somali conflict Saturday.

The region is already tense because of the unresolved border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia that has seen the two countries go to war in the past. In recent months, the Somalia conflict has also been seen as a proxy war between the two, with each backing rival sides.

U.S. officials have named Eritrea as a supporter the months-old insurgency in Mogadishu, something Eritrea has denied.

Somalia has not had an effective national government since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned on one another, throwing the country into anarchy.

The transitional government was formed in 2004 with U.N. help, but has struggled to extend its control over the country.

New Jersey Man Who Fled Somalia Ends Up in an Ethiopian Jail

By RAYMOND BONNER
LONDON, March 22

A 24-year old American who told the F.B.I. that he went to Somalia last December to help build an Islamic state there is now being held in an Ethiopian prison, where he was sent after being detained in Kenya.

The American, Amir Mohamed Meshal, from Tinton Falls, N.J., who had fled to Kenya after fighting broke out in Somalia, was interviewed in Kenya several times by F.B.I. agents, who concluded that he had no terrorist connections, American officials said.

Nevertheless, in February the Kenyan government deported Mr. Meshal to Somalia, which was then essentially controlled by Ethiopian troops, and he was quickly sent to Ethiopia, where he was seen for the first time by an American consular official on Wednesday, the State Department said.

In a report to be released Friday, two human rights organizations, relying on flight logs and interviews, say that Mr. Meshal was one of 63 people whom Kenya deported to Somalia without any judicial proceedings, and that all but four were then sent to Ethiopia.

Those sent to Ethiopia included nine women and five children, and were from more than a dozen countries, including Canada, Sweden, Syria, Saudi Arabia and France, according to the organizations, Reprieve and Cageprisoners, which says it serves the needs of the prisoners held by the United States at Guantánamo Bay.

The American government says it had no role in the deportation of Mr. Meshal from Kenya, and had protested to the Kenyans.

Mr. Meshal was “deported from Kenya without prior notification to the embassy, despite requests that any Americans be deported to the United States,” a State Department spokesman, Tom Casey, said in response to questions.

A Kenyan spokesman, Alfred Mutua, said in a telephone interview from Nairobi that the deportations were legitimate because the detainees had been “engaged in a guerrilla war against a democratically elected government,” referring to Somalia.

At the time Mr. Meshal went to Somalia, Ethiopian troops, with backing from the United States, were massing on the border preparing to invade, and the Islamist administration in Somalia was calling for Muslims to come to fight a jihad.

Human rights groups and Mr. Meshal’s lawyer say they find it hard to accept that the United States was not complicit in his deportations.

“What we have learned so far about the plight of Mr. Meshal raises grave questions about the United States’ involvement in the illegal rendition and possible torture of an American citizen,” said Jonathan Hafetz, a lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, who is representing the family. “It is simply implausible that an American citizen was secretly rendered from Kenya to Somalia without the United States’ knowledge and approval.”

During interrogations by American officials in Kenya, Mr. Meshal, who was born in the United States, said he had gone to Somalia because he wanted to help rebuild that country as an Islamic state, an American official said.

Mr. Meshal fled after the fighting broke out, and reached Kenya in late January, American officials and Reprieve and Cageprisoners said. He was seized and put in a Nairobi jail.

The F.B.I. interrogated him several times.

He was usually taken from his cell and interviewed for few hours, but the last time, he was gone for nearly 10 hours, said Mohammed Ezzoueck, a British citizen who had also fled Somalia and had been picked up in Kenya. He shared a cell with Mr. Meshal. Mr. Ezzoueck said he too had been fingerprinted and photographed by the F.B.I., but not questioned.

In an interview here on Thursday, Mr. Ezzoueck said Mr. Meshal had told him that there were two F.B.I. agents at the interviews, one tough, the other more friendly. Mr. Meshal did not complain of physical abuse, Mr. Ezzoueck said.

Mr. Meshal’s family in New Jersey was notified by the State Department and the F.B.I. that he was being held, and was told that after it sent an airline ticket, he would be released, an American official and Mr. Meshal’s lawyer said.

Then something went awry. Mr. Meshal was shackled and blindfolded and put on a plane and sent to Somalia, according to a flight log obtained by Reprieve.org.uk. Mr. Ezzoueck said he was also on the flight.

Through efforts of the British Government, Mr. Ezzoueck and three other British citizens were released in mid-February. Mr. Meshal was taken to Ethiopia in late February.

The American Embassy in Addis Ababa did not see Mr. Meshal until Wednesday, Mr. Casey said. He did not complain of any mistreatment, Mr. Casey added.


Jeffrey Gettleman contributed reporting from Kenya.

PEPFAR Supports Major Renovation at St. Peter’s Tuberculosis (TB) Specialized Hospital

March 13, 2007

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) – The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO), officially launched today newly renovated sections of St. Peter’s TB Specialized Hospital to better serve Ethiopians. Renovated areas include HIV counseling and testing units, TB/HIV and Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) clinics, an Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs dispensary unit and pharmacy store. The renovation is a collaborative effort between partners funded by Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the major implementers of PEPFAR in Ethiopia.

The Minister of Health Dr. Tedros Adhanom and U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Janet Wilgus delivered remarks at the event, and inaugurated the renovated sections of the hospital.

With funding through CDC, Johns Hopkins University renovated and furnished the client waiting area, TB/HIV and ART clinics of St. Peter’s. Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus, funded by USAID, renovated and furnished the ARV drugs dispensary unit and pharmacy store. The newly renovated facilities will improve the chronic space problem faced by the hospital.

The PEPFAR partners have trained hospital staff in TB/HIV co-management, ART service delivery, and ARV drug supply management system. Standard Operating Procedures and recording and reporting formats have been developed. Computers for data entry and analysis have also been donated through the PEPFAR program. Clinical mentors and supportive supervision have also been an important part of the renovation to improve services.

The hospital has provided HIV counseling and testing service for all TB patients since September 2005, through support provided by PEPFAR. So far, 3,338 newly diagnosed TB patients have been counseled and tested for HIV, out of which over 50% were found to be HIV positive. There are 1,210 patients currently on ARV drugs and the clinic has handled a total of 7,177 clinic visits. There is sufficient stock of ARV drugs for over 1,000 patients for the next six months.

For more information, contact Jason Hefner, PEPFAR Country Coordinator at 011-5174101.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter Speaks to Journalists

Addis Ababa (U.S. Embassy) -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter held a press conference with Minister of Health Tewodros Adhanom on Tuesday, February 13 in Addis Ababa. President Carter had just returned from a visit to Afeta, a community of 7,500 people in the Jimma Zone, where he distributed long-lasting insecticide-impregnated bed nets. The symbolic action was part of a new malaria control initiative in Ethiopia by the Carter Center. Malaria is Ethiopia’s single largest cause of death.

“Malaria preys on Ethiopia’s youth, destroying lives and jeopardizing the country’s future,” said President Carter. “It is our goal to help provide long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets, free of charge, to all members of at-risk communities to help put a stop to the needless deaths caused by this mosquito-transmitted disease.”

To help the Ethiopia Ministry of Health in its goal to protect 50 million Ethiopians at risk for malaria with long-lasting insecticide-treated nets by July 2007, The Carter Center purchased 3 million bed nets to contribute to the total 20 million bed nets that are needed to accomplish this goal. The Carter Center will assist in the distribution of nets and in health education programs to help protect 18 million men, women, and children in more than 100 districts (woredas) and several hundred Kebeles in malaria-prone areas. Distribution of these long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets began in January 2007. The same community-based networks which were established for river blindness and trachoma control programs in Ethiopia funded through The Carter Center are being used for the malaria control initiative.

The Carter Center’s work in Ethiopia has been extremely diverse, involving disease control and eradication programs for river blindness and trachoma, agriculture and food security development programs, conflict mediation, health education and training, elections monitoring, and the promotion of human rights. During his visit, to Ethiopia President Carter also attended a conference of the Ethiopian Public Health Training Initiative in Addis Ababa. This conference was held to illustrate the outstanding effect the program has had in helping Ethiopia meet its growing need for trained health care workers.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Ethiopia has supported the Carter Center with $12 million in funding for the Ethiopian Public Health Training Initiative, which has trained health care professionals such as Health Extension Workers, laboratory technicians, nurses, and environmental sanitation experts. USAID also worked with the Carter Center in their response to the 2006 flood emergency in Ethiopia.

Mark Your Calendar! Children's Festival - April 21, 2007

The excitement is building around the Ethiopian Children's Festival that will be held on Saturday, April 21, 2007 in Washington, D.C.

Mark your Calendar and plan for a day of fun.

Music, games, contests, food, entertainment: it will all be there in one location! It will be exciting!

Look for more information regarding this event on the Zethiopia Blog Site and the Zethiopia Newspaper.

Take One Book: Literacy Campaign for Ethiopia

There has been an overwhelmingly positive response to the literacy campaign that has been launched by EthiopiaReads.org and Zethiopia for the year 2007.

Ethiopia Reads, founded in 2003, has a mission to improve literacy and create a culture of reading in Ethiopia. Ethiopia Reads does this by planting libraries and publishing books in local languages. To reinforce the core program of Ethiopia Reads, they are offering continuing education programs to help educators in Ethiopia nurture a love of reading.

Since Ethiopia Reads opened Ethiopia’s first free children’s library in 2003, thousands of children have experienced the joy of reading, they logged 60,000 visits to the library in 2006. Ethiopia Reads sees first hand the difference that one library, one book, and one story can make in the life of a child.

The commitment of the volunteers and supporters of Ethiopia Reads, and the vision of it's founder, Yohannes Gebregiorgis, has created a new level of excitement about learning, reading, and empowerment through education in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia Reads and Zethiopia are now partnered in challenging the community to stand behind Ethiopia Reads projects and to support their goals and mission.

If you or someone you know is traveling to Ethiopia during 2007, Zethiopia and Ethiopia Reads challenge you to TAKE ONE BOOK with you, because we believe that education is hope and books can change lives. Books can be dropped off at Shola Children’s Library in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Shola Library is located in Beklo-bet, behind the Dashen Bank off of Debre Zeit road.

If you aren't traveling and would like to donate books to Ethiopia Reads in the U.S., there are currently two book drives taking place in the Greater Washington D.C. Metro area.

For more information on the TAKE ONE BOOK campaign, please contact Catie Dupont at ethiopiareads@aol.com. For additional information regarding Ethiopia Reads and how you can help their mission, please visit www.ethiopiareads.org.

(Would you like to donate books, but are unsure what is best? Any books, fiction or non, with African or Ethiopian themes are greatly appreciated. Non-fiction books, such as the DK books, that have specific themes like the Ocean, Dinosaurs, the Human Body, Animals, are favorites of the children who visit the libraries.)

WILL YOU TAKE ONE BOOK?

A special note of thanks to the SEED Public Charter School students who have spear headed the book drive in the D.C. Metro area.

Five Britons kidnapped in Ethiopia's 'land of death'

By Cahal Milmo
3 March 2007

Five Britons including diplomats and embassy staff were among 15 Western tourists being held by kidnappers in a remote corner of Ethiopia dubbed the "land of death" because of its extreme climate.

The Britons, who have links to the British embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, were in one of two convoys intercepted on Wednesday in the barren Afar region close to the border with Eritrea, which is roamed by separatist rebels and bandits.

Whitehall sources said last night that there was a "national security dimension" to the kidnappings and that the government's emergency committee, Cobra, had met over the incident.

The second group, comprising between seven and 12 French citizens, was believed to be being held by the same kidnap gang after both convoys were stopped in the Danakil Depression, a spectacular desert bowl that contains the lowest point in Africa more than 500 metres below sea level.

A television crew working in the area which had been out of touch for more than 24 hours last night returned to safety, leading to incorrect reports that the French group had been released unharmed.

The Foreign Office said it was investigating the disappearance of the Britons but said the details still remained sketchy around the circumstances of how they were taken. Under Ethiopian government rules for tourists, all groups of visitors to Afar, in the north east of the country, have to be accompanied by at least two armed guards.

Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said the British group consisted of embassy staff and their relatives and an emergency team had been sent from London to handle the crisis. She said Britain was working with the Ethiopian authorities who are "doing all they can to ensure that the situation is resolved peacefully". Whitehall sources underlined that situation was uncertain and potentially perilous. Dalol, the village where the kidnappings took place, is on the border with Eritrea, which has a fraught relationship with Ethiopia. The border is frequently the scene of clashes between armed groups and security forces.

One of those kidnapped was named as Rossanna Moore, the Italian-born wife of Michael Moore, the director of the British Council in Addis Ababa, which deals with cultural relations. The others are thought to be middle-ranking officials with the diplomatic service and the Department for International Development.

The British group was on a long-planned trekking trip to the spectacular salt mines in Dalol, which have become an increasing attraction for intrepid travellers in recent years. Several tour organisations have sprung up offering guided visits to the Danakil Depression in off-road vehicles. The region, which is of huge geological and archaeological significance after three-million-year-old fossils of human ancestors' remains were found in, is one of the most hostile environments on the planet.

The average temperature is 34C and the daytime heat can reach 45C. It is often wracked by volcanic eruptions and earth tremors. The renowned 20th century British explorer Wilfred Thesiger described it as a "veritable land of death".

It was unclear whether the tourists had fallen foul of a criminal kidnap group or Afar separatists who have been fighting a low-level campaign against the Ethiopian government for an autonomous state straddling territory in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.

The two groups are thought to have travelled on Sunday by road to Makele, the principal town in Afar, some 500 miles north east of Addis Ababa. They then travelled with their tour agency, Origins Ethiopia, to Hamedali, a remote village that was to act as a base. Each group was travelling in two off-road vehicles, accompanied by a guide, a cook and two armed guards.

According to reports, one of the tourists in the French group managed to escape the kidnappers and flagged down another tourist party and used a satellite phone to alert the authorities.

Stephane Gompertz, the French ambassador in Addis Ababa, said: "A kidnapping or kidnappings did take place. It seems that the incident or incidents happened two days ago. We don't know which group may be involved or why they have done this."

The crisis is a blow to the Ethiopian government's attempts to boost tourism. The Foreign Office said yesterday it was advising against all travel to Afar.

Now Available at Zethiopia - Silly Mammo

Silly Mammo is the retelling of a traditional Ethiopian folk tale written by Yohannes Gebregeorgis and published by African Sun Publishing. The text of the picture book is in Amharic and English.

Silly Mammo is the first bilingual English/Amharic children's book. The illustrations are done by Bogale Belachew, an Ethiopian artist.

Silly Mammo is available for $10.00 + $4.95 Shipping and Handling.

A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.

To place an order, please contact dereje@zethiopia.com.

Now Available at Zethiopia - Water Hole Waiting by Jane and Chris Kurtz

Water Hole Waiting, Hardcover Book, New, by Jane Kurtz and Christopher Kurtz

From the bookflap: "It's a hot day on the savanna. The sun sizzles, bristles, and bakes. A young monkey wants to drink at the water hole. But wait! Blocking the way are irritable hippos, sharp-hoofed zebras, a toothy lion, huge elephants, and a lurking crocodile. Will Monkey ever get to taste cool water? Why is waiting so hard?"

Annotation from the publisher: "Waiting is hard. And if you are a small vervet monkey with a big thirst, it's even harder. But wait you must, because snap! go Crocodile's jaws; slip, slap go Lion's powerful paws; thrum, thrum go the rumbling elephants...Water holes on the African savanna are popular places. Will Monkey and his family ever get to drink? Take this unforgettable (and noisy!) armchair safari and find out! It's the perfect book for animal lovers, and Lee Christiansen's lush and expressive pastel portraits of the animals take you right to the water hole. Also includes an informative authors' note on the facts behind the fiction.

Available through Zethiopia for $16.00 plus $4.95 shipping and handling. A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.

To order your copy now, contact dereje@zethiopia.com.

Now Available from Zethiopia - Only a Pigeon, by Chris and Jane Kurtz.

Only a Pigeon, by Christopher Kurtz and Jane Kurtz - Hardcover

Only a Pigeon was awarded the Parents' Choice Gold Award -- the award is "a distinguished and coveted award" and a "wonderful honor." Parents' Choice is a nonprofit consumer guide to children's toys, books, software, video, and magazines that has been dedicated to helping parents select great products for their children since 1978. In 1997, about 1000 publishers and companies participated in the Parents' Choice awards competition.

A reviewer wrote that the book was, "A low-key, compelling story about an Ethiopian boy who raises homing pigeons. Readers accompany the 12 or 13-year-old Andualem as he tends his brood, protecting them from attack by a mongoose or stray cat. His is a circumscribed life, but we enter it willingly, sharing its perils and triumphs. E.B. Lewis's tender watercolors transport us to Addis Ababa, with its tin-roofed houses; and muddy streets. Both authors grew up in Ethiopia, and the artist traveled there to assure the authentic flavor of his pictures.

Available for $16.00 + $4.95 Shipping and Handling. Order your copy now, this book is no longer in print and we have limited copies.

A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.

Contact dereje@zethiopia.com to place your order!

Now available from Zethiopia - Saba, Under the Hyena's Foot by Jane Kurtz

Saba, Under the Hyena's Foot, by Jane Kurtz - Soft cover book - BRAND NEW

Quoted from the book flap: "When twelve-year-old Saba and her older brother are kidnapped and taken from their rural home to the royal palace at Gondar, Saba finally learns about her long-lost parents--and her own royal past. With Ethiopia's rulers in the midst of a fierce strugle for control of the throne, what can the King of Kings--Emperor Yohannes II--possibly want with her."

Available from Zethiopia $7.00 + $4.95 shipping and handling. A portion of the sale of this book will benefit EthiopiaReads.org.

Contact dereje@zethiopia.com for more information.

Clever Mimi - Children's Book by Alem Bantayehu

Clever Mimi, by Alem Bantayehu, is a light-hearted story based on the Ethiopian folktale, Silly Mammo. This a warm story about Clever Mimi, who convinces her mother that she needs keremela.

The illustrations are bright, eye-catching, and sure to entertain the young reader. This 28 page book is published in English and is for an audience age 4-8, although this 36 year old enjoyed the story.

The author, Alem Bantayehu, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As a young child she lived in Mexico, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Ms. Bantayehu received her higher education in the United States, attending college in Virginia and obtaining an MBA from prestigious Georgetown University. She now resides in the United States with her husband and two small children.

This book is available for purchase on Amazon.com.

680 dead in Ethiopia in suspected cholera outbreak, say aid groups

By LES NEUHAUS - AP
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

More than 680 people in Ethiopia have died in a suspected cholera outbreak that has also affected neighboring countries, officials said Wednesday.

Some 60,000 people have been infected, but the country's Health Ministry is resisting pressure to declare an emergency despite a U.N. warning that the disease is an epidemic.

"The fact that it is spreading to new areas in the country is cause for serious concern," said Paul Hebert, head of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Ethiopia. "The full extent of this needs to be addressed."

The U.N. has not officially declared the outbreak, which began nearly a year ago, to be cholera. But U.N. officials speaking privately because of the sensitivity of the issue are saying it is cholera, something local officials continue to deny.

Eight of Ethiopia's 11 regions have already been affected by the outbreak, according to Ethiopia's Health Ministry and the U.N. The remote eastern region of Afar has recorded more than 1,000 new cases in the last week alone.

The outbreak started in April 2006 after heavy rains in the country. Neighboring Somalia and Kenya have also been hit, and more than 1,000 people have been infected with suspected cholera in Uganda's capital since October. In Kenya, 17 people have died since October.

"Once a disease has been present for an extended period of time, then the likelihood of it being eliminated is quite difficult," Hebert said.

"I don't think we are addressing this issue on the scale that is needed and it needs to be targeted to have an impact."

Ethiopian health officials, who say the disease is not cholera, are describing the outbreak as acute watery diarrhea, but they have not shared any of the test results that they have carried out.

Ethiopian Health Ministry spokesman Ahmed Emano said that contrary to U.N. concerns, the outbreak was being contained by the government.

Cholera is transmitted through contaminated water and is linked to poor hygiene, overcrowding and bad sanitation. Symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting and it is deadly if untreated. "It can kill someone in as little as five hours," said Kebba O. Jaiteh, emergency officer with the U.N.'s World Health Organization in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia's economy could suffer if the country declares a cholera emergency.

"The Ethiopian Health Ministry did not share the results of the lab tests since last April," Jaiteh said. "It can mean some serious economic losses, especially in terms of international trade and tourism.

"Many African countries don't declare a cholera emergency even when they know for a fact that it is in their country for these very economic reasons."

The U.N. in Ethiopia has said the disease is suspected of having entered Ethiopia from Sudan last year, where the disease was confirmed in early 2006.

U.N. officials in Ethiopia are unable to act on their own about the issue and are obligated to follow the lead of the country's Ministry of Health.

Only after a disease has been recorded as active in an area for one year can the WHO declare an emergency and label the disease as endemic to the country.

Fears are mounting that with the onset of next month's rainy season the outbreak could worsen.

"The rainy season is coming soon so it might get worse if we do not do something soon," said Dr. Patrick Mweki, head of the International Medical Corps in Somalia.

Government health officials say the situation in Uganda is now under control. "Now that the rains have disappeared, the cholera has really subsided, said Dr. Sam Okware, the commissioner for public health services at Uganda's Health Ministry.