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  • US admits helping Mengistu escape

    US admits helping Mengistu escape | 22 December, 1999

    The United States embassy in Zimbabwe has confirmed the US was involved in finding a safe haven for the former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam.

    The embassy said in a statement that then Assistant Secretary of State Hank Cohen had been involved in negotiations which resulted in Mengistu coming to Harare in 1991.

    While the US recognises that Mengistu's military regime - the Dergue - was involved in crimes and atrocities, it argues that the leader's departure from Addis Ababa was necessary to end the civil war and bring peace to Ethiopia

    Up to 500 000 people were killed during Mengistu's so-called red terror, according to Amnesty International.

    Notoriously, soldiers of the Dergue would not release a victim's body for burial until the victim's family had paid back the cost of the bullet used in the killing.

    Thousands of members of the Dergue regime are currently in prison awaiting trial in Ethiopia.

    Deflecting criticism

    Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe first mentioned US involvement in Mengistu's escape to try to deflect criticism that Zimbabwe was harbouring a dictator who deserved to be judged for his crimes

    Mengistu is accommodated in a luxury mansion in Harare and some Zimbabweans are outraged that their taxes are being spent in this way.

    Mr Mugabe said with some pride that the Americans had offered financial assistance, but that this had not been necessary.

    The current Ethiopian Government is keen to have Mengistu arrested, and requested his extradition when he visited South Africa recently for medical treatment.

    South Africa said eventually that it would consider extradition, but Mengistu returned to Zimbabwe before procedures could begin.

    Mengistu said he had helped Southern African freedom fighters, and that this was one reason why he did not think South Africa's ANC government would send him back to Ethiopia.

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  • Ethiopia: Meskel Square Traffic video goes viral

    Ethiopia: Meskel Square Traffic video goes viral An old YouTube Video of traffic at Meskel Square, Ethiopia's biggest public square, is going viral with several bloggers discussing how well Ethiopian drivers are navigating the chaotic traffic with out a single traffic light. Some even go as far as suggesting perhaps others should ditch the traffic light altogether for free for all traffic.

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  • Telecom Deal by China's ZTE, Huawei in Ethiopia Faces Criticism - Wall Street Journal

     For Ethiopians, a Chinese Telecom Project Changes Lives but Draws Scrutiny  : By MATTHEW DALTON

    LAKE WENCHI, Ethiopia—In the green highlands here southwest of Addis Ababa, farmers like Darara Baysa are proud owners of cellphones that run on a network built by China's ZTE Corp.

    The trouble is, they have to walk several miles to get a good signal. "The network doesn't work well," says Mr. Baysa, a former army sergeant, stopping on the unpaved road near his home to show his hot-pink smartphone.

    Among other troubles: Ethiopian government officials have in recent years complained to ZTE that the company's contract for building the network requires Ethiopia to pay too much, say people familiar with the discussions.

    The Ethiopian network's glitches underline the broader troubles that sometimes face poorer nations as they borrow heavily to invest in telecommunications, roads, utilities and other infrastructure to help lift them out of poverty.

    China's financial firepower helps its firms win many of these contracts. But in agreeing to such deals, some governments appear to have flouted rules meant to foster sound public investment. When countries sidestep such rules, say experts at institutions such as the World Bank, big projects often cost more and are more likely to be poorly executed.

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  • ውቢት ኢትዮጵያ!

     

    የኢትዮጵያ ቱሪዝም ኮሚሽን “የ13 ወር ፀጋ” በሚል ርዕስ ከሚያሳትማቸው ፖስተሮች የዝነኛዋ “ውቢት ኢትዮጵያ” አስደናቂ ተፈጥሮአዊ ውበትና ግርማ ሞገስ የታየበት ፖስተርዋ ሁሌ ከማይረሱን መሃል አንዳቸው ነው።

    የ4 ልጆች እናት የነበረችው ውቢት አመንሲሳ በወለጋ ክፍለ ሀገር ተወልዳ አድጋ ወደ አዲስ አበባ ተጉዛ እቴጌ መነን ትምህርት ቤት ተምራ ቦኋላ ለኢትዮጵያ ቱሪዝም ኮሚሽን ተቀጥራ ለመስራት አበቃች። ከልጆችዋና ለኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ ተቀጥረው ይሰሩ ከነበረው ባለቤቷ ጋር አዲስ አበባ ትኖር ነበር። ከዚህ ቀደም የውቢት አመንሲሳ እውነተኛ ስሟ አልማዝ አመንሲሳ ነው ብለን ተናግረን ነበር፡ የተሳሳተ መረጃ በመልቀቃችን ይቅርታችሁን እንጠይቃለን። በቅርቡ እንደተረዳነው ግን አልማዝ አመንሲሳ በወቅቱ ለኢትዮጵያ ቴሌቪዥን ተቀጥረው ይሰሩ የነበሩና ዛሬ ነዋሪነታቸው አሜሪካ የሆነው የውቢት ኢትዮጵያ እህት ናቸው። ከአልማዝ ጋር አብረው ይሰሩ የነበሩት የስራ ባልደረባቸው ልንረዳው እንደቻልነው ምስሉ ላይ ያለችው የአልማዝ እህት ውቢት አመንሲሳ ከቱሪዝም ስራዋ ውጭ ሞዴል ወይ የፊልም ተዋናይት አልነበረችም። 1970ዎቹ የብሄራዊ ቱሪዝም ኮሚሽን ለገቢ ማሰባሰብያ የሚሆኑ ድንቅ ድንቅ ፎቶዎችን አንስቶ ለመልቀቅ የፈለገበት ወቅት ነበር። ውቢት በቱሪዝም ኮሚሽን ፎቶ የመነሳት እድል አጋጥሟት ነው ለ <<ውቢት ኢትዮጵያ>>ነቷ ልታበቃ የቻለችው። ኩባዊ ኢትዮጵያዊው የታሪክ ምሁር ኤድዋርዶ ባይሮኖ እንዳስረዳን ውቢት አመንሲሳ ለፎቶዉ 5 ሳንቲም ሳትቀበል ፎቶዉ ያስገኘና እስከ ዛሬ እያመነጨ ያለው ገቢ ሙሉ ለሙሉ ለኮሚሽኑ እንዲረከብና የሃገራችን ቱሪዝምን እንዲያገለግል ፍላጎቷ ነበር።

    በ2000 ዓም ለህክምና ወደ አሜሪካ አምርታ ህዳር ወር 2001 ዓም ውቢት ኢትዮጵያ በሞት ተለየችን።

    መልከ መልካሟ ውቢት ኢትዮጵያ ሀገርዋን ላገለገለችበትና ስማችን ላስጠራችበት ምስጋናችን ይገባታል።

    ነፍስሽን በገነት ያኑረው <3 

    This is the famous image of "Woubit Ethiopia" as she was dubbed. This image was taken sometime in the late seventies by Ethiopia's tourist commission board. Not much is known about the woman subject of the photo.

    Her name is Woubit Amensisa. Hailing from Ethiopia's Wollega region, she later moved to Addis Ababa and was a student at Etege Menen School, before finishing her studies and getting a job with Ethiopia's tourism commission. She lived in Addis Ababa with her husband, who worked at Ethiopian Airlines, and her four children. A while ago we released this picture saying that her real name was Almaz Amensisa. We'd like to apologize for the error. The truth is, the beautiful woman in the picture is really named Woubit Amensisa, while Almaz Amensisa is her sister who worked for Ethiopian Television and now resides in the USA. Unlike what is widely believed, outside of her job at the national tourism commission, Woubit was neither a model nor an actress. Her colleagues at the national tourism office managed to convince her to take up a photo shoot opportunity at a time when the national tourism commission was collecting images to serve for promotional purposes. But her image became an international sensation. According to Cuban Ethiopian historian Eduardo Byrono, Woubit never asked for compensation for the photo and only wished that the income serve Ethiopia's tourism industry.

    In 2007, Woubit came to the USA to get treatment for an undisclosed illness. Sadly, in November of 2008, Woubit Ethiopia's health had declined and she passed away in the USA.

    Although every Ethiopian is familiar with the class, elegance and natural beauty she exhibits in this image, she didn't get the recognition she deserved in her lifetime.

    <3 Woubit Amensisa aka Woubit Ethiopia <3 , rest in eternal peace!

    To enlighten your fellow Ethiopian or anyone for that matter, like and share this pic!

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