The rally, which is also expected to draw thousands of protesters from across the Mid Atlantic and Mid West states, is set to start at 10am, at Lafayette Park, in front of the White House. A similar protest will be held the same day in the West Coast, in San Francisco, CA.
These rallies are part of a world wide campaign, including Europe, the Middle East and Africa, to protest an unjust, illegal and reckless sanctions measure rammed by the Obama administration recently through the UN Security Council against Eritrea based on fabricated charges manufactured by this young nation's traditional enemies, especially Ethiopia, with regards to Somalia.
This misguided measure is a reflection of Washington's disastrous policy for the Horn of Africa which has been crying for change for nearly two decades.
Eritrea, which was among the first nations to join the Coalition of the Willing in 2003, has made indelible contributions in the fight against terrorism in the Horn of Africa and surrounding regions. US and Eritrean national interests have a lot in common because both want to see this region free of terror and terrorists. However, the sanctions against Eritrea come after a 10 year hostile policy towards the new nation by successive US administrations in order to appease the murderous minority regime ruling Ethiopia today.
This must be changed and the unjust and reckless sanctions must be immediately repealed and annulled. Stop scapegoating Eritrea for the disastrous policy the successive administrations have been pursuing. Eritrea is being punished for not supporting the US-backed Ethiopian invasion and occupation of Somalia that has resulted in the largest humanitarian disaster in the history of Somalia. Eritrea believes that the Somali issue can only be resolved by the Somalis themselves without external interference.
US policy of appeasement towards Ethiopia has emboldened the minority regime led by Meles Zenawi to flout international law, the UN and African Union Charters and commit international crimes. Despite the Eritrea Ethiopia Boundary Commission's (EEBC) final and binding ruling on the Eritrea Ethiopia border issue, Zenawi's minority regime continues to occupy sovereign Eritrean territories including Badme, the casus bellie for the 1998-2000 war.
Come and join us on Monday, Feb. 22 at 10am, in front of the White House to protest against this injustice.
WHO: The Eritrean American Communities in the Washington metro area and Mid Atlantic States.
WHAT: Mass demonstration to protest Sanctions against Eritrea.
WHERE & WHEN: Begins at 10:00am on Monday 22 February 2010 at the White House (Lafayette Park)
E-SMART - Eritrea Sanctions Must be Repealed and Annulled (Global Movement with organizations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East)
See http://www.eritrean-smart.org/ for more background information on the 22 February 2010 event and more.
Contact: Sophia Tesfamariam
Cell phone: 703-964-6190
Email 1: esmart@eritrea-smart.org
Email 2: sophia_tesfamariam@hotmail.com
www.eastafricaforum.net
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61L2ES20100222?rpc=401&type=politicsNews?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&rpc=401
Reuters,
February 22, 2010
U.S. condemns Eritrea for "destabilizing" role
Jeremy Clarke
ASMARA - The United States accused Eritrea on Monday of working to destabilize the Horn of Africa region and urged President Isaias Afwerki to bring a halt to what it called a threat to international peace.
The statement released to Reuters by the U.S. Embassy in the Eritrean capital came on the same day that Eritreans abroad protested against United Nations sanctions imposed on their country and that they say were organized by the United States.
The U.N. Security Council, which last December imposed the sanctions, accuses Asmara of providing funds and weapons to Islamist insurgents in Somalia where 21,000 people have been killed in violence since the beginning of 2007.
Aimed at the country's leaders, the sanctions include an arms embargo, a freeze on assets and travel bans on individuals and firms to be designated by a sanctions committee.
"The United States calls on President Isaias to immediately end Eritrea's destabilizing activities in the Horn of Africa," the U.S. Embassy said in its statement.
"Eritrea's actions in Somalia and Djibouti threaten international peace and security and contribute to a dire humanitarian crisis."
Relations between Eritrea and neighboring Djibouti remain hostile. In June 2008 a dozen Djiboutian soldiers were killed in a clash, and last October Djibouti accused Eritrea of training militias to carry out sabotage in its territory.
Eritrean officials deny all accusations relating to Somalia and Djibouti and have called on the U.N. to produce evidence and offer an independent platform on which to respond. They say that without this the sanctions are illegitimate and illegal. Asmara also accuses the international community of a double standard, pointing out that Somalia is rife with U.S. munitions that arrive by the planeload.
"U.N. Sanction 1907 is an African-led initiative and the United States commends the African Union and Intergovernmental Authority on Development," the U.S. embassy said. "The United States supports the adoption of this important resolution."
DEMONSTRATIONS
Pro-Eritrean supporters gathered in some Western capitals to protest the U.N. resolution, which they say is the latest insult in a long history of western persecution.
Eritrea's state-run media is running a sustained campaign charging the United States with masterminding the U.N. sanctions imposed on it and says Washington wants to control the whole Horn of Africa region.
(Editing by Michael Roddy)
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http://eritrea.usembassy.gov/cons_serv_suspended.html
US Embassy, Eritrea
February 19, 2010
Warden Message
The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to Eritrea, recommends that U.S. citizens defer travel at this time, and informs U.S. citizens that the consular section of the U.S. Embassy in Asmara is currently closed for all public non-emergency services. The Consular Section will continue to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens.
Periodically since September 13, 2008, the Government of Eritrea has repeatedly, and in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, interfered with the unfettered delivery of the U.S. Embassy's diplomatic pouches.
As a result, the Embassy is unable to receive critical supplies and materials necessary for the conduct of normal operations. Until this matter is resolved, the consular section of the U.S. Embassy has no choice but to suspend all non-emergency services. This closure affects all routine services to American citizens, such as Consular Reports of Birth Abroad, passport services, and notarial services.
The Embassy hopes to resume consular services once the Government of Eritrea resumes uninterrupted delivery of diplomatic pouches. Until then, American citizens who need routine consular services should consider traveling to the U.S. Embassies in Cairo, Egypt or Nairobi, Kenya, or the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, U.A.E.
Americans currently living or traveling in Eritrea are strongly encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy in Asmara through the State Department's travel registration web site, https://travelregistration.state.gov, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Eritrea. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy to contact them in case of an emergency and provide updates on the security situations. The U.S. Embassy is located at 179 Alaa Street, P.O. Box 211, Asmara; telephone (291-1) 12-00-04; fax (291-1) 124-255 and (291-1) 127-584; web site http://asmara.usembassy.gov/.
For additional information, consult the Department of State's Country Specific Information sheet for Eritrea and the Worldwide Caution at http://travel.state.gov. American citizens may also obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States and Canada, or 1-202-501-4444 from overseas.
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http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article34205
Sudan Tribune
March 22, 2010
Ethiopia: plotters sentenced on terrorism charges
Tesfa-Alem Tekle
(ADDIS ABABA) - Court in Ethiopia tried two men under country’s new anti-terrorism law on accusation of a plot to carry out terrorist attacks against government officials.
The Federal court of Ethiopia passed 18 and 21 years prison terms to the defendants who admit their guilt. The plotters were accused of preparing to assassinate top government officials, destroy public facilities and major infrastructures of the Country.
Earlier in January, Ethiopian security forces said that they have foiled Eritrea backed terrorist attack and arrested a number of people belonging to a terrorist group.
The alleged terrorists were caught with various weapons in their hands while they were trying to cross to Ethiopia from Eritrea via Sudan. The Ethiopian federal police said that the plotters have admitted being trained and receiving weapons from Eritrea.
The foiled attack was also meant to disrupt Ethiopia’s upcoming national election scheduled to be held in May 2010.
Ethiopia has repeatedly accused arch-foe Eritrea of orchestrating such attacks, something Asmara denies.
www.eastafricaforum.net
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=112036
Daily Star, Lebanon
February 23, 2010
Full report on plane crash due this week
BEIRUT: State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza is expected during this week to receive a detailed account about the January crash of the Ethiopian Airline plane, a security source told The Daily Star on Monday.
The source added that the report to be delivered to Mirza will include details on the plane’s 90 passengers.
Meanwhile, Lebanese commando divers pursued efforts at retrieving the bodies of the passengers who were aboard the ill-fated Ethiopian airplane. The list of the 90 travelers who are presumed to be dead has shrunk to only three believed to be still missing.
Remains presumed to belong to a number of passengers were recovered Saturday and Sunday after which they were handed over to theRafik Hariri Universal Hospital for required tests. Medical teams are still unable to figure out whether some remains that they have belong to one of the three still missing or to all three.
As-Safir newspaper said Monday that conducting DNA tests and taking samples of the retrieved remains was getting more difficult with the passage of time. The staff at the Rafik Hariri Universal Hospital and the team of forensic experts have been using additional techniques to identify the remains they are receiving due to the level of decomposition they underwent.
Separately, memorial services were held Monday for a number of the air crash’s victims in the villages of Zibkeen and Abbasiyya in south Lebanon.
The Ethiopian airplane ET 409 crashed off Lebanese territorial waters a few minutes after taking off from Rafik Hariri International Airport on January 25. All travelers aboard the plane are presumed dead.
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http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/talktojazeera/2010/02/201021921059338201.html
Al Jazeera
February 22, 2010
Video of 23-minute interview with Isaias Afewerki: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/talktojazeera/2010/02/201021921059338201.html
President Isaias Afewerki
Twenty years after the liberation from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Africa's youngest nation, has emerged as strategically vital to the stability of the region and the wider global agenda.
Eritrea is struggling to balance the needs of its people with the perceived threats to the nation.
Al Jazeera's Jane Dutton conducts a rare interview with Isaisas Afewerki, the president of Eritrea.
Al Jazeera confronted him with the allegations about Eritrea's ties with Iran, Hamas, al Shabab in Somalia and rebel groups in Sudan and Houthis in Yemen.
"This is a deliberate distortion of facts, where is the evidence, these are fabrications, where is your evidence?", he said.
"How possibly could one blame Eritrea for sympathising or supporting one group over another in Somalia we have never done that." he said.
When asked about Eritrea's relation with Ethiopia today and the border dispute he said: "This border issue war was a senseless conflict instigated by the US.
"It is a cover up for the failures of the misguided policies of the United States in the horn of Africa for the last 20 years.
"It is not a problem with Ethiopia we have worked with these people for almost two decades to remove a government in Ethiopia, and we want to see a relationship between Eritrea and Ethiopia based on mutual respect and common interest," he said.
"There is no presence for Iran in this region, Eritrea is not for sale, not for Iran, Israel, the United States or anybody," he said.
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http://goal.com/en/news/89/africa/2010/02/22/1802323/somalia-rebel-group-kill-two-fans-on-champions-league-night
Goal.com, US
February 22, 2010
Somalia Rebel Group Kill Two Fans On Champions League Night
James Momanyi
The militant group attacked football fans watching the UEFA Champions League match between Milan and Manchester United last Tuesday.
According to a report posted on Shaaficiyah.com, the Al Shabab insurgents who have waged war against the transitional government of Somalia in the last four years attacked a cinema in Madina district in Mogadhishu during last week's game between Milan and Manchester United. The Champions League game was being screened when the cinema was attacked and two people were killed instantly, with others being injured.
The cinema screening was kept under cover and not widely publicised as cinema owners and soccer fans feared attack from the militant group that has imposed its own form of Islamic Sharia law which, among other things prohibits people from partaking in things deemed to have Western influence.
The cinema owner Abdirashid Gedi Dhisow said they came under attack from the group and two people were killed and three injured.
Because of the attack and the looming fear of similar attacks in the future, Abdirashid vowed never to operate a cinema broadcasting livesport games because he had previously survived four similar attacks whilst operating his cinema business in different places in Somalia.
According to the report, one of the spectators in the cinema, who sought anonymity, said that was the only place they would watch live soccer games in the Somalian capital and it will be sad to see the owner shut the cinema indefinitely for the fear of his life and that of his customers.
Somali transitional government has been overwhelmed by this militant group that has spread its wing to other neighboring countries and, because of the lawlessness that abounds in the country, many people including senior government officials have been killed in the recent past.
The war has not only destroyed infrastructure in the country, it has also affected social activities like sports, grounding them to a halt in the last two decades since the last recognised government was overthrown in 1991.
In the 1980s, when Somali football was at its most popular, Stadium Mogadishu could hold more than 70,000 people. But the football league, which was formerly known as Serie A - Somalia was once an Italian colony - was last active in early 2006.
But Somalia Football Federation, with the assistance of FIFA, has not lost hope. It established a training base in neighbouring Djiboutitwo months before the 2008 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, which was held in February 2009 and the country did very well by beating Tanzania 1-0 in the opening match.
The 2009 championships, which were held in November/December in Kenya, the team also participated after holding their training in Kenya. The team was in group B with Rwanda, Eritrea and Zimbabwe. They finished last in the group after scoring one goal and conceding five.
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