Addis Ababa

Ethiopian security forces have foiled an attempt by Eritrean-sponsored insurgents to assassinate officials and destroy public institutions, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency reported on Wednesday. The two Horn of Africa nations have been at loggerheads since a 1998 to 2000 border war that killed 70 000 people.

A volcano has erupted in Ethiopia’s remote Afar region, leaving two people missing and forcing hundreds to leave the area, the state news agency said on Wednesday. People living on the mountain range fled their homes after hot lava began flowing in different directions along valleys at the weekend, Ethiopia News Agency said.

The African Union on Friday voiced its concern over the deepening crisis in Burundi, where the peace process is floundering and tribal tensions are resurfacing. ”We express deep concern over the stalling of the implementation of the agreement signed by the Burundi government and the National Liberation Forces,” the AU said.

Ethiopia said on Wednesday it had killed more than 500 rebels and captured 170 in the past two months during an offensive in the volatile but energy-rich Ogaden region bordering Somalia. The Ogaden National Liberation Front dismissed the statement as an attempt by the government to lull oil companies interested in the region into a ”false sense of security”.

Ethiopia’s Defence Ministry on Tuesday said government troops had killed 200 rebels and captured hundreds in the restive predominantly Somali southern region of Ogaden over the past month. "Over 200 anti-peace elements have been killed by the military," the ministry said in a statement, adding that militants had "been destroyed" in a successful operation.

One civilian was killed and eight wounded in two bomb blasts in Ethiopia’s remote Ogaden region, officials said on Monday, as Ogaden rebels and the government blamed each other for the explosions. ”Two suspects have been arrested,” said a spokesperson for Ethiopia’s Information Ministry, who declined to be named.

Five African nations pledged on Thursday to send peacekeepers to a mission in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region that was approved this week by the United Nations Security Council, a top African Union official said. Said Djinnit, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, said member states had responded positively during talks.

The African Union, whose contingent of peacekeepers has struggled to restore stability in Darfur over the past three years, voiced relief on Wednesday at the decision by the United Nations to send troops to the war-torn western Sudanese region. The resolution authorises the deployment of a robust 26 000-strong contingent.

Ethiopia has never forgotten its boy prince, captured by the British army and taken to England where he died more than a century ago, a lonely, royal orphan and curiosity who still lies entombed in Windsor Castle. Officials in Addis Ababa have stepped up a push to have the remains of Prince Alemayehu repatriated.

Ethiopian authorities have ordered the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to pull out of the volatile Ogaden region for allegedly interfering in political issues, officials said on Wednesday. ”We have asked the ICRC to leave the region within seven days because they have been meddling in the region’s affairs,” said Jema Ahmed Jema, the vice-president of the region.

Ethiopia on Tuesday gave the Red Cross a week to leave the Ogaden region in the country’s volatile east, saying the aid group had been talking to rebels who operate there. The Red Cross workers ”are interfering with the political situation”, said Jama Ahmed, a vice-president of the Somali region.

Ethiopia on Friday freed 38 opposition members sentenced to jail this week for treason, inciting violence and trying to overthrow the government, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said. Rights groups and donor governments had complained the trial was politically motivated.

The Ethiopian government is looking into pardon requests filed by dozens of opposition members whose heavy jail terms drew a barrage of international criticism, a senior official said on Tuesday. ”The government received the request for pardon by the detainees almost three weeks ago,” Bereket Simon said.

Floods caused by abnormally heavy rains have affected nearly 7 000 people in southern Ethiopia, disaster officials said on Wednesday. "Almost 7 000 people are already affected by the floods caused by heavy rains in the south of the country for more than a week, especially in the Omo region," said Sisay Tadesse, spokesperson for the Ethiopian Agency for Disaster Prevention.

Ethiopian scientists said on Tuesday they have discovered hominid fossil fragments dating from between 3,5-million and 3,8-million years ago in what could fill a crucial gap in the understanding of human evolution. Archaeologist Yohannes Haile Selassie said the find included several complete jaws and one partial skeleton.

Rescuers used motor boats on Tuesday to try to reach at least 4 000 pastoralists marooned by floods in Ethiopia’s remote south-east. A senior official in South Omo region said 1 800 people had been moved to safety so far since hundreds of families were surrounded when the Wotio River burst its banks last week.

Ethiopian prosecutors demanded the death penalty on Monday for 38 opposition officials convicted of trying to overthrow the government, treason and inciting violence. ”Since they have been found guilty on all counts, they should be punished with the highest penalty,” prosecutor Abraham Tetemke told the court.

Ethiopian prosecutors on Tuesday appealed for a death sentence for former Marxist ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam, saying the life sentence he was given for genocide was not equal to his crimes. An Ethiopian court in January sentenced Mengistu to life in prison for killings thousands of people during his bloody 17-year rule.