Ethiopia

African Union-sponsored talks to end the slaughter of tens of thousands of people in Sudan’s western Darfur region have collapsed with two rebel groups saying the government still isn’t implementing existing peace agreements. African mediators worked to try and save the negotiations, which got under way on Thursday.

The African Union pressed Sudan on Wednesday to ”neutralise” the Janjaweed militiamen and others involved in massive human rights violations in the Darfur region, but said it does not consider the attrocities to be genocide. Thousands have been killed by Arab militiamen in Darfur, an Iraq-sized region in western Sudan.

In a bid to strengthen food security, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) on Monday said it has identified two crops that will be part of a multi-pronged initiative to feed the hungry. The two crops, seen as ”African agriculture successes”, are cassava and Nerica (New rice varieties for Africa).

Two years after it replaced the much-maligned and ineffective Organisation of African Unity, the African Union seems much more determined to tackle the continent’s crises, but has one major problem: money. During the AU’s third ordinary summit, a strategic plan for the coming three years will be unveiled.

Ethiopia is to issue its first-ever private radio broadcasting licences in the next two months, Bereket Simon, the information minister, said on Monday. The licences, he added, will be issued ahead of the 2005 elections that analysts say will be a litmus test of the government’s commitment to democracy.

The Ethiopian government and United States drug giant Pfizer on Friday signed a partnership agreement to provide free medicines to people living with Aids in the Horn of Africa country, the Health Ministry said. Under the deal, Pfizer will provide 50 000 Diflucan tablets to treat infections common among Aids patients.

A continental Parliament for the African Union (AU) was inaugurated at a ceremony in Addis Ababa on Thursday with the swearing-in of 180 members representing the 36 countries that have signed the protocol establishing the assembly.

The African Union on Friday condemned the deadly Madrid train bombings that left 198 people dead, and called for an intensified global fight against terrorism. ”I condemn the terrorist act that took place in Madrid in which so many innocent people lost their lives and hundreds injured,” said AU Commission chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare.

Landmines threaten the lives of two million people in Ethiopia, according to the findings of an international two-year survey to be released on Thursday. The <i>Ethiopian Landmine Impact Survey</i> also reveals that over the past two years 16 000 people have been involved in landmine blast incidents, of whom 1 295 were killed or injured.

A team of researchers has reported the discovery of animal fossils more than four million years old in the Galila area of southeastern Ethiopia. The team discovered more than 400 faunal remains, including three ancient hominids, during excavation undertaken in 2003 and early this year.

The new leadership of the beleaguered Ethiopia Free Press Journalists’ Association on Wednesday vowed to boost freedom of expression and to fight repression and harassment. Its vice-president, Getachew Simie, also insisted that the newly elected leadership was free from government interference.

A first-ever summit of African defence ministers cleared the way in Addis Ababa on Wednesday for an African peacekeeping force to prevent conflicts and help deliver aid to war-ravaged countries. African leaders will give final approval for the force at an African Union summit in Libya next month.

Ethiopia’s fledgling film industry is turning its attention to fighting the HIV/Aids virus. Documentary filmmaker Kidane Yilak tells why he felt compelled to make Hidden Tears, the country’s first film addressing the stigma and discrimination prompted by the virus, and the threat posed by HIV/Aids.

Three major pan-African institutions will come into force in early 2004, the African Union announced on Tuesday. They include a much-heralded Peace and Security Council, modelled on the United Nations Security Council, as well as a pan-African Parliament and an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Fighting in far western Ethiopia has left at least 21 people dead in several days of violence, an Ethiopian official said on Monday. Troops moved into Gambella, 400km west of Addis Ababa, over the weekend after seven men were killed, including three government officials and one police officer.

Chinese and African leaders vowed at a summit on Monday to build stronger political and economic ties to counter United States and European dominance in world affairs and improve the standing of poor countries. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao promised preferential, zero-tariff trade deals with 34 African countries.
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Bunmi Makinwa is the newly appointed head of UNAids in Ethiopia. Ahead of World Aids Day on December 1, he spoke about funding, the role of the Ethiopian government, the use of resources and the total mobilisation that are needed to win the fight against the virus that has infected 2,2-million in Ethiopia.

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has been urged to help break the deadlock in the stalled Ethiopia-Eritrea peace process, diplomats said on Monday. The Libyan leader could help overcome the current impasse between the two countries, according to diplomatic sources close to the peace process.

Zimbabwe has signed five African Union treaties, including pacts on human and women’s rights, corruption and the environment, the AU said on Thursday. The country’s permanent representative to the AU, Andrew Mtetwa, pledged his country’s ”appreciation to the AU for continued support”.

The Ethiopian government has suspended the country’s independent journalists’ association in a row over its out-of-date operating licence, officials said on Wednesday. The suspension came amid increasing tensions between the government and the EFJA over a controversial new draft press law.

At least 350 traditional circumcisers in northern Ethiopia’s Gonder region have agreed to abandon the harmful practice as well as other forms of genital mutilation. Preparations are being made to provide loans to those who abandon the trade to help them make a living in a different way.

Ethiopian officials have blamed the rebel Oromo Liberation Front for a bomb that ripped through a train car, killing two people and injured nine others. A government spokesperson said the terror attack had all the hallmarks of the rebel group fighting for greater autonomy for the Oromo people.

Education is a key weapon in preventing girls from falling victim to child trafficking, Bjorn Ljungqvist, the head of the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (Unicef) in Ethiopia, said on Thursday.