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/ 27 November 2007
Ethiopia has boosted its defence budget by more than -million to gird for a possible resumption of hostilities with Eritrea over their disputed border, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told Parliament on Tuesday. ”Our military budget has been raised proportionally from three billion to 3,5-billion birr [a rise of 16,7%, equivalent to ,3-million],” Meles said.
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/ 4 November 2007
Ethiopia’s Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) rebels said on Sunday they had killed another 270 government troops in heightened fighting in the remote eastern region of the Horn of Africa nation. Most were blown up in packed trucks, the rebels said.
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/ 23 October 2007
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Tuesday dismissed claims that rebels from the restive Ogaden region had defeated the military and caused one of his top aides to flee. Addressing Parliament in Addis Ababa, Meles played down rebel claims that the army had been humiliated by the Ogaden National Liberation Front.
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/ 21 October 2007
Ethiopia’s Ogaden National Liberation Front rebels said they killed 140 government soldiers in a weekend assault targeting a senior official, a statement Ethiopia immediately denounced as false. Both sides routinely claim to inflict large numbers of casualties on the other, but the reports are difficult to independently verify.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on her first visit to sub-Saharan Africa, called on Thursday for more democratic opening in Ethiopia, a key ally of the West now under scrutiny over rights issues. On the first leg of a five-day tour, the German leader urged Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to provide greater space in Ethiopia for both political opposition and the media.
Ethiopia on Thursday pledged 5 000 troops to a United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region. The 26 000-strong joint mission is to replace a hard-pressed AU force that lacks experience, equipment and cash and has been unable to stop the conflict.
Chancellor Angela Merkel travels to Africa on Wednesday with the message that Germany is keen to step up cooperation with the continent to help combat poverty and disease. The chancellor’s trip to Ethiopia, South Africa and Liberia from October 3 to 7 will focus on economic development, social issues and business ties.
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/ 13 September 2007
Ethiopian rebels on Thursday urged the world to bring an end to an army crackdown in the restive Ogaden region, warning that another ”African genocide” was unfolding. The Ogaden National Liberation Front said thousands of displaced civilians had fled to neighbouring Somalia without food and medicine over the past four months.
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/ 12 September 2007
Somali opposition figures meeting in Eritrea united to form a new ”liberation” movement on Wednesday to seek a military or diplomatic solution to conflict in their homeland, a spokesperson said. The main aim of the organisation, called the Alliance for the Liberation of Somalia, is to secure the exit of Ethiopian troops who are backing the interim government in Somalia.
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/ 12 September 2007
Ethiopia entered the third millennium seven years after the rest of the world on Wednesday, amid lavish celebrations, religious fervour and messages of hope from the troubled country’s leaders. As the giant countdown board in central Addis Ababa flashed the year 2000, thousands of faithful gathered in churches.