Donald Trump will not be welcome to address Parliament on his state visit to the UK because of its opposition to racism and to sexism, the Speaker of the House of Commons has said in a major snub to the American President.

In a dramatic intervention, John Bercow, the Speaker, said he was “strongly opposed” to Mr Trump speaking in the Commons as he stressed that being invited to address Parliament was “not an automatic right” but “an earned honour”.

Corbyn calls for Trump UK ban until Muslim country travel ban lifted

“Before the imposition of the migrant ban I would myself have been strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall,” Mr Bercow told MPs.

“After the imposition of the migrant ban by President Trump I am even more strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall.”

Parts of the Commons erupted into rare spontaneous applause in support of Mr Bercow’s statement.

The intervention will cause headaches in Downing Street, where Theresa May has bent over backwards to rekindle the so-called special relationship with the US.

Veteran Labour MP Dennis Skinner, speaking after Mr Bercow’s statement said: “Further to that point of order: two words: well done.”

The Speaker said: “We value our relationship with the United States. If a state visit takes place, that is way beyond and above the pay grade of the Speaker.

“However, as far as this place is concerned I feel very strongly that our opposition to racism and to sexism and our support for equality before the law and an independent judiciary are hugely important considerations in the House of Commons.”

Theresa May invited Mr Trump to make a state visit to the UK on her recent trip to the United States. She said he would fly to Britain before the end of the year.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and others have said that the visit should be cancelled until Mr Trump rescinds his “Muslim ban” on travellers from some countries.

Whether the controversial president would address Parliament has been a particular source of contention. Foreign leaders on state visits sometimes address Westminster Hall, which lies in the House of Commons, or Royal Gallery in the House of Lords.

Mr Trump’s visit is fast emerging as a political minefield. His team are reportedly hoping avoid any meeting with Prince Charles, whose environmental campaigning might put him at odds with the president.

Speaker John Bercow in the House of Commons (House of Commons)

Mr Bercow said he was one of the three “keyholders” to Westminster Hall and also said he would not permit an invitation to the Royal Gallery in the House of Commons to be made in his name.

He admitted that he would “perhaps have a strong a say in that matter” but said that “customarily an invitation to a visiting leader to deliver an address there would be issued in the names of the two speakers”.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued

“I would not wish to issue an invitation to President Trump to speak in the Royal Gallery,” he concluded.

The Speaker’s intervention is a particularly stunning development because the post is politically neutral. Mr Bercow was previously a Conservative MP before he was elected to the role; following convention he then gave up any party affiliation.

Nearly two million people signed a petition calling for Mr Trump’s state visit to be cancelled in just days after it was announced. MPs are to debate the issue in Westminster Hall.

Independent

In the recent quest for justice, freedom, equality, and democracy in Ethiopia, several citizens have suffered egregious treatment at the hands of the ruling party- EPRDF. In a short span of time, hundreds of innocent citizens have died; tens of thousands of people have been incarcerated; and millions more have been subjected to live under a constant reign of terror. What makes the recent incidence so appalling is that this tyrannical regime, with the support of one of the most equipped militaries in Africa, has cold-bloodedly murdered its own people whose only crime is daring to seek change. Following such horrendous act, various international organizations have unequivocally condemned the unacceptable behavior of the government and have stood in solidarity with the Ethiopian people. Surpassingly, however, most influential religious institutions in the country who ostensibly wield moral authority have preferred to remain either neutral or silent in the face of such brazen onslaught perpetrated by the regime against citizens. This article is an attempt to underline the spiritual and moral obligations of Ethiopian religious institutions to step forward and speak out against injustice and stand tall in the defense of justice and truth whenever the occasion calls for. It is the prerogative of religious institutions to see to the fact that social justice (in the sense of fair and proper administration of laws to all citizens regardless of race, ethnic origin, class, gender, religion, etc.), is done as these square with the natural law that demands equal treatment of all human beings created in His image.

As is known, Ethiopia has been enjoying religious freedom following the demise of the Marxist junta. However, this freedom is increasingly encroached upon by the daring interference of the government in the internal affairs of religious organizations. Citizens routinely complain about what they see as the direct or indirect involvement of the government in religious affairs, including systematically directing the election of religious leaders. The recently declared state of emergency has categorically made illegal any teaching that the government deems as opposing its ideology. This includes teaching by religious institutions as well. It appears that this is a move to censor the content of religious teachings, and it is not hard to predict what the regime’s next move would entail unless the religious institutions would wake up and fight this divisive ideology. I honestly believe that it is only a matter of time before the regime sets in motion the persecution of religious institutions. Thus, it is long overdue that religious organizations woke up from their slumber and began equipping their followers with the basic divine teachings, such as unity, justice, equality, freedom and liberty. I believe that these ought to be one of the cardinal missions of religious organizations (I would like to remind readers that my discussion here in this article focuses more on Christian religious organizations; I will try to discuss about other religious organizations in a separate article). To this end, it is imperative for the religious organizations to take the following to heart:

Telling truth to power

Ethiopia is a diverse country with a long-standing tradition of tolerance with respect to religion, ethnic identity and other differences. Governance under the EPRDF regime is primarily structured along the ideology of divisive ethnic politics, which is contrary to the teachings of the church. Families are divided based on ethnic identity; taxpaying citizens are treated differently in the same land. As witnessed by the Human Rights Watch and other international organizations, Ethiopia is ranked at the bottom of the list among nations for its record on social justice. In Ethiopia, there is a glaring absence of fair and just distribution of resources and opportunities among its constituent members.  Far from being merit-based, educational and job opportunities are offered on the basis of party affiliation and political loyalties. What makes the practice more troubling is how open and blatant it is to the extent that it has virtually become the modus operandi of the system. There were times when this writer was asked to present a political party membership card in order to be able compete for a postgraduate scholarship. The writer personally witnessed multiple incidences where scholarships offered to individuals from foreign governments and institutions were made to expire because of the refusal of government officials to give support as the individuals (including the writer) had no party affiliations. The saddest of all is that almost all leadership positions, including those in academia and research institutions, which should have been awarded meritocratically have often been awarded on the basis of party membership and ethnic identity. As a result, mediocres would often come to the leadership positions in large institutions which are constituted by highly qualified personnel. Such a practice kills staff motivation and productivity; it breeds inefficiency, encourages corruption and eventually becomes an impediment to national advancement. In Ethiopia where such phenomena are endemic, church leaders ought to have a moral responsibility to speak out.

What is more, in any advanced societies, there are laws and trusted institutions that protect minorities from an arbitrary exercise of power. When the strong unfairly treats the weak, the law holds them accountable. And hence the weak and the minority feel protected and exercise their rights as everyone else free from any coercion and intimidation. In countries, such as Ethiopia, where there is no independent judicial system, churches still remain places of peaceful arbitration. When the military and security forces are engaged in a killing spree and citizens are subjected to live in terror on regular basis, the church cannot bury its head in the sand like an ostrich. It should strive to speak out and call upon the perpetrator to desist from its unlawful act. It should stand for the protection of the weak and the powerless, and see to the fact that justice is served, and the community heals on the basis of genuine reconciliation between the parties involved. Part of which includes speaking the truth to power whenever necessary.

Promoting social justice is not an optional extra but an integral part of the church’s’ mission

As it is boldly written in the scripture, the mission of the church is basically to serve the oppressed- the people who live under the bondages of slavery. This includes those who are under the yolk of both spiritual and physical slavery. One of the most thoughtful teachings of Jesus Christ is found in the Book of Luke, chapter 4:18. It read as follows: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed“. I believe that the church exists to accomplish the liberating mission of Jesus Christ.

The church is the last healing place and hope for human anguish. It is a place to cry, rejoice, practice freedom with equality- a place to live outside the polarized world. People sleep, live, stay and relax in the church yard. When people are tormented by the pain of the physical world, the church is the only trusted refuge where one can get solace and renew hope. I strongly believe that the church has an obligation to engage in social justice in such a corrupted system. Though the obligation has several facets, it includes the following:

1. a) Spiritual obligation: Church leaders’ ministry is metaphorically expressed as a sheep-tending vocation. A shepherd has two main responsibilities- feeding the flock and keeping them safe. This includes protecting the flock from possible danger, and also helping the damaged to recuperate, shortly. David, was an exemplary shepherd who fearlessly used to fight with lions and bears to rescue his sheep. I believe that the current church leaders have a paralleled obligation both to feed the devotees with the right divine teaching, and also protect from the danger of killings and prosecutions by tyrants. In other words, as the church is teaching its members for the eternal life that comes after death, it is important that she should also be cognizant of the fact that members need peace, safety, prosperity and protection here on earth. The church cannot stay passive when the poor are oppressed and justice is ruined. Her role should go far beyond conducting funeral services when citizens are slaughtered by the tyrant government.
2. b) Moral obligation: The church is traditionally viewed as a fortified tower that serves as a refuge to victims in the time of war. If a victim runs and gets to the church yard (equivalent to an embassy compound), that person is safe from a possible persecution by the enemy. This has been the social norm for years. The church serves as an agent of reconciliation if not as a hiding place for criminals. When the Ethiopian protesters hid in the church yard for their safety (e.g., the incidence at Saint Mary’s church during the 2005 political violence in Addis Ababa), the church had a moral obligation to protect those who trusted its system. Otherwise, the long-standing reputation – the tradition of trusting church systems- will be gradually eroded. As it is written in the Bible (Matthew 5:13), the church is like “the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything”. In the current situation in Ethiopia, the military can assault or plunder church premises without any moral qualm. I think this is not only an ungodly practice, but it is also an act that is disrespectful to the holy place. The church should univocally denounce this type of repeated violations of the sanctity of the church premise and exercise the moral authority she wields over the dispensing of protection to the soul that seeks refuge under such authority.
3. c) Historical obligation: Historically, peaceful protests have their roots in the church. The Black American freedom movement in America was spearheaded by church leaders. Most of the prominent civil right leaders in America, including Martin Luther King Jr., were church leaders. Most people are familiar with the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who stood against the unjust treatment of Black Americans in the United States. As a member of the society, he was angered by the denial of justice and the systematic oppression of his community, despite the legal protections guaranteed in the Constitution. In the face of this injustice, Dr. King used nonviolent resistance by mobilizing religious networks and churches to collectively take action against the prevailing injustice with respect to the black community. He recognized the potential impact of unified voices of the religious organizations and their leaders in forcing the government to make changes that take into account the needs and concerns of all its citizens.

The renowned Ethiopian Pope and martyr- Abune Petros- was executed in 1936 by the Italian occupying force for publicly condemning colonialism, invasion and massacre. He daringly protested and unequivocally denounced the brutal treatment of Ethiopians by Italian invaders. Several church leaders also paid an ultimate sacrifice during the Derge regime because of their sharp criticism of the military government. The majority of them were punished either by killing or by throwing them in jail, although a few of them who were lucky fled the country and spared their lives.  I wonder if we can find in today’s Ethiopia such fearless and outspoken religious leaders who are determined to stand tall and fight for the freedom of citizens who are shackled by their brutal oppressors.

Conclusion

Church history is replete with stories of saints and martyrs who had stood up for the truth. Martyrs had sacrificed their lives in their daring confrontation against the rulers who were intoxicated with their twisted ideologies. The Bible, for example, narrated the story of John the Baptist who was beheaded because of his rebuke of Elizabeth for her sexual impurity; Samuel confronted King David for his unfair treatment of the poor. We need such exemplary leadership from the current church leaders who can boldly declare that all human beings are equal, and “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female” (Galatians 3:28). We need church leaders who dare to say that there should not be any discrimination in the treatment of citizens based on ethnic identity, gender, social class, religious background, etc.; that all citizens deserve equal treatment. Church leaders may not be required to directly involve in politics; however, when injustice reigns, they should be willing to stand in the frontline in order to protect the oppressed. They should speak truth to power and fearlessly rebuke dictators. All the prophets were persecuted for that reason. The duty of church leaders is to stand with the oppressed, not to be in cahoots with dictators. The church should protect the weak and feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, empower the voiceless, and proclaim peace to those who are under bondage. That is what I mean by standing for social justice. Moreover, the church together with other religious organizations should play a role in cultivating and upholding useful cultural values, including respect for each other, looking after one another, reverence to the environment, nature, fighting corruption, and promoting economic and social justice, etc. The church should see to the fact that the erosion of these cultural and spiritual values will undoubtedly damage the integrity of the country, and, hence, should stand guard against any deleterious impacts to such cherished values.

Tamrat Belay (PhD)

The writer is a former university professor in Ethiopia, and can be reached at tamrat.ab@gmail.com.

World 1500m champion Genzebe Dibaba added to her growing list of record-breaking achievements by breaking the world 2000m record* at the Miting Internacional de Catalunya in the Spanish city of Sabadell on Tuesday (7).

The three-time world indoor champion overtook the pacemaker just before the half-way mark, which was reached in 2:42.65, and continued to extend her lead over her younger sister Anna and Morocco’s Siham Hilali.

She went on to stop the clock at 5:23.75, taking almost seven seconds off the world indoor best set by Gabriela Szabo in 1998. Although the 2000m isn’t an official world record event indoors, Dibaba’s performance – pending ratification – can be classed as an outright world record as it is faster than Sonia O’Sullivan’s outdoor mark of 5:25.36.

As well as the outdoor 1500m world record, Dibaba now owns the fastest ever recorded times indoors for the 1500m, mile, 2000m, 3000m, two miles and 5000m.

Elsewhere in Sabadell, European champion Adam Kszczot won the 800m in 1:46.31 with Spanish record-holder Kevin Lopez taking second place in 1:46.58.

European 5000m silver medallist Adel Mechaal was a convincing winner of the 3000m, clocking 7:48.39 to finish more than two seconds ahead of Italy’s Marouan Razine.

Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF

*Subject to the usual ratification procedures

Prof Mesfin TPLF TIGRAY & Ethiopia

Today, the first electric transnational railway in Africa went into operation from Djibouti City to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Government officials, diplomats, and socialites, were in attendance for the historic occasion. Also in attendance were Chinese investors, whose 14 billion dollar loan, funded the railway.

The newly functioning line will certainly be of benefit for Djibouti and its landlocked neighbor, as it will help optimize trade by cutting travel time between the two countries. The journey is a three to four days by truck, and just 12 hours via the new rail line.

“This line will change the social and economic landscape of our two countries,” said Ethiopia’s prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn.

There are many advantages of the newly established rail for both countries, but perhaps even more for China, whose increasing presence in Africa, is helping rebuild infrastructure throughout the continent, but is also raising reasonable suspicion.

“Chinese-built and -financed projects include a two-year-old light-rail system in the Ethiopian capital; a $13 billion rail link between the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and the port city of Mombasa that will open later this year; and an ambitious rail modernization project in Nigeria that includes an urban transit system for Lagos,” reports the New York Times.

These investments mean that China will certainly hold leverage over African affairs. While some commend China for “taking a risk on Africa,” while most Western countries have noticelbly retreated, I’m not so sure who’s really at risk here, China or the African nations that are now heavily indebted to it.

htwww.okayafrica.com

View from high up on the hill in Geralta region of northern Ethiopia on which David Korkor and Mariam Korkor churches are located. Photo by Rob McKenzie

by Rob McKenzie
February 8, 2017

We’re in a guesthouse beside a cliff in the Tigray highlands of northern Ethiopia. After dinner, the farmer who lives in the spartan stone house next door drops by for a visit.

He tells us the story of the leopard. The leopard killed a dog belonging to the farmer’s father. The father said the leopard had to die. The villagers set out to find it. Their search came to a cave in the cliff face. A pair of bright eyes shone from inside. The men were preparing to attack when the leopard pounced, knocked one of them over and ran off.

“He tricked them,” says Mulat, our guide for most of this four-day trek.

The men regrouped and found the cat in a tighter cave. This time they penned it in with a quickly constructed stone wall, leaving only a hole for a rifle to poke in. When the leopard came into the line of sight, the rifleman shot it.

Sitting in a dimly lit room, hearing the wind howl as it raced up the cliff, feeling the cold night air, and listening to the farmer’s story is one of the highlights of a week that a friend and I spend in Ethiopia. These are the others:

1. Christmas Eve

We land in Addis Ababa on the evening of January 6, which we hadn’t realised is ­Christmas Eve according to the calendar of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

We had planned to visit a jazz club, but our hostess, ­Genet ­Kefetew of Kefetew Guest House in the city’s east end, suggests we consider attending a ­Christmas ceremony at a nearby church ­instead.

So the three of us go to Salite Miheret church, where the ceremony, which can last six hours, is well under way. ­Kefetew and my friend watch with the other women, while I look on with the men.

A Christmas Eve ceremony at Salite Miheret, which is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church in Addis Ababa. Ceremonies can last six hours. Photo by Rob McKenzie

It’s phenomenal. The colours, clapping, singing and rituals, but most of all the tidal pull of a people’s shared faith.

The worshippers wear white shrouds over their clothes. The priests at the front of the church wear brighter vestments while the deacons are all in white. There’s some call-and-response singing in Amharic, occasional prostration and a sermon about the life of Mary. The singing is like a hum; a buzz; a sound from deep within the Earth.

The walls and pillars of the octagonal, high-vaulted church are entirely painted from shoulder-level upwards. Some of the scenes in the neon-bright murals are familiar to me (the birth of Jesus) and others aren’t (a man with a long white beard rides a rooster and chases a demon, whom smaller roosters are pecking at).

A cheer rises from the crowd as the deacons stride slowly forward from the altar, holding golden processional crosses beneath pink umbrellas held high; then comes a final umbrella, burgundy with gold fringe.

2. A wedding

The core of our trip is a hike in the highlands. It’s organised through Tesfa Tours, a community-­based tourism company headquartered in ­Addis Ababa.

This sort of tourism can have its highs and lows. You’re closer to the people, but farther from yourself, or at least your usual self. Take our accommodations for the first three nights. We stay in rough-hewn stone guesthouses, typically with three bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining area, a storeroom and an outhouse toilet, all around a courtyard. Only the third guesthouse has a shower (via an overhead jerry can); but while the outhouses at our first two stops are OK, the third is pretty rugged. There’s no electricity or running water. Lighting at night comes from small devices, about the size of a human hand, with LED solar panels on one side and a flat light on the other. Larger devices, maybe four times the size, are used to charge mobile phones.

Let’s call it rustic. But the ­storytelling farmer’s visit is one reward, and a second is a wedding that we attend near the hamlet of Gohgot.

Mulat knows many of the people there. We sit with him and about seven other people in a small square made of logs. ­Fifteen or so such squares lined the perimeter of the wedding hall, which was outdoors in an area covered by tarps held up by ­timbers.

The father of the bride comes by to welcome us. In that and many other ways, it’s like a wedding anywhere: neighbours catch up on local gossip, people eat and dance, young children run around, and, slightly more surprisingly, a man rides in on a horse.

We share a meal with the people in our square. A young woman rolls a heap of roasted barley flour into balls. These are placed around the base of a bowl that contains chilli sauce with meat, and like an island in the centre, a paste of fermented broad beans with garlic and spices. You use a twig stripped of bark to poke a barley ball, then you dip the ball in the paste and sauce. The results are quite spicy.

Women share a meal at a wedding near Gohgot, northern Ethiopia. Photo by Rob McKenzie

My friend and I are a novelty to the people here; we appear to be the only guests from outside the area. People stare. At one point, there’s some ululating, and the Ethiopians laugh at my pathetic attempts to join in.

3. A climb

The churches of Mariam ­Korkor and Daniel Korkor are at an altitude of about 2,500 metres. They’re in the Gheralta ­Mountains – Gheralta means “up and down” in the Tigrinya language. The churches themselves are stark and beautiful, and the 500-metre hike uphill has amazing views that are the result of millions of years of geological upheaval.

Ethiopia’s landscape has been shaped by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tectonic folding, wind erosion and the rising of masses of molten rock from beneath the Earth’s surface. To the observer it feels like a geological mash-up: smooth elephantine hills; cracked-eggshell crags rippling up from the valley like bony hands; cliffs that rise hundreds of metres straight up to plateaus. The result is broadly comparable to the Dubai skyscape: different styles, many standouts and a sort of unified unpredictability.

What strikes me about the churches is why they’re built so high up. An answer occurs to me as I stand by the cliff’s ledge outside Daniel Korkor. Frankly, this proximity to the edge frightens me. It’s not that I’m scared of heights; it’s the depths that get me. All it would take is two steps forward and I would be a goner. The ledge is like a dotted line dividing life from death. But maybe that’s why the churches are here: they straddle worlds – life and death, land and sky, heaven and Earth.

Trekking on a hill in the Gheralta region of northern Ethiopia. Photo by Rob McKenzie

Another question that this journey, which was more challenging than comforting, has me asking myself is: why do this rather than visit someplace easy, with massages and beaches and flower-strewn paths? Life already has plenty of adversity, so why seek out more?

Part of it is about testing myself. But beneath that, it makes for better stories.

rmckenzie@thenational.ae

ESAT Radio Thu 09 February 2017

Voice of Amhara Daily News February 9, 2017

Demonstration Against the Ethiopian TPLF/EPRDF tranny regime in Brussel

St George (photo: Kasstro Sanjaw)

Victoria, Seychelles – St George, Ethiopia‘s representative in this year’s CAF Champions League, won the first leg match against Cote d’Or of the Seychelles 2-0 here today.

Striker Salhadin Said scored a goal in each half to give his team a cushion for the return leg match.

St George are currently two points clear at the top of the Ethiopian Premier League after 14 matches. The team had 50 traveling fans for the game.

The return leg takes place on Sunday, February 19, 2017 in the southern Ethiopian city of Hawassa.

St George are literally assured of advancing to the next round where they will face AC Leopards (Congo) or UMS de Loum (Cameroon) at the 1/16th round.

The format for the 2017 Total CAF Champions League has been modified and the tournament now has 16 participants in the group stages. 

The change was announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) at its 38th Ordinary General Assembly last year.

Ethiopia regime paid 1 Million USD for  company operating in the country for jamming ESAT. It is reported that more than 10 million people are regularly watching ESAT and the TV station becomes a threat to the government. One observer commented that information becomes a threat to dictators more than military force. Ethiopia is  in one hand receives loans and donations from western countries and in the other hand paying  for company jamming  TV stations.

Voice of Amara Radio – 11 Feb 2017

Laura Fantone of Oakland welcomes her new foster child at San Jose
International Airport Friday, a 17-year-old refugee girl from Ethiopia.
Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County, the girl’s legal guardian, asked
that she not be identified and her face not be photographed. Tatiana
Sanchez/ Bay Area News Group.

The 17-year-old girl arrived alone in San Jose on Friday, marking a new chapter in a painstaking journey that took her from a refugee camp in Ethiopia to a new life in the Bay Area.

Waiting at the end of a long passageway was her new foster mother, an Oakland sociologist with no children of her own.

The two women had never spoken, yet they would go home as mother and daughter.

The teenager’s trip to the U.S., after years of waiting, was interrupted by President Trump’s order suspending refugee arrivals and her original trip to San Jose was cancelled. But on Friday, she finally landed at Mineta San Jose International Airport, where she met her foster mother, Laura Fantone, after being greeted by a small crowd holding welcome posters and balloons.

Once an activist in her native Italy, Fantone had volunteered at refugee camps across Europe and welcomed refugees fleeing political turmoil in Yugoslavia. But this time, something spurred her to act in a much larger way, she said.

“I did the (foster parent) training and started to really take in the idea of what it means to open your door, open your home, open your heart to someone that you don’t know,” said Fantone, who teaches at Santa Clara University.

“I’m glad that I have this chance, but a lot of people are still struggling to get out of the countries that have been blocked because they are a Muslim-majority and this is clearly unconstitutional.”

Fantone said she spent Thursday shopping for ingredients to cook traditional Eritrean dishes, which she researched online. Their first few days together will be spent exploring their East Bay neighborhood, shopping, meeting family members and making trips to the library, she said.

The Eritrean girl is going home with Fantone as part of a refugee foster program run by Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County. Catholic Charities, the girl’s legal guardian, declined to identify her in order to maintain her privacy. Since the Eritrean government does not allow people to leave the country, they feared naming her would put her extended family and other loved ones at risk, according to Angela Albright, director of the organization’s refugee foster care program.

Alone in her native Eritrea, the girl fled to Ethiopia to escape political turmoil. In Ethiopia, she lived in a refugee camp for many years.

Albright did not provide details but said the girl is an orphan. She was cleared to enter the U.S. by the United Nations after several years of vetting, according to Catholic Charities, which trains potential foster parents and later matches them with a refugee child.

“These are wonderful human beings who open their homes to kids that they don’t know and often don’t speak the same language,” Albright said. “But they recognize the bigger picture here, that these are kids that deserve a loving home. They deserve a second chance and a new opportunity.”

Catholic Charities’ Refugee Foster Care program is the only program in Northern California that serves unaccompanied refugee children who are fleeing oppression, according to staff.

Critics say that welcoming refugees from around the world puts the U.S. at increased risk of terrorism. Many also argue that refugees take valuable resources away from American citizens who need the same services. At the airport on Friday, one traveler told the crowd welcoming the girl to “go home.”

Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order suspended the entry of residents from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — for 90 days and temporarily suspended U.S. refugee admissions.

After a Washington state judge blocked the order last week, families throughout the Bay Area were reunited with spouses, students, business travelers and vacationers who had been stranded overseas.

The Trump administration appealed the Washington judge’s order, but on Thursday a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the travel ban will remain suspended.

When she arrived In San Jose, a surprise awaited the refugee girl. As she walked past airport security, she saw a familiar face — her best friend from the refugee camp in Ethiopia had also been resettled in the Bay Area. The two cried as they embraced.

Overwhelmed, the girl asked for privacy through a translator and walked off with her best friend and her new foster mother.

TOP Secret Hidden Truth About Sajin Agegnew Achaw Gabaw

By Martin Plaut

A squadron of UAE Mirage fighter planes such as this one at the Dubai Airshow are stationed in Eritrea for Yemeni operations. Reuters/Caren Firouz

Relations between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula go back centuries, with trade playing a key component in binding their people together. Religion has also played a part. The expansion of  Wahhabism& – the interpretation of Islam propagated by Saudi Arabia – has been funded by the massive oil wealth of the kingdom.

Mosques, Koranic schools and Imams have been provided with support over many years. Gradually this authoritarian form of Islam began to take hold in the Horn. While some embraced it, others didn’t.

Somalia is an example. While most Somalis practised a moderate form of Suffi Islam, the Islamic fundamentalists of al-Shabaab didn’t. Soon after taking control of parts of central and southern Somalia in 2009 they began imposing a much more severe form of the faith. Mosques were destroyed and the shrines of revered Suffi leaders were desecrated.

The export of faith has been followed by arms. Today the Saudis and their allies in the United Arab Emirates are exerting increasing military influence in the region.

But Saudi Arabia and other Arabian gulf states aren’t the only Muslim countries that have sought influence in the region. Iran, for example, has also been an active player. In the case of Eritrea, a struggle for influence between Riyadh and Tehran has played out over the past few years. This has also been true in neighbouring Somaliland and the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland.

These are troubled times in the Horn of Africa. The instability that’s resulted from Islamic fundamentalism, of which al-Shabaab are the best known proponents, have left the region open to outside influences. The French have traditionally had a base in Djibouti, but they have now been joined by the Americans and the Chinese.

The growing Arab military, political and religious influence is only the latest example of an external force taking hold in the region.

New powerful forces in the region

The Eritreans had been close to Iran and supported their Houthi allies in the Yemeni conflict. This was of deep concern to the Saudis, who are locked in conflict with Tehran. This is a battle for influence that pits Iranian Shias against Saudi Sunnis. Eritrea is just one of the fields on which it’s being played out.

As a US cable leaked to Wikileaks put it in 2010,

The Saudi ambassador to Eritrea is concerned about Iranian influence, says Iran has supplied materiel to the Eritrean navy, and recently ran into an Iranian delegation visiting Asmara. He claims Yemeni Houthi rebels were present in Eritrea in 2009 (but is not sure if they still are), and reported that the Isaias regime this week arrested six Eritrean employees of the Saudi embassy.

Since then Eritrea has switched sides. Eritrean President, Isaias Afwerki paid a state visit to Saudi Arabia in April 2015. Not long afterwards Eritrea signed a 30-year lease on the port of Assab with the Saudis and their allies in the Emirates. The port has become a base from which to prosecute the war in Yemen. The United Nations reported that 400 Eritrean troops were now in Yemen supporting the Saudi alliance.

The United Arab Emirates has constructed a major base in Assab – complete with tanks, helicopters and barracks. In November 2016 it was reported that a squadron of nine UAE Mirage fighter planes were deployed to Eritrea from where they could attack Houthi targets on the other side of the Red Sea. In return the Gulf states agreed to modernise Asmara International Airport, increase fuel supplies to Eritrea and provide President Isaias with further funding.

Since then the United Arab Emirates has announced its intention to increase its military presence in the Horn. In January it signed an agreement to manage the Somaliland port of Berbera for 30 years. It also sought permission to have a naval base, Somaliland foreign minister Sa’ad Ali Shire told reporters.

It’s true that the United Arab Emirates has submitted a formal request seeking permission to open a military base in Somaliland

The UAE are also active in the neighbouring Puntland. They have been paying for and training anti-piracy forces for years, while also financing and training its intelligence services.

They are a powerful force in the region, projecting an Arab influence as far as Madagascar and the Seychelles. It’s not surprising that the United Arab Emirates was labelled “Little Sparta” by General James Mattis – now President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Defence.

Ethiopian concerns

These are worrying times for the Ethiopian foreign ministry. Once the dominant force in the region, its influence over the Horn is now in question.

To its north the Eritreans remain implacable foes, as they have been since the border war of 1998-2000 that left these neighbours in a cold no-war, no-peace confrontation.

Addis Ababa is concerned that Eritrea’s hand has become stronger in recent years. Its mining sector is looking increasingly attractive with Canadian based firms now joined by Australian and Chinese companies.

Asmara’s role in the ongoing war in Yemen has allowed Eritrea to escape diplomatic isolation. The government in Asmara is now benefiting from funds and weapons, despite UN sanctions designed to prevent this from taking place.

To Ethiopia’s west lies Sudan, which is also now involved in the war in Yemen, providing troops to the Saudi and United Arab Emirates backed government. These ties are said to have been cemented after the Saudis pumped a billion dollars into the Sudanese central bank. In return the Sudanese turned their backs on their former Iranian allies.

To Ethiopia’s east the situation in Somalia is also of concern. No Ethiopian minister can forget the invasion of the Ogaden under President Siad Barre in 1977, when Somalia attempted to re-capture the lands lost to their neighbours during the expansionist policies of Emperor Menelik II in the nineteenth century. Siad Barre may be long gone but Ethiopian policy since the invasion has been to keep Somalia as weak and fragmented as possible.

Ethiopia has intervened repeatedly in Somalia to hold al-Shabaab at bay as well as to maintain the security of its eastern region. Addis Ababa’s policy of encouraging the inherent fragmentary tendencies of the Somalis has paid dividends: the country is now a federation of states and regions. Some of these only nominally recognise the authority of the government in Mogadishu. Somaliland, in the north is close to being recognised as an independent nation. Others, like Jubaland along the Kenyan border, are under Nairobi’s influence.

Martin Plaut is a Senior Research Fellow at Horn of Africa and Southern Africa, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study

Interview with Nesibu Sibhat

“We will also declare our independence if the Tigray region took the first step,” said Abdi Mahamoud Omar, President of the Region Somalia to Ethiopia, during a conciliation meeting between officers of the national army Ethiopian and Somali clans of Ethiopia held in Jigjiga the last week of January 2017.

The president of the Somali regional state of Ethiopia, expressed his wish for independence in the presence of Major General Abraham Woldemariam, head of the Ethiopian army stationed in Harar, General Mehari Zewdu and Major General Ibrahim Jalil who Is a member of the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense. “We do not want to stay with the Amharas if the Tigers leave the Ethiopian federation and our land rich in natural resources will not be a wealth for the Amhara region and source of poverty for the Somalis of Ethiopia” added Abdi Mahamoud said Abdi Iley, President of the region Somalia .

In this consultation meeting on the independence and wish the Somali region of Ethiopia tabby, almost all the wise men of Somali clans of Ethiopia were present and were able to witness the progress of the draft declaration Independence of the Tigray region. The president of the region Somali of Ethiopia that rolls under the orders of Mekele was also mentioned in his speech that he had the military strength to defend against the Oromo region and prefers independence from the return of power to Addis Ababa in the hands of an elite of the Amhara region.

Relatives of Somali state leadership in Ethiopia have repeatedly, in anonymity, informed the Somali media about an independence project in the Tigray region. These Jigjiga officials had added that the Tigre elites were pushing Abdi Iley, president of the Somali region, to follow them in their project of independence because with such a strong ally, the Tigre region has the chance to see his project And will not have to suffer too much pressure.

Articles 39 (3), 42 and 47 of the 1994 Ethiopian Constitution clearly stipulate that the right to secession is part of the right to self-determination of nations irrespective of their number, political or historical status. The only limitation of this right is that all regional or local bodies must fulfill their functions and exercise their rights within the framework of democratic principles, the rule of law and in conformity with the mandatory rules and spirit of The Ethiopian Constitution.

Hassan Cher