Al Qaeda urges attacks on Ethiopian Army

A purported audiotape by al Qaeda's deputy leader urged Somali Islamists on Friday to launch an Iraq-style guerrilla campaign of suicide and other forms of attacks against Ethiopian forces in Somalia.
"You must ambush, mine, raid and carry out martyrdom campaigns so that you can wipe them out," Ayman al-Zawahri, deputy to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, said in his message to Somali Islamists.
"As happened in Iraq and Afghanistan, when the world's strongest power was defeated by the campaigns of the mujahideen troops going to heaven, so its slaves shall be defeated in the Muslim lands of Somalia," he said. The tape was posted on a Web site used by militant groups. (The International News January 5, 2007)

CBE disburses 12 mln Birr loan for cooperatives, individuals

The Axum branch of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) in Tigray State said it has disbursed close to 12 million Birr loan among cooperatives and individuals engaged in various development sectors.
Branch manager, Hadera Gebre Selassie told Ethiopian News Agency on Wednesday that the loan was disbursed over the past six months among 88 cooperatives and individuals involved in agriculture and other development activities.
Meanwhile, Hadera said, the bank has paid out 3.5 million Birr remittance money for 2,300 customers during the reported period. (ENA, January 3, 2007)

Ethiopian to cross Europe, US on bike

Girma Mesfin, an Ethiopian cyclist, who is going to travel around European and North American cities on bicycle, was seen off on Wednesday.
Girma who resided in Paris for the past ten years said he would cross ten European and several North American cities with a view to promoting the Ethiopian Millennium and the country’s natural, cultural, religious and other assets using electronic devices.
Though Ethiopia is endowed with several natural and historical resources, the country hasn’t tapped these resources as it should, Girma said, adding the Ethiopian Millennium is an opportunity to promote the country’s assets and change its images. (ENA, January 3, 2007)

2.1 mln Birr deve’t activities undertaken in Tigray

Construction of dams and water and soil conservation activities were being carried out in Sa’esi Tse’ada-Amba Woreda, Eastern Zone of the Tigray State, with 2.1 million Birr obtained from the European Union (AU), the woreda food security office said.
Office head, Tesfay Berhe told Ethiopian News Agency that two dams, 67-km terrace works and other water and soil conservation activities were being carried out in three drought-prone rural localities of the woreda.
The head said the dams would have a capacity of retaining 160,000 cubic meters of water which would help develop 10 hectares of land.
Moreover, he said, a 12-km road that interconnects seven rural localities has already gone operational. (ENA, January 3, 2007)

Pentagon to train sharper eye on Africa

Africa, long beset by war, famine, disease, and ethnic tensions, has generally taken a backseat in Pentagon planning but US officials say that is about to change.
One of Donald Rumsfeld's last acts before Robert Gates replaced him last month as Defense secretary was to urge President Bush to let the Pentagon create a new Africa Command to pay more attention to the troubled continent. Mr. Bush is said to have agreed to the idea and is expected announce it early this year.
The creation of the new command will be more than an exercise in shuffling bureaucratic boxes, experts say. The US government's motives include countering Al Qaeda's known presence in Africa, safeguarding future oil supplies, and competing with China, which has been courting African governments in its own quest for petroleum, they suggest.
The expected new command "speaks to the fact that Africa now matters to the US government as it never has in the past," says Melvin Foote, chief executive officer of Constituency for Africa, a nonprofit group devoted to strengthening US relations with African governments. (Global Africa Network, January 4, 2007)

France supports Ethiopia’s rapid troop withdrawal from Somalia

The government of France expressed support for rapid withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia, but Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Esmael Mohamud Hurreh called on the international community to do something instead of just talking, and assist the transitional federal government to bring about law and order, stability and peace, in the country.
France supports Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s announcement that the country would withdraw its troops in Somalia within weeks, the country’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said on Thursday.
“We have noted Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s declaration which showed his intention of withdrawing the troops from Somalia,” Mattei said in a news release.
France also welcomes the “willingness shown by the Somalia transitional government to engage in political dialogue,” added Mettei, saying the security situation in Somalia still remained “quiet unstable.” (ENA, January 3, 2007)