The one man regime in Eritrea has been a thorn in the flesh for all the Ho
rn countries for over a decade. Every country in the horn has been victimized by the regime at one time or another. In the case of Ethiopia, ever since the regime’s costly defeat during the war of 1998-2000, it has been engaged in covert action to derail Ethiopia’s peace. The regime is the primarily sponsor of the terrorist wings of the ONLF, OLF and Ginbot 7.
Resolving conflict by dialogue is normal and is the civil way. In many cases two warring parties will sit down to negotiate a win-win solution if the alternative is a zero-sum outcome. Ethiopia has begged the one man regime in Eritrea to sit down and resolve any issue it has ever since it came to power. Even during the aggression war of 1998, Ethiopia was ready to sit down and negotiate than to continue the costly war!
Ethiopia has been ready to sit down and negotiate to resolve any issue Eritrea has even though as a victor of the last war it could have demanded a final solution unilaterally. Isaias Afeworki declined all gestures. Instead of sitting down to negotiate it has been recruiting terrorist foot soldiers to cause mayhem inside Ethiopia.
Now the question we want readers to answer is why negotiate with the devil? We know the Ethiopian government will even sit-down with a Monkey if the Eritreans think monkey is all they have for now! But Isaias is not a monkey he is the Devil! Isaias is a devil who will do all in his power to survive. He has survived this long by signing at the dotted line at the 11th hour during the last war only to come back to plan and execute a Bagdad event- that never came thanks to Abune Aregawi, in Addis Ababa!
Isaias is cornered and is frightened. His best buddy Gaddafi is gone, his next best Mubarak is bed ridden waiting in jail and his key sponsors in other Middle East countries are hibernating due to fear of not knowing when their turnwill be to face Gaddafi’s fate. Now why give Isaias breathing space when the UN is working hard to sanction him more? Would Ethiopia benefit by sitting down with Isaias Afeworki regime today? Have Your Say!
It is true that Ethiopia benefits from any peaceful discussions. However, in the Eritrean case, the dictator has denied any sort of negotiations with Ethiopia both before and after the bloody war. Instead, he chose to fulfill his objectives of distabilizing the country by recruiting some crazy groups both from in side and from out side the country like alshabab. Now the regime has understood that it can not hit its target by life long feeding project to these groups and since the situation of Eritreans who are rising against it is worsening from day to day like the one we observed recently in Leeds, UK, the terrorist group alshabab is being driven out of Somalia, the spoon fed groups like ONLF and the like are bitterly defeated, making any kind of agreement with Ethiopia to this regime at this time is like winning a jack pot to shaebia. Because for a regime which is near to death, it is like a life saving medicine. shaebia has been trying its best to topple the EPRDF and giving a chance to negotiate at this moment is just elongating the life time of a dying hyena to deavore you immediately after it survives death.
So for me, eventhough I don’t see any positive gain by doing so, I think the wise EPRDF leaders will handle the case in an appropriate manner.
Hejes nab esheneat adehebelkum…why is it taking you so long …zegebre ne-enueu neynegere…the only reason reason why Meles is knowcking every diplomatic door to tame Eritrea is that he fully knows that Shabia will play a pivotal role in dismantling him….had he had the potential to fight , he would have walked to Asmara the same way he walked to Moqadisho….so mles hasn’t invaded eritrea to overthrow Issaise not for the lack of intent but the capacity to do it…so dear aiga forum- it wont serve you anything bringing this topic every year except showing the weakness of the so called leader of “80 million ” ppl unable to face a nation of 5 million ppl…
Dear Aiga:
Your characterization of Issayas Afeworki seems to be funny. May I aks you why Issyas whom you call the devil is not classified as terrorist ? May I ask why Eotreans are allowed to return ? May I ask why Eritrea is not invaded when Somalia was invaded ? may I ask why Eirtreans students were allowed to join our Universities ? May I ask why the sudden talk of dialog ?
Believe Meles and Issayas were and are always friends. They meet in a clandestine way. Since Meles has systematically eliminated the ex-TPLF strongmen, removed many of the generals and became th defacto king of Ethiopia, he is ready now to do now what he has been thinking all along ..
If you are really against Shabia , then wake up …..brother …ISSAYAS is not devil for MEles ..He is his darling ..
I agreed. Why we negotiate with dogmatic man now?
Isayas is running out of time. Did you watch the documentary film,”Addis like Bagdad”? I hope you did.That was even worser than the badme war in my opinion.Clearly Isayas give safeharbor to Ginbot 7, OLF, and ONLF.
Isayas was/is/will the step father of these terrorist groups.The reason why he does this is very clear.
1. His wrong regional policy(eco-political delusion)
2. His dictatorial mind set up(no one above me).
3. Lack of constitutionality.
4. His wrong ambition to be regional and continental leader
5. He is undermining his people so as others.
Terrorist gropus like G7, OLF, and ONLF follow Isayas’s foot step.
Why is Isayas running here and there this time?
I do not get good reason for that matter but one thing I can assess is that the cash flow from his sons (G7,OLF,and ONLF) shrinks from time to time.Ginbot 7, which is a terrorist group, faces huge financial problem. Patriotic bond is off sale now.Innocent Ethiopian diasporas have bought $500 patriotic interest bearing bond from Ginbot 7 a couple years ago. 50% of that collected money went to Isayas Afewerki for training and weaponizing purpose to hurt Ethiopia. The total sum of all is under zero sum value. Innocent diasporas got no front seat at the Meskel square after victory,they got no interest even no pricipal amount. I am witnessed some of the innocents have lost their homes,cars, wives, and jobs becuase of mortgage but Dr. Birhanu nega’s and Tamagn Beyene’s live hood is dramatically changed. Birhanu and Tamagn live in a nice house, they teach their kids in a private school. They do not know what inflation or recession is becuase they do not work full time or part time like ordinary people do. Isayas shares their income one way or another but for how long?
Please I have a friend of mine who was innocent Gibot 7 supporter here in my home town needs help.This man(friend of mine) is near to down to homeless life. His days numbered.I told him to get his money back from Ginbot 7. He is trying to do that but this week he told me he got bad answer from Andargachew Tsige. He was told his membership is cancelled out because he owns money. He has pass due payment.
Please if your are interested to help our friend out of trouble, send me an email @rufta2003@yahoo.com
God bless us.
@ TAZABI
With a complete conviction, I can say every thing Aiga said on the issue of Issayas/Eritrea is correct. I also find that most of your questions are mainly based on your preconceived idea and bias against PM Zenawi.
To answer some of them :-
1) Issayas and his government have already been classified as TERRORIST/Terrorism sponsoring countries.
2)Not all but some Eritreans are allowed to return . And those returning has to prove they have no direct link to SHABIA and understand their stay in Ethiopia will be as any other foreigner not as locals.
3) Eritrea was invaded during 1998-2000 border war, but the main aim was to averse the SHABIAS’ aggression and give Issayas a lesson might is not always right. On the other hand, unlike Eritrea, Somalia was lawless and did not have a government to deal with in the first place. ICU posed a direct threat to our country and govt also something had to be done before its grip of power in Somalia was consolidated through out the country. Thanks to this wise measure, the possibility of Ethiopia having an Afganistan – or Iran -like neighbor has been avoided.
4) Eritreanrefugees are not the only ones who are allowed to study in our universities. Our brothers & sisters from Southern Sudan also have the same access to same privilege in Ethiopia. Besides these Eritreans fled their country/regime and took Ethiopia as their shelter. We can not also conclude every Eritrean is anti-Ethiopian and pro Issayas.
5) There is NO sudden talk of dialogue. From day one, the Ethiopian govt had been consistent on this issue and has always said dialogue is the only means and way of going forward and expressed this policy time and again to the whole world without any second thought.
So your assertion that tyrant Issayas and PM Zenawi are always are friends is a myth and far beyond the truth. There was also no systematical removal of ex-TPLF comrades and generals . The truth is , as just in the case of Eritrea, there was a split within the party Meles’ group happened to be victorious, nothing more nothing less.
INDEED Issayas is the DEVIL to PM MELES, and he is doing every thing to his ability to weaken and eliminate this Tyrant.
I do not think we should negociate with Shabia. The agreements reached in Algers are breached by Sshabia once for all. The UN peace keeping forces were pushed out by Shabia and the demilitariexed zone was overtaken forcefully by Shabia. I do not now what the Ethiopian government is thinking about this situation for sure. I trust the EPRDF from my heart that one day it will use the famous qoreta and settle this matter once for all.
If Isaias changes his mind with regard to the border, there is no reason why Ethiopia should not sit and discuss the matter. But DIA will not resort to negotiation because of the following reasons
1. Ask him why there are no attributes of democracy such as constitution, multi-party and contested elections, judiciary, and private press etc, what would be his answer? As experience has it, his answers are Eritrea falls short of implementing all the above ingredients of democracy since “Woyane’ is occupying their sovereign land. For Isaias everything else comes after the demarcation. Then after demarcation there are no points where he can cling to prolong his reign. But I can understand negotiation doesn’t necessarily result in demarcation.
2. You may raise more queries such as why the Warsay Yike’alo, the militarization of the entire able population continues and will get similar answers.
Therefore Isaias with his current state of mind to show goodwill of peace making is unfathomable.
But since the question is what Ethiopia should do incase Isaias shows interest to engage in negotiations, I would say the government should go for it.
“.. that never came thanks to Abune Aregawi, in Addis Ababa!”
Don’t know what you meant by that, Aiga. But let us NEVER forget that the main reason this atrocity did not happen is because of the people of Ethiopia. They are the ones who gave the tips to the government from the early days of hatching of this dastardly plot. So, it’s always important to remember it’s the work of the people together with a vigilant government that ensures lasting security.
In my opinion, it is not good idea to negotiating with the baby killers called Eritrean gevernment, keep them away from Ethiopia and Ethiopians, their hatred spirit toward Ethiopia is unmeasureable, it is not one person or gevernment, the mind set of all the people of Eritrea must be tamed.
Those who failed to learn a lesson from their mistake are doomed to vanish or fail gain. It might be a visionary idea from the Ethiopian gov’t or EPRDF point of view to not deal Isayas early before the 1998 or once for all even after 1998 when he was abducting tourists, boldly training and recruiting terrorists to weaken Ethiopia, and harassing Ethiopians in the boarder area. But I believe it was an utter failure from our side not to deal with his demoralized army before even we focus on our development effort as he is the raod block and obstacle for all our efforts.
There are still people who believe Isayas’s recent trip to Uganda was a desperate effort to find friends at the critical time. I truly believe that this recent trip has a grandios plan to continue the long held strategy of weakening Ethiopia with a new ally (Museveni) who is ready to join the axis of Evil as long as there is money to make. Egypt and Qatar are behind this plan. The axis od evil are working hard to weaken Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and possibly Djibouti.
What Ethiopian needs to do now should not be a question that is difficult to answer. Countries have every right to defend their national interest and their citizens. So, does Ethiopia. So, Ethiopia must dela with Isayas once and for all. War is not good but it is morally and legally essential when a country is under constant attack by its neighbor. I don’t think Ethiopia needs any further proof that Eritrea under the leadership of unelected man is causing problems not only in Ethiopia but also throughout the horn of Africa. Unless Ethiopia wants other nations for that matter the West to deal with Eritrea, Ethiopia is lehgally and morally in a good shape to remove the cancer once and for all.
I hope our leaders won’t let Ethiopia bleed/suffer more from a cancer that metastise enough.
Peace
If Ethiopia has been exerting so much effort to negotiate peacefully to Eritrea but the latter continues to resist, then there’s no sense to carry on that way/method. Effective communication stops when the receiver shuts down the doors for the sender to get through the message. DO WHAT IS OUGHT TO BE DONE.
Dear.Mr.Aiga:- For sake of both brotherly people we have to embrace peace.No matter what in the future we will re- great what we did in past.We have to move on for sake of our kids and grand kids.In these war the is no whiner to be honest,we all lost substantial human life,money and infrastructure.At these time Ethiopia is the one famine and hunger on TV not Eritrea,this is the realty fact.So let’s stop acting like children’s and try to mend between two country relationship.To my knowledge Eritrea is doing better than Ethiopia,be it agriculture,health,education and booming mining.
@Kahsay
sharing almost all the feeling expressed in your posting, i differ in the recommendation. War has never created an induring peace. even if DIA is dethroned from power there is no guaratntee the succeeding government works inline with the Ethiopian national interests. I am well aware of the Eth. Gov’s stance regarding this issue as has been unequivocally made it clear to take any action necessary to safeguard the nation. though it cannot be ruled out in totality, at this particular moment, war is not the best option for Ethiopia.
the gov. should remain vigilant as how the new grouping would be detrimnetal to the long-term interest of the country and take necessary actions that suit the situation. It is not bad to contune in this no war no-peace condion as far as it goes.
Is access to the Sea part and parcel of the so called negotiation?
If yes, then it is worthwhile to negotiate with any one, Devil, Evil, terrorist even crazy.
Anything less is unacceptable.
Well, I don’t know what to say about this topic as it has been discussed a million times. The only problem I see is from the Ethiopian government stand towards Sha’ibia. There is no clear policy to contain the lunatic led government.
For how long shall Ethiopia bleed because of this crazy neighbor in the north? I believe the time is not to sit for negotiation but to take action. You don’t clap using only one hand; you need a partner who honors his words as well as agreements. This mafia government doesn’t have these words in its dictionary.
It’s time for our government to take the appropriate action. No more babysitting!!!
it’s very important,not to negotiate with the one man regime of Isaias ,because he is unelected by the the Eritrean people,with no constitution,with no representation of mandate from the people,we should not sit down with this man,what ever agreements conculuded before also are null and void because it does not bring any suistanable peace,
In my opinion its killing the democratic movement of Eritrea, if we negotiate now ,its very discouraging to have future source of peace in the HORN OF AFRICA,please do not give any breath of life to the despot Isaias regime the source of all evils,the Eritrean people got to assume power,therefore it is the source of peace,power with the check and balance is created the base to settelment and compromise,Isaias do not know how or never dit it in the 40 years.
My humble response to Teweldebrhane:
Thank you for sharing my feeling and I hope we can agree to disagree. But can you imaging how much of our budget is spent on defending boarders with Somalia, Kenya, Djibouti and Sudan aside from boarder with Eritrea? It is a pretty much which could have been used for more development. No peace no war brings more suffering to the Eritrea people and more time for Isayas to gamble with Eritrean limited but precious resources; the youth.
I can’t deny that the fall of Ghadafi and Mubarek will affect Isayas’s adventurism. But there are still other actors who are hell bent to use him in weakening Ethiopia. Unfortunately, we don’t need to go far to find spoilers some of them are in our own backyard. They failed to differentiate between Ethiopia and ELDER. They are willing to be slaves for Isayas and work for him to do evil for their country. So, the question is do we need to continue spending millions to watch our boarders and infiltrators or do we need to spend a good portion of it on development and show the world a stable environment for investment?
I am not a war mongoer but our options are dwindling and it is time to do r/b analysis and go for the best scenario before it is too late.
Peace
As I read the issue at hand, Kissinger and Santayana come to mind. When the former said, nations do not have permanent friends but permanent interests, the latter said, those who don’t remember the past are condemned to repeat it. As much as Isaias’ Eritrea is a thorn in the Horn particularly to Ethiopia, Meles’ sense of reality seems to revolve between the said mantras of the great thinkers. That is, when realpolitik dictates to handle Isaias within the lines of finess diplomacy where negotiation is the modus operandi, trusting him could as well throw Meles under the mercy of Santayana’s dictum. Isaias’ imperative could as well be a bit of a melodramatic if not utterly over-rated. However, Ethiopia needs a strong autocratic leader such as Isaias to contain Eritrea from fragmentation with a potential spiral into social strife. It is imperative to bear in mind that, Ethiopia is not having a beef with Isaias because of his internal policy where the Constitution is yet to be implemented; private press or media are not allowed; the youth is leaving the country in droves; a day in a court of law is absolutely unthinkable and so on. Rather Ethiopia’s issue with Isaias is centered on the fact that, Isaias is a menace in the Horn at large and a force of instability in Ethiopia. The said rationale as a vortex, Ethiopia would be at ease and comfortable with an autocratic Isaias who doesn’t meddle in Ethiopia’s affairs with a violent hand. I am of the opinion that, Meles should keep pressing on Isaias to sit down and negotiate on how to end the impasse where the overriding point is Isaias should refrain from sponsoring violence in Ethiopia. As for the ugly realities in Eritrea, it is the Eritrean people need to worry about their own affairs.
How cld one negotiate with a Leech on its back?
Slice it with part of your skin and throw is away…or burn it while its on ur skin. Either way Ethiopia has to sting itself a bit to get rid of the fkn leech.
Negotiation with Ethiopia means the decline of Shabiya as it can only function and survive on hatred and distruction of Ethiopia…cause the party is conceived on hatred toward Ethiopia.
The “no war and no peace” is working and we just have to make it more effective with sanctions and speeding up our development.
Negotiation with Shabiya means guaranteeing its ego’s future…we can afford to wait till Shabiya is on its last breath!
However In Short time we Ethiopians hope that Ethiopia gets a leader who does not “babysit” Shabiya like Meles does.
negoteiat what? The Ertrian government and the oppositons never trusted Ethiopians. The opposition and the ertrian government alwayes think that a negotition is win win only on for the Ertrian side.
Selamalikum Aiga!
As the known past clearly attests, the issue of Eritrea, ones again, is emanating a serious challenge to the national security interest of Ethiopia. Unless the underpinning cause to the problem is fully addressed it will continue to be a major source of hindrance for lasting peace and development of the region but especially for Ethiopia. The lasting solution will be realized but only when policy makers come to term to craft pragmatic approaches that take into account realities on the ground.
This difficult but serious issue – no matter how often politicians and protagonists try to brush it side – is not going to go away because today’s au courant approaches fail to take fundamental realities into the package.
There is nothing new about HGDF and the principal tyrant at the top’s behavior. Isaias has been doing all he could the same way similar ignominious despots have been doing except this time most of his financers have gone for good, and he is faced with yet another UN sanction for its transgression against Somalia and Djibouti (not Ethiopia). For this reason, he is trying to do all he could to out wit Ethiopia, mislead the UN so that to avert the sanction or if it happens survive. One of the known behaviors the cult in Asmara is expected to do is playing the victim card so that it can get popular sympathy from gullible world community. While Eritrea is home to less than 5 million diverse population and in similar stage of socio economic development, the Ethiopian government as the leader of almost 90 million people has been overly tolerating from embarking a costly practical approach to deal the enemy.
One of the primarily responsibilities of an elected government is securing the wellness of its people and country including addressing the near future concerns adhering to accords. The only reason the Eritrean situation haunts Ethiopia is the fact that there is unavoidable pivotal issue that needs solution. While this unfinished business or as some say it “the quagmire of Eritrea” is not the making or creation of EPRDF, some part of its policies towards Eritrea can be considered as flawed, lesser effective or appeasement. Should Ethiopia directly engage with Esaias? There two scenarios here worth of analyzing.
1.Whether we like it or not, HGDF is the defacto representative of Eritrea. All world governments and international institutions deal with despot. And we must remember Ethiopia has presented a letter to the United Nations about seven years a go consisting a six point proposal accepting “in principle” the out come of the Haig boundary commission. Hence, provided Esaias fully and unconditionally accepts the six points, Ethiopia can negotiate with the thug but still insisting and raising the core current issues HGDF unwilling to engage in until the despot leaves the negotiating table. Though we should not expect good outcome from talking to the thuggish HGDF and the despot, refusing to negotiate would be diplomatically unattainable based on the sprit of the letter Ethiopia wrote.
2.Since 2004, the year the six point letter was written to the UN, many things have happened in the region. The hostile acts of the despot in Eritrea have directly engaged in many criminal activities, which have resulted in the death of many innocent Ethiopians. HGDF has continued conscripting, training, arming and infiltrating hostile elements deep into Ethiopian territory and one of the credible evidences is the report of the UNSC monitoring group. For this reason, Ethiopia can make a total changes to its earlier policies towards HGDF because of the undeniable wanton criminal acts of Eritrea that have elevate to its current level.
In both instances, EPRDF should go out of its old thinking box and start new bold and clear political stances that fit current reality. Further, it should include other patriot Ethiopians including from some of the law abiding political opposition parties as the issue has broader ramification. Statements such as “if they hit has on this area, we will change out course and continue to walk” should be replaced by other morally, and legally just statements and warnings. When EPRDF made the five years national comprehensive developmental strategy, it has prepared contingency plans on what to do and how with HGDF.
When countries are faced with a despot such as Isaias that gives no regard to norms and values they are entitled to take the needed actions to preempt the danger.
Many believe all Ethiopians across all political peripheries converge on this enormously important national issue. For this reason the concerned branch should utmost diligence and maximum precaution in dealing with Eritrea. If needed, Ethiopia has many sticks within its palm to play around. But when making treaties, especially with shabya lead Eritrea, EPRDF should know the interest of Ethiopians including citizens who did vote for the opposition. Most of all, while history, international law, colonial boundaries, are important; current realities, too, should be incorporated if lasting peace is going to materialize.
Hence, the prevailing question is not whether Ethiopia should engage HGDF led Eritrea but under what term.
Ethiopia has been spreading to peace ever since the EPRDF has come to power. To the contrary, Eritrea has been anti peace ever since its idependence. Isayas has so many times declared that no negotiations what so ever with Ethiopia. The foundations of peace reached at Algers were breached, the demilitarized zone in Eritrea was ransacked by Shabia. The UN peace keeping forces were humilated under the hands of Shabia and left unable to execute the tasks given to them by the UN. Shabia has become a sworn enemy of peace and peace loving people of the world. Actually, peace starts from within. The people of Eritrea are under the yoke of tiranny, Isayas at the helm. Eritreans could/can not bear the intense suppression by Shabia and hence are forced to leave their country and migrate everywhere in search of peace. So how on earth one can imagine of negotiations with Shabia. Ethiopia has exhausted every thing to buy peace but to no avail. In my opinion, we have no options left now on the table except take arms and settle the matter once for all: Wufer tebeges kemz’hizi….
suppose Ethiopia goes along and demarcate the border. What will be next:
1- Eritrea will be faced with monumental task of demobilization
2- Eritreans will start to ask about constitution, election…
3- A small triggering event would run into mass protests in Eritrea
4- In short it would lead Eritrea into a dangerous upheaval of internal dicontent
So, why would shaebia want to sit down and talk…
Hi all,
Let me start by saying, A TIGER WILL NEVER BE A VEGETARIAN, this sick person name ISSAYAS AFEWORKE is extremely jealous of ethiopian economic and political development. He is just waiting to buy time and make history by bombing the mellenuim dam when it is done. please, mother ethiopia do not make a mistake, get rid off this bastard. GOD bless ethiopia and the only , the most smart leader africa has seen for the first time my hero and I salute you MELES ZENAWI. yosief.
THE RULE OF TYRRANT ISAIAS CAN BE OVER ONLY BY THE ERITREAN PEOPLE,SO THE PEOPLE MUST BREAK THE CHAIN OF SPY AGENCY ORGANIZATION OF PFDJ TO GIVE AND LIVE IN PEACE ETERNALLY,TO TORCH PEACE IN THE HORN OF AFRICA,THE ONLY WAY IS CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AGAINST THE JUNTA ISAIAS AFEWORKI -THE BABY KILLER OF AYDER,BRING HIM TO THE HAGUE COURT LIKE MILOCEVICH AND CHARLES TAYLOR,THE ERITREAN PEOPLE ARE FREE ,HORN OF AFRICA LIVES IN PEACE AND IN MUATUL COOPERATION.
I know Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is a very hardworking, and intelligent leader. But, when it comes to Eritrea’s case, I can say he has miserably failed. And I would say he is soft towards Eritrea as few of the most extreme oppostion forces say (though I really don’t like many of the the things these oppostion forces raise). He doesn’t have a much recoreded success against Eritrea except in the 1999 – 2000 war. The following are my proving points for this:
1. Making Ethiopia landlocked is one of the mistakes committed by the leaders of EPRDF. Although I know this matter is very historically complicated and sometimes related to the Italians and the previous Ethiopian rgimes, it was very mistake to leave Ethiopia landlocked without conducting any serious discussion even with the people of Ethiopia. How could Prime Minster Meles Zenawi (including other officials working with him) leave Ethiopia landlocked? This matter for me is very disappointing and it is a mistake that has been committed by EPRDF as far as I found no clear answer as to why this happened.
2. The withdrawal of our gallant warriors during the 1998-2000 year from the towns deep in Eritrea like Barentu, Tesenei, Senafe, etc where the end of Shaebia was near was very wrong, and it is costing us what all of us know today to protect every bad thing that comes from Eritrea.
3. Although discussions are important, the decsion in the hague really favored Eritrea though it was successfully defeated by the Ethiopian Soldiers in all fronts. Badme was even wrongly given to Eritea which is another disappointment. The decision lacked credibility, but it was up to the higher officials of Ethiopia to follow how it was progressing instead of regreting late on.
BTW, if someone could give me any clear information for the above three points, I would be extremely happy.
Thus, the government of Ethiopia has to take the issue of Eritrea very seriously and the officials should think many times before they decide anything (be it dialoge or war). As the consequences of the last decisions are hurting our country a lot, care has to be taken to to avoid such a mistake.
Isayas Afterki is a very autocratic and dectator man that has taken Eritrea and Eritreans backwards, and he has tought very strong hate towards Ethiopia by creating a false history of Eritrea. The people of Eritrea have to realize this, and they have to fight this mad man. But, as someone above briefely mentioned, this matter has to be soley left to the people of Eritrea.
The main policy of the Ethiopin states including the Hailselassie and Derg opressive regimes was double-faced. On the one hand they previlege Eritreans elites in the form of job, the market and other opportunities on the wrong assumption that if we don takecare of them they will seceed. On the other, both regimes, becuase they were undemocratic in their nature they deny both indvidual and group rights of all ethiopian ppl including the eritreans.
But now the EPRDF govt recognised the right of the Eritreans and including others Ethiopian nationalities of their self-determination. In this regard (wheather it will work or not is a question of time), the EPRDF govt is different from both previous regimes.
But the fact that it has the wrong assumption that if we care for Eritreans they will be good to Ethiopia is a worst mistake if not crime, they are making now.
After all Eritreans voted for their independence, and after we fought a bloody war with them, I do not see why Meles and his co are trying to be nice. I agree they don’t have to be bad to them. Because being bad is wrong morally. But to follwo the same policy of helping Eritreans with the assumption that they will be good to Ethiopians is wrong.
We should ask has Meles has the legal right to do so an Ethiopian leader?
Will this be a crime to him and others who support the ERPRDF policy towards Eritrea? Time willl tell
Zerai
I am sure Isayas will never dare to sit down for peace talks with Ethiopia unless he is certain that by doing so he believes he can stay in power even for one day. But at this particular time I do not think he will be ready to do that because the state of war footing with Ethiopia is the only card he has right now in his hands to stay in power as the recent interview given by Yemane (Monkey) ti the Have Your Say BBC service amply demonstrated. However, if he is willing to engage Ethiopia as per the peace terms outlined by the EPRDF, I do not think Ethiopia will lose nothing by negotiating with Isayas except accelerating his down fall.
Yes indeed Ezana! Isaias is the devil & there no need to talk to the devil! Noone who messed around Woyane has ever lived to be better!
There is no need to talk to the devil , but with the Eritrean people!
Dear Aiga, thank you for rising up this topic.
To sit down and negotiate is not in Isaia’s nature. His only policy has been, is and will always be shot to kill first and ask later, ask even the one who has been shot dead. There for, let us stop daydreaming. Ethiopia should never again trust this butcher. He is not a man of peace. Has he been strong enough, he would have invaded Ethiopia once again. But he knows the muscle of the Ethiopian Defense Forces. Therefore, he changes tactics to a guerrilla warfare style by arming and training some traitors to kill as many civilians as possible by placing bombs at centers where many Ethiopians are gathered. Can Ethiopia trust this back stabber? I don’t think so. Therefore let him suffocate to a slow and agonizing death. I have nothing against the Eritrean people, they have been victimized by this evil creature.
The answer is right there, you can not negotiate with the devil. this group called liberation fronts and thier simpetizers are against human being from the start, way before their fake independet, they killed Ethiopians with out any proof of wrong doing, even they do not try to find out the truth if really the poor Ethiopians add poison to their wells ( water), also they did not wait antil get sofistcated in air force they just bubdle the claster bomb in the piece of cloth and dumpped on the kindegarden to kill babies, this monster group should negotiated with UN court before getting wrost, not with Ethiopia.
I can say East Africa poletics is never goes with truth and reality. How ever, what I feel is that every body should change thier perspective to Ward positive attitude by wishing peace and stability in our reign. This is can help and reinstate every thing what we lost in the past. Also, Our current political situations should not continue the same way. The reason is no one can benefitted from conflict and hate. The wisdom has to be real, practical and the sickens we have had should be treated.
Aiga, you asked us to have our say, but you seem to be allergic to any thing pro-Ethiopia and anti-Eritrea just like the Meles camp whose stand on eritrea is not very clear and very suspicious…you have published some comments that seem to be straight from Eri-Tv propaganda but you rejucted our response to them..If you think your flirtaion with Eritrea will get you any where go a head, but bear in mind every ethiopian from every corner is watching and you will neither be with ethiopians nor Eritreans..it is because of your kind of lack of confidence Eritreans will never have respect for people of Tigray cos you let them down…you guys are mercinaries to say the least…..
Dear Aiga
It is sometime to think twice before jumping to a big issue like this because as we all know if one reads the interviews of Legesse Zenawi and Sibhat Nega in the last years Eritrea is their prime gaol to be helped at any cost of Ethiopians. Moreover you raise the days are numbered to Isaya dictatorial regime but failed also the flame in the north is reaching more dictaors like Legesse and now you pick this question to divert the unevitable.
Before i go in detail i will take two of your sentances ” We know the Ethiopian government will even sit-down with a Monkey if the Eritreans think monkey is all they have for now! But Isaias is not a monkey he is the Devil.Isaias is a devil who will do all in his power to survive. ”
” Isaias is cornered and is frightened. His best buddy Gaddafi is gone, his next best Mubarak is bed ridden waiting in jail and his key sponsors in other Middle East countries are hibernating due to fear of not knowing when their turnwill be to face Gaddafi’s fatee Devil!
The regime what are enumerated are dictators where during struggle Legesse TPLF weded and were telling them he was their loyal and it is this shows when tyrants need anything to lick they lick and bow to whom they gave them. Moreover let we see what does agreement with Issayas meand to the rest of Ethiopians as to me:
1. It is the plundering of Ethiopian resources to Asmara for the sake of Isayas that was done during the transitional period based on Legesse order Brown Sugar for alcohol factories, Coffee,Cotton seed for oil factories, Heavey duty machines were sent from Ethiopia
2. at their different interviews both Legesse and Sibhat describe their favoritism and to expend any resource for the sake of Eritrea because their role model is Issayas and they are the guards of him
3. Legesse as the head of TPLF has got debt till his life to serve Wed Afom and this issue is just like to tell us I have already finished what I want to do but let the idea will be aired and see what others say
4. I bring different scenarios from the past that when Ethiopian were looted in Asmara Legesse was infavour what had happened and after 10 years of devastating war Legesse is still favouring Eritreans to come back again and live as Ethiopian placed in diffrent places eventhough his half part belongs their as well Berekets as well other which serve him in the seceret service it is non sense to bring the issue here……[dear Berhanu still venting on Meles this Sebhat this 20 years and counting, grow up brother and join the hedase troop instead and build the nation. No more exscuse!]
I think both Ethiopia and Eritrea must stop supporting oppostion groups against each other. Ethiopia must stop interfering in Somalia`s affair.
Al Shabab dosen`t need Eritrea`s support. Let the somalis solve their own probleem.Somalia has been in turmoil for 20 years, long before AlShabab.
My message to all Ethiopians and Eritreans is: if Ethiopia and Eritrea can`t work together then there should be no reason to fight. Both countries should mind their own business.War hasn`t solved anything but destruction.The Badme issue is legally closed
I get the impression that many ethiopians are obsessed with Eritrea.I wonder why
For your information Eritreans love Ethiopians als brothers and sisters.
Who is interfering in the Somalia’s affairs tighsti? you unbecomingly adivising for Ethiopia to stop meddling and kept quite when it comes to actions of your dictator who is bent to distablize the entire region. Ethiopia cannot afford to allow Al-Shabab, an off-shoot of Alqaeda, to reign in its South border. It has been and will be fighting to preempt the real and present danger whereever, whenever it happens. But mind you again the Somalia case is the only incidince fought by Ethiopia out of its borders a decision backed by IGAD and TFG. So Ethiopia has no history of intrasigence and agression in its entire history. We often say, the hisory of Ethiopia is that of wars and all those wars had been triggered by agressors from Egypt Sudan, somalia, Otoman Empire, Italia, Somalia and Eritrea etc.
If Ethiopians have obession about Eritrea its mostly becuase we feel we are stubed at the back. The first country to allow independence and recognise the Eritrean state found itself under attack of blatant agression. It’s like biting the feeding hands by the lunatic dictator of the tiny state and euphoria of the community in reponse to bombing school kids is still fresh in our memories. this discontent is basically from a suporter of the Eritrean independence but dont forget again there are political forces that are aginst the its existence as an independent state with whom your DIA is currently dancing in tune.
In any case the ball of peace is in the Eritrean court. Erireance must choose between Badme and their long term benefits of normalization. If you stick to what you called the EBBC ruling u r lost forever. EPRDF had to pass through multitude of ordeals for it firm psition for the self-determination of Eritreans. To expect the same this time around in Badme fiasco is unfathomable. So, at least now, think Eritrea less Badme.
……what issue does the Ethiopian government has to negotiate about ? there is nothing to be gained by sitting with Isayas on the same table ,he will not refrain from disturbing the region and terrorizing his own people as long as he stays as Eritreas leader.Any negotiation with Isayas serves only Isayas.His regieme is on the edge of a cliff ,and what the regime needs is pushing not pulling ……
ሻዕብያ ጋር መነጋገር ራሱ ወዶ አንገቱ ላይ ያጠለቀውን ገመድ ጠብቅ እይደረጉ መሆኑን በዚህ 10ዓመታት ውስጥ በሚገባ እያስተዋልን ነው።ይህውላቹ በግሌ የታዘብኩት፦ ባድሜን ወሮ ከተቆጣጠረ በውህላ በሽምግልና የወረርከውን ቦታ ለቀህ ውጣ ተብሎ ሲለመን “ጸሓይ ለዘላለሙ መውጣትዋን ብታቅዋርጥም ከባድመ አልወጣም”ብሎ ሲያንገረግር ከርሞ ጢፊውን ሲቀምስ ሳይተኛ ውሎ አድሮ ለተባበሩት መንግስታት የምትሉኝን ሁሉ እቀበላሉሁኝ ለዛሬ ግን ክወያኔ አድኑኝ አለ።እንሱም በሉ ተስማምታቹህ ችግራቹህን ፍቱ ብለው ሁኔታዎች ሲያመቻቹላቸው ደግሞ ካልሞትኩ በስተቀር ጾሮናን አለቅም አለ።ሁለተኛ ዙር ጢፊ ሲቀምስ እንኳን ጸሮና እንደነ ባሬንቱና ተሰነይ የማሳሰሉትን የኤርትራ መሬቶች ጥሎ ሸሸ።(አንዳዶችም ፕረዚደንት ኢሳያስ በድብቅ ወደ ናቅፋ ለመሸሽ ዝግጅት አድረገው እንደነበሩም ይናገራሉ)ይሁንና አንድህጻን ልጅ አልቅሰው እንዲሰበሰብላቸው የለመኑትን የተባበሩት መንግስታት ድርጅት አሁንም ሁለቱም መንግስታት ችግራቸው በሰላም እንዲፈቱ ባስተላለፈው ጥሪ መሰረት ኢትዮጵያ ለሰልም ባላት ፍላጎት የኢረትራ መንግስት ግን ወዶ ሳይሁን ራሱ አንገቱ ላይ ባጠለቀው ገመድ ታንቆ የአልጀርሰ ስምምነት ፈረሙ።በዚሁ ስምምነት ምክንያትም አቶ ኢሳያስ ትንሽ መረጋጋት አግኝቶ ሽብርቶኞችን ማስልጠን ጀመረ።በዚህ ስራውም ያከባቢው መንግስታት ተሰባስበው ባስተላለፉት ቅሬታ መሰረት ማቀብ እንዲጣልበት ሲደረግ አቶ ኢሳያስ ከእንቅልፉ ባንኖ በድንጋጤ የአፍሪካን ህብረት ካልተቀላቀልኩ ብሎ ሲፈቀድለት አሸባሪነት ግን ፈጽሞ መተው ስላልቻለ በዚህ በኩል የፈጸማቸውን ወንጀሎች ክነማስረጃቸው ቀርበውበት በዳግም ማዕቀብ ዋዜማ ላይ ይገኛል።እንግዲህ በዚህ ጭንቅንቅ ውስጥ ሆኖ ነው የ”Igad”አባልነትን ማሳደስ የሚፈልገው።ይህ ሁሉ የመጣው ኢሳያስ አፈወርቅ አውቆም ይሁን ሳያውቅ አንገቱ ላይ ያጠለቃትን ገመድ አንቃ ማስተንፈሻውን እየዘጋቹ ሰለመጣች ነው።እናም ከትዮጵያ ጋር ለሚያደርገውም ድርድር ገመድዋን እያጠበቁ ካልሆነ ባስተቀር ለኢሳያስ ሰላምና መርጋጋት አይገባውም።
Aiga, of course negotiations are parts and parcels of living with neighbours and the world in general, but the only problem with the current Ethiopian government is there seems to be no line when it comes to dealing with Eritrea..In one hand EPRDF, mainly TPLF is a die hard advocate of Eritrean Independence, on the other hand it wants to give Eritreans the privilege it wouldn’t give other independent countries such as Somalia, Kenya or even Sudan despite the fact that all these countries also have a cross-border cultural and ethnic bond with us…In fact it is fair to say that it is our unclear stand on Eritrea that misleads Eritreans to believe they can have it all and affects their judgement when it comes to dealing with us..I don’t blame Eritreans if they see Ethiopia as a cow to milk because we have historically acted that way and we have never given them the chance to see Eritrea for what it is until we were forced to do so in 1998. but of course we can not forever live in a state of no war no peace but at the same time we can not just negotiate for the sake of negotiating if it means we have to go back to the same old unclear and undefined trade rules for example…ask any Ethiopian farmer to sell his/her dollar earning coffee for a worthless Nacfa and you will see what her response will be…I am saying this because I suspect such are the deals TPLF has on table for their darling Eritrea…It will not only be unfair but it might also mean resentment from other ethnic groups within Ethiopia and it might lead to unrest…I think it is about time TPLF puts aside it’s ethnic favouritism aside and concentrate on what is best for it self and the people of Ethiopia including the people of Tigray.
Dear Aiga forum
As the dictum goes THERE IS NO PERMANENT FRIEND BUT PERMANENT INTEREST. As a nation, we Ethiopians have permanent interest. That permanent interest is to safe guard the interest of Ethiopia and Ethiopians.
We don’t go to a round table or war field with Eritrea because Isaias is a devil or an angel. The 1998-2000 war we waged with Eritrea was instigated by the Eritrean govt. The expression of our national interest, our sovereignty, our sense of independence, our territorial integrity was provoked by Eritrean govt aggression. So we had a legitimate cause to go to war.
What about today? There are many ways that call for war. From proxy war to sponsoring terrorist wings against our national interest.
Isaias the devil and his regime are not immortal. One day they will be toppled or go to exile like their boss Gadaffi. So do we have to long that day or as there is no permanent friend or permanent enemy, should we sit down with Isaias regime and benefit something? My humble answer would be yes if it can fulfill our national interest and no if it is against our national interest.
Seye said that Meles has neither the backbone nor the will to invade Eritrea! The so called diplomacy has failed to convince Eritrea to do anything different. Now Meles is so busy summoning the “do-nothing-Eritrean ” oppositions in Addis and other westhern cities and Issaise is doing same thing. If goes to Asmara , one would be amazed that the number and variety of Ethiopian opposition groups functioning there to dismantle Eritrtea? One might say where does this tiny nation is getting all these money to fund more than 10 armed Ethiopian opposition groups? Your guess could as good as mine- could the fund coming from egypt? Qatar? Saudi-Arabia? whoever is supporting Issaise to help the armed Ethiopian Opposition groups -he is working 24/7 with full focus while Meles has achieved nothing to do anything with Eritrean opposition groups except having them meet for photo moment in Addis!
Here is the real issue : Ethiopian armed groups in Eritrea are training 24/7 to topple the Meles regime. While Meles is wasting his time to get US and UN to break Eritrea’s back for him, Issaise is working tirleslly to topple Meles through his own country men..who would have thought that Amharas would find safe heaven in Asmara? Who would have thought ESAT would be supported by Ginbot-7 which is inturn bankrolled by Eritrean Regime? Who would have thought that Ethiopian in Ethiopia would tune to Eri-Tv for news more than they do to their own media? I can tell you that if one compares the Eritrean opposition in Addis and the Ethiopian opposition in Asmara-the difference that all Eritrean opposition groups are welfare recipients in Germany and Sweden while all Ethiopian groups in Asmara are fighters with firm beleive for their cause!
Thinking Issaise is dead man ..think again if that was the case the 80 million ppl nation leader wouldn’t direct all his diplomatic resources to have Eritrea astricized and punished instead of doing it by himslef…the road to Asmara is much closer from Addis than from Wshaington Dc and NYC:-)..the reason is like Seye Abraha said it-Meles ne-Eritrea kiwerer aqemi yekun Heqe(backbone) yebuluy” zebele:-)
After what I have seen with the development in Ethiopia, I can not say too many bad things about Meles Zenawi. But on the question of Eritrea I would not trust Mr. Zenawi at all. I truly would like to see the day where a final peace is made between Eritrea and Ethiopia. I just do not believe from what we have seen so far mr. Afeworki has good intentions towards Ethiopia. He will never accept tigreans in high places with the Ethiopian government.
I am not tigrean myself but if you guys think meles talking with issayas is a good thing, that would be the beginning of weyane. As an Ethiopian I say in a very strange way, meles please go ahead do it fast.
I am truly always puzzled why Meles has a very soft heart for Eritrea as if eritreans would give a damn for you tplfites. Thx