Ente Zeyt Nwn'weni Men Mexdefeni!

Another sad news of last week is the death of Eritreans in Sudan by an unknown air strike, possibly by Israel. Assenna.com on Saturday March 28 reported the following:

Nine Eritrean army officers were killed in a surprise air attack on January 12 while traveling to Egypt, leading a convoy of 17 trucks full of arms that was to be smuggled to Hamas, late reports coming from Asmara indicated. The report disclosed that a colonel, Afwerqi Mosazgi, six Majors and two captains…

Hadas Eritra on March 28 denied the killed Eritreans were army officers. instead, it stated the air strike killed human trafic crossing boarder to Egypt and among the killed were Eritreans...(check here page 2 of the news paper).

To me, whether they were army officers on a mission or Eritreans crossing boarder for better life, they are fellow Eritreans.....who have families and friends, mothers and children...it is VERY SAD we lost them forever and for nothing.
as for the government "Ente Zeyt Nwn'weni men mexdefeni" eyu negeru....
....even if these ERitreans were crossing boarders in search of better life, like thousands of others, it is because they couldn't find it in their own home country.

Friday Night is Surprised with an Offer!

I just got this email below and I am thrilled! Thanks my visitors for your frequent visits have attracted the attention. It was fun to see we make it through. But get assured Friday Night will continue Add free. So my response was “Thanks but No Thanks”
…………………………………………………………………………………………

From: "karima.b@wikimetro.org"
Subject: Friday Night, Newark Wikimetro BlogAd Inquiry
Date: Friday, 27 March, 2009 7:54:23
To:XXXXX

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Fighting in EU’s Court: A further Update on the Controversy of EU’s Aid Plan to Eritrea

Remember the controversy around the EU’s aid plan to Eritrea and how Eritreans are fighting to influence EU decision which will be signed officially on May of this year? The fight is continuing, but it is taking a different strategy. The pro-government website Bdiho.com has taken a petition to support EU’s aid plan (development aid in cash as is the original plan from EU). Given the extreme famine in ER, totally opposing any form of aid is morally and strategically an attractive position for those in the opposition. Pro-government websites such as meskerem.net has already started exploiting the opposition’s stand on the EU aid plan. Now Asmarino.com and Awate.com has come with a new petition….Yes to Food Aid but No to Cash. This looks a smart move…. And it will be interesting to see which camp will collect the highest petition signature.
To sign the petition, click here or on the picture above.

Obama Appoints New Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

President Obama has a pointed Johnnie Carson as the next US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs to replace Jendayi Frazer. With little interest given to Africa in US foreign policy, this is the most important position where US policies towards Africa are shaped. This is specially true for Ethio-Eritrea issues. I didn't get any information if he has any different position on Ethio/Eritrea than his predecessor. However, his resume shows he has extensive career related to Africa and is more familiar with Ethio-Eritrea issues than two of his predecessors. He was also the principal deputy of Assistant Secretary to Africa during the Ethio-Eritrea border conflict (1997-1999).His resume includes three term Ambassadorship to Kenya (1999–2003), Zimbabwe (1995–1997) and Uganda (1991–1994), Peace Corp Service in Tanzania and many other positions related to Africa. He is currently the national intelligence officer for Africa on the National Intelligence Council. Read more on his background here

PIA Continues his Show-off Defiance to the International Community

Today president Omer Al-Beshir made his first visit outside his country to Eritrea after convicted by the ICC. The New York Times reported

“In a snub of the International Criminal Court, President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan traveled on Monday to Eritrea, barely three weeks after the court issued a warrant for his arrest on war crimes charges for atrocities committed in Darfur, news agencies reported.”

To ERNs, the question should be what do we gain by showing such defiance to the entire international community? Is it to our benefit? It should be remembered that the good diplomatic relation between Eritrea and the west, especially with U.S.A, started to deteriorate after PIA disobeyed the ban on Libya and visited Gadafi on summer 1997….and today’s defiance may also vanish any hopes that PIA will improve his diplomatic approach with new USA administration.

The Coolest Couple!

Here are cool and funny couple....I enjoy the clip....I hope u will do. Kudos to Mabel and Tsige as well as to Iseyas and Roma...I wish you Happy and Joyful life!

Welcome Back Asmarino

Just an info for those who love Asmarino. The web site is now up and running again with all its sharp Blogers. Watch out for a series of articles coming from Yosief Gebrihwet. The guy is exceptionally articulate in his writing, but very controversial at the same time. His series of articles last year on “Romanticizing Ghedli” was the most controversial one stirring a wave of response and discussion among Eritreans. I hope this series will also do the same.
Asmarino has also kept its old plat form of allowing comments from readers. Because of the sensitive of Eritrean politics, most ERN websites don’t allow readers to comment on posted articles…Asmarino is the exception. I have a mixed feeling towards that policy… Most of the comments are trash (although there are some good) …people deliberately posting divisive and degrading comments….and my initial reactions was what is the point of allowing such trash? But now I am leaning in favor of allowing the comments….why would any one decide what trash is and what is good to the readers? Let the choice be there and readers will decide whether they want to read the comment section or not.

Fighting in EU’s Court: an Update on the Controversy of EU’s Aid Plan to Eritrea

In my previous post, I have indicated how the news about EU’s aid plan to Eritrea has generated so much controversy among Eritreans. This post is an update on those controversies. So far, over 290 comments are posted on the website. These comments are both from supporters and opponents of the government. But the comment section on the news website was not the only place the contriversy surfaced. Eritrean websites from both camps have also joined into the fight, with blogers from either side calling for EU' attention. The following is a partial list of the inventory of articles produced by the controversy over EU’s aid plan to Eritrea.
On the Opposition side:
1. Awate.com editorial
2. Daniel Rezene
3. Seyom Tesfay
4. Tesfay Degiga
5. Michael Abraha
6. Selam Kidane
7. Berhane Neguse

On the supporters side:

1.Tesfay Aradom
2. Amanuel Bidenemariam
3. Daniel S
4. Berhane Alazar
5. Samsom Negasi
6. YPFDJ Europe
7. Dawit Ghebre-medhin
8. Meskerem.net

Now, the fighting has once more escalated from articles into pettition. Right now, two competing petitions are running to be submitted to EU. The first one is by Amnesty International on behave of Eritrean prisoners of conscience and the other is by Bidho.com, a pro-government website.
In face of all these controversies and pleas, it has to be seen on how EU will respond. The controversy is not over whether the aid should be given to Eritrea or not: rather it is on what conditions should be placed on the aid. Opponents are calling for EU to put strict condition of human right improvement on the aid plan. Supporters of the government are fighting to avoid any preconditions.

Why Did a President Keep 20 Cats?

The buzz words around the opposition websites this week is coming from the words of former Iseyas Security chif Mr. Girmatsiona Baire Zere. The guy throws every mud on Iseyas. (listen to his interviews here). Even though I agree Iseyas has to go for the problems in Eritrea to end, throwing every evil you can think of on him will reduce the credibility of real stories.

From the list of evil things Mr. Ghirmazion blamed Iseyas include, the death of Abraham Afewerki, death of Yemane Barya, death of Ali Said Abdela, death of OMO factory owner, assasination attempts on Colonel Simon, etc...

The most difficult thing to believe is Iseyas has over 20 cats!