The Security Council today voted unanimously to terminate the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), after restrictions placed on the peacekeeping operation by the latter country undermined its ability to carry out its mandate.

The 15-member body emphasized that the termination of UNMEE, effective tomorrow, is without prejudice to the obligations of the two countries under the Algiers Agreement, the 2000 accord which ended their border war.

It is now official: the ruling regime has spilled Eritrean blood fighting all our neighbors: Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia and Djibouti. In every case, the hot-headed and impulsive actions of the ruling regime harmed the interest of Eritrea and diminished its reputation. And in every case, Eritrea’s interests could have been secured better if a peaceful approach had been tried. The conflict with Djibouti is yet another ill-conceived strategy borne of the regime’s all-consuming obsession with Ethiopian politics.

In a previous article – reaction to the news about President Al Bashir facing ICC arrest warrant "Ogaden - Reason to Issue ICC Arrest Warrant against Criminal Gangster Meles Zenawi" .

I demanded that Africa´s most inhuman and barbaric tyrant Meles Zenawi be dealt with by the international community in the same way.

This is the abhorrent reality in the wider Eastern Africa area; one has to differentiate among unsuccessful mediocre rulers and cruel tyrants.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia says it has arrested eight "Eritrean-trained" rebels suspected of carrying out bombings that rocked the capital Addis Ababa and killed eight people earlier this year.

A statement by security chiefs late on Saturday said the attacks were sponsored by arch-foe Asmara "and implemented by its stooges in Ethiopia, the self-proclaimed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF)."

Simultaneous blasts at two petrol stations killed two people a day after local, regional and federal elections in April, then a bomb tore through a minibus taxi a month later, killing six.

The statement by the National Intelligence and Security Service did not say when or where the detainees were arrested, but said three "most wanted" suspects remained at large and urged the public could come forward with information.

Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a 1998-2000 border war that killed 70,000 people, and tensions remain high. Officials in Addis Ababa often refer to their counterparts in Amara as terrorists.

Eritrean officials routinely reject Ethiopia's allegations, including that it backs the separatist OLF and ONLF rebels.

(ADDIS ABABA) – During a meeting with the Ethiopian Prie Minister, the head of security and intelligence service minimized the impact of the killing of 19 Sudanese during a border attack by the Ethiopian army this week.

Salah Gosh is visiting Addis Ababa to discuss the cause of the deadly attack against Sudanese police in the border area of Jabal Hantub, Gedaref state.

Ethiopia says the incident is a result of misunderstanding between local people. However the Sudanese press linked between the attack and the asylum granted to a local Ethiopian official who has some relations with Oromo rebels.

During discussion with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Friday General Salah Abdallah Gosh reiterated the commitment of his government to the good ties in particular political relations between the two countries, the official ENA said today.

Prime Minister Meles and General Salah Abdallah Gosh discussed on matters related to political and social relations between the two countries.

Ethiopian foreign minister, Seyoum Mesfin, and Sudanese chief of Security salah Gosh agreed yesterday to "strengthen the implementation of the system designed earlier by the two countries to solve the problem.”

Elders drawn from common border of the countries would take part in the efforts to create situation to solve the problems, he said. "Ethio-Sudanese relations would continue strengthened."

Ethiopia to work with Sudan on border security

NAIROBI, (Reuters) - Ethiopia and Sudan will strengthen ways of resolving "minor" border clashes after Sudan said Ethiopian troops attacked a Sudanese army camp and killed about 19 people, Ethiopian state media said on Friday.

Sudan's military said the attack happened on Monday in the Jabel Hantub area of Sennar state. Ethiopian officials played down the charge and denied any soldiers were involved.

Ethiopia's state news agency ENA said Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin met the chief of Sudan's intelligence forces, Salah Gosh, in Addis Ababa on Friday.

"It was disclosed during the discussion that minor misunderstandings leading to infrequent clashes occur between the peoples living along the common border," ENA said.

"According to senior foreign ministry officials who attended the discussion, the two parties reached agreement to strengthen the implementation of systems designed earlier by the two countries to solve the problem," it said, without elaborating.

Sudan signed a north-south peace deal in 2005 which ended Africa's longest civil war and also improved relations with its neighbours across east Africa.

Earlier this week, a Sudanese security source and another government official said a decision by Sudan to give refuge to several local Ethiopian officials a few weeks earlier might have prompted Monday's attack.

It was not clear why the officials sought refuge in Sudan. Ethiopia is fighting rebels from the Oromo region which borders Sudan and who want greater autonomy for their areas.

Ethiopia worried about Djibouti port tariff plan

ADDIS ABABA, (Reuters) - Land-locked Ethiopia sent its top trade official to Djibouti on Wednesday after the Red Sea state said it would introduce a new tariff on port services.

An Ethiopian government source said Trade and Industry Minister Girma Birru was dispatched after Djibouti unveiled plans to introduce the tariff with effect from August 15.

"The imposition of a new tariff without prior consultation would be unfair and difficult to accept," the source said, without giving details of the new tariff.

"The impact would hurt Ethiopia, which is suffering from inflation and rising global food and oil prices."

The country's port is Ethiopia's main gateway for imports and exports after it lost the Red Sea ports of Assab and Masawa when Eritrea won its independence from Ethiopia in 1991.

Ethiopian officials say Djibouti earns about $300 million a year for handling some 4.6 million tonnes of Ethiopian goods.

The officials say the government and business leaders in Addis Ababa are also concerned about Djiboutian plans to cut to eight days from 15 the period that Ethiopian goods can be stored at the port for free.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's army accused Ethiopian troops on Tuesday of attacking a military camp in northern Sudan and killing about 19 people.

A senior Ethiopian official played down the allegation, saying any "minor incident" on the border could be easily resolved.

Sudan's military spokesman said the attack took place early on Monday in the Jabel Hantub area of Sennar state.

"They hit a camp belonging to the central reserve police and they killed about 19 people," the Sudanese army spokesman said. He did not know how many people were injured.

The central reserve police are a heavily armed military unit and are often deployed along border areas or to defend the capital Khartoum.

"This was an attack and we don't know the reason -- we have no problem with Ethiopia and there are no border disputes or tribal clashes in that area," the army spokesman said.

Bereket Simon, special adviser to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, told Reuters in Addis Ababa the problem was that the long frontier was not properly demarcated.

"Sometimes locals from both sides trespass and minor incidents do happen," he said, denying troops were involved.

"If there was a minor incident involving local inhabitants ... Ethiopia is confident both governments will solve the problem in accordance with the prevailing peaceful norms we maintain."

Sudan signed a north-south peace deal in 2005 which ended Africa's longest civil war and also improved relations with its east African neighbours.

One Sudanese security source and another government official said the attack may have been because Sudan had given refuge to local Ethiopian officials few weeks earlier and had refused to hand them over to Addis Ababa.

It was not clear why the officials sought refuge in Sudan. Ethiopia is fighting rebels from the Oromo region which borders Sudan and who want greater autonomy for their areas.

The Sudan army spokesman said a joint Ethiopian-Sudanese committee had been formed to investigate the attack.

Ethiopia's Parliament has endorsed a new Media Bill despite fierce opposition at home and abroad.

The new law bans censorship of private media and detention of journalists, but critics said that it retains other threats to free expression.

"Under the new law, previous restrictions against private media outlets, such as detention of journalists suspected of infringement of the law, has been scrapped," a parliament statement said.

But opposition members said the law still allowed state prosecutors to invoke national security as grounds for impounding materials prior to publication and distribution.

Simple majority

The ruling party led by Premier Meles Zenawi which holds more than 75 per cent of the seats voted on Thursday for the new Media and information freedom law by simple majority.

Mr Amare Aregawi, owner of Media and Communication Centre and Editor in Chief of The Reporter and Reporter newspapers, expressed his deep concern and sense of frustration over he new law. "Ethiopia deserves more than this law" said Mr Amare.

But, Mr Tamirat Wolde Giorgis, Publisher of weekly business paper, Fortune, said he appreciates and acknowledges government willingness to debate on the new law for more than five years. He praised the government for the changes comparing with the first initial draft law five years ago.

Mr Bulcha Demeksa, leader of the opposition Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement described the new law as "draconian". "I consider the day on which this law was enacted as a dark day in the annals of Ethiopian history," he said.

Journalists will under the new law have the right to set up an independent press council.

Ethiopia’s Zenawi endorses Mugabe at African summit

I was not surprised but a little shocked to watch on CNN Zimbabwe’s de facto president, Robert G. Mugabe, hurling insults at journalists, who were trying to interview him at the African Union Summit in Egypt.

Mugabe shouted, "You British IDIOTS go away from me!". His own spokesperson also addressed the media saying, ’’the West should go and hang a thousand times". Answering the question "Is President Mugabe well accepted by his African peers?”, Mugabe’s spokes person said Ethiopia endorses/accepts Mr Mugabe very well. What a revelation!

What this endorsement exposes is that Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe and Ethiopia’s Prime Minister are illegitimate leaders that cling to power by the use of brute force. They snatched the will of their people many times at the polls and pronounced themselves over their peoples as leaders. It is very shocking to see killers like Mugabe and Meles Zenawi, holding the Holy Bible in their bloody hands while being sworn in.

The west must watch out for Prime Minster Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia as much as they do for Mugabe. Otherwise, differential treatments/ coverage would make the west look like they have agenda in Zimbabwe. This is exactly what the sophist rhetoric from the entourages of the Mugabe regime would like the world to believe; they would like the world to believe Mr. Mugabe is a born ’anti-imperialist power’ in Africa.

The truth of the matter, however, is that both Mugabe and Zenawi are birds of the same feather as dictators and they should receive the same treatment. Powerful western nations should consistently adopt a mono-standard towards all dictators who hide under different rhetoric.

Zenawi, for example, hides under rhetoric of ‘fighting terrorism’ while in reality he just wants to extend his tyranny over the peoples in Ethiopian without being questioned by the major world powers. On the other hand, Mugabe, hides under a very popular rhetoric of ’anti-imperialism and colonization’ amongst African dictators. This is the reason leaders in Southern Africa, have been reluctant to openly criticize Mugabe’s regime. It is easy to underestimate the role that this rhetoric would play in unifying African dictators, but the effect is far-reaching and frustrating. To effectively isolate the two dictators, it takes looking seriously beyond their rhetoric.

I do underscore that the endorsement Ethiopia is giving Mugabe as witnessed by his spokesperson, is revealing the many similarities the two regimes have in common. The danger is that Mugabe has a potential of destabilizing the Southern Africa region while Zenawi has already been destabilizing the Horn of Africa region. To overcome this, it is only fair to adopt a uniform parameter of isolating and sanctioning dictators.

Security Council ends UN mission monitoring Eritrea-Ethiopia border

Ethiopia to work with Sudan on border security

Ethiopia worried about Djibouti port tariff plan

Ethiopia’s Zenawi endorses Mugabe at African summit