-
On
Tuesday, Foreign Minister Seyoum flew into Khartoum to deliver a message
from Prime Minister Meles to President Oumar Al-Bashir of the Sudan,
to convey the sympathy of the government and people of Ethiopia to
the people and government of the Sudan on the recent military attack
launched by the Darfur based opposition group, the Justice and Equality
Movement (JEM), on Khartoum on May 10th, 2008. Minister Seyoum received
extensive briefing from the Minister of Defense, army chiefs of staff
and other government officials. Minister Seyoum expressed the Ethiopian
government’s rejection of any forceful, unconstitutional change of
government, and called upon the Government of the Sudan to continue
with the irreversible process of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) reached between the SPLM and the Khartoum Government in January
2005.
The attack
on Khartoum by JEM has indeed been widely condemned. The most immediate
response came from Salva Kiir Mayardit, the President of South Sudan,
and First Vice-President of the National Unity Government. Making
it very clear on whose side the Government of South Sudan was, he
condemned JEM’s assault unequivocally, saying it would not help to
resolve the Darfur crisis. Southern army commanders also issued a
statement saying that they were ready to send troops to support the
national government should this be necessary. It was not; the attack
was beaten off easily enough. Paradoxically, it appears the attack
may well speed up implementation of the CPA. Events of the last week
will boost mutual confidence between the NCP Government in Khartoum
and the SPLM.
A ministerial
level meeting of the Arab League Council called the attack a “terrorist”
action, and designated those responsible as “terrorist” movements.
The Arab League Council called on Sudan’s neighbours to respect its
sovereignty and stop supporting any armed groups using their territory
to threaten the unity, security, stability and territorial integrity
of Sudan. The Council also called on the League’s Secretary General,
Amr Musa, to make immediate contact with the Chairman of the African
Union Commission to establish a joint Arab-African initiative to support
the observance of the principles of good neighbourliness and dissemination
of stability in the region. IGAD also condemned the attack in the
strongest terms and underlined the need for opposition groups in Sudan
to heed the call of the international community to find a political
solution to the problem of Darfur.
The African
Union Peace and Security Council, in its 126th meeting
on May 14, was briefed by the AU Commissioner of Peace and Security
and the representative of the Government of the Sudan. In a subsequent
press statement, AU Peace and Security Council strongly condemned
the attack by JEM and called on all parties to recommit themselves
to dialogue as the only means for ending the conflict in Darfur. The
Council expressed its concern at the escalating tension between Chad
and Sudan and urged both parties to exercise utmost restraint and
resort to dialogue to resolve their differences. It also welcomed
the decision of the Chairperson of the Commission and the Commissioner
for Peace and Security to travel to Chad and Sudan as part of efforts
aimed at defusing the tension. The Council
agreed to reconvene in due course to review the situation and take
appropriate action.
On Sunday,
President Al-Bashir broke off diplomatic relations with Chad, accusing
it of having aided the attack by JEM. There have been suggestions
that JEM’s attack was intended as a response to the assault on the
Chad capital, Ndjamena, three months ago by a Chadian rebel group,
the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development. President Idriss
Deby accused the Government of Sudan of responsibility. JEM was set
up in 2001 and launched military operations in 2003 along with the
Sudan Liberation Movement, the other main Darfur opposition group.
This latest attack makes it improbable that the Government of Sudan
will be prepared to talk to JEM in the future. JEM participated in
the Abuja talks in 2004 but failed to sign any final agreement with
the Government, and more recently, JEM has been outside the peace
process. The Government has now made it clear that it regards JEM
as a terrorist group aiming for power in Khartoum rather than a Darfur
opposition group.
-
Following
the failure of Eritrea to respond to quiet diplomacy following its
incursion into Djibouti territory last month, Djibouti appealed to
the Arab League, the African Union and the United Nations. The Arab
League’s Peace and Security Council authorized the sending of a fact-finding
mission to Djibouti last week. On Tuesday, the mission headed by Samir
Hosni, Director of the African and Arab Cooperation Department in
the League, reported back. At a press conference on Tuesday morning,
Mr. Samir Hosni said the mission had visited Ras Doumeira, the scene
of Eritrea’s incursion, and had met the President of Djibouti and
other officials as well as reviewing a number of documents, maps and
other agreements signed before independence. Mr. Hosni concluded that
the situation remained “extremely sensitive”, with Eritrean and Djibouti
forces facing each other amid considerable tension. Last Sunday, Eritrea’s
Foreign Minister, Mohammed Salih Osman began an official visit to
Egypt. He has had meetings with his Egyptian counterpart, Mr. Ahmed
Abul Gheit and other officials. Discussions focused on bilateral cooperation
and other regional and African developments. High on the agenda was
Eritrea and Djibouti.
Last
week, Eritrea’s Ambassador to the European Union, Girma Asmerom, denied
that Eritrea had any problem with Djibouti and claimed, despite earlier
border claims by Eritrea, that “we have never had any problem with
Djibouti”. This was repeated by President Issayas in an interview
with Reuters earlier this week when he said “it is a fabrication,
we know. There is no basis for that…there has never been any problem….We
decline the invitation to go into another crisis in the region.” President
Issayas’ apparent refusal to acknowledge Eritrea’s incursion, despite
photographic evidence of Eritrean troop movements inside Djibouti
territory, was underlined by Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guellah.
In an interview with Djibouti’s La Nation after he had talked to President
Issayas on the telephone, he said that the Eritrean President seemed
unable to understand that his forces were in Djibouti territory. President
Ismail emphasized that even if Eritrea did not intend war, the facts
were entirely clear and that was why Djibouti had asked for regional
and international arbitration. On Monday, Prime Minister Meles, talking
to Trade Union officials, said that Eritrea “did sometimes act silly”
but he did not believe “they would go totally insane.” Even if they
did, he added, “Ethiopia has the capability of protecting the safety
of the Ethiopian-Djibouti trade corridor.”
-
Proxy
talks between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and the Asmara-based
Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia (ARS) have been going on
in Djibouti all this week. The meeting was originally planned as face-to-face
"talks about talks". The ARS, however, refused to sit down
with the TFG directly. As a result of this and because of divisions
among ARS political figures in Asmara, in Djibouti and in the Diaspora,
the Mediator, Ahmedou Ould-Abdalla, the UN Secretary-General’s Special
Representative, was forced to talk to the negotiators separately.
This first phase meeting has concluded with the signing of a declaration
committing the two parties to continue their efforts to resolve the
crisis in Somalia through peaceful means. They have agreed to meet
again on May 31. The Somali Minister for Reconciliation, Mr. Abdirazak
Ashkir, head of the TFG delegation said that the two parties had laid
a good base from which progress could be made. The leading ARS representative,
Mr. Abdurahman Abdulshakir, described the first phase as a success,
and criticized ARS figures who had spoken out against the talks.
The talks
were in fact attacked by Sheikh Yusuf “Indhe Adde”, a former warlord
in Lower Shebelle and now ARS security chief, in an interview for
the BBC. President Issayas has also strongly attacked the talks accusing
the UN of trying to divide the ARS, which he set up in Asmara last
year: “I have no idea why they have gone for this. It’s part of a
plan meant to weaken the Somali resistance by dividing and weakening
the Islamic courts, dividing and weakening the alliance, and creating
problems here and there. No one seems to be interested in what
the UN, with pressures from Washington, is trying to do. It may not
bring in any result at all." President Issayas appears furious
that a group that he organized to achieve his objective of trying
to destabilize the TFG and its Ethiopian ally in Somalia seem to be
collapsing. Reportedly, the ARS is now virtually confined to a handful
of ex ICU members in Asmara, notably Sheikh Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys’
and one other senior religious cleric; most of the rest of the ARS
appear to have left. Sheikh Hassan Dahir ‘Aweys’ described the meeting
in Djibouti as a waste of time and, despite his lack of any formal
position within the ARS, instructed ARS delegates to walk out because
no tangible outcome could be expected. The delegation appears to have
ignored his instructions. The ARS now appears divided between those
who are opting for reconciliation and are refusing to go back to Asmara,
and those accepting Asmara’s position of continuing to try and undermine
Somali reconciliation.
This
afternoon, the UN Security Council this afternoon unanimously adopted
Resolution 1814 (2008) expressing strong support for Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon’s integrated strategy for building the foundations of
peace and durable stability in Somalia, including plans for greater
international presence on the ground. The Council endorsed the three-pronged
approach proposed in Mr. Ban’s 14 March report which aligned the political,
security and programmatic efforts of the United Nations in the country
in a “sequenced and mutually reinforcing way”, and requested an updated
version within 60 days. To facilitate the strategy, the Council approved
Mr. Ban’s proposal to establish a joint planning unit in the office
of his Special Representative, and welcomed his recommendation to
relocate the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) to
Mogadishu. UNPOS would then support the Transitional Federal Institutions
in developing a Constitution and holding a referendum on the resulting
document, as well as holding democratic elections in 2009. On security,
the resolution welcomed efforts, in coordination with donors, to strengthen
United Nations logistical, political and technical support to AMISOM.
It requested the Secretary-General continue his contingency planning
for the possible deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission
to succeed AMISOM. The Council also requested the sanctions committee
to recommend, within 60 days, specific measures against people or
organizations that hampered stability in Somalia or breached the arms
embargo. There is now a possibility that the Security Council on its
planned visit to Africa in June may also include Djibouti on its itinerary.
Meanwhile,
in a declaration this week, the EU Presidency welcomed the significant
progress made in the political process in Somalia since the beginning
of the year. It reaffirmed its full support to the transitional federal
authorities for the action taken by the Transitional Federal Government
and to the reconciliation strategy of Prime Minister Nur ‘Adde’ which
had made it possible to start a dialogue with all Somali parties,
internal as well as external, and launch a true reconciliation process.
The EU welcomed the discussions in Djibouti as a necessary first step
towards the initiation of inter-Somali negotiations. It also welcomed
the efforts made by the Transitional Federal Government to reform
the security sector and ensure the rule of law in Somalia. It reiterated
EU support to the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in
his efforts to coordinate the action of the international community
and to facilitate inter-Somali political dialogue.
-
It is
to be recalled that until mid-April the Security Council was deeply
concerned over Eritrea’s actions in causing the withdrawal of United
Nations Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) and thus the complete
demolition of the Temporary Security Zone
(TSZ). Two issues were involved with respect to this development.
One was the fact that a UN Peacekeeping mission, which had been set
up by the Security Council, was mishandled and humiliated, and eventually
kicked out by a UN member state which had previously given its consent
to the deployment of UNMEE. The head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping
Operations, Mr. Guehenna, said at the time that what Eritrea had done
was unprecedented and would have major negative implications for UN
peacekeeping. Paradoxically, the person who has the responsibility
for UN peacekeeping later changed his mind. By late April, 2008, he
was beginning to argue that there was little the Council could do
with respect to Eritrea’s illegal acts. In short, he began to advise
the Council that Eritrea should be coddled rather than criticised.
The Eritrean
action also has implications for the Algiers Agreements as a whole.
Ethiopia has said time and again that the Agreement on Cessation of
Hostilities is the bedrock of the Algiers peace process. The Agreement
on Cessation of Hostilities makes it abundantly clear that the complete
functioning of the TSZ and the unrestricted operation of UNMEE are
necessary conditions for the success of any initiative to resolve
the dispute within the framework of the Algiers Agreements. How can
it be assumed that the demolition of the Agreement on Cessation of
Hostilities would have no effect on the Agreements in general? This
is a conundrum that the Security Council will have to explain. The
Council will also have to explain why it abdicated the responsibilities
allocated to it under the Algiers Agreements in terms of implementing
Chapter VII sanctions against violations of the Agreement on Cessation
of Hostilities. Recent events appear to
leave the Council with a lot to answer.
-
This
week, Foreign Minister Seyoum delivered the keynote address at the
annual retreat of the United Nations Ethiopia Country Team which opened
in Makelle on Wednesday. The UN Country Team in Ethiopia is made up
of 25 agencies and the retreat was preceded by a visit to Axum to
see the progress made in the restoration and re-erection of the Axumite
Obelisk from Rome. This project, which will be completed in September
this year, is technically supported by UNESCO. The UN retreat was
opened by the President of the Tigray Regional State, Ato Tsegaye
Berhe; and chaired by Mrs. Alice Ouedraogo, the Director of ILO Sub-Regional
Office for Eastern Africa. In his opening remarks, the UN Resident
Coordinator for Ethiopia, Mr. Fidele Sarassoro, noted that the aim
of the meeting was to take stock of UN agency activities, agree on
a road map for cooperation with the Government of Ethiopia, improve
the coordination and effectiveness of UN programs in Ethiopia, and
look at the implications for Ethiopia of such major issues as the
global food crisis and climate change.
In his
keynote address, Foreign Minister Seyoum underlined how much Ethiopia
valued the UN and the work of its agencies, pointing out Ethiopia’s
long-standing support, as a founder-member, for the organization and,
for example, for UN Peacekeeping operations. Nevertheless, he stressed,
the globalized world of today was undergoing new
challenges and new threats, and Ethiopia, like the UN, had to adapt.
The Minister noted that seventeen years ago Ethiopia was launched
on a new path of governance. This had also involved the introduction
of a new approach to Ethiopian diplomacy. This was finally systemized,
in 2003, as a Foreign Policy and National Security Strategy based
on a realistic appreciation of national interests, and internal vulnerabilities,
both economic and political. It identified the most critical internal
threats to the survival of the Ethiopian state, and the Minister identified
these as economic backwardness and the abject poverty of most of the
population, as well as the need for democracy and good governance.
Indeed, the Minister pointed out the fight against poverty, the building
of democracy and the entrenchment of good governance, were the essential
elements for Ethiopia’s very survival. Ethiopia’s major enemy, poverty,
could only be defeated by economic development and democratization.
The need to deal with these challenges, he said, signified a paradigm
shift from the policies of previous regimes, and provided the fundamental
basis for Ethiopia’s new foreign policy.
The Minister identified
the emphasis now placed on economic diplomacy as a notable example
of this. It necessitated, he said, a pragmatic and non-rhetorical
approach to encourage the flow of investment, trade and tourism, as
well as economic cooperation and the development of mutual trust and
confidence in bilateral and multilateral relations. Genuine partners,
whose friendship had direct meaning for Ethiopia’s survival as a nation,
were those who contributed to Ethiopia’s economic progress and to
the deepening of democracy, and were prepared to involve themselves
in a mutually beneficial partnership for economic cooperation. Peace,
stability and security were necessities for economic development;
and Ethiopia’s relations with all countries were firmly anchored in
the principles of good neighborliness, peaceful coexistence, peaceful
resolution of disputes and the reduction of threats to national security
interests. At the multilateral level, the same approach applied, though
Ethiopia also tries to cater responsibly to the collective interests
of the international community.
The result
had been some considerable successes in foreign policy. Ethiopia
had managed to build strong co-operative relations with all its neighbours.
This was true politically and even economically, and provided the
infrastructural basis for even greater engagement. There might still
be much to be done, but what was already achieved with Sudan, Djibouti
and Kenya was very encouraging, and Ethiopia hoped to establish similar
levels of cooperation with Somalia shortly. All the countries in the
Horn shared the same malady: poverty. The image of the Horn had to
change. The welfare of the people demanded it, as did the national
interest of all countries of the region. This, the Minister said,
was why Ethiopia particularly regretted the failure to bring the dispute
with Eritrea to an end, but, he added, “one cannot clap with one hand”.
Widening
the discussion, the Minister pointed out that the major challenges
facing Africa were rooted in the continent’s economic situation. The
current rapid rise in the price of food and energy demonstrated that
the existing imbalance between the developed and the developing world
could not be sustained for long. Terrorism and poverty might not have
a direct causal relationship, the Minister said, but poverty, and
its attendant hopelessness, provided fertile ground for extremism.
Other major challenges included global warming, to which Africa hardly
contributed, but suffered greatly from the negative impact of climate
change on agriculture. The impact on development prospects was devastating.
Ethiopia, additionally, was facing the scourge of an HIV/AIDS pandemic
as well as problems of malaria and tuberculosis, even though progress
was being made, and Ethiopia’s partners had been generous in their
assistance. On dealing with the scourge of conflict, however, the
Minister said co-operation from the international community to help
maintain the rule of law and some level of sanity had been minimal.
The lack of peace and stability in the Horn of Africa continued to
be a major challenge. It was, he said, unlikely to change in the near
future.
The Minister
stressed that the UN was already playing a major role in the fight
against poverty as demonstrated with the Millennium Development Goals.
In other areas, however, like peace and stability, whether in the
Horn of Africa or more widely, the UN could do more. It was here,
the Minister said, Ethiopia would like to see a revitalized and active
United Nations, effective, democratic in its decision making and transparent
in its working methods, allowing the Security Council
to act independently of the aims and political will of its individual
members. Ethiopia’s interest, the Minister said, was not in having
any place on the Security Council, but in seeing the Council becoming
more proactive for peace, being a more effective vehicle for genuine
economic co-operation, leading the fight against poverty and being
the conscience of the people of the world in defence of human rights
and international humanitarian law. Reform of the Security
Council, and expansion of its membership, must produce a UN which
could effectively address the concerns of its member states, overcome
its fragmentation, and deliver a unified commitment to development,
humanitarian assistance and the environment. The
peoples of the world have a common purpose and common interest, and
the UN should become, what it was created to be, an effective custodian
of these purposes and interests. The world was becoming progressively
smaller, a true village; it was gravely irresponsible to overlook
this, as was so often the case. This must change. The UN would then
become an effective instrument to protect the global village from
all its many real and potential threats.
-
The 11th Extraordinary
Session of the Executive Council (of Foreign ministers) of the African
Union was held in Arusha, in Tanzania, on the 6th and 7th
of May to consider the Report on the Audit of the Union, the Comments
of the Commission and the other Organs of the Union. The High Level
Panel, which conducted the Audit of the Union, was chaired by Professor
Adebayo Adedeji, the former Executive Secretary of the ECA. The Audit
Report made a candid assessment of the state of the Union, and its
report contained clear and implementable recommendations on how to
accelerate the continent's political and socio-economic integration.
In this respect the Audit made it clear that “the present conceptual
vision of unity under the Constitutive Act is a union of equal and
sovereign states”. It also noted that “there is considerable potential
for moving the integration process forward without tampering with
the Constitutive Act. The Audit suggested that in order to accelerate
the integration process, the organs of the Union, especially the Commission,
would have to be strengthened. Equally, the member states would have
to ensure the implementation and domestication of the decisions and
policies of the Union. The Executive Council meeting, attended by
Foreign Minister Seyoum for Ethiopia, heard from all the stakeholders,
the representatives of the Regional Executive Councils, and the organs
of the Union, including the Commission, and considered the 159 recommendations
of the Audit Report. It then agreed, inter alia, that as regards the
Assembly, this should continue to hold, as now, two ordinary sessions
a year. The Chairperson of the Assembly should continue to have a
one year term of office, and that the practice of having a thematic
approach to the sessions should continue. With regard to the Executive
Council, its current designation and method of functioning should
continue, and the Special Technical Committees should be put into
operation as quickly as possible as designated by the Consultative
Act. It was also agreed that the inner workings and coordination of
the Commission needed to be strengthened to enable it to play fully
its central role in accelerating the integration process. The recommendations
of the Executive Council will now be considered by the Committee of
Ten Heads of State and Government which was set up to examine the
issue of Union Government. The Committee will be meeting in Arusha
on May 22 and 23.
-
A three
day workshop on Inter-State and Intra-Regional Cooperation in Migration
was held in Addis Ababa this week. Participants included delegates
from IGAD member states, and migrant originating, receiving and transiting
states. Among those present at the opening session were the Chairperson
of the AU Commission, the Director General of the International Organization
for Migration and the AU Commissioner of
Science and Technology, as well as representatives of the ECA and
EU. Speaking on the occasion, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Dr. Tekeda Alemu, noted the appropriateness of the timing. Weaknesses
in migration management were becoming a source of enormous challenges
in various areas. There is a strong consensus both in Africa and internationally
on the need for more effective cooperation on migration management.
The State Minister pointed out that Africa had developed a common
position and a strategic framework on Migration and Development, and
a lot of ground towards developing a common understanding with the
EU had been covered. Nevertheless, in the IGAD region there was a
great need to develop a strategy and a common approach on migration
management and to harmonize policies. The need to enhance regional
capacity to ensure proper legal migration and strengthen migration
management could not be overemphasized. The State Minister underlined
Ethiopia’s commitment to effective migration management. He noted
that unregulated migrant flows were damaging in terms of security
and had grave economic consequences for developing countries in terms
of a brain-drain. This, in fact, was becoming a very critical issue,
and it was clear that selective migration could end up depriving Africa
of the necessary human resources for development. In fact, legal
immigration and effective migration management were in the interests
of both the developed and the developing world, of IGAD countries
and their partners. Subsequent discussions covered the need to establish
an IGAD Regional Consultative Process to enable member countries and
other stakeholders to exchange information, to enable migration to
be used as a tool for development and to defend the rights of migrants
wherever they might reside. Delegates endorsed a draft declaration
to be presented to the IGAD Council of Ministers for adoption.
-
Amnesty
International’s highly controversial report “Routinely targeted: attacks
on Civilians in Somalia” has again come under sharp attack this week.
The Transitional Government of Somalia has issued a statement expressing
its dismay that any respected human rights organization should allow
itself to be so deceived and manipulated by supporters of those who
have perpetrated some of the most heinous crimes against the Somali
people. The statement noted that the kind of crimes now being committed
by extreme radical elements have never been seen before in Somalia
or indeed in most of Africa. These extremist elements, known as Al-Shabaab,
routinely used civilians as human shields and terrorized entire neighbourhoods.
The statement pointed out that the hallmark of an Al-Shabaab killing
was what the Amnesty report referred to as “slaughtering like goats”.
The statement said that Amnesty had ignored the many, widely publicized,
killings and massacres committed by Al-Shabaab, in mosques in Mogadishu
and Baidoa, bombings of buses, the massacres of refugees in Bossaso
and many other killings in Mogadishu and its environs. The statement
wondered if this was an oversight or a deliberate attempt to ignore
Al-Shabaab’s wanton violations of international humanitarian law.
The statement said that the responsibility to protect the population
rested with the Government of Somalia and it was a responsibility
that the Government took extremely seriously. No wilful violation
of the fundamental rights of the Somali people would be tolerated
by the Government or by the Ethiopian forces in Somalia. The statement
noted that Ethiopian forces in Somalia conducted themselves with the
utmost professionalism and discipline. Their level of discipline could,
indeed, be compared with that of any professional force operating
in any theatre of war. The Government statement also noted that the
report claimed that the government had been responsible for violations
of press freedom. In fact, the statement pointed out the Transitional
Federal Government provides near absolute freedom to the press in
Mogadishu, even though most of it has been vehemently anti-government.
Since Somalia is a country at war with terrorist and extremist elements,
it can actually be proud of its record of press freedom. The Transitional
Federal Charter obligates the Government to adhere to certain standards
of Press freedom. It does.
The statement said Somalia
was seriously engaged in a process of reconciliation and state-building
which the Government hopes would lead to lasting peace, stability
and democratic governance. It was therefore surprised to see a report
which so utterly distorted the reality of Somalia and painted such
a false picture. It was full of fabrications, half truths and, in
some instances, outright lies. It was not a report one would expect
Amnesty to produce at a critical juncture of the struggle against
terrorism and extremist forces, giving, as it did, cover to the extremist
elements committing the very grave crimes that Amnesty claims it is
trying to prevent. The statement wondered why Amnesty, a respected
organization, chose to be manipulated by the supporters of the extremist
forces that are causing mayhem in Somalia. The smear campaign,
of which Amnesty has chosen to be part, should be condemned in the
strongest possible terms. Amnesty should be ashamed to collude with
forces perpetrating the very crimes which it claims to want to stop.
-
Last
Friday, the Pan African Parliament (PAP) celebrated the Ethiopian
Millennium. The ceremony was attended by Mr. Mohammud Dirir, the Minister
of Culture and Tourism leading a high level delegation from Ethiopia.
Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said the purpose of the Millennium
celebration was “to look into the glorious past of the nation and
to build a vibrant democracy that is marked by peace”. He noted that
Ethiopia was “known for its tolerance in terms of culture and religious
diversity.” The Chairperson of the PAP Committee on Education, Culture,
Tourism and Human Resources, the Honourable Maidagi Allambeye, stated
that “the celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium is an active expression
of African solidarity and the entire PAP associates itself with this
great Ethiopian cultural event”. PAP’s recognition of the Ethiopian
Millennium was in accordance with the AU declaration that the Ethiopian
Millennium was unique and an event for all of Africa. This was adopted
at the 8th Ordinary Session of the Heads of State and Government
of the African Union.
|