Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Family Affair

By Seminawork contributor

Detailed information regarding last week's meeting between family members of Kinijit's leaders and Donald Yamamoto, the US Ambassador in Ethiopia, has been obtained by Seminawork.

According to American Embassy sources, members of the families of Brehnau Nega, Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, Hailu Shawel and Yacob Woldemariam were asked to appear at the Embassy last Thursday on short notice. At the meeting, the US Ambassador appeared with Ethiopia's greatest Athlete, Haile Gebresillasie and Ambassador Bekele. Both have been mediating talks between the jailed Kinijit leaders and the Meles administration.

After the family members were briefed about the talks by Haile and Ambassador Bekele, they were told that the government wanted the jailed leaders to apologize for conspiring to overthrow it. A letter of apology drafted by the EPRDF was also shown to them. Ambassador Yamomoto assured the family members that if the prisoners signed the lettter, his office would guarantee their release.

Brehnau's father Ato Nega spoke first. He recalled how he taught his son integrity and dignity when he was a kid and refused to take the letter to his son. "My son was taught of dignity and integrity. He fought for his country when he was not more than 15. He then went to your country and learned about democracy. He returned to Ethiopia to help his country. When EPRDF claimed that there would be democracy, he participated in election and was jailed for that. Am I going to tell him to ditch his self-respect and apologize for the wrong he didn't commit?" Ato Nega said with tittering, low voice.

His mother Woizero Abebech was even more forceful. "My son has told me that he wouldn't die twice. If he signed this, he would die twice." Dr. Yacob's sister Almenesh claimed that Ethiopian politics isn't an family affair and the families of the jailed leaders have no right to decide on the fate of the nation.

According to the sources, neither Ambassador Yamomoto nor the two Ethiopian mediators acted on bad-faith. "There was an urge and want to help. Yamomoto did not comment a lot. He listened. Haile and ambassador Bekele also talked about saving the country and reconciliation," one source said.

Ambassador Yamomoto has thrown himself on solving the current political crisis right from the first date of his arrival. American embassy staff said his attitude and approach has been quite contrasting with the former charge d'affaires, Vicki Huddelstone who was acting as Meles's messenger.

EZ will resume blogging tomorrow.


Anonymous said...

Ethio Zagol;

I see your veiled attempt at deifying Berhanu and Yacob, both remarkable men, at the expense of the Hailu, Araya. etc.... anTena guadocheh atarfum!

Anonymous said...



Even though I am not actively involved in the struggle of my country Even though I am not paying any price Even though am not even closer to this kind of scarifies paied by my country men I will say this with great respect and admiriation.

You are a hero for all of us you are a voice for those who died,you are a voice for the voice less ,you are our hope.Not only you but your family who suffer with you you showed us we can not live with out hope you said we have to think for better future for our childers future.

Ethiopian childers and grand childerens are watching the are seeing their future.


sony said...


I don't see the above statement more than the characteristic Ethiopians politeness. Apology to the depot is a suicide. BTW since when did Melese start believing in reconciliation and Apology? Has he apologized fro insulting the Ethiopian flag and Ethiopians? Has he apologized, to the parents and children of the gunned down Ethiopian? Has he ever apologized for insulting our history? Apology should be the least in their mind, unless they want to undermine their own struggle for freedom and justice.

We all know "Neber chiraw teyezo Ayelekekem" endehone negero.

Anonymous said...

Sony shabiaw, we know who you are always adding fuel to the fire.

Anonymous said...

If anybody has to apologize it is the woayne dedebit murderers not the Kinijit leaders.

Haile needs to get back to what he does best running. He should stop being used by woyanes before he loses respect.

Thank you Ato Nega and Woiz. Abebech you have raised our Mayor well. Proud Ethiopians don't bow down to fascist muderers.

Lemma_gutama said...


Anonymous said...

Good point Lemma
EZ has gone several times out of limit just to show that he is close to KINIJIT, but always with slant to undermine one over the other. The Kiniji division he and his cohort engineered have created a good platform to attack personalities who are critical to TPLF. As a result, TPLF has now started hunting down important figures backhome, which TPLF never had information before. We will see who will land in Woyane jail from those who were in the meeting!!


Anonymous said...

Ethio-Zagol, excellent work again. But I am afraid for the families whose names mentioned. TPLF is a wild animal, Meles eats babies for breakfast and he drinks raw hot ETHIOPIAN BLOOD instead of tea. Every morning I see Meles I chack my baby is at home safe and sound. He is not a human, he is a MONSTER (a Midget Monster).

His last demand was that the political prisoners confess to the crime he commited and they should promise to exclude themselves from Ethiopian politics. This is a joke, like Sony said above, "Neber chiraw teyezo Ayelekekem" honoal Negeru!

Mels is in a tight position now, he released many of Derg prisoners free and they were many more he jailed for life. Lets see how he handles these innocent bunch. If he condemn's them for life, he is in trouble, if he says free he is in trouble. He is in a tight squeez.

Its time for TPLF to hand power to the people that won the election held in May 2005. Where in the world do you see winners go to jail while losers hold on to power? History has shown to us all, every political prisoner imprisoned come out and become a leader. Neilson Mandella, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chavez have been all jailed accused of inciting violence and when the time comes they were all allowed to lead their people. Hailu Shawel, is the recognized Ethiopian leader. Regardless, what TPLF says, we only know recognize our democratically elected leader Hailu Shawel.

Its gives me a great pleasure to hear the family is holding on with pride. We know its is essential for the families of the prisoners to stay strong, one way or another we have them released. May God bless our leaders.

Anonymous said...

I don't trust Yamamato at all. The US administration must press the Tplf regime to release the Prisoners without any pre-condition and start real political dialog. Other than that it is all a futile attempt to save the mercenary Tplf regime in power at the expense of the Ethiopian people. If the US administarion is serious about democracy in Ethiopia, There's no doubt that, had the west seriously signalled to Melles Zenawi at this point that jailing elected leaders of the opposition would not be tolerated, Meles would have released the leaders faster than you can say "pariah state". Diplomats like to present themselves as powerless in the face of Melles's famous obstinacy. It's an argument I have never accepted. The Tplf regime, which receives an annual $1 billion in aid, relies on donors to feed its Mercenary Agazi Militia. As Dr. Yacob's sister rightly stated the matter is not a family issue but the fate of the Nation. No pre-condition period. Good faith doesn't work in politics. Haile Gebresellassie must understand that Poltics and sport are two very different things. He must not be used by the Tplf regime for its sinister agenda.

ethioinfo said...

What bullshit. This is a classic good cop/bad cop routine. Vickie is the bad cop and Yama is the good cop. Well, we are not idiots.Who was giving directions to Vickie? It was Yamoto. Who did not bother to reign in Vickie? It was Yamoto. and now we are supposed to believe he is concerned for the prisoners. He put the prisoners where they are now. He is not concerned. He is a liar. The families should stay out of politics and should have said to contact the prisoners directly.

Anonymous said...

Yamamoto is a liar son of a bitch. He is double talker, he was organizing a case on behalf of TPLF right after TPLF imprisoned our democratically ellected leaders. Do you all remember when Yamamoto telling the African committee what TPLF has done is justified, even the killing he said "was necessary to calm the protest," which was peaceful until AGAZI SHARP SHOOTERS From the roof tops were aiming for the head and killed 680 people. According to the TPLF count it was 278 and immediately they started counting two kids as one man. Then they said it was only 200, but the real figure was 678. People who died after they were taken home or hospital started dying.

Yamomoto is an Oriental Snake. Don't you believe what he blurts, he is satan himself wearing asian skin. He was telling all the members of African committee TPLF is fighting terror war, terror my arss, TPLF was the terrorist organization in Ethiopia.

Anonymous said...

The Americans are hell bent on saving thier mercenary client regime in the horn of Africa. The right wingers in the American politics are advocating to use mercenary agents like the Tplf regime for thier war to control the world. Yamamato lied to his teeth to defend his client regime in his testimony in the US congress. We should never be fooled again. The current US government is looking at the world in the prism of terrorism period. But the end of this government is coming soon. The Tplf regime fed Yamamato and his friends a wrong intelligence on Somalia and brought Somalia in to a total mess. The Americans must understand that they will benefit from democracy in Ethiopia. The must push the regime to release the prisnors WITHOUT ANY PRE-CONDITION.

Anonymous said...

This is a well planned by CIA and other intelegent services strategy to break down the opposition movement. And this is one of the lowest attempt to scum the ethiopian people and their movement. I know the Meles government knows the crimes they commited against the people and the opposition. such as listed below:

•Meles Zenawi’s security and military apparatus massacred 44 University students in cold blood in Addis Ababa in 2001.


•In what was described then as “Africa’s Kosovo”, the shameless bigoted leader of the Tigrayan minority regime in Ethiopia, in 1998 and 1999 deported over 80,000 innocent Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin and confiscated over a billion dollars worth of their hard earned belongings right under the watchful eye of the African Union, UN and EU Ambassadors. Manifesting his ignorance of Japanese-American history, he had the audacity to say, “The Ethiopian government has the unrestricted right to expel any foreigner from the country for any reason whatsoever. Any foreigner, whether Eritrean, Japanese, etc., lives in Ethiopia because of the goodwill of the government. If the Ethiopian government says ‘Go, because we don’t like the colour of your eyes,’ they have to leave.” Nevertheless, he got away with his bigotry and crimes.


• Meles Zenawi’s minority regime rigged the May 2005 Elections, stole the people’s votes and ignited the nationwide protests that have plagued Ethiopia for the last 8 months. Having declared a “State of Emergency” on 16 May 2005, and after taking full command of the police, security and army apparatus, the genocidal regime has detained all the opposition leaders, journalists, civil society leaders and opposition supporters on trumped up charges of treason and inciting violence, and detained over 40,000 Ethiopians all over the country while its military and security forces have massacred over 100 people since the elections.

•Ethiopian police shot and killed two people and wounded many more during disturbances at celebrations marking the Orthodox Epiphany in 2006. Hundreds of riot police were deployed in various parts of Addis Abeba, adding to the terror in the city.

•Misusing arms and equipment originally intended to boost Ethiopia’s “antiterrorism efforts” along the country’s border with Somalia, the US Ambassador to Ethiopia has acknowledged Meles Zenawi’s regime’s usage of “Humvees”, US military vehicles, to harass, intimidate and terrorize Ethiopians in the city.

•The regime continues to harbor and finance Al Queda trained operatives parading as “liberation movements” in Mekele, Gondar and Addis Ababa. These terrorists have carried out attacks across the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, across the Ethiopia-Kenya borders and also the Ethiopian-Sudan borders, killing innocent civilians and destroying private and state properties.

How dear they think the birghtest seaseoned, bravest and the intelectual CUD leadership will give up for this low trick? This is so embarassing for the US embassy and state department.

Anonymous said...

Last anon....
I thought Shabia trained its people better than this. Do you know what plagiarism is? Or are you Sofia Tesfamariam?

Anonymous said...

The families have to share their realities - yes, EPRDF is probably aching that news is out - but no way to stop it despite the desperate intimidation from state dept and gvmt - the people have said no more and will continue to.... I guess the government will have to kill 75 million

Anonymous said...

kinjit is a spirit. no jail can keep it and no nation can stop it. may God protect Ethiopia and Ethiopians.

Tafesse said...

Kinijit was a spirit. Sounds like voodoo, perhaps from Jamaica. Another guy called hijself Lion of Judah. Goodbye geography.
Whether Yamamoto does this or that, I seriously doubt he consults you guys. Reconciliation has long been the dirty card of Mesfin et al. One wonders, suppose EPRDF wishes to reconcile (God knows for what and why), why should it be Herman Shawel and comrade Mesfin that should be presented as the other party. Their case is a clear cut criminal case governed by the penal code. According to Herman Shawel, some 15 thousand are condemned to die to pay the price of his ill conceived plan to usurp power. They are still out there but I think they have realized there are better things to do than to become canon foder for Herman Shawel.
Bottomline: poor and cheap propaganda