Mereja Forum

[Zmeselo]

Ethiopia’s plan to build Red Sea military bases fuels tension with Egypt

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/20 ... z6xyfoHRZb

Amid the stalled negotiations with Egypt over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Ethiopia is expressing its intention to build military bases in the Red Sea.


Cranes loom over the second cargo reception terminal on June 23, 2010, in Djibouti port, Djibouti. Djibouti is the main transit point for seabound goods coming and going from land-locked Ethiopia. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Ahmed Gomaa (@AhmedGomaa252)

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/20 ... sion-egypt

June 9, 2021

CAIRO — Ethiopia recently made fiery remarks that further fueled tensions with Egypt over the controversial dam https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/20 ... a-security Addis Ababa is building on the Blue Nile.

On June 2, Dina Mufti, spokesperson for the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said his country is determined to build military bases in the Red Sea. https://www.alarabiya.net/arab-and-worl ... 9%85%D8%B1 Speaking at a press conference held https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210 ... ary-bases/ in Addis Ababa, he added,

Various countries (which he did not name) are showing an interest in controlling the Red Sea region by establishing more military bases than ever before.

Mufti said his country is planning to build military bases at a time when “worrying” changes are happening in the Horn of Africa.

This comes as Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have not made any progress https://www.alarabiya.net/arab-and-worl ... 8%B6%D8%A9 in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) talks, the last round of which was held in January.

Although Cairo has not made any official comments on Mufti’s statements, the latter have ignited criticism

in the local media.

In this vein, Maj. Gen. Mohamed al-Shahawy, adviser to the army's Command and Staff College, told Al-Monitor,

Ethiopia is a landlocked country, which means that it does not have direct access to the Red Sea. The repeated statements (about the Red Sea) are designed to preoccupy Ethiopia’s public opinion, cover up for the [Ethiopian] economic crisis https://www.qiraatafrican.com/home/new/ ... Gw0F9.dpbs and divert attention from the Tigray war.

https://www.bbc.com/arabic/world-57293207

After Eritrea gained independence https://www.france24.com/ar/20180709-%D ... 9%82%D9%8A in 1991 after three decades of war with Ethiopia, Addis Ababa lost direct access to the Red Sea.

Talk about setting up Ethiopian military bases https://www.bbc.com/arabic/middleeast-57288515 in the Red Sea comes in response to the military agreements Egypt signed with a number of Nile Basin countries https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/20 ... s-ethiopia and the joint military exercises https://al-ain.com/article/sudan-egypt- ... protectors conducted with Sudan recently,

Shahawy said.

He believes these military agreements Egypt https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/20 ... nsion.html signed would force Ethiopia to sign a binding and legal agreement https://www.eremnews.com/news/arab-world/egypt/2325369 on the filling and operation of the GERD.

Egypt signed a number of military agreements with African countries, especially those close to the Nile Basin region and most recently a defense cooperation agreement signed on May 26 with Kenya.

In March, Egypt signed a defense agreement with Sudan; https://www.independentarabia.com/node/ ... 9%8A%D8%9F it signed a memorandum of understanding on the exchange of intel with Uganda https://www.bbc.com/arabic/middleeast-56674777 in April. Also, the Egyptian and Burundian https://www.alarabiya.net/arab-and-worl ... %B6%D8%A9- militaries signed in the same month a military cooperation agreement focusing on training and joint exercises.

Hani Raslan, head of the Nile Basin Studies Unit at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor,

The Ethiopian officials reiterate every now and then their intention to establish military bases (in the region) after they decided to re-establish the Ethiopian navy, which necessitates a seaport and a military naval base.

In June 2018, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged to rebuild https://www.aljazeera.net/midan/reality ... 9%87%D8%A7 the country’s navy that was dissolved in 1996.

During French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Addis Ababa https://www.reuters.com/article/france- ... AKBN1QU0A6 in March 2019, the two countries signed a defense cooperation agreement to develop the Ethiopian navy and train Ethiopian sailors in France.

Raslan believes

an understanding with a country bordering the Red Sea, including Eritrea, is required in order for Ethiopia to build a military base in the Red Sea.

In December 2019, Ethiopia’s Capital magazine revealed an agreement to establish an Ethiopian naval base in Djibouti, https://www.capitalethiopia.com/feature ... pias-navy/ after previous proposals to build it in Sudan or Eritrea allegedly fell through.

Mohammad Hassan, an expert focusing on military affairs at the Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies, https://www.ecsstudies.com/ told Al-Monitor,

The timing of the Ethiopian statements on the military base carries several indications. Ethiopian generals are well aware that Ethiopia is a landlocked country.

He added,

Egypt succeeded in politically encircling Ethiopia from all axes by signing security, military and economic cooperation agreements with Sudan, Djibouti, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. As a result, Addis Ababa was isolated from its regional surroundings in the search for a way out of this crisis.

Shahawy said, Egypt insists on its principle that the Nile waters are a red line and that it is a life or death matter regardless of the circumstances.

[Abdisa]

Egyptians are Arabic speaking Agame.

[Sadacha Macca]

The Egyptians have to get over it, Ethiopians need the waters to improve the life of its people too.

https://www.opride.com/2010/12/16/why-o ... -politics/

I fully agree with this article our Brother Jawar wrote years ago, in 2010, basically: Oromo's have to be at the forefront of this struggle, and that a lot of the tributaries come from Oromia.

[Zmeselo]

Egyptians are Arabic speaking Agame.

[Abe Abraham]

ኢትዮጵያ ሓይሊ ባሕሪ ክትሃንጽ ትሓስብ ኣላ ምስ ሰምዐ ኣሕመድ ሙሳ ( ምስ ናይ ጸጥታ ሰባት ብጥብቂ ዝተሓባበር ኣቕራቢ መደብ ቶክሾው ምስሪ ። ንደቂ-ሃገር ኣህድእ ክብልዎ እንከለዉ የህድእ፡ ኣራሳስን ክብልዎ እንከለዉ ድማ የራሳስን ። በብዝሃብዎ መምርሒ ማለት እዩ ። ) ብሰብኣዩ ኮሸምሸም እንዳ በለ ሓጪጩ ። ዝተባህለ ብሓጺሩ ፥ " ኣስዮብያ ሓይሊ ባሕሪ ክትሃንጽ ...ኣበይ? ..ኣበየናይ ዘሎ ባሕሪ ? ... ገማግም ባሕሪ ናይ ኤርትራን ጅቡቲን ሶማልያን እዩ ። እንድዒ ከኣ ኣብ ቀላይ ጣናን ኣብ ድሕሪ ሓጽቢ ተሓድሶ ተዓቚሩ ዘሎ ማይ እንተ ኮነ ....ንምንታይ እሞ ? ዓሳ ንምጅላብ ? ዓሳ ንምጅላብ ዝዕማሙ ሓይሊ ባሕሪ ምትካል .....! "

[Zmeselo]

Busby withdraws looted Ethiopian artefacts from auction

https://www.ethioembassy.org.uk/busby-w ... m-auction/

16 Jun 2021



Embassy to make arrangements for the items to be returned to Ethiopia
—

Following discussions with the management of Busby Auctioneers and Valuers, an agreement has been reached, today, on the withdrawal of two Ethiopian artefacts that were due to go to auction on 17th June 2021.

The two items – an Ethiopian bible on vellum housed in a sewn leather satchel, together with an Ethiopian cross; and a set of graduated horn beakers – are from the estate of Major-General William Arbuthnot, a serving member of the late 19th-century expedition to Abyssinia, which culminated in the battle of Maqdala.


Ethiopian bible on vellum housed in a sewn leather satchel

On 9th June 2021, in line with the Government’s longstanding position on the return of looted artefacts from Maqdala, the Embassy made a formal request to Busby Auctioneers and Valuers for the withdrawal of the items from auction with a view to facilitating their eventual repatriation to Ethiopia.

Deputy Head of Mission, Mr. Beyene Gebremeskel said:

We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Busby. These items are of immense cultural, spiritual, and historical value to Ethiopians. Current and future generations of Ethiopians are deserving of the restitution of their cultural heritage, so we very much look forward to returning these precious items to Ethiopia in due course.

The Embassy will remain in dialogue with Busby Auctioneers and Valuers on arrangements for the return of the items to their rightful home in Ethiopia.

—ENDS—

Background:

In the aftermath of the battle of Maqdala in 1868, it is a well-established fact that British soldiers engaged in indiscriminate looting of both the Fortress of Maqdala and the surrounding areas, making off with innumerable objects of immense value to Ethiopians. Although many of these illegally obtained items are currently housed in public museums across the globe, some remain in private collections across the United Kingdom.

Since 1868, the Ethiopian authorities have consistently called for the return of all Maqdala loot back to Ethiopia. In that time, there have been more than 20 separate occasions when collectors have returned items to Ethiopia following requests for their repatriation.

Today, the Government of Ethiopia’s position remains unequivocally clear – the looting of Maqdala was a great injustice of the 19th century and persists as a scar on the, otherwise, warm and friendly relations between the peoples of Ethiopia and the United Kingdom. It is our belief that all Magdala objects must find their way home to bring closure to generations of Ethiopians dispossessed of their heritage and aggrieved by this painful chapter in our shared history.

For further information, please contact the Press Office at [email protected]

[Jaegol]

It makes sense for Ethiopia to build its naval base in Djibouti next to the port where 95% of its imports and exports take place...dorhalle port is built for Ethiopia
Djibouti welcoming all kinda of armies in its territory and Ethiopia the country that is feeding Djibouti water and electricity...should be no brainer