EDITOR’S NOTE: These are opportunist cowards. Why don’t they speak up when the Meles dictatorship is turning the country into a vast prison camp for Oromos?
By Tsegaye Tadesse
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – An Ethiopian rebel group must listen to its people and start talks with the government to end a 15-year insurgency in the Horn of Africa nation, elders from the Oromo ethnic group said on Saturday.
Ethiopian Prime Minister dictator Meles Zenawi, the main U.S. ally in the turbulent region, is opposed by a range of rebel groups from remote regions, including the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) which has fought for autonomy for its southern homeland since 1993.
“We strongly demand that the OLF leadership heed the genuine desire of the Oromo people and enter into negotiations with the Ethiopian government without further delay,” a group of 125 Oromo elders said in a statement.
It said the guerrillas should respect a pact with Meles’ administration dictatorship reached in the Netherlands in January under which the rebels agreed to accept Ethiopia’s constitution in principle and start talks.
The government blames the insurgents for several bomb blasts targeting the capital, Addis Ababa, in recent years, and last week it said its forces had killed a senior OLF commander after luring him to a farmer’s house in the west of the country.
Ethiopia {www:Woyanne} accuses arch-foe Eritrea of backing the OLF and other rebels. Asmara denies it, and accuses Meles of oppressive policies that have triggered resistance movements. From 1998 to 2000, the two nations fought a border war in which 70,000 people were killed.
(Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
21 thoughts on “125 Oromo elders urge OLF to negotiate with Woyanne”
This is great news to all peace loving ethiopian and bad news to all those who want to see the xountry in termoile and mess like elias kifle just for the sake of thier personal interests-power.
God bless Ethiopia
trying to fool again? never seen like those people in the history of ethiopia can’t you imagine? woyanes plan is to make sure that Ethiopians are divided by ethinic and region the they want to live peace (NERO THE MAD).
genet
you are right. elias has already started lamenting. if olf reconciles with the ethiopian government, elias will be short of topics to mess about in his bloody website
i wonder when and were the woyane policy will mature.OLF issue is political one and if woyane is serious talking to them they should to do that on negations table not trought elders call whom are under-pressure themselves in hardship atomosphere, there was time in ethiopia’s rebels to refuse negations not only OLF but as far we know every rebel group in ethiopia is ready to negatioted but this call is misleading and woyane want to try to isiolate the oromo rebel from thier comunity.
remember meles tried this tactic in ogaden and i did not work and this one will enedup same result.
First which OLF are we talking about ? Presently there are three OLFs- One led by Galasaa Dilbo, another by General Kamal Galchu and the third by Dawud. Secondly who are these Oromo elders? OPDO members, Tigrayans camouflaged as Oromo? This is also an important issue to clarify. Thirdly why should OLF negotiate with a tyrannical and vindictive regime at this very time? Even if dialogue is preferable to resolve conflicts, talk with a regime that is hell-bent to destroy Oromo society and its fabric is futile. We have seen that in the past. A stubborn minority regime that is determined to amass power and establish a Tigrayan dynasty at any cost is not a good negotiation partner. TPLF understands and believes in military confrontation and that should be the only option to bring change in Ethiopia.
This is nothing but a Woyanne pipe dream, the new OLF leadership will not fall for such divisive tactics, the only reason Woyanne wants “peace” talks with the OLF is to relieve the pressure it is feeling from all the armed opposition groups. Woyanne knows it is the end of them if they try military confrontation with all the opposition groups so they are trying a divide and rule strategy they learned from their masters. Any unpopular dictatorial regime tries such tactics when they can see their end coming.
These so called elders are nothing but opportunists who got false monetary and position promises from Woyanne, they don’t care about justice and equality for the Oromo people. The people and OLF will reject this transparent ruse and finish the fight to end Woyanne rule soon.
Woyanne know they are under siege from Somalia all the way to Eritrea, the only card they have left is the divide and rule card, it will not work now or ever, the people of Ethiopia are not going to be fooled by these fascists forever.
Who are those elders?
Woyanes are chasing out the Oromos like beasts. First of all they ousted them 2 years after their coalition in 1993. They used them out until they consolidate their power.
The struggle of the Oromo people is like the rest Ethiopian people to live with freedom, justice and democracy.
Since the power is purposely concentrated on one tribe(golden tribe, according to the expression of Melese Zenawi)it is very difficult to exercise democratic right with freedom of speech, the right of assembly,self-reliance, etc.
Again, we should ask who are those elders? who gave them mandate, it is a hidden agenda.
Are the Oromos dying for nothing?, for no Cause? Why not those so called elders raise the issue of Human right abuse and lack of democratic right of the whole nation.
Why do they single out the Oromos.
The so-called elders are collaborating with Woyane to prolong the suffering of the people and give Woyane more time to stay on power.
Since post-election of 2005, Ethiopia became a police state. the country is still under “state of Emergency”. Only Woyane chiefs roam whereever they like, wheras non-Woyanes are under strict surveillance.
This kind of tense situation must be changed through common struggle of all Ethiopian forces.
20 years of barbaric Woyane/eprdf rule, and 34 years of Tplf-rule on Tigray region should come to an end.
To ya all,
Elias did nothing except offer you free website to inform you daily about your dying country.However about the OLF negotiation different thjan the 1991?Now the weyanes are much smarter than and richer than and much wiser than and they control everthing and they became criminal thugs all in all.In this time when oromoos are thrown in jails in unprecedents numbers the reconciliation it doesn’t work at all.Yes it works for about six month to one year and weyane will shift to square one again and will send all OLF members to jail again.At least this is my prediction.weyane doesn’t want to transit power with one man one vote.They don’t believe in vote.period.what OLf is doing now will bringing regret as the past.nothing else.REGRET.From all this crap pick up your gun and intesfie the struggle and overthrow the “Crime family of tigray”
125 hodam oromos bow for tigrees.
Shame on you.
If it true and confirmed,OLF will send a signal to oromo people to be subjected under woyane tyranny.
Genet and feki,
You are missing the point. No one, let alone Elias, is opposed to a united Ethiopia. But, what they are opposed is united under the oppression of the entire people by Weyanes and for the sole purpose of maintaining the Weyane power stay. That is what they are opposed to. Hell no! to such unity for it is not unity in the real sense. It is forced upon the Ethiopian people for the purpose of subjugating them. How can one expect unity from a group that wants to break away from Ethiopia? If that is not naiveté, then it is opportunism that no one can be fooled about. So, the Oromo elders are nothing but messengers of Weyane hegemony at the expense of their fighting sons and daughters. I hope a true unity of our cousins come about that respects the rights of all the Ethiopians to live with perfect harmony helping each other. That is the wish from Eritrea and I presume all good wishing neighbors as well!
This statement dont mean noting. All information to stop our struggle is false information and the strugggle will still go on and this time even more agressive!
So called fat belly elders being manipulated by the Paniky Wayane cunning foxes marching on to divide and weaken victims of the heartless minority dictatorship.
By the way, why shouldn’t these spineless and shameless Wayane surrogates urge the killer dictator enslaving the Oromos and killing its vanguards to halt its senseless brutalities and instead undetake peaceful and negotitated settelements of the ongoing conflicts? Puting the cart infront of the horse can never be part of any rational journey to a rational solution. It is not Oromos who are occupying Wayane land and Wayane territory and conducting mass killings inorder to maintain its illegal occupation.
Impulsive and irrational blind Wayane master funder leaving office and global recession descending on our planet earth, dwarf wayane will soon run out of military software and hardware and it is the right and high time for the oromo movements to put their petty differences and senseless bickerings behind, close ranks and rain on those heartless brutal dictatorship in unity within diversity.
Meles Zenawi again trying to fool Oromos. This time he is using some traitors like Aba Biya, Niegussie Biratu with the guidandce of Ephrem Isac (non-Ethiopian). However, we the majority of Oromos will fight and remove TPLF from our country, Oromia. Victory to Oromo people!!
peace can only be delt with those who value it’s principal
for dictetors who only knows one way with their blood hand and minded ouesting them is the only solution for peace loving peapole.as the enire region suffers from the econmic termoil,feman, and un endless war, it’s time for tyrent rigem to remamber they are part of that nations to instade of pouring everything toward makele. us for oromo elders oromos are allways peace loving pepole and we will coninue the sucrfice untill the entire region become peacefull 40>5
I guess one of the 3 OLF group will negotiat if Alamudin strech his beloved hand; but they will loose.
This could have been a blessing only if there is a genuine reconciliation and negotiation among all political parties is planned. By picking one avengeful partition of OLF for negotiation in my view is not a serious one. First, all negoations unless they include Esayas Afewerki, I think it will be a difficult one. Before all our great elders like the late Lij Michael Emiru are gone, There has to be a commission of wise, educated, honest and religious with proportional diversity of gender, non political elders. After that All genuine political parties including those who want separtion should be called. The meeting should be held where everybody including government officals will be safe. Then we can talk about reconciliation or negotiation. Otherwise, it will be temporary lip service. Who will want to see us resolve our problem like this, I don’t think there will be any. This will be a tough call but it will bring hope to our region and to the rest of Africa. Lets pray that this happen.
It remids me the same Mengistu’s failed tirck when he was getting spanked by EPLF left and right, and resorted to collecting the so called “elders” to lessen and down-play the pain of totall defeat that was visible insight to the whole world. The falling Wayane is now in much worse predicament, they are getting spanked by countless armed Ethiopian oppostions and add to that the dreaded Somalian and ONLF fighters, Wayane’s half-life is practically over for good!
Re: ETHIOPIA ELDERS[‘OROMOS] ELDERS DEMAND OLF TO NEGOTIATE OR TYRANT MELES ZENAWI’S USUAL DIRTY TRICKS WHILE KILLING?
Ah, so these ‘elders’ whose names have to be ‘unavailable for security reasons’ demand that the OLF negotiate with the killer regime of Meles Zenawi(Bear in mind that the so called the elders demand, they are not appealing as it would be a norm and that the message was only to one party assuming that tyrant Meles Zenawi has already accepted/verified the willingness!!!).
.
What is so interesting is that the so called the ‘elders’ seem to replicate what the Somali ‘elders’ seemed to have done when Meles was turning Ogaden into dust through aerial bombardments! It was, in effect, a diversionary tactic by Meles to minimize the impact of the international out-cry in the wake of innocents being picked up and thrown in jails on false charges with Meles Zenawi acting as the police, the accuser, the judge/killer and the negotiator/the ‘elder’, all in one!!
With the OLF, it comes as a present to president-elect Barack Obama that in places like Meles Zenawi’s Ethiopia the old games of creating instability and abusing the phrase the ‘war on terror’ is the only offer on the table.
Although peace has to be given a priority over anything else, however, no peace could be attained with dictators such as Meles Zenawi whose only purpose is self-enrichment and expanding the scale of human tragedy.
Hence, if TPLF is desperate to save its skins(better hurry up before it is too late!), the better option is to look beyond the discredited dictator in the person of Meles Zenawi. He has never been a partner in peace and he is most unlikely to be one in the future. I believe Meles Zenawi’s place is in the Hague at the international courts of crimes against humanity!!. Meles has no vision to negotiate in good-faith!!!
He needs to be removed. He cannot be the leader Barack Obama could see as the beacon of reducing tension and an agent of expanding prosperity.
We had enough of Meles Zenawi’s cave mentality mafia politics!
There is something bizare in the Nazret.com serving as a co-sponsor with Aigaforum, Ben page…in posting the undigested/unfounded Meles Zenawi/TPLF’s propaganda. Is Nazret.com in the same league as TPLF media out-lets?
BTW, I do believe that if there were to be genuine negotiation, settling with the OLF would automatically open an avenue to a meaningful negotiation with the ONLF, SLF and other Ethiopian groups. But, that scenario could only be viable with a genuine partner for peace. Not with Meles Zenawi in charge!!
Regards
Biri
Who is Negotiating ? According to In side of those negotiaters all of those elders were members of OPDO and all of them known to Oromo people as agent of TPLF. So Oromo people can not trust these elders as true elders.
The TPLF is running out of good options and that`s why they are all over the places trying to find face saving.Elders?They tried that stupid trick and failed in Ogaden.They can shake the Tree again,but the apple ain` gonna fall.