March 8, 2006 - According to press reports received by Radio Freedom from JigJiga, the newly created Ministry of Diaspora affairs within the Ethiopian Ministry of foreign affairs has carefully chosen seven members to spearhead new ‘peace making’ propaganda on behalf of the Addis Ababa regime.
The chosen seven were members of the eighteen Ogaden traditional elders tasked to engage further in peace making efforts between the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the Addis Ababa regime. People with intimate knowledge of the workings of the new ministry of ‘Diaspora’ informed us that these seven have been chosen for their closeness to the regime’s bargaining position rather then any expertise they may have about peace making.
This selected group of so called clan elders will soon be traveling to major cities in Europe and North America, where majority of the Ogaden Somali people reside. The main purpose behind their mission is to propagate false information and to plant seeds of confusion amongst the unsuspecting civilians, in order to advance the Ethiopian government position on what is now certainly a failed peace initiative undertaken by the original eighteen elders between the ONLF and Ethiopian regime over the past two years. Although, the peace initiative when announced first was well received by everyone who had a stake in the region, including the ONLF and the international community, however it had lost all the credibility it had, when the Ethiopian government refused to accept ONLF proposal to allow the participation of a neutral third country preferably chosen from one of a number of Western countries to mediate between the two parties. ONLF based its choice on the criterion of countries that have had past mediation experience like Norway and Britain, countries that would be perfectly suited to safeguard the outcome of any agreement reached by all parties.
Instead, the Ethiopian regime complacently rejected the proposal and opted to have the Ogaden traditional elders act as the mediating third party while proposing Sudan or Yemen to facilitate the rest of the peace process. ONLF rightly felt this was unacceptable since the Ogaden traditional leaders were and are part and parcel of the Ogaden people’s struggle and thus will not have any semblance of neutrality and worse will not have legal authority to force the Ethiopian government to abide by any agreements deriving from this outcome. ONLF like the remaining eleven traditional clan elders felt the government was neither serious nor genuine about peace proposals to safeguard the future of their disenfranchised community.
Analysts in the region believe that the regime, being fearful of how Ogaden communities in the Diaspora might react and the serious damage this stalled peace process can cause to the already battered image of the regime, is using this newly created Ministry to waste no time to recruit, organize, and send anyone who's willing to carry their propaganda to disseminate falsehoods to the community in the Diaspora. It is worthy to note that the Ogaden communities in the Diaspora are well aware of the failed explorations of the past by the Addis regime and their upcoming new adventures. What is unclear is what was offered to these minority traditional clan elders which would entice them to betray their people's trust while the majority of their counterparts have refused to compromise their position of trust. http://mathaba.net/0_index.shtml?x=530230
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