Ethiopian army reportedly burns a town in Ogaden region May 18, 2007 (ADDIS ABABA) — An Ethiopian opposition website reported that Ethiopian army burnt down the entire town of Laasdoole in Ogaden, in Eastern Ethiopia. It said that all the meagre resources owned by the local citizenry were burnt down as well. The report said there were also human casualties, including the former chairman of the town council, Duulane Guuleed Carab. Some of the names of the dead civilians who have been extrajudicially killed include Adan Mohamed Canshuur and Jaacuur Fataax. According to a reporter of the opposition Ogaden Online in the city of Wardheer, the displaced civilians from Laasdoole are now squatting outside the town with no access to shelter, food and drinking water. The rebel Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLA), is said to have responded to the extrajudicial killings and mass civilian displacement carried out by the Ethiopian military. Eyewitnesses confirm that heavily armed contingent of ONLA attacked the Ethiopians who carried out the mass murder. At the end of April, the Ogaden rebels captured seven Chinese oil workers during an attack on an oil venture. The attack took place early Tuesday April 24, in Abole, a small town 500 kilometers (310 miles) east of Addis Ababa in Somali Regional State and close to the Somali border. (Ogaden Online /ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article21935 Reports reaching our service desk from Ogaden confirm the burning down of the entire town of Laasdoole by a contingent of Ethiopian military and an associated militia... http://mathaba.net/news/?x=554380

A few weeks ago 65 Ethiopian troops and 9 Chinese were killed at the oil facility in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. Because corporate America, specifically the oil and gas industry, desire to see Chinese energy companies fail in Africa, this news was plastered throughout the American media. This region of Ethiopia is primarily made up of “ethnic Somalis”. It is a region that was annexed as a part of Ethiopia in the early 1900s by Emperor Menelik II. Menelik II was a master at playing European powers against each other. Since that time, the people of the region have often promoted secession from Ethiopia. This was a big reason for the 2 year war between Ethiopia and Somalia in 1976. Even though the Ethiopian Constitution allows for any of its 9 states to leave the federal union of Ethiopia, in reality, Ethiopia is not likely to standby and allow this to happen. The Ogaden region is remote from the rest of Ethiopia and trades more with Eritrea, Djibouti, and Mogadishu than it does with Addis Abba. This is due to proximity as well as cultural heritage. Because what is happening in Mogadishu is more about clan warfare, between Darood and Hawiye, I will mention that many in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia are of the Darood clan, the same group President Abdullahi Yusuf of the transitional Somali government is from. President Yusuf has used the Ethiopian military in an attempt to subjugate or annihilate the most numerous group in Mogadishu, the Hawiye clan. It is reasonable to assume that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia might be being used to bring together a united Somalia. It cannot be denied that the government of President Abdullahi Yusuf will bring about actions to reject a separate country of Somaliland, including military force, should he ever acquire enough military power of his own to do so. However, that united Somalia would be dictatorial rule under President Yusuf. If this is the case or becomes the case, President Yusuf would be buying the Ogaden clan kindred some time, knowingly or unknowingly by detaining the Ethiopian military in Mogadishu. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Zenawi showed his skittishness recently by indicating he wanted to remove the Ethiopian troops from Somalia, immediately. He claimed the costs were too great and did acknowledge that “several dozens” of Ethiopian troops had been killed in Somalia. He may have been lobbying for more American dollars. He was immediately “warned” by the Bush Administration and encouraged by others to keep the Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu until more African Union troops arrived as peacekeepers to backup the 1,600 Ugandan troops. I seriously doubt if any more African Union troops are coming to Mogadishu. Even now, following the recent deaths of several Ugandan troops in Somalia, Ugandans are beginning to protest the presence of their troops in Somalia. The Ugandan troops had been promised $500 each month which is a lot of money by African standards. This payment would primarily be from the U.S. government. However, they have not received most of that money. This brings me to the article of focus, the report that Ethiopian troops have burned down the town of Laasdoole in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. If this proves to be the case, it would further show that Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Zenawi is either cannot control his military forces or he has little regards for the process of law. If it is true that he has little regards for the process of law, this means the international community could look at civilian killings and property destruction his military and forces of the transitional Somali government have committed in Mogadishu as proof that there should be a war crimes investigation. It is a policy that resembles that of President George Bush which also requires war crimes scrutiny and investigation. It is well known that the Bush Administration has strongly backed and directly had the American military involved in the fighting and extra-judicial killings in Somalia. In conclusion, the African people must set-aside their hatreds of each other. They must insist that American and European forces remove themselves from the equation. Some would say, but the people will die without American and European aid. Some will die but far less. Far more Africans have died as a result of the aid prior to all of this aid. African Americans and I’m not talking about those who promote the policies of Wall Street which gives the American government its marching orders, must put together a partnership program with the African people. They help themselves and their children and children’s children by doing this. This should be grassroots “normal people” who work with the African immigrants and Africans to bring the fighting parties together. This begins by showing all parties that there are enough riches in Africa and in the Horn of Africa so that all of the people can prosper. Certainly there are always those who are greedy, just as many are in America and they want far more than they should have. With knowledge, which makes information available, those persons can be exposed and encouraged to change their perspective or be rejected by the people.