Ethiopia - Interview with Ambassador Brook Hailu Beshah*

Fikirka Xorta ah - The African continent has witnessed several critical events this year that have escalated political tensions and increased security concerns. In Zimbabwe, despite losing an election for the first time in the country’s history, President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party are holding onto power, by cracking down on the opposition and refusing to cooperate in a peace agreement for unified governance.

In Somalia, lawlessness continues to dominate the land -- and the seas. Several attacks on ships off the coast of Somalia have captured the attention of the international community. Tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea over the border grew as the UN peacekeeping mission withdrew. And in Sudan, the political conflict between the north and the south continues to boil.

Additionally, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has returned to war, and Kenya is learning the hard lessons of keeping together a heavily divided government.

"We live in the 21st century where self-determination and independence of peoples is respected. My expectation is Somaliland will be accepted—recognized by African, the USA and by the European countries in the immediate future." Says, Ambassador Brook Hailu Beshah in the interview.
Click here read the whole interview with the Ambassador