Dibaba falls short in world record bid at Reebok Boston Indoor Games

Ethiopia’s Tirunesh Dibaba won the 5000m in 14:44.53 but the double Olympic 10,000m champion did not threaten Meseret Defar’s world record

DOUBLE Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba fell short of regaining her world indoor 5000m record at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on February 6 but the Ethiopian set a world-leading mark of 14:44.53, which has only ever been bettered by three other athletes.

The Ethiopian, who holds the world outdoor record at 14:11.15, has also set three of the four fastest ever indoor 5000m clockings but 24-year-old lost her world indoor record to Meseret Defar last season, who ran 14:24.37 at the GE Galan meeting in Stockholm.

Dibaba looked in shape to mount a strong assault on Defar’s world record, such was the manner of her victory at the Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country 8km event last month but the 2005 and 2007 world 10,000m champion did not receive the necessary assistance to achieve this.

Kenya’s Sally Kipyego took second in a PB of 14:52.67.

In the 3000m, Kalkidan Gezahegn upset Tirunesh’s younger sister Genzebe. Gezahegn, who won the silver medal in the 1500m at the World Junior Championships, clocked 8:46.19 to defeat Dibaba, second in an indoor PB of 8:47.01.

Former UK steeplechase record-holder Barbara Parker was a meritorious fourth in a lifetime best of 8:52.90 while Hannah England, fresh from victory at the Millrose Games, also set a PB of 8:56.72 in sixth.

Lennie Waite placed 11th in 9:18.76, falling just outside her PB of 9:16.90.

Former double world champion Bernard Lagat stormed to a US indoor 5000m record of 13:11.50 in his indoor debut at this distance. The 34-year-old used his superior 1500m speed in the final 300m to pull away from the Ethiopian duo of Dejene Gebremeskel and Bekana Daba, second and third in 13:11.78 (both given the same time), while Galen Rupp took fourth in a PB of 13:14.21.

Olympic 1500m silver medallist Nick Willis from New Zealand continued his comeback from injury, taking victory in the mile in 3:55.26 while Belgrave’s Tim Bayley took sixth in 3:59.75, which was just outside his PB of 3:59.58, set three weeks ago.

In the 60m, Ivory Williams took the victory in a race where the first four athletes ducked inside Mark Jelks’s world-leading mark of 6.56. Williams sealed the win with a 6.51 clocking, defeating Michael Rodgers by two-hundredths. Antigua & Barbuda’s Daniel Bailey took third in 6.54, while Travis Padgett finished fourth in 6.55.

Terrence Trammell equalled his season’s best in the 60m hurdles. The former two-time Olympic 110m hurdles silver medallist clocked 7.49, which was a meagre 0.01 shy of Dayron Robles’s world-leading mark from Stuttgart.

Dibaba eyes record at Boston Indoor Games

Double 2008 Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia has her sights set on reclaiming the indoor 5,000m world record at the Boston Indoor Games on Saturday.

Dibaba captured Beijing Olympic gold in the women’s 5,000 and 10,000 meters after taking third at the 2004 Athens Olympics and she has captured eight world titles in cross country and track from 2003 through 2008.

Dibaba missed the 2009 World Championships at Berlin due to a foot injury but is back on form after setting a 15-kilometer road race world mark in November of last year.

Dibaba owns the world outdoor 5,000m record, set in Oslo last year, and twice broke the world 5,000m indoor record at the Boston Indoor Games, doing so in the 2005 and 2007 editions of the meet.

Now she’ll try to regain the mark currently held by Meseret Defar at 14:24.37.

Dibaba was looking forward to her return to Boston.

“The crowd is unbelievable,” said Dibaba, who expects a large contingent of Ethiopians living in the area to cheer her on. “I hope we have that atmosphere.”

Bernard Lagat, coming off his record-setting eighth victory in Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile, headlines the 5,000m.

The American said he has been careful to keep up his speed work while training for the longer distance.

“I think I can have the same finishing kick at 5,000 meters, depending on how the race is run, if we have a smooth pace,” Lagat said.

Olympic silver medallist Nick Willis of new Zealand returns to competition after a layoff because of hip surgery in the men’s 1,500m.

The meeting is the second stop on USA Track and Field’s Visa Championship series, which opened with the Millrose Games in New York.
Source: AFP

Eritrea accuses Ethiopia over participation at event

The Eritrean government has circulated a letter to African heads of state accusing Ethiopia of blocking its right to participate in African Union .

The Eritrean government has circulated a letter to African heads of state accusing Ethiopia of blocking its right to participate in African Union summits and meetings.
According to a letter by Eritrean, for the last 10 years Eritrea has been denied its right to participate in African Union summits and other meetings in Addis Ababa by Ethiopian refusal to extend proper diplomatic and security guarantee.
Ethiopia continues to obstruct Eritrea’s right to participate in AU Summits and other AU meetings in Addis Ababa by its refusal to observe the basic diplomatic provisions spelled out in the HQ Agreement and that are extended to all Member States,” the Eritrean government said.
Eritrea expressed its concern and asked issues related with Eritrea should not be discussed in the absence of Eritrea in Addis Ababa.
Imposed sanctions
Eritrea calls comes after an AU ministerial level meeting in Addis Ababa once again voiced support to UN imposed sanction and condemned Asmara to its negative roles in regional stability.
Eritrea also called on the African Union to stop holding its summits and other meetings in Addis Ababa.
African Union chief Jean Ping said Eritrea’s complaint was distributed to all member states and he assured Eritrea could participate in the AU activities and he informed that Ethiopian government assured AU to deliver all necessary security and diplomatic needs. Mr Ping said he told Ethiopian authorities Eritrea was free to establish a mission to AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.
Mr Jean Ping urged Eritrean administration to resume its attendance and mission at AU.
Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a bloody war between1998-2000 which killed 70,000 people.
Leaders gathered
In another development, African leaders gathered at the summit disputed the outcome of Copenhagen climate change accord which was issued last December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark .
As part of AU summit, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi who was head the Africa delegation in the Copenhagen summit briefed leaders on the agreement but some African leaders expressed their disappointment on the final deal.
Mr Meles said the perception of Africa among rich nations was a major challenge and they [the rich] perceive Africa’s justice request as a “begging”.
During the Copenhagen summit Mr Meles proposed $50 billion per year funding for Africa by 2015 and $100 billion by 2020. Senegalese president Abdulaye Wade said the Copenhagen deal did not really represent the interests of Africa.
Source: Daily Nation

ETC selects unnamed French company to act as management partner

According to local news sources an unnamed French company is set to take over management of Ethiopian state-owned incumbent Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) having beaten off bids from South African and Indian competition. Having attracted the interest of a number of foreign companies on announcing that it was seeking a partner on a revenue-sharing basis, Capital Ethiopia claims that only three companies made it through to the final stage of the selection process; South Africa’s MTN, state-owned Indian telco Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and the unnamed French company. While the selection process has been concluded ETC CEO Amare Amsalu is quoted as saying: ‘I am out of the capital [Addis Ababa] and it is difficult to give releases without referring to documents.’ Additionally, it is understood that, while the winning bidders has been picked, further negotiations are still required, providing further reason for the lack of information being released regarding the deal.

What is known is that the firm selected to take over management of the telco will be responsible for introducing new schemes to reform how ETC conducts its core operations, from service provision to infrastructure maintenance. According to previous comments by Diriba Kuma, Transport and Communications Minister, the winning international firm will also be expected to boost ETC’s revenues.

At present ETC is undertaking a large-scale expansion scheme of all its networks and services, with improvements expected to include the rollout of a fibre-optic network. Previously Chinese vendor ZTE had been selected by ETC to assist with the construction of a new national infrastructure in three phases; currently ZTE is working on the third phase which covers expansion to rural and remote regions, and was started in October 2008, and is due for completion in the near future. Commenting on the introduction of the ETC’s new management partner Minister Diriba noted: ‘The transformation process the new company is to lead will kick off as soon as the ongoing expansion with ZTE is completed.
Telegeography.com

US envoy pledges to press Ethiopia on rights

President Barack Obama’s nominee to be the next US ambassador to Ethiopia pledged on Tuesday to press the government in Addis Ababa to improve human rights, free political prisoners and make upcoming elections fair.

Donald Booth said the United States had “complex interests” in Ethiopia, and that the two nations, while differing in tactics, saw largely eye-to-eye on the need to bring stability and prevent an Islamist takeover of Somalia.

“We need to try to work with Ethiopia across the board, preserving the cooperation where we share interests such as regional security,” Booth, a former ambassador to Liberia and Zambia, said at his Senate confirmation hearing.

But he warned that Ethiopia’s “limitations on political expression and economic activities as well as shortcomings in respect to basic human rights run counter to American principles and risk becoming the seeds of future instability.”

Under questioning by Senator Russ Feingold, who heads the Foreign Relations subcommittee on Africa, Booth pledged to take up the case of prisoners such as Birtukan Mideksa, leader of the largest opposition party.

Ethiopia sentenced Birtukan to life in prison for treason after she alleged that the government rigged 2005 elections. She received a pardon two years later but the life term was re-imposed a month ago.

Booth said the US embassy in Addis Ababa has been seeking access to Birtukan, 36.

“I think we need to find a way to convince them (Ethiopian leaders) that it’s in their own interest not to hold people simply because they hold opposing political views,” Booth said.

Booth said he would urge Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s government to ensure the fairness of elections due in May, including by allowing opposition candidates to run and have access to the media.

Booth also called for domestic and international observers to monitor the election.

The nominee promised Feingold also to look into allegations of human rights abuses in the southern Ogaden region, where Muslim, ethnic Somali rebels are waging an insurgency for independence.

“Clearly the Ogaden is an area that has created great instability and threats to the security of the Ethiopian state over time,” he said.

“We need to work with the Ethiopians … to try to figure out a way that they can not only protect their territorial integrity but also respect the human rights of all their citizens including the Ogadense,” he said.
Source:AFP

UN chief asks Ethiopia’s PM to play leading role in Sudan

Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, who was in Addis Ababa for the 14th African Union Summit, has asked the Ethiopian Prime minister Meles Zenawi to play a crucial role in efforts for peace in Sudan.

Ban Ki-Moon converses with Ethiopian PM Meles Zenawi at the G-20 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Sept. 25 2009 (UN)

Along the sidelines of the AU Summit, in a separate meeting held at the Sheraton Hotel, Ban and Zenawi discussed political situation in Sudan, climate matters and other regional and international concerns.

After the talks, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon who commended the premier’ s leadership, told reporters that Sudan’s overall political situation and implementation of Copenhagen pledged climate change compensations to Africa are the major focus of attention.

“I have asked Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to exercise his leadership as leader of Africa Union and leader if IGAD to play a leading role in the implementation of Sudan’s Comprehensives Peace Agreement and the critical challenges coming ahead,” Mr. Ban said.

The UN chief lauded Zenawi’s competence as Africa’s lead negotiator demonstrated at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

Meles on the occasion requested for a team of senior authorities to soon facilitate the financial and technical support pledged for African countries at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen.

Ban Ki-moon on his part said efforts are underway to set up a team that will facilitate for the implementation of the pledges and is a matter of time for going operational.

The Ethiopian Prime Minister and US Secretary General took part yesterday in a special on Sudan held on the sidelines of the African summit. The meeting discussed Darfur crisis and the looming risk of secession by south Sudan which is swelling fears of renewed war between the south and north.

“We’ve talked about the situation in Darfur where urgent action is needed, the question of referendum on self determination of the South, scheduled to take place in 2011, on the upcoming election which are major focus of attention.

“On this point, we’ve totally agreed to prepare from now on the post-referendum period”, Ban told a press conference.

Signed by the Sudanese government and the former rebel SPLM/A, the 2005 peace agreement brought an end to more than 20 years of war in the vast African nation, allowed the creation of a semi-autonomous government in the south and paved the way for April’s general elections, and a referendum of self determination for the Southern Sudan.
Source: Sudan Tribune

Somaliland journalists meet with African leaders and UN Secretary-General in Ethiopia

Reporters from Somaliland have been invited to the African Union summit in the Ethiopian capital who have been discussing a range of issues from security and conflict to development.

A total of four reporters from both government and independent media houses joined the 14th ordinary session of the Assembly of the African Union which opened on Sunday built around the theme of ‘information and communication technologies’ in Addis Ababa.

Mohamed Hussein Jama of Geeska Afrika (independent), Abdiweli Farah Jambir, Ogaal news (independent), Abdullahi Ali Sudi, Somaliland National Television ‘TV Qaran’ (government) and Moha Farah Jirde from TV Qaran joined the the 53-member body’s annual meeting with another 528 journalists from around Africa and abroad.

Moha is also the president of Journalists for African Renaissance (JAR), an African Union agency founded by members from Somaliland, Kenya, Botswana, Sudan, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, with the help of Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, a non-profit German political foundation.

The often flamboyant reporter and regular presenter in the state-owned Qaran TV, Moha Farah, who played an important role in convincing African heads of state to invite journalists from Somaliland to the conference thanked the Ethiopian government for their hospitality on behave of all African journalists. Ms Moha also thanked the AU leaders for “allowing the media free access.” She praised Ethiopia’s positive attitude towards free press and urged the international press to refrain from misleading the public via falsely depicted information about Ethiopia’s press freedom.

She has over the years built up a considerable stable of contacts in Addis Ababa, which she says is home to thousands of diplomats, intellectuals and politicians. She emphasised the need for reporters from Somaliland in such gatherings by African leaders, who invited reporters from other continents.
Source: Somaliland Press

Malawi’s President elected AU Chairman

Malawi’s president has been elected as leader of the African Union, a position held by the eccentric dictator Moammar Gadhafi of Libya for the last year.

Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika was selected by the continental body at its annual summit Sunday. The chairmanship of the African Union is a rotating position held by heads of state for one year and gives the holder some influence over the continent’s politics but carries no real power.

The AU’s chairmanship rotates among Africa’s regions, with North Africa chairing for the past year.

Meetings to select the chairman are held in private. The leader is usually nominated and then chosen by consensus. AU officials would not give further details of the proceedings.

AP

* Malawi’s Mutharika Named Next African Union Chairman

(Bloomberg) — Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika, who has pledged to champion greater investment in agriculture to end chronic hunger in Africa, was named chairman of the African Union today.

“My brother, the president of the Republic of Malawi, will replace me and take over,” Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, the incumbent chairman of the AU, said at the annual heads-of-state summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Under Mutharika, 75, Malawi has been transformed from a country in which intermittent famines left 40 percent of the population dependent on international aid into a food exporter. A government program of subsidizing fertilizers helped corn production rise 36 percent to 3.7 million metric tons last year, leaving the nation with a 1.3 million-ton surplus.

“Five years from now, no African child should die of hunger,” Mutharika said in his speech, accepting the one-year term. “Africa must feed Africa.”

In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 265 million people are undernourished, according to the World Food Program.

In August, Kenya set aside 9 billion shillings ($120 million) to pay for food imports as up to 10 million faced the risk of hunger following a drought. In Somalia, where civil war has raged for the past 19 years, 1.8 million people rely on the United Nations food agency for aid.

Mutharika was the candidate of the Southern African Development Community. Under AU rules, top positions rotate between the continent’s five geographic regions.

United States of Africa

Qaddafi had sought to extend his tenure by another year to advance his plan to create a so-called United States of Africa. The proposal, which would incorporate the continent’s nations into a political federation, was rejected last year by other leaders who feared losing their sovereignty.

Established in 2002 as a successor to the Organization of African Unity, the AU’s stated aims include achieving greater unity among member states, promoting peace, stability and development and raising living standards.

Mutharika will have to address several other ongoing crises, including restoring democracy in Madagascar, persuading Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to uphold a power sharing accord and ending a protracted conflict in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

“The realm of security remains a key challenge for the African Union,” said George Katito, a researcher at the Johannesburg-based South African Institute for International Affairs. “We have seen the African Union challenge unconstitutional changes in government” when it suspended Mauritania and Madagascar from its ranks. Those actions are a “vast difference from its ‘hear nothing, see nothing’ policy that we had before.”

BLOOMBERG

AU summit opens in Ethiopian capital with several African leaders in attendance

The 14th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) summit kicked off on Sunday at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, in the presence many leaders and representatives across the continent.

During the opening session, Jean Ping, the Chairperson of the commission presented a report where he highlighted achievements and challenges that confronted the continent.

he listed Somalia, Darfur, DR Congo, Guinea, Mauritania and Madagascar which he said were countries where there were still many challenges to be confronted to bring peace and stability.

In his address, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon also highlited the cooperation between the AU and UN.

As a guest of honour to the summit, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero introduced his country’s initiative to boost cooperation with Africa in the areas of agriculture, health and education.

The opening session, chaired by the outgoing chairman, Muammar Qaddafi of Libya, who is expected to hand over to President Bingu Mutharika of Malawi, also addressed the summit.

A representive of the group of traditional leaders known as the “Forum of Kings”, who launched peace making efforts under the chairmanship of the Libyan leader, also addressed the summit where they demanded to work closely with the AU Commission on peace and security in Africa.

The summit is being held unde rthe theme,Information and communication Technologies in Africa ; Challenges and Prospects for Development”.

The leaders are expected to discuss various issues in their deliberations on Sunday and Monday.

Source: African Press Agency

Gaddafi fails in bid to remain African Union chair

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi failed in his attempt to stay on as chairman of the African Union for another year after African leaders on Sunday chose Malawi’s president to succeed him.

Gaddafi was elected chairman of the 53-nation AU at its annual summit last year, despite strong opposition from some African leaders, and diplomats said he was seeking another term.

The chairmanship is usually decided on a regional, rotating basis and this year was the turn of southern Africa.

Leaders, on the first day of their summit in Addis Ababa, selected Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika to succeed Gaddafi.

Gaddafi used his farewell speech to again urge African leaders to begin the process of political unification.

“The world’s engine is turning into 7 or 10 countries and we are not aware of that,” Gaddafi said. “The EU is becoming one country and we are not aware of it. We have to get united to be united. Let’s be united today.”
Source: Reuters