International News
Ogaden breakthrough: rebel group signs ceasefire
June 21, 2010 · 16 Comments
NAIROBI (SomalilandPress) – One of the rebel groups in troubled Ogaden region of Ethiopia – the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) – has signed three-months ceasefire agreement with the government of Addis Ababa in Germany according to Somali source.
In a press conference held in Nairobi, the commander of the front’s armed wing, Mr Hussein Mursal told local reporters that a temporary ceasefire agreement has been reached between a wing of the ONLF led by Salahdin Abdulrahman Maow and the Meles Zenawi administration in a meeting between the two in Frankfurt, Germany, on the 15th of June. According to Hiiraan Online, the meeting was participated by members of Ethiopia’s federal government, state MPs from the Somali State of Ethiopia and the ONLF front.
Mr. Mursal said the deal includes a three-months temporary ceasefire designed to “prevent further loss of life” and a framework agreement for future talks.
Mr. Mursal concluded his press by requesting his men to halt all military activities against the Addis Ababa regime and the Somali State troopers until further notice from the leadership.
The announcement of the breakthrough was reconfirmed by Mr. Salahdin Maow, who is one of the leaders of the front, during an interview with VOA’s Somali services. During the interview Mr. Maow said the ceasefire is an important first step and it was his side that proposed the agreement. Mr. Maow has urged other leaders of the liberation front to endorse the agreement and try to emulate the terms and conditions on which the two sides agreed.
The exact details of the deal are not clear, but the fact the two sides have signed an agreement, which took in a neutral venue with a third neutral party mediator is a significant step forward in the peace process in eastern Ethiopia.
The Ogaden National Liberation (ONLF) was founded in 1984 as a social and political movement in the Ogaden province of Ethiopia which is inhabited by mainly Somalis. However many of the local Somalis who do not belong to the Ogaden tribe do not support the organisation and often accuse them of committing atrocities in the name of freedom.
Source: SomalilandPress| Tuesday – June 22, 2010
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By Abdiqani
Tags: Ethiopia government, Meles Zenawi, Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF
Readers Comments (16)
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this is good news,, one step forward towards peace and harmony in east africa,, it is good that Africans are finally realising that war and violence wont bring success at all.
this is not true
ONLF is fighting for their selfdetermination.Also there is no ceasefire between ONLF and Ethiopia.
Dont falsify the reality.
These are false claims that have absolutely no truth to it. The Ogaden National Liberation Front will not be cheaply bout out like other so called rebel groups in the Ogaden ONLF will continue to fight for the self determination of the somali Ogaden people, as long as the basic rights of our people are denied
I suggest that you refrain from publishing such nonsense
Peace is good for the region and its good to see the people of Ogaden region are coming to their senses. About time. The international community must support and extend arm to the efforts.
Peace is useless as long as our basic god given rights are absent. The somali ogaden people will countiue the fight for independce as long as Somali blood runs thru our vains….
Long live ONLF
this is totally untrue and fabricated by good for nothing elements who have been demoted long ago. they can not even stop a single punch let alone ceasefire. who is maow? he is an obese man who lives in america for his lust.
thanks a lot
This is good news for ONLF. Melez is very weak because he is signing peace for One person who has no power. Who is Salah Maow? He born , raced and educated in Mogadishu. His Father Haji Maow Anjero was well known in Mugdishu. Maow was expelled from ONLF six years ago after he used $100,000,00 US
Meles doesnt care about peace with Ogaden nomads he is just playing smart. Since the West is going to go after him for the last elections he wants to differt the attention to other things. Also he wants to see if the opposition parties will try to use force or armed wings so for him its important to give 3 months the opposition parties to see if they will be satisfied with the out come of the elections. If in those three months, the oppositions do not cause problems (war) for him then he will exterminate the few Ogaden nomads and say 'thank you for waiting'.
Ogaden no brain.
Ogaden onlf, Majerteenia ssdf Puntland, Somalia tfg, Alshabaab,
and so many other problems. When will these problems come
to end???
When they all merge and teach Habashis and especially theTigrays a lesson for cuddling up to traitors back in colonial era, let us not forget that the Oromos and Afar are on our side as well. Ethiopians have destroyed a dream of the real Somalia by exploiting religious bias, now let them face the nightmare of their own making. only time will tell…
somali-way-ogaden,
when they all merge and teach habashis and especially the tigrays,
man, you must be joking???. what makes you to think that they will
all merge???, I doubt that will happen, but lets say it happened,
I still think that their solutions put together will not have a sustainable
foundation. Somali-way-ogaden is a small tribe behest other
major tribes in the 5th provence occupied by Ethiopia, and without
the support of these other tribes, one small tribe onlf alone can not
succeed in its mission. As for Somalia TFG and opposing Alshabaab,
history reminds that the Darwish Era, the Mud Mullah, Ina Abdulla
Hassan, the Somali-way-ogaden, a scholar of knowledge of
Wahabism doctrine, who chose to fight against the then British
Garisons in the Horn of East Africa, and who was defeated mainly
by the Somaliland tribes with the British, has again re-emerged,
and in my judgement will not succeed without the popular support
of the elements who defeated them in the past Era.
I can't be to sure about your identity but g is for one thinsure, Ogaden chose Somalia and yet Ethiopians begged the Brits to give them land that was not theirs, and due to the shared religion, they awarded them Ogaden, wtf is so hard to understand? Go somewhere your not wanted and your gonna come to troubles including an onlf bullet, our people are SOMALI, NOT HABASHI AND NOT TIGRAY!! Ask a somalilander the teachers in culture? Blessed we are when we get to skip one or two qabil rules to get our voices heard. Give back our land and get the hell out of our countries affairs and stick to your own borders,
p,s the world knows the real lion of africa and you Ethiopians sent the white man to cage him up, despicable!!!!
What do u mean Long live the ONLF! SOMALIWEYN !!!
almost all of you who had commented on this page seemed to have a little brain. i mean it’s worth the effort to tame an ape and teach him than a somali. everybody knows that we are doing u and the world a lot of favour keeping you here. your brothers are making Bole Michael in Addiss chaotic as your in-laws are doing to Mogadisho.
so stop moaning. if you don’t accept our “brothership” to be treated equally, you know what the next option for us is.
this is false ONLF will countiue the fight for our beloved land