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Prospecting Perils in the
Ogaden War Zone |
At a time when the heads of the autocracy in
Addis Ababa were in the midst of an all out
campaign to convince would be investors the
reasons for investing in the Calub and
Hilala gas fields, the
Ogaden editorial board, exactly one year ago,
warned about the inherent perils in
prospecting in such a dangerous security
zone.
Basic common sense dictates that investment
especially one that requires the infusion of
billion of Ethiopian Birs requires security
first and foremost. In Ogaden, security is
as illusive as finding a white squirrel in
the Horn.
Instead of resolving the Ogaden problem
first, the current regime appears to have
convinced itself to put all its resources in
attracting oil investment in the hopes of
pacifying the long suffering Ogaden populace
with would-be oil and gas crumbs.
With the ever increasing price of oil and
the belief by those in the higher echelons
of the Ethiopian autocracy that there is far
more oil and natural gas in the Ogaden basin
than what has so far been prospected, a
massive campaign to displace thousands of
local herders from the ever dwindling
grazing land was initiated lately.
An Ogaden nomad or herder would rather die
than leave his or her precious grazing land.
The incident at Cobole where Ethiopian
military guards and workers including
Chinese prospectors were killed or taken
captive took place precisely for this
reason. It has nothing to do with
‘terrorism’ even though the head of the
Ethiopian autocracy would, as always, have
us believe otherwise.
Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF,
fighters might have helped the locals to
resist being evicted from their grazing land
however the responsibility of the Cobole
incident rests squarely on the shoulders of
the Ethiopian military and the head of the
dictatorial regime in Addis Ababa who
ordered the mass eviction of Ogaden nomads
from their grazingland.
The Cobole incident and prospecting perils
aside, the Ogaden Online editorial Board
hope that ONLF leaders would arrange for the
safe return of the captive Chinese workers.
The Chinese government should not listen to
Ethiopian security propaganda and should
remove all its citizens from the Ogaden war
zone.
We are sure that unless the Ogaden problem
is resolved and a mutually beneficial
agreement put in place for the benefit of
the Ogaden populace, oil and natural gas
prospecting will always remain in peril and
an exercise in futility.
editorial@ogaden.com
Ogaden Online Editorial
April 24, 2007 |
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