Addis Ababa: ECMS delegate
The Eritrean opposition movements have begun their unification conference with participation of 13 political parties. Over 25 civil society organizations, media centers and religious men are taking part in the conference as observers. Official representatives from Ethiopia and Sana'a Cooperation also attended the opening ceremony.
Addressing the opening session, representative of Sana'a Cooperation, Mr. Hibur Gebrekidan, affirmed support of the Cooperation for the Eritrean opposition. He also assured support of the Ethiopian government for the struggle of the Eritrean people. He waged severe attack against policies of the Eritrean government towards the Eritrean people and polices of exporting wars to neighboring countries.
On the other hand, Mr. Husain Khalifa had delivered a speech on behalf of the coordinating committee of the Eritrean opposition parties. He revealed that they have overcome a lot of problems that led to the split of the Eritrean Democratic Alliance. He also explained that the split have served the regime to tight its control over the Eritrean people. Khalifa further called on all participants to work seriously for the success of the conference.
Director of Suera Center for Human Rights, Mr. Yassin Mohammad Abdullah, gave speech representing the civil society organizations in Africa and Middle East, while Mr. Burhan Ismael represented civil society organizations of Australia. Meanwhile, both Mr. Tesfai Habtemariam and Mr. Semere Waldu gave speech on behalf of civil society organizations in the United States of America and Europe.
The opening ceremony acquired unprecedented wide media coverage. BBC Arabic and English service, VOA and a number of international newspapers in addition to Ethiopian media including radio, satellite channel and private and governmental newspapers have covered the ceremony.
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