Obama urges Ethiopia to curb crackdowns on media, opposition

“Ethiopia faces serious threats and its contribution to the African Union mission in Somalia has reduced areas under al-Shabaab control but as the prime minister noted, yesterday’s bombing in Mogadishu reminds us that terrorist groups like al-Shabaab offer nothing but death and destruction and have to be stopped”.

The meeting comes as an August 17 deadline approaches for a peace agreement between South Sudanese President Salvar Kiir and his rival Riek Machar.

Barack Obama, the US president, has warned that there is “no time to wait” to end the civil war in South Sudan, threatening economic sanctions and arms blockades if the two parties can not reach a deal.

Some of the options under consideration include “substantially increased sanctions and pressure to the possibility of a regional intervention force”, according to one official.

Scores of Ethiopians aired their opinions on social media on Sunday, July 26, after a rainbow appeared in the sky as Obama’s plane attempted to land at the Addis Ababa Bole worldwide Airport – with many interpreting the rainbow as a sign that the Obama is not welcome in the country.

The United States, Britain and Norway were among the main Western states that sponsored South Sudan when it seceded from Sudan in 2011.

“To many people around the world, their image of Ethiopia remains stuck in the past, remembering drought and starvation”, he said.

The country’s ruling coalition won a sweeping victory in parliamentary elections in May that Western nations criticized as unfair.

And in an area where Ethiopia infamously leads the way, the jailing of journalists, Hailemariam seemed unwilling to budge beyond a little lip service.

President Obama pressed the federal government of Prime Minister Hailemariam… Mr Hailemariam said the country had to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks to avoid deterring investors.

On his visit to Kenya last week, Obama had made his position on gay rights clear during a press conference, saying people should not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation.

But as he did, Obama differed from his top aides, who have expressed impatience with Ethiopia and its elections.

“Our commitment to democracy is real, not skin deep”, the prime minister said, but later added.

President Obama is now the first sitting U.S. President to visit Ethiopia.

“So much of the hardship and conflict and sadness and violence that occurs around the world is because we forget that fact”, he said.

“The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are, I think, part of just a general pattern that we’ve seen that would be considered ridiculous if it weren’t so sad”, Obama said.

Both Amnesty worldwide and Human Rights Watch have lambasted the Ethiopian government for its abysmal record on human rights, noting that members of the political opposition are regularly accused and detained on charges of terrorism.

The president is comparing his willingness to engage with Ethiopia with the U.S. relationship with China.

“It doesn’t help inform the American people”, Obama said.

Deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes added that the Obama White House feels a special responsibility to the country because of that involvement.

While Kenya launched one of the biggest security operations ever seen in the capital Nairobi to host Obama from Friday evening to Sunday, the habitual reach of Ethiopia’s powerful security forces meant there was little obvious extra fanfare ahead of his arrival in Addis Ababa.