Ethiopia blockades remote region

July 22, 2007

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NAIROBI (UPI) - The Ethiopian government has reportedly blockaded the Ogaden region, an area near the Somali border, keeping food and medical aid from reaching it.

"It's a starve-out-the-population strategy," one Western humanitarian official who wanted to remain anonymous recently told The New York Times.

"If something isn't done on the diplomatic front soon, we're going to have a government-caused famine on our hands."

Relief officials and a member of parliament who defected and is now in Germany, also accused Ethiopia's government of siphoning money from aid programs to its own militias.

Addis Ababa says it is only targeting strongholds of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a rebel group that killed more than 60 people at a Chinese oil facility last month.

However, the Times said thousands of people are sealed into the Ogaden, an area with few roads leading into it.

Source: UPI, July 22, 2007

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