From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Mar 30 2010 - 08:16:01 EST
VOA says Ethiopia blocks website as US row escalates
Mon Mar 29, 2010 6:04pm GMT
* Ethiopia accused of media crackdown before poll
* VOA attempts to overcome radio service ban
By Barry Malone
ADDIS ABABA, March 29 (Reuters) - U.S. funded-broadcaster Voice of America
said on Monday that Ethiopia may have blocked its website in a move which
may lead to further U.S. criticism of its closest ally in the Horn of
Africa.
Ethiopia holds national elections on May 23 and international press freedom
advocacy groups say the government is intimidating and harassing journalists
ahead of the vote. The government denies that.
"We have received reports that VOA's website is unavailable inside Ethiopia,
and we are investigating the causes," VOA Director Danforth Austin said in a
statement.
Government spokesmen were not immediately available to comment.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi this month accused VOA's radio service in
Ethiopia's dominant Amharic language of broadcasting "destabilising
propaganda" and said his government was testing its ability to jam it.
Meles compared VOA to Radio Mille Collines, whose broadcasts are blamed by
many for sparking the 1994 Rwanda genocide. He said he would order the
service jammed if testing succeeded. Residents of the capital, Addis Ababa,
told Reuters they had not been able to access the VOA website since early on
Sunday. Rights groups accuse Ethiopia of routine Internet censorship.
VOA says listeners in Ethiopia have been unable to hear its Amharic-language
broadcasts for more than four weeks.
Meles' comments were sharply criticised from the U.S. State Department.
Ethiopia -- reliant on foreign aid -- is the key U.S. ally in the Horn of
Africa.
VOA launched satellite broadcasts into Ethiopia a few days after Meles'
remarks and said it was exploring other methods of overcoming the jamming.
The broadcaster was set up during World War Two to counter anti-U.S.
propaganda and operates in 45 languages.
Analysts expect the Meles government to win the election. The opposition
says that is because the government scares people into voting for it. The
government says the opposition is divided and trying to discredit the poll.
(Editing by Jon Hemming)
C Thomson Reuters 2010 All rights reserved
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