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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Feb 16 2011 - 10:49:05 EST
Djiboutian Opposition to Protest Against President
By William Davison - Feb 16, 2011 2:15 PM GMT+0100
(Corrects date of protests in first paragraph.)
Opposition parties in <http://topics.bloomberg.com/djibouti/> Djibouti, the
Horn of Africa nation that hosts the only U.S. military base on the
continent, plan to demand the resignation of President Ismail Guelleh in a
protest scheduled for Feb. 18.
At least 1,000 people are expected to attend the "peaceful" demonstration
that may continue through the weekend, Ismail Guedi Hared, president of the
Union for a Democratic Alternative, said in a phone interview today from the
capital city, also called Djibouti. The coalition group represents at least
three opposition parties, he said.
"People are angry," Hared said. "The people will say we want the president
to leave. We shall stay Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday."
Anti-government protests across North <http://topics.bloomberg.com/africa/>
Africa since January ousted the presidents of Egypt and Tunisia, while
similar demonstrations have occurred in Algeria and Libya. In Djibouti,
Guelleh's People's Rally for Progress party has ruled the country since
independence in 1977. The 63-year-old leader, who was elected in 1999,
amended the constitution in March to allow him to extend his rule by two
more six-year terms.
"Guelleh has been president for 12 years and he wants to continue, but we
are saying we don't want you," Hared said. "It is because he doesn't do
anything for the people or the country. He takes all the money."
A spokeswoman for Guelleh said she couldn't immediately comment when
contacted on her mobile phone today. Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Yousef
didn't answer his phone when Bloomberg called him seeking comment.
U.S. Base
The U.S has had a
<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/camp-lemonier.htm> base in
Djibouti since 2001, while former colonial power
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/france/> France also has 3,000 troops stationed
in the country, which is smaller than the U.S. state of
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/massachusetts/> Massachusetts. The republic
borders the <http://topics.bloomberg.com/red-sea/> Red Sea and the
<http://topics.bloomberg.com/gulf-of-aden/> Gulf of Aden and is seen as a
strategic location in the U.S.-led fight against terrorism and piracy.
Last month, exiled Djiboutian opposition leader Abdourahman Boreh called for
elections scheduled for April to be delayed by as much as a year and for
international monitors to oversee an electoral roll that includes 130,000 to
140,000 of the population of about 865,000.
Boreh was the chairman of the Djibouti Port and Free Zone Authority from
2000 to 2009, when he left the country following a dispute with the
government. He was subsequently given a 15- year prison sentence following
accusations he was involved in a grenade attack in Djibouti that didn't
leave any injuries.
Boreh denied all charges and said the case was politically motivated and
unfair because his lawyers were prevented from representing him.
Djibouti ranks 148th out of 169 countries ranked in the United Nations
Development Program's
<http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/DJI.html> Human Development
Index, which measures <http://topics.bloomberg.com/life-expectancy/> life
expectancy, education and <http://topics.bloomberg.com/living-standards/>
living standards.
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