ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"><HTML xmlns:asp><HEAD> <TITLE>Addis hosting 42nd Extraordinary Session of IGAD Ministerial Council </TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <META content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0" name=GENERATOR> <META content="Visual Basic .NET 7.1" name=CODE_LANGUAGE> <META content=JavaScript name=vs_defaultClientScript> <META content=http://schemas.microsoft.com/intellisense/ie5 name=vs_targetSchema><LINK href="../../../../Style/ENA.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet ><LINK href="../../../../../vg.css" type=text/css rel=STYLESHEET ></HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff MS_POSITIONING="GridLayout"> <P> &nbsp;</P> <TABLE id=Table1 style="Z-INDEX: 102; LEFT: 8px; WIDTH: 984px; POSITION: absolute; TOP: 8px; HEIGHT: 24px" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width=984 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 976px" vAlign=middle align=center> <P style="text-align: left"> <img src="../../../../Images/Logo.gif" /> &nbsp;&nbsp; <IMG src="../../../../Images/ENALogo.gif" ></P></TD> <TD vAlign=middle align=center> <P>&nbsp;</P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="WIDTH: 976px" vAlign="middle" align="center" bgColor="#cc3399" colSpan="1" rowSpan="1"></TD> <TD vAlign="middle" align="center"></TD> </TR></TBODY></TABLE> <br /> <br /> <table> <tr> <td style="width: 622px" valign="top"> <TABLE id=Table2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px solid; BORDER-TOP: 0px solid; Z-INDEX: 103; LEFT: 11px; BORDER-LEFT: 0px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px solid; TOP: 97px;" cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="LINE-HEIGHT: 200%; BORDER-BOTTOM: darkgray 1px solid; width: 588px; height: 1px;" vAlign=bottom align=center bgColor=white> <SPAN id=lblHeading style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: larger; WIDTH: 580px; COLOR: royalblue; FONT-FAMILY: Visual Geez Unicode; HEIGHT: 24px; line-height: normal;" >Addis hosting 42nd Extraordinary Session of IGAD Ministerial Council </SPAN></TD></TR> <TR style="PADDING-RIGHT: 12px; PADDING-LEFT: 12px; LEFT: 20px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 12px; MARGIN-LEFT: 6px; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%; PADDING-TOP: 12px"> <TD style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; FONT-FAMILY: Visual Geez Unicode; HEIGHT: 17px; width: 588px; background-color: ghostwhite;" vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#f8f8ff> <span style="font-size: 10pt">Addis Ababa, January 26, 2012 (Addis Ababa) - The 42nd Extraordinary Session of IGAD Council of Ministers is underway in Addis Ababa.<p><p>The Session will discuss on the current situation, misunderstanding between South Sudan and Sudan, piracy in the coast of Somalia as well as peace and security affairs in the Horn.<p><p>Council current chairperson, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn said the 20 year crisis in Somalia still continues to be a major issue.<p><p>Hailemariam said there are signs of progress on the ground offering opportunities to build upon the achievements gained so far and find sustainable solutions to the remaining challenges facing Somalia.<p><p>The recent gains both at the security front and at political negotiations must be supported by IGAD member countries and stakeholders until a long lasting peace and stability is achieved in Somalia.<p><p>The concern in the region regarding to peace and security and terrorist activities is not focused only on Somalia. <p><p>He said despite repeated calls and demands by the IGAD and the international community to the government of Eritrea to refrain from its destabilizing activities, the government of Eritrea continued its subversive acts unabated.<p><p>The recent attack on a group of tourists in Afar State was an act of open terrorism carried out with the direct involvement of the Eritrean government. <p><p>The incident is yet another indication of how determined the regime in Asmara is to continue its destabilizing activities in the region.<p><p><p>This is an indication of the failure of the international community to rein in the regime.<p><p><p>The government of Ethiopia believes that this terrorist act is intended to coincide with the African Union Summit being held in Addis Ababa.<p><p>It is an open secret that the regime in Asmara focuses on trying to intimidate and terrorize the international community rather than operate through normal diplomatic norms, Hailemariam said.<p><p>Executive Secretary of IGAD, Eng. Mahboub Maalim on his part condemned the recent attack on tourists.<p><p>In a message delivered through a representative, Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union Commission, Ramtane Lamamra said Al Shabaab has been defeated in Mogadishu and Mogadishu is now under the full and effective control of the TFG of Somalia.<p><p><p><p>---END---<p></span></TD></TR> </TBODY></TABLE> </td> <td style="width: 657px; font-size: 12pt;" valign="top"> <table> <tr> <td style="width: 366px"> <IMG id=imgPhoto style="FLOAT: left" src="Images/159107.jpg"></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="width: 366px; background-color: cornflowerblue; text-align: center; height: 4px;"> <strong><span style="color: #ffffff; font-family: Trebuchet MS">Headlines</span></strong></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: smaller; width: 366px; font-family: 'Visual Geez Unicode'"> <img src="../../../../Images/grn_arrow.gif"" /><a href="159107.htm">Addis hosting 42nd Extraordinary Session of IGAD Ministerial Council </a><br /> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background-color: whitesmoke; text-align: center;" colspan="2"> <span style="font-size: 9pt; color: #006699; font-family: Trebuchet MS"><strong>(c) The Ethiopian News Agency</strong></span></td> </tr> </table> </BODY></HTML>