Category: Statements

The Crown Council in 1996 struck a special medal to commemorate the great military victory which Emperor Menelik II won over the invading Italian forces a century before, in March 1896. This month, the Crown Council authorized the issuance of an additional number of the medals, to mark the 103rd anniversary of the Victory.

This time, however, there will be some subtle changes in the special “Adwa Medal”.

The first issuance of the Medal, in 1996, went to prominent Ethiopians — many of whom could not be named because of the fear at the time of political reprisal within Ethiopia — and to a list of major national leaders around the world, particularly including leaders in Africa and the Caribbean.

The original Adwa Medal is shown above, in its two forms: the Medal with Royal Riband (left), and the Medal with Diplomatic Riband (right). The front (obverse) and reverse of the medal in both instances is the same. The Royal Riband is a deep purple, with gold stripes at the side; the Diplomatic Riband is in the Ethiopian colors of red, yellow and green, with a black stripe down the center.

The obverse features a profile of Emperor Menelik, with the words “One Hundred Anniversary of the Battle of Adwa. March 2, 1896”, in English. The reverse features and Imperial Ethiopian Lion, facing left, with the inscription in Amharic and the date in the Ethiopian calendar.

A device — heraldically known as a “bezant” — is fixed to the center of the riband of the two forms of the Award, on which is the Imperial Ethiopian Lion, again facing to the left.

The Imperial Lion was placed facing left on the original form of the medal to signify that the Crown was in Exile and that the Ethiopian people were in distress. The new issuance of the Adwa Medal will show the Lion facing to the Right, to honour the dead and wounded of the current conflict and to show that they — with the Crown and the Ethiopian People — are once again united in their determination to restore Ethiopia’s greatness and progress, and the fact that the Crown is now, once again, on the march with the People.

The new Adwa Medal is being struck for the Crown by Bezant, the Official Maker of Orders, Decorations and Medals for the Crown Council.

Ethiopians to be Recognized: The Crown Council has said that it will soon issue the names of the first group of Ethiopians who would be recognized by the Award of the new Adwa Medal.

The Victory of Adwa medals are usually presented by the President of the Imperial Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie; or by the Viceroy (Enderassé: ^), His Imperial Highness Prince Bekere Fikre-Selassie, a great-grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie I.

Recipients of the new Awards of the Adwa Medal will be announced in the next Negarit.

Washington DC, May 18, 1999: — The death in Philadelphia, in the United States, on May 14 of Ethiopia’s most prominent prisoner of conscience, Dr Asrat Woldeyes, was called “tantamount to state liquidation” today by the Ethiopian Crown Council, in an official statement. Dr Asrat died from heart ailments exacerbated by his illegal imprisonment and ill-treatment at the hands of the Meles administration in Addis Ababa.

The statement was authorized by the President of the Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, on his return to Washington DC from Philadelphia, where he spent much of Dr Asrat’s final days.

Ethiopia’s most famous victim of the current Addis Ababa administration and onetime leader of the All-Amhara People’s Organization (AAPO), Professor Asrat Woldeyes, passed away on May 14, 1999, at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. USA.

The Crown Council immediately said that Dr Asrat’s untimely death was, in fact, “tantamount to state liquidation”, and was directly attributable to the Meles administration. “Dr Asrat’s death also highlights the plight of many others languishing illegally in Ethiopian prisons, their lives being shortened and darkened by an administration which seems to feel that it cannot accept criticism nor benefit from open debate.”

Prof. Asrat, a medical doctor and one of Ethiopia’s leading scientists and humanitarians, had been suffering from a variety of ailments, mostly centering around a heart disorder, when Meles administration officials — faced with daily protests around the world and mounting hostility from major governments — released him to seek medical treatment abroad just before Western Christmas 1998. He has been hospitalized ever since.

He had been personal physician to the late Emperor Haile Selassie I for a quarter century. He had been dismissed from his post at the Black Lion Hospital, in Addis Ababa, when the TPLF administration of Meles Zenawi seized power in 1991.

Prof. Asrat’s family, including his two sons, had gathered to be with him at the hospital at the end. As well, the President of the Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie and Princess Gelila Fesseha, a niece of the Professor, were with him. Le’ult Gelila helped spearhead the campaign to have Dr Asrat released from his illegal imprisonment.

The Professor, who was in his seventies when he died, was preparing his legacy manifesto before his conditioned worsened in early May.

“Professor Asrat has already created his greatest legacy,” Crown Council President Prince Ermias said. “His legacy is that he has reaffirmed Ethiopia can only survive as a united, democratic country, and that this prize is worth sacrifice to achieve. Professor Asrat has always been a man of peace, dignity and intelligent reason. His imprisonment on trumped-up charges only serves to highlight the nobility of his non-violent protest and the bankruptcy of policies which are imposed by those who fear the will of the people. We cannot allow his sacrifice to be in vain. We cannot forget that his life has been shortened by what amounts to State murder, because he should have been able to complete his medical and teaching career in peace, and he should have been able to look forward to a long and happy retirement. All of this was denied to him, as such freedom is being denied to so many Ethiopians under illegal detainment by the Meles administration.”

The Meles administration released Dr Asrat when it became clear that his condition was deteriorating rapidly in prison. He had already become one of the focal points of protest against the administration, and officials feared that he would become a martyr if he died in prison.

“There is no doubt that Dr Asrat, who never saw himself as a martyr but rather as someone who needed to uphold principles of integrity and Ethiopianness, is now an even greater symbol of Ethiopia’s need for unity and for an end to the kind of repression which has characterized the totalitarianism of the Meles administration,” Dr Asrat’s nephew, Ato Youm Fesseha, said in Philadelphia. Ato Youm worked on the campaign to win his release.

The Ethiopian Crown Council, the constitutional body which represents the exiled 3,000-year-old Solomonic Crown of Ethiopia, today said that it was “a grave mistake” for Ethiopia to call on Iran to help mediate the current conflict between Addis Ababa and Asmara. “It can only lead to grave consequences for the future unity and stability of Ethiopia,” Crown Council President Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie said.

Prince Ermias, the grandson of the late Emperor Haile Selassie, was commenting on Iranian news agency reports which said that Ethiopian Council of People’s Representatives Speaker Dawit Yohanes had today invited Iranian mediation efforts to resolve the crisis between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Ethiopian Speaker had apparently made the remarks during a meeting in Addis Ababa with Iranian Ambassador Hussein Rajabi.

“All attempts at external mediation have thus far failed,” Prince Ermias said, “and now it has been suggested that Iran, which has been actively attempting to influence events in the Horn of Africa since 1979, should be invited into our affairs. This is untenable.”

“The Ethiopian Crown Council has, since the beginning of this conflict urged both sides to consider mediation and conflict resolution mechanisms which stay within the family of Ethiopic-speaking peoples. This has not yet even been attempted, and now Speaker Yohanes has apparently suggested inviting in a country which has made no secret of its wish to radicalize our region.”

“This does not mean that Ethiopia should treat Iran as an enemy, but it is clear that Iran is not a suitable candidate for a role in mediating the conflict.”

Prince Ermias continued: “The invitation for Iran to mediate in our problem is playing into the hands of the radicals, the same radicals who wish to see Ethiopia alienated from the main body of the world’s trading nations; the same radicals who wish to see Ethiopia dis-united and even dismembered.”

“Iran has been the major ally of Sudanese radical leaders such as Dr Hasan al-Turabi, who has advocated the dismemberment of Ethiopia even in recent months. Iran and Sudan have gone hand-in-hand in promoting radical religious politics in Africa, posing a major threat non only to moderate Ethiopian Muslims, but to moderate Muslim governments throughout Africa and the Middle East.”

“We have seen that in every arena in which Iran has become involved in recent years that religious polarization occurs. We do not want that for Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, religious tolerance and freedom — and an absence of religious radicalism — have been our strength.”

The Council President said that the ill-considered statement by Speaker Yohanes was typical of the drift and lack of a sense of national unity which has marked the current political era in Ethiopia.

“Ethiopia and the greater family of Ethiopic-speaking peoples must rally around symbols of unity, and build a sense of common purpose, ending conflict through mutual respect and greater sense of Ethiopianness. Ethiopian common objectives need not in any way interfere with the regional, ethnic or religious differences in our community. But we need to retain a strong sense of unity in the face of external threats which are mounting daily.”

The 103rd Anniversary today of the Victory of the Battle of Adwa, in which united Ethiopian forces under Emperor Menelik II resoundingly defeated the invading Italian Army in 1896, has brought a call from the Ethiopian Crown to all people in the greater Ethiopian community to pause and think of the benefits of unity and peace.

In a special statement to mark the anniversary, the President of the Corwn Council of Ethiopia, His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie said: “At this extremely unsettled time in Ethiopia’s history, we need to reflect on the great benefit my late kinsman and our great Emperor, Menelik II, brought to Ethiopia when he united the nation in 1896 to defeat the Italian invaders.”

“That unity has in recent years been threatened by policies which have divided our nation, and caused Ethiopians to fight among themselves, risking the very structure and sovereignty of our Empire in the process. The present war within the Ethiopian family should never have occurred; it should never have been necessary. It has been the result of petty regionalism, in which the desire for power has led people to split off parts of our country, or attempt to do so.”

“We may be thankful that the present war may be coming to a close, but it has cost the Ethiopian community of peoples most dearly. Tens of thousands of families are mourning the deaths or mutilation of their young sons when they should not have had to do so. Many more thousands of Ethiopians — and I speak here of the broader Ethiopian family — have been displaced from their homes by years of communal rivalry.”

“But the war has not ended, and will not end merely when the fighting stops. The hatred and rivalry which this totally preventable war has created will take generations to heal. The Victory of the Battle of Adwa healed the nation after the internal squabbles which had preceded Emperor Menelik’s rise to the Throne. The battles of today have brought some of the peoples of Ethiopia together, at a greater human cost than Adwa, but they have also left a legacy of hatred which we must now overcome.”

“All of this has distracted us from the path of unity, strength, economic growth, peace and stability. And while we have been distracted, we have seen others in the region attempt to sew the seeds of ethnic and religious discord among Ethiopians.”

“There are those outside our country who have attempted to introduce radical Islamism to Ethiopian Muslims, who are a pillar of Ethiopian society, and to induce them into try to break up Ethiopia. This will not work. Ethiopians are Ethiopians: the differences in the various peoples of our nation are a cause for celebration, and not for division. And the religious beliefs of Ethiopians are their own private concern; this does not affect their Ethiopianness.”

“Today, we mourn the dead and injured of all branches of the Ethiopian family in the current war, and thank them profoundly for the sacrifice to the cause of Ethiopian unity.”

“Today, we should also remember the great valor and sacrifice of Emperor Menelik and the Ethiopians of 1896, who laid the foundations for the great achievements of Emperor Haile Selassie until 1974.”

“The coup of 1974 caused a great upheaval in Ethiopia’s progress. We have not yet recovered from this, and the division of our country in 1993 and the subsequent communal divisions in Ethiopia have only prolonged the restoration of true national unity. Think how great Ethiopia would have been today if the coup had not occured, and if 1974 Constitution had been implemented and if there had been no civil war, no brutal genocide, and no communism.”

“The possible end to the current fighting is not a signal for Ethiopians to relax. This war should serve merely as a warning that we must now begin the process of true unification, with the restoration of Ethiopia’s 3,000 years of tradition. Now we must truly come together to rebuild Ethiopia and return to the path of economic, social and democratic progress. The Ethiopian Crown is committed to this, and will never walk away from this historic challenge and duty.”

“The war has demonstrated that Ethiopians cherish their nation and its unity and that they have not forgotten how to sacrifice for the salvation of their kinsmen. We must honor their sacrifice and redouble our efforts to rebuild our beloved country.”

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The President of Ambassador International University, Monsignor William A. Kerr, Ph.D., has informed His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, that Ambassador International University will provide 15 scholarships to students from Ethiopia for a four-year program of undergraduate study at the US university.

The scholarships will be awarded through the Haile Selassie Fund for Ethiopia’s Children, the US-based charity of which Prince Ermias is the Patron.

The scholarships have a current value of some US$1.2-million. University President Kerr expressed the hope that the scholarships would make a difference in Ethiopia: “We believe that education is the best investment for a better global future for all of us. Thus, I am especially pleased to be able to offer these scholarships to help support Ethiopia’s recovery from decades of civil war and unrest, and to help shape a brighter future for Ethiopia.”

The Haile Selassie Fund for Ethiopia’s Children, apart from administering the selection of the students to receive the scholarships, will also raise funds for the air fares of the recipients to and from the United States.

Prince Ermias, commenting on the grant, said: “We are enormously grateful to Ambassador International University for the gift of these extremely valuable scholarships. Ethiopia today needs every educated citizen to be able to work together for the unity and prosperity of our country, and the conditions under which the scholarships will be awarded include the stipulation that the recipient return to Ethiopia after graduating from the course.”

Prince Ermias continued: “These scholarships will not only give great leadership training to Ethiopians, they will also impart practical skills in areas of vital need to the Ethiopian community: agricultural management, engineering, water resource management, computer sciences,communications and business.”

President Kerr noted: “By ensuring that the graduates return home after completion of their studies, we will be building a complementary network of national, regional and global leaders for the next century.”

Ambassador International University is a new university with a unique approach to education for the 21st Century. Its mission is to offer women and men from all parts of the globe, including war-ravaged areas and developing nations, opportunities for personal and professional development through education.

At Ambassador International University, groups of students from nations around the world will study together at a beautiful, fully-equipped 2,500 acre campus. “We will have a cross-fertilization of ideas and cultures, with students from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the United States. We are delighted that Ethiopian students will be an important part of our first class, beginning in August this year.”

There has been another call in the United States Congress, the second this month, for US support for the restoration of the Ethiopian Crown as a step toward easing tensions and conflict in the Horn of Africa. Congressman Jim Saxton (Republican, New Jersey), a senior member of the House of Representatives National Security Committee, and Chairman of the House Task Force on Terrorism & Unconventional Warfare, said on February 24 that the President of the Ethiopian Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie was “someone who understands, and can help stabilize the entire Horn of Africa”.

Congressman Saxton noted: “The situation is now becoming critical, and we must find ways to support him in the process of reunifying Ethiopia, which cannot be allowed to be dismembered, and in helping to bring about regional reconciliation—thus protecting and furthering national security interests of the United States and its close allies.”

The full text of Congressman Saxton’s remarks are as follows:

Mr. SAXTON. Mr. Speaker, I spoke on February 9, 1999, to remark that it was essential that we act to help stop the escalation of the crisis in the Horn of Africa, and particularly the Ethiopia-Eritrean war, if the region was not to slide further into chaos. Since then, the anticipated war between Ethiopia and Eritrea has erupted and it keeps escalating. The war has already long-term and dire ramifications for both countries—beyond the impact of the growing numbers of casualties on both sides. The war is largely a low-tech and fairly static war of attrition along long miles of rugged and inhospitable terrain. The new offensive just launched by the Ethiopians is yet to alter the overall character of the war. However, both sides have embarked on an intense effort to acquire high quality air power in order to break the deadlock. Both countries not only purchased several late model combat aircraft and helicopters from states of the former Soviet Union but also engaged a large number of air crews and technicians to fly and maintain them. This effort, that is yet to impact the situation on the front line, is rapidly exhausting the hard currency holdings of these already impoverished states, thus further reducing their chance of economic recovery and development.

Dire as the situation in the Horn of Africa is, and as much as the casualties are lamentable, it is a valid question to ask: Why should we—the United States—care about yet another debilitating war in a remote part of Africa? Fortunately, the war has so far had little impact on the civilian population, there were no massacres, and there is no famine. Hence, there is no humanitarian catastrophe to attract our attention. Hence, I repeat, why should we care?

The reason we should pay close attention to the mounting crisis and escalating war is the vital strategic importance of the Horn of Africa to the United States and its close allies. The geo-strategic position of Ethiopia is central to several mega-dynamics stretching all the way from the Middle East to East Africa. Thus, the impact of instability and war reverberates directly to the heart of such areas commonly accepted as vital interests of the United States as Israel or the oil producing states of the Persian Gulf. Here are several major strategic factors in the region, demonstrating its great importance to the security interests of the United States:

1. The security of the Red Sea/Suez Canal Sea Lane of Communication (SLOC), which vitally affects EastWest trade (not just the oil trade) between Europe and Asia, including particularly Japan and Australia. Within this context, the ability of Israel and Jordan to maintain adequate maritime access to the Red Sea (and therefore world trade) is significant.

2. The containment of the spread of Islamist radicalism and terrorism—a process currently sponsored by Sudan’s National Islamic Front (NIF) Government with the assistance of Iran. The hub of international terrorism in Sudan supports subversion throughout the Arab world and East Africa. A personal patron of Osama bin Laden, Hassan al-Turabi, Sudan’s spiritual leader, was instrumental in inspiring and sponsoring the bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Having sponsored the eviction of the United States from Somalia, Khartoum is now trying to capitalize on the crisis in the Horn of Africa in order to evict the United States from the rest of this strategically critical area. Toward this end, the Islamists support several Islamist separatist movements in both Eritrea and Ethiopia, most notably the support for the radical separatist Oromo forces designed to break up Ethiopia still further.

3. The management of the Nile waters is critical to the stability, prosperity and growth of Sudan and Egypt, and therefore the stability of the entire Middle East. Egypt is completely dependent on the Nile water for its very existence and Cairo will therefore do anything to ensure the Nile’s uninterrupted flow—including joining the radicals of the Muslim world, turning on the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, etc. Sudan is also the driving force behind and key sponsor of the destabilization of Egypt. Gaining a foothold in Ethiopia will provide Khartoum with the possibility to manipulate the Nile’s flow without direct implications.

Thus, stability in the Horn of Africa, and especially the existence of a unified and pro-Western Ethiopia, is of crucial importance to the national security of the United States. We must care and worry about the escalation of the Ethiopia-Eritrea war and the Sudan-sponsored Islamist forces exploiting it. This position is shared by the Ethiopian Crown Council. In my previous comments, I urged that we help reinforce the position of Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, the President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, who is attempting to restore a policy of unity and moderation on Ethiopia and the region. Recently, Prince Ermias has written an excellent analysis of the crisis for the Defense & Foreign Affairs: Strategic Policy, the journal of the respected International Strategic Studies Association. In this overview, he urges that we see the Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict in the context of the broader regional strategic situation, to ensure that radicalization of the region. Prince Ermias stresses the dire ramifications of the deteriorating situation in Ethiopia:

“What we see now [in Ethiopia] is far less democracy and opportunity and prosperity than was being created under the Constitutional Monarchy of Haile Selassie. What we are witnessing today is a society led by people who arrived on the scene by accident; who are mired in divisive, petty squabbling. The result is that the region is divided and at risk. And the risk is one shared by the entire world: a further breakdown in the region could lead to the collapse of the pivotal powers, and a total disruption of the trade routes and the Middle Eastern oil trade. But worse than this, by not seeing the Ethiopia-Eritrea dispute in the broader context and acting accordingly, the world may be condemning the peoples of the region, including those of Egypt and North Africa, Arabia and the Northern Tier, to many more years of despair.”

I share the view and the anguish. I add that the strategic posture of the United States is adversely affected by the reverberations from, and impact of, the continued war in the Horn of Africa. This is why we should not only pay attention to events there, but also act to bring an end to the war. However, any negotiated settlement that would leave the regional strategic posture unchanged would only be a short term and temporary solution. Ultimately, it is imperative that long-term solutions are attained—nation building and economic revitalization under condition conducive for flow of private funds, not just hand outs of humanitarian assistance.

What makes the situation in the Horn of Africa so unique is that there is no need for a US military intervention in order to establish such stability. There are indigenous forces in Ethiopia that, if properly supported, can help their own country and the entire region. I’m talking about the Ethiopian Crown Council. Constitutional monarchy, as was the case in the days of Emperor Haile Selassie, provides the best opportunity for Ethiopia. Mr Speaker, it is clear that in Prince Ermias we have someone who understands, and can help stabilize the entire Horn of Africa. The situation is now becoming critical, and we must find ways to support him in the process of reunifying Ethiopia, which cannot be allowed to be dismembered, and in helping to bring about regional reconciliation—thus protecting and furthering national security interests of the United States and its close allies.

Congressman Saxton is also former Chairman, and currently Vice-Chairman, of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, the joint House-Senate body which has a major say in US foreign aid and economic policies.

In an important policy statement in the US Congress this week, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare called for the restoration of the Ethiopian Monarchy as a means of helping stop “the building crisis and slide toward a regional and fratricidal war” in the Horn of Africa.

Congressman Jim Saxton (Republican, New Jersey) also called for support for His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, “who has repeatedly exeplified the capable, unifying symbolism which Ethiopia desperately needs”. Congressman Saxton is also a member of the National Security Committee. He made his remarks on the floor of the House of Representatives on February 9.

The full text of his statement is as follows:

Mr SAXTON. Mr Speaker, if permitted to escalate, the mounting crisis in the Horn of Africa will have dire ramifications on the strategic posture of the United States. Presently, there is no end in sight, other than war, in this Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict. The mediation of Assistant Secretary of State Susan Rice and former National Security Advisor Anthony Lake have so far failed to reverse the slide toward war. Vital interests of the United States, Israel and the West are jeopardized, particularly if the Islamist-supported further break-up of Ethiopia is permitted to occur.

A unified Ethiopia is vital to the regional security and economic structure. If Ethiopia were to become fragmented, as Sudanese leaders seek, then Israel’s economic and military security, as well as its access to the Red Sea would be jeopardized. Instability in Ethiopia would destabilize Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the vital Red Sea-Suez trade link.

The key to the reversal of the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict and the ensuing fragmentation of Ethiopia lies in the rejuvenation of Ethiopia’s national identity. Toward this end, the US needs to help Ethiopia find the unifying symbols to strengthen the country and ensure its commitment to moderation. Until 1974, Ethiopia, the region and the US benefited greatly from the statesmanship and friendship of Emperor Haile Selassie. Ethiopia has since declined into ethnic enclaves and divisiveness, and lays open to Eritrean, Sudanese and irridentist attacks.

The Ethiopian Crown today is a Constitutional Monarchy, ready to return home to provide the inspirational symbolism under which elected day-to-day government can emerge and flourish. Moreover, the stature of the Crown throughout the Horn of Africa makes the Crown uniquely capable of mediating an indigenous solution to the building crisis and slide toward a regional and fratricidal war. The President of the Ethiopian Crown Council and grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie is Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, who has repeatedly exemplified the capable, unifying symbolism which Ethiopia desperately needs. By encouraging Prince Ermias’s use of the prestige of the Crown and Ethiopia’s traditional elders and institutions to resolve conflict, we can help heal the rifts which are a legacy of decades of civil strife.

Mr Speaker, I therefore urge Ethiopia’s civil government to allow the Crown’s return to help unify and stabilize the State, and thereby help preserve Ethiopian, regional and Western security and economic interests.

The President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, arrived in Amman, Jordan, today to attend the funeral and mourning period for His Late Majesty King Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Apart from representing the Imperial Family and the Crown of Ethiopia at the services, Prince Ermias also brought a message of support to His Majesty King Abdullah, who succeeds King Hussein.

“The Ethiopian and Jordanian Crowns have, since the founding of the Hashemite State, shared a great mutual respect,” Prince Ermias said in a statement prepared before he left Washington. “My late Grandfather, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie, had enormous warmth of feeling for the achievements and personal character of His Late Majesty King Hussein. The Jordanian Royal Family also afforded great support to the Ethiopian Imperial Family after the coup and regicide of 1974-75, and it is important that today, as the guard changes in Jordan, we show just how deeply our feelings are for the late King and for his Family.”

“His Majesty King Hussein, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, truly respected the Prophet’s injunction that the Crown and People of Ethiopia should be regarded as protected friends of Islam, and this paved the way for warm bilateral relations between our peoples and Monarchies,” Prince Ermias said. “We are also aware of the great interest which the new Monarch, His Majesty King Abdullah, has shown in African affairs. He comes to the Throne as a man of considerable leadership experience and a great knowledge of international affairs, and we have great confidence in his ability to handle the enormous challenges which face him.”

“Ethiopia and Jordan both have vital interests in maintaining the freedom and stability of the Red Sea sea lanes, and both are pivotal nations in the overall process of peace, stability and progress for the entire Middle East region. The Ethiopian Crown, although currently in Exile, commits itself to working with His Majesty King Abdullah and his Government, in the furtherance of the regional good.”

“The Ethiopian Crown is now preoccupied with attempting to help address the problem of renewed conflict in and around Ethiopia, and we hope to consult with our brother, King Abdullah, about this.”

“God Bless the sacred memory of His Late Majesty King Hussein. God Bless and Protect the reign and Person of His Majesty King Abdullah.”

The Ethiopian Monarchy today called on all Ethiopians to put aside their political differences to unify in the face of the new military and insurgent threats to the security of the State. Ethiopia’s continued existence as a federal nation-state was now threatened more than at any time since the Italian invasion of 1935, according to Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, the President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia.

Prince Ermias authorized the release of the statement issued today from the US Legation of the Ethiopian Crown in Exile before he left Washington DC to represent the Ethiopian Crown at the funeral services and mourning period for His Majesty King Hussein in Amman. Prince Ermias said that the State of Ethiopia was ill-equipped to meet the two major military and separatist threats which now faced it.

“Unfortunately, mistakes were made after the removal of the genocidal Dergue administration in 1991,” Prince Ermias said. “The present civil administration in Ethiopia had, after taking power in the name of Tigrean separatism in 1991, divided the country into ethnic enclaves, making it difficult for the country to successfully resist the current external threats. Now, we must come together again, and we must rally around the traditional symbols of Ethiopian unity, including the Crown, which belongs to all Ethiopia’s ethnic and religious communities.”

“The Ethiopian people — representing more than 40 ethnic and linguistic groups — must now pull together to resist the military and political threats being posed by Eritrea and certain Sudanese extremist groups,” Prince Ermias said. “Our first cause must be the preservation of our State; our economic and cultural survival depend on this.”

“It is critical, if we are all to pull together, that the present civil administration in Addis Ababa also commits to the unity of Ethiopia and the reconciliation of its peoples by dramatically improving its record on human rights. This means releasing political prisoners and beginning the process of allowing full political involvement and debate within the society. The administration has said that it wishes the support of all Ethiopians, and to achieve this it must now ensure that all Ethiopians are free from oppression.”

Prince Ermias is the grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie I, and the nephew of Emperor Amha Selassie I. He was named head of the Crown Council of Ethiopia in 1993. The Council advises reigning Emperors and, during any interregnum (such as now), the Council actually represents the 3,000-year-old Solomonic Crown of Ethiopia. No accession to the Throne may be made, according to the Constitution, unless sanctioned by the Crown Council.

“It is inconceivable that Ethiopia, with some 60-million people, cannot resist a military incursion by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) fighters,” the Prince said. “However, at the same time, we find radical Islamists in Sudan defying the command of the Prophet Mohammed, who specifically forbade Muslims from attacking Ethiopia. Today, the radicals want to break Ethiopia up into a patchwork of small Muslim states, destroying the balanced and harmonious mix of loyal Ethiopian Muslims and Orthodox Christians who have traditionally made Ethiopia an example of religious tolerance.”

“Ethiopia must return to its traditional unifying symbol, the Crown,” Prince Ermias said. “The Crown can and will work with the elected representatives of Ethiopia’s civil administration to ensure that the pride and traditional strengths of our country are restored. The Crown is ready now to work with all Ethiopian civil, military and religious institutions to help strengthen the unity of the State in the face of the most serious threats which now challenge our very survival.”

Prince Ermias, along with the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), a Washington-based international NGO, had in October 1998 offered to help mediate a peaceful end to Asmara’s dispute with Ethiopia. “It now seems clear that neither side wished to negotiate an end to the conflict,” the Prince said, “so today we must do all we can to bolster the unity of Ethiopia in order to stave off any threats to the integrity of the State.”

“The continued unity and stability of Ethiopia is vital to the security of the region, to the stable flow of Nile waters to Sudan and Egypt, to the security of the Red Sea sea lanes, and to the overall Middle Eastern peace process.”

“Any aggressors threatening Ethiopia should know that the Crown, with its considerable support among the population of the State and with its widespread international connections, will help rally the defenses of the nation. At the same time, we will continue to fight for the human rights and prosperity of all the inhabitants of Ethiopia, and for the peace and security of the entire region.”

One of Ethiopia’s great cultural and religious treasures of the modern era, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, in Addis Ababa, is in urgent need of repairs and restoration. The Cathedral — which houses the tombs of Her Imperial Majesty Empress Menem, His Imperial Majesty Emperor Amha Selassie I, Their Imperial Highnesses the Duke of Harar and Prince Sahle Selassie — is home to the Battle Standards of the Imperial Ethiopian forces, including the units which fought in the Korean War.

The Ethiopian Crown Council has taken up the cause of trying to raise funds for the urgent repairs, which are estimated to cost some 2.4-million birr (appr. $330,000), and is urging readers to send donations to the Haile Selassie Fund for Ethiopia’s Children, in the US, along with the form on page seven, earmarking the funds to be forwarded to the Cathedral authorities’ restoration fund. An address in Addis will be advised soon where donations can be made. Meanwhile, readers in Ethiopia should send their donations directly to the Cathedral, specifying that the money is to go to the restoration program.

The cornerstone for the great cathedral was laid by His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I in December 1931 (Western calendar; 1924 EC), only a year after his coronation as Emperor, and well before the Italian invasion. His Holiness the Patriarch, Abuna John the 18th of Alexandria, blessed the occasion.

Work on construction was suspended with the Italian invasion of 1935 (1928 EC), but resumed in 1941 with the liberation of the nation. The cathedral, which was inaugurated in 1944, was named “Holy Trinity” and dedicated to the memory of the patriots who died defending Ethiopia. The Emperor had taken a personal and constant rôle in overseeing the construction of Holy Trinity.

The cathedral has since witnessed the consecration of a number of archbishops and the ordination of many priests and deacons of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Emperor Haile Selassie used the cathedral on public holidays, and members of the Imperial Family frequented it. Several of them were later laid to rest there.

The cathedral was enlarged in 1946, the second of three phases in the construction of what is now the completed Holy Trinity. The third and final phase was underway in 1964, adding an additional 500sq.m. of space. Today, this, the most modern and largest church in Ethiopia, is used for the major religious ceremonies of the country.

One of the great murals in Holy Trinity depicts Emperor Haile Selassie pleading for the liberation of Ethiopia at the League of Nations. Another mural, which takes a full wall, depicts “the progressive march of four modern Ethiopian emperors, Téwodros, Yohannes, Menelik II, and Haile Selassie I”, under the watchful gaze of the mounted figure of Saint George, Ethiopia’s patron saint.

A bronze plaque in the cathedral commemorates the collaboration of the British and Ethiopian armies in the liberation of the nation, and the battle ensigns of Ethiopian regiments, garlanded with their battle honors, hang from staffs in the walls.

Superb examples of silver and wooden processional and hand crosses in the traditional Ethiopian style, along with an extensive library, sacred vessels, pyxes and ceremonial umbrellas are among the treasures in Holy Trinity, while outside are the graves of many who died defending the country.

The beautiful cathedral now, however, is facing problems. Leakage in various parts of the roof is worsening, causing serious damage to the interior, including damage to some precious religious paintings and to the windows.

A meeting was called on May 27, 1995, to take preliminary steps to address the problem. The present Patriarch, His Holiness Abuna Paulos, was present and called for the faithful to fulfill their religious obligations by contributing their share to the restoration of the cathedral. A Fundraising Committee of 15 people was established to work within the country and abroad on the project.

An international contractor, EMC (Elmecon plc,), of the UK, was called in to make a complete study of the problems, and has filed a full report to the cathedral committee. The cost for repairing the roof, the most urgent part of the program, is estimated at 975,687 birr ($137,000 appr.).

“Holy Trinity represents the unity of modern Ethiopia,” the President of the Crown Council, Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie said. “The cathedral is an important physical and spiritual home of the Nation. My Father, Grandmother and Uncles are entombed there, but so, too, are the bodies and spirits of those who have lived and died for the integrity and unity of our country.”

“We must now give willingly to preserve it.”