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| Africa: Horn |
| Eritreans Arrest 30 Christians for Participating in Wedding Ceremony |
| 2004-08-11 |
| From Compass Direct Police disrupted a Christian marriage ceremony in the Eritrean town of Senafe on Sunday, July 25, and arrested 30 guests and members of the wedding party. Charging in and demanding a halt to the ceremony, police officers ordered everyone who was not a "Pente" (a derisive abbreviation for "Pentecostal") to leave the place immediately. Many of the guests did so, but the 30 evangelical Christians who remained were hauled off to a police station. Yesterday, all but two of the prisoners were released after signing a document promising not to participate in any evangelical Christian wedding in the future. Police continue to hold an evangelist, identified as Michel, of the Kale Hiwot church and Teame Kibrom, a man in his 80s. Officials declared the two responsible for the wedding that allegedly defied a government ban on evangelical church activities. More than 400 evangelical Christians are currently jailed by the Eritrean government, including prominent pastors Rev. Haile Naizgi, Dr. Kiflu Gebremeske and Tesfatsion Hagos. |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #8 Does Rantburg have an obscure destination award? It doesn't get more obscure than Shemya. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-08-11 15:49 |
| #7 It's points SM... but what's the speed trap situation? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-08-11 15:23 |
| #6 Verlaine, Shipman: I'm off to Andora next March; does that count? |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2004-08-11 13:21 |
| #5 Anbody know whether infibulation is still widely practised in Eritrea? Just curious...a Christian Copt sect in this part of Africa used to inflict this "procedure" on women. |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-08-11 10:32 |
| #4 Now if they had brought along their AK's and RPG's and "marriage bombs" like their Muslim cousins...hey, no problem, continue the ceremony. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-08-11 09:01 |
| #3 You're definitely in the running Verlaine, but I seem to remember that Ptah mentioned going thru Ludowici. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-08-11 07:10 |
| #2 Sad indeed to see this sort of thing in Eritrea. I have no insight into underlying dynamics, but speculate that the Orthodox Christian/Muslim entente in Eritrea is intolerant of new players. I travelled in Eritrea in 1995 -- for vacation -- and it was one of my best trips ever. The beautiful and friendly people, the food, the ridiculously low prices (5 cents for espresso out of impressive old Italian machines -- almost anywhere), the diverse and gorgeous scenery, the abundance of old Soviet-design armor on which to play and take photos -- it was a great combination. Oddly enough, I was in Senafe. Not likely, as it's barely a wide place in the road (not even that, now, I suspect, as it was the last place reached and trashed by Ethiopian forces in the two countries' last ridiculous war some years back). Far to the south, only reason to be there were the Axumite ruins nearby. Though the drive down reminded me of some of the more spectacular parts of the American west. Does Rantburg have an obscure destination award? After this Senafe comment and a similar one appropriate to a Caucasus-related post wherein I described a work trip to South Ossetia some time ago, I wonder if I'm leading in having been to some of the more obscure locales featured in articles here. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2004-08-11 03:19 |
| #1 I used to like Eritrea -- those plucky Eritreans fighting off Mengistu and the commie hordes and all. Lately I'm wondering if I did the right thing. Someone needs to 'plain things to the guys running this country, like how we're not completely opposed to the Ethiopians having access to the Red Sea. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2004-08-11 00:34 |