Biden Administration's Sanction on Ethiopian Officials Illogical, Without Strong Justifications: Scholar

Addis Ababa, September18/2021(ENA) President Biden's Executive Order to impose sanction on Ethiopian officials is illogical and doesn’t have any strong justifications, a scholar noted.

Speaking to ENA, Civil Service University Diplomacy and International Relations lecturer  Endale Negusse said the Executive Order is also untimely because it does not take into consideration the effort of the government to handle the problems at home.  

The sanction has in fact a colonial sentiment and its very essence is to support the terrorist TPLF group which has been their agent for the last 40 years to divide Ethiopia and destabilize the Horn of Africa region, he added.

According to the scholar, the Biden Administration must understand that the terrorist TPLF group will not return to power as Ethiopians ousted it from power and still resent it.

Also, the administration has to know that the existing Ethiopian officials have no cash or investment in USA, he noted, adding that it is on the contrary the TPLF terrorist group members who have huge amount of money they have stolen from the Ethiopian people stashed away in that country.

They of course siphoned off the money in collusion with their accomplices in the Biden Administration, he revealed.

Furthermore, the Biden Administration has to accept that there could be no negotiation between the already dying terrorist group and the existing Ethiopian government, which has strong support from Ethiopians and partners of Ethiopia, the lecturer underscored.

The scholar advised the administration to improve its foreign policy in line with the current power structure of the world in order to maintain the strength of the US diplomacy.

Endale both the Trump Administration and Biden Administration sanction have been imposing  sanctions on a number of countries like Turkey, Russia, China, among others. However the sanctions do not result in any significant change on the respective countries.

The scholar stated that the open letter written to President Joe Biden from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is timely and has strong justification against the current sanction. It also refutes the wrong narration of the Biden Administration.

The letter is properly crafted and clearly shows Ethiopia stands for liberty as a symbol of African pride and defends the country's national interest which needs to be appreciated, he said.

Endale believes that the letter will expose the circle inside the Biden Administration that spoils relations with Ethiopia in the near future since Ethiopia is not going against the national interest of the US regarding terrorism and other security issues.

It is to be recalled that the US President Joe Biden signed an executive order " imposing targeted sanctions on persons and entities contributing to the ongoing humanitarian and human rights crisis in Ethiopia."