Source: Examiner, February 18th, 2011
Today, Djibouti joined the ranks of other Arab nations experiencing massive demonstrations against their authoritarian leaders.
Before Friday evening prayers, thousands of student demonstrators demanded that their president step down. They also raged against economic conditions in a mostly barren desert country where the average per-capita income is less than $1,500 a year.
This is despite the fact that Djibouti is a key transit point for landlocked Ethiopia's trade and role as a free-trade zone. Most people are Muslim and have Somali or Ethiopian origins; French, Arabic, Somali, and Afar are spoken.
63-year-old President Ismael Omar Guelleh has run the Massachusetts-sized country for more than 11 years; his relatives have held power since Djibouti’s independence from France in 1977. Guelleh recently imposed an amendment to the constitution that would allow him to seek two more 6-year terms. Elections are scheduled for this April
Surrounded by tight police security who used tear gas, witnesses reported, the demonstrators gathered at a stadium in the capital and vowed to stay there until their demands were met. Sporadic protests have been taking place since January.
"For the moment, our goal is to remove Ismael Omar Guelleh from power, explained Guedi Hared, the leader of the Union for Democratic Change to an Agence France-Presse reporter. The UDC is an umbrella group for three opposition parties.
When asked if he hoped for a repeat of what has taken place in Egypt, Hared responded: "Yes, that's it."
Djibouti, population 750,000, occupies a strategic location in the Horn of Africa just southeast of Yemen across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Like Bahrain, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, Djibouti hosts an American naval base.
The more than 2,000 service members at the base and nearby Fort Lemonnier, as well as personnel at a French naval base, monitor the activities of Somali pirates and al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula based in Yemen. If protesters cause the overthrow of the Djibouti regime, the West may lose vital assets in the War on Terror.
While working in Yemen, the author occasionally stopped at Djibouti's Ambouli Airport while heading for vacations in Ethiopia. From the safety of the aircraft, he admired the views of thorn-covered desert in the 120-degree heat and sleek French surveillance aircraft baking on the tarmac nearby.
Bill Heenan, Middle East Affairs Examiner
Today, Djibouti joined the ranks of other Arab nations experiencing massive demonstrations against their authoritarian leaders.
Before Friday evening prayers, thousands of student demonstrators demanded that their president step down. They also raged against economic conditions in a mostly barren desert country where the average per-capita income is less than $1,500 a year.
This is despite the fact that Djibouti is a key transit point for landlocked Ethiopia's trade and role as a free-trade zone. Most people are Muslim and have Somali or Ethiopian origins; French, Arabic, Somali, and Afar are spoken.
63-year-old President Ismael Omar Guelleh has run the Massachusetts-sized country for more than 11 years; his relatives have held power since Djibouti’s independence from France in 1977. Guelleh recently imposed an amendment to the constitution that would allow him to seek two more 6-year terms. Elections are scheduled for this April
Surrounded by tight police security who used tear gas, witnesses reported, the demonstrators gathered at a stadium in the capital and vowed to stay there until their demands were met. Sporadic protests have been taking place since January.
"For the moment, our goal is to remove Ismael Omar Guelleh from power, explained Guedi Hared, the leader of the Union for Democratic Change to an Agence France-Presse reporter. The UDC is an umbrella group for three opposition parties.
When asked if he hoped for a repeat of what has taken place in Egypt, Hared responded: "Yes, that's it."
Djibouti, population 750,000, occupies a strategic location in the Horn of Africa just southeast of Yemen across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Like Bahrain, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, Djibouti hosts an American naval base.
The more than 2,000 service members at the base and nearby Fort Lemonnier, as well as personnel at a French naval base, monitor the activities of Somali pirates and al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula based in Yemen. If protesters cause the overthrow of the Djibouti regime, the West may lose vital assets in the War on Terror.
While working in Yemen, the author occasionally stopped at Djibouti's Ambouli Airport while heading for vacations in Ethiopia. From the safety of the aircraft, he admired the views of thorn-covered desert in the 120-degree heat and sleek French surveillance aircraft baking on the tarmac nearby.
Bill Heenan, Middle East Affairs Examiner
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