(27 Jul 2015) THE FIRST U.S. PRESIDENT EVER TO VISIT ETHIOPIA, PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA IS MOVING TO UPGRADE TIES WITH A COUNTRY THAT'S SPEARHEADING AFRICA'S ECONOMIC BOOM AND THE BATTLE AGAINST ISLAMIC MILITANTS WREAKING HAVOC ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
AHEAD OF A VISIT TO AFRICAN UNION HEADQUARTERS HERE, OBAMA MET WITH PRIME MINISTER HAILEMARIAM DESALEGN ABOUT ROLLING BACK THE AL-QAIDA-LINKED GROUP AL-SHABAB ... A DAY AFTER A DEADLY TRUCK BOMBING AT A LUXURY HOTEL COMPLEX USED BY DIPLOMATS IN SOMALIA, WHERE AL-SHABAB IS BASED.
AT A NEWS CONFERENCE, OBAMA CLAIMED PROGRESS AGAINST THE MILITANTS, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING THEY REMAIN POTENT.
SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BARACK OBAMA, US PRESIDENT:
"Yesterday's bombing in mogadishu remind us that terrorist groups like al-Shabab offer nothing but death and destruction and have to be stopped. We've got more work to do."
((STANDUP BRIDGE))
"But the president was also outspoken about Ethiopia's human rights record -- a record of jailed dissidents and journalists -- and elections in May that critics call such a sham the ruling party won all 547 seats in Parliament."
OBAMA SAID HE WAS "FRANK" WITH LEADERS HERE THAT ETHIOPIA WON'T BE ALL IT CAN BE UNLESS IT OPENS UP.
SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BARACK OBAMA, US PRESIDENT:
"When all voices are being heard, when people know they are being included in the political process, that makes a country more successful."
HAILEMARIAM PLEADED FOR PATIENCE WITH THIS "FLEDGELING" DEMOCRACY.
SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) HAILEMARIAM DESALEGN, PRIME MINISTER OF ETHIOPIA:
"We feel that we are on the right track. And there is a constitutional democracy that we are all obliged to observe."
MEANTIME, OBAMA ALSO CONVENED REGIONAL LEADERS ON THE CIVIL WAR IN THE WORLD'S YOUNGEST COUNTRY, FOUR-YEAR-OLD, NEXT-DOOR SOUTH SUDAN .... WHERE FIGHTING'S ALREADY KILLED THOUSANDS AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS FACE STARVATION.
OBAMA SAYS THE SITUATION IN DESPERATE, AND SOUTH SUDAN NEEDS A PEACE DEAL NOW.
MARK SMITH, ASSOCIATED PRESS ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA.
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