Monday, September 24, 2007
Adis Abeba, Ethiopia, September 11, 2007
Adis Abeba, Ethiopia, September 11, 2007—A giant sign worthy of Times Square in New Yorkmarked the arrival of a new millennium in the Ethiopian capital on Tuesday.
Tens of thousands packed the city's central square to ring in the year 2000.
The traditional Ethiopian calendar, based on the one used in ancient Egypt, has 12 months plus an extra five-to-six-day period that serves as a 13th month. Over the centuries this has caused a seven-year lag behind the calendar used in the Western world.
Celebrations included fireworks, feasts of goat and mutton, and the music of U.S. pop celebrities the Black Eyed Peas.
Security was tight, however, as political unrest continued in the country's eastern region near Somalia and border strife persisted with neighboring.
"I hope the next thousand years will deliver peace and unity," one partygoer told the Reuters news service.
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