U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

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Central and Eastern Africa
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 16
15 - 21 April 2000



CONTENTS:

DRC: Annan calls for urgent troop contributions
DRC: Fresh ceasefire orders issued by all parties
DRC: Rwanda unlikely to attend regional summit
DRC: Rwandan soldiers perish in air crash
RWANDA: Regional leaders to attend Kagame swearing-in
RWANDA: Rape sentences handed down
UGANDA: Top ADF member surrenders
UGANDA: Aid agencies cautiously returning to west
UGANDA: Karamajong raids leave 135,000 displaced
UGANDA: LRA activity restricts relief efforts
BURUNDI: Mandela to visit for 4 hours
BURUNDI: CNDD-FDD rejects "villagisation" idea
HORN OF AFRICA: No famine, UN envoy says
ETHIOPIA: Red Cross relief food reaches drought-affected areas
SOMALIA: Situation deteriorating in southern regions
DJIBOUTI: Somali peace talks postponed
KENYA: 26 killed in cattle rustling shoot-out
SUDAN: Rebels "sceptical" over Bashir order to stop air strikes


DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Annan calls for urgent troop contributions

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called on member states to urgently
contribute military personnel to the UN mission in the DRC (MONUC). In a
report to the Security Council on Thursday, Annan noted that the recent
adoption of a disengagement plan by the Political Committee overseeing
implementation of the Lusaka ceasefire agreement would "lend impetus" to
the deployment of some 5,500 troops and military observers under the
second phase of MONUC. Given the "assumption of cooperation" from the
warring parties, there was now an urgent need for countries to contribute
the necessary military personnel to MONUC.  Under the disengagement plan,
adopted on 8 April in Kampala, the parties agreed to a 15 km withdrawal of
all forces from the confrontation line and the creation of a 30 km wide
"zone of disengagement" by the end of June.

In the report, Annan also expressed concern over the targeting of certain
ethnic groups in eastern DRC.  "I am particularly disturbed at the
repeated warnings that have been received from knowledgeable observers
that certain populations in the Kivus and in the Ituri district may be the
victims of widespread ethnic violence," he said. He urged local leaders to
help reduce the level of tension in the east and seek peaceful solutions.

DRC: Fresh ceasefire orders issued by all parties

MONUC confirmed that all parties to last year's Lusaka peace agreement -
including the rebels - had now issued new ceasefire orders to their
troops, a mission spokesman told IRIN on Wednesday. The belligerents last
week agreed to the new ceasefire plan, which came into effect on 14 April.
The spokesman said that, contrary to media reports, "it is MONUC's
assessment that the ceasefire is generally effective". Skirmishes between
government forces and the rebel Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) had
been reported on 14 April in three locations, but the situation in those
areas was now assessed as quiet, he said. "The general tenor is
optimistic," he added.

DRC: Rwanda unlikely to attend regional summit

The Rwandan authorities say they were not involved in preparations for a
regional summit on Congo scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe on Friday.
"We got an invitation to go for a summit in Zimbabwe, which is a surprise
because there was an earlier communication indicating that Mozambique was
supposed to host the summit," Rwandan presidential adviser Major Emmanuel
Ndahiro told IRIN on Wednesday. "The fact that we were not involved in
preparations for the summit makes it difficult for us to attend."

DRC: Rwandans perish in air crash

Twenty Rwandan soldiers were killed when their plane crashed at Pepa in
Katanga province on Wednesday, the Rwanda News Agency reported on Friday,
citing army spokesman Major Emmanuel Ndahiro. They included a major, two
captains and two lieutenants, and some were returning on home leave, while
others were planning to attend the president's swearing-in ceremony. Four
Russian crew members of the Antonov-8 plane also perished. Ndahiro said a
bird flew into one of the engines, causing the crash.

Meanwhile, a small Cessna plane, operated by Kivu Air, crashed into the
Kahuzi-Biega park near Bukavu on Wednesday, humanitarian sources told IRIN
on Friday. Details are sketchy, but the plane was apparently heading west
and according to unconfirmed information, the pilot and three passengers
died. The sources said it was possible the plane could have been shot down
by armed groups.

RWANDA: Regional leaders to attend Kagame swearing-in

A number of regional leaders, including Zambian President Fredrick
Chiluba, Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa and Burundi’s Pierre Buyoya, have
confirmed their attendance at the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect
Paul Kagame on Saturday, the Rwanda News Agency said. It cited
presidential spokesman Nicholas Shalita who said "a good number of
regional leaders" had been invited, but not all had confirmed their
attendance.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has congratulated Kagame on his
appointment, according to Rwandan radio. "I take this opportunity to
reiterate the commitment of my government to further strengthening of the
warm and cordial relations that happily exist between our two countries
for the mutual benefit of our two peoples,"  Museveni's message said. "I
will work closely with you in your new office towards the restoration of
peace in the Great Lakes region."

RWANDA: Rape sentences handed down

The Rwandan courts have handed down the first rape sentences since the
1994 genocide. "We felt that it was time to secure such convictions from
the courts, to send a message to potential rapists that there are
deterrent measures in place," Gerald Gahima, the Rwandan general
prosecutor, told IRIN. A radio Rwanda report on Monday said that 10 people
had been sentenced to 20 years in prison, while four were jailed for 10
years. A man infected with the HIV virus, is awaiting conviction after
medical tests are carried out on his two victims aged four and five
respectively.

UGANDA: Top ADF member surrenders

The "chief of staff" of the rebel Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has
reportedly surrendered to the Ugandan army in eastern DRC. "I can confirm
that the ADF chief of staff, commonly known by his pseudonym as Benz,
surrendered to our forces," army spokesman Lieutenant Barigye told IRIN on
Thursday. He said further details would be released in due course.
Commander "Benz" is reported to have been the overall commander of the ADF
and is the first senior rebel to surrender to the Ugandan authorities. It
is not yet clear whether he surrendered under the amnesty law recently
passed by parliament.

UGANDA: Aid agencies cautiously returning to west

While reports indicate that security in western Uganda has improved since
the intensive ADF campaign of December and January, rebel attacks were
continuing and to think insecurity had eased would be "somewhat
deceptive", the latest OCHA humanitarian update stated. "Some agencies
have cautiously gone back and others are awaiting security assessments in
order to go back into [the western town of] Bundibugyo and resume their
activities," it said. UN agencies and NGOs were also looking, very
tentatively, at stepping up activities in Kasese and Kabarole, OCHA added.

UGANDA: Karamajong raids leave 135,000 displaced

With drought continuing to bite in Karamoja district, northeastern Uganda,
violent raiding and looting by Karamajong warriors in the neighbouring
districts of Katakwi, Lira, Kitgum, Soroti and Kumi, has lead to
widespread displacement, the OCHA report said.  The Karamajong, who
habitually raid neighbouring districts during periods of drought, are this
year reported to have combined looting with rapes, killings and violent
beatings of a previously unknown dimension. This has possibly been
triggered by frequent government pledges to disarm the warriors, OCHA
stated.

UGANDA: LRA activity restricts relief efforts

Ongoing insecurity due to the presence and sporadic operations of the
rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has meant that relief efforts for
displaced and vulnerable populations have remained largely suspended in
the northern Gulu and Kitgum districts, according to the OCHA report.
Though there is a large presence of humanitarian agencies in the two
districts, most operations are limited to towns because they lack security
clearance to go into the field very often. The LRA has rejected the
government's amnesty law and continues to launch attacks in the area. The
Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) on Tuesday killed Lt-Col Onen
Kamdulu, second in command of the Opiro group of the LRA that had been
active in Gulu district, during a fierce battle at Kilak Hills in Adjumani
district, the semi-official 'New Vision' reported.

BURUNDI: Mandela to visit for 4 hours

The facilitator of the Burundi negotiations, former South African
president Nelson Mandela, will visit Burundi on 28 April for a duration of
four hours.  "The purpose of the visit is to hold discussions on peace
with the army and then pay a courtesy call on President [Pierre] Buyoya
for 10 minutes or so, it is a working visit not a state visit," a senior
aide to Mandela told IRIN.

The visit has attracted mixed reactions from Burundi political groups. The
opposition parties and rebels are against the visit on the grounds it will
"legitimise"  Buyoya's regime, while government officials say the visit
will give Mandela an idea about the complexities of the Burundi situation.

BURUNDI: CNDD-FDD rejects "villagisation" idea

Spokesman for the rebel CNDD-FDD, Jerome Ndiho, has rejected the idea of
"villagisation", mooted recently by President Pierre Buyoya. In an
interview with the BBC Kirundi service, he described them as
"extermination villages" where citizens would have no freedom. He claimed
the idea was a plan to "take land" from the local citizens. Presidential
spokesman Apollinaire Gahungu told the radio that the villages would be
inhabited on a voluntary basis by those people who still felt in need of
protection. He said some people in the current regroupment camps did not
want to go home for reasons of safety and also because they had set up
businesses in the camps.

HORN OF AFRICA: No famine, UN envoy says

The Secretary-General's special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Catherine
Bertini has denied that the serious food crisis in the region has reached
famine proportions, but urged the international community to respond
generously to avert a famine. "This is a serious problem facing the people
of the region, and our purpose is, as directed by the Secretary-General,
to bring in enough resources to raise enough consciousness, to organise
enough systems, so that we can prevent a disaster and prevent a famine,"
she told a news conference in Nairobi on Wednesday.

ETHIOPIA: Red Cross relief food reaches drought-affected areas

The ICRC says it has airlifted about 150 mt of relief food to the Gode
area of Ethiopia since 12 April. Some 15-17 mt are reaching Gode daily by
Hercules C-130 plane, according to an ICRC report from Addis Ababa.
Village elders are distributing the rations, monitored by ICRC staff and
the Ethiopian Red Cross Society.

AFP reported that donors had been slow to provide sufficient funds for the
UN World Food Programme's effort to aid famine victims, but that donations
increased as a result of WFP director Catherine Bertini's tour of the Horn
of Africa.

SOMALIA: Situation deteriorating in southern regions

The FAO has warned that the food supply in southern Somalia is
deteriorating rapidly, describing the situation as "very alarming".
Despite a favourable harvest in February, some 650,000 people were faced
with severe food shortages with Bakool, Gedo, Bay and Hiran Regions worst
affected, an FAO report released this week said.  Kevin Farrell, WFP
Country Director for Somalia, told IRIN that north and northwest Bakool
and Gedo had become the chief concern. "We are increasingly concerned
about the situation in that area," he said. He added that if the expected
rains failed or were below average, the area affected was expected to
increase rapidly, and the intensity of the crisis deepen.

DJIBOUTI: Somali peace talks postponed

Attempts by Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh to bring Somalia's
factions together for peace talks have failed to take off. The peace
talks, which had been welcomed by the regional grouping IGAD and the OAU,
aimed to establish a transitional government. A group of 60 Somali
intellectuals, with the tacit backing of the international community, had
recommended that the starting date of the conference - due to begin in
Djibouti on Thursday - should be delayed for further consultations and
preparation of an agenda, news organisations reported.

KENYA: 26 killed in cattle rustling shoot-out

A cattle raid - believed to be carried out by members of the Pokot tribe -
followed by a gun battle with police claimed 26 lives in the Samburu
district of central Kenya on Wednesday, news organisations reported.
Police spokesman Peter Kimanthi said the cattle-raiders attacked a Turkana
homestead, killing nine people and driving off a large number of cattle.
Police tracked the bandits to Soito Kikuyu village, about 250 km north of
Nairobi, and shot dead 17 bandits when they were engaged in a heavy
gunbattle, the Associated Press agency (AP) quoted Kimanthi as saying.
Cattle raiding is endemic among pastoralist communities in Kenya, Uganda,
Sudan and Ethiopia but the level of associated violence has intensified in
parallel with an increased availability of guns in recent years.

SUDAN: Rebels "sceptical" over Bashir order to stop air strikes

Sudanese rebels have reacted with scepticism to an announcement by
President Omar Bashir ordering the army to halt air strikes in rebel-held
areas of southern Sudan.  In a television broadcast on Wednesday, Bashir
said all aerial bombardments should stop except in the event of
"self-defence [or]...where forces are engaged in combat, and where there
is active operation in order to protect civilians".  In response, SPLA
spokesman Samson Kwaje told IRIN on Thursday the president's declaration
"proved a policy of bombing civilian targets in the south which the
government had denied up until the announcement". "We are sceptical of
this announcement...because the government of Sudan has proved
dishonourable in all its declarations," he said.

Nairobi, 21 April 2000, 11.55 gmt


[IRIN-CEA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ]


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