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 Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 email: irin@ocha.unon.orgCentral and Eastern Africa IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 19 6 - 12 May 2000
CONTENTS: RWANDA-UGANDA: Army chiefs seek to avoid further fighting RWANDA-UGANDA: Troops reportedly deployed at border DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Renewed clashes in Kisangani DRC: Conflict follows demilitarisation accord DRC: Kinshasa seeks Security Council action DRC: UN condemns Uganda-Rwanda fighting DRC: 28 people killed DRC: South African military advance team planned RWANDA: Genocide suspect to be interviewed on Habyarimana crash RWANDA: Pope prays for Bishop Misago's release RWANDA: Uneven rainfall causes food security concern BURUNDI: Fighting displaces 30,000 in Makamba BURUNDI: Diplomats protest army looting of regroupment camp ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: New offensive launched ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UN mission fails to avert fighting ETHIOPIA: Election observers ready for more open poll ETHIOPIA: Floods hit drought area ETHIOPIA: Suspected anthrax epidemic in Afar Region SOMALIA: Clans choose chairmen for Djibouti peace talks SUDAN: Bashir suspends Turabi, consolidates power SUDAN: SPLM suspends peace talks KENYA: Top officials named in corruption probe RWANDA-UGANDA: Army chiefs seek to avoid further fighting The Rwandan and Ugandan army chiefs had a one-day meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Wednesday, one day after their troops clashed in the Congolese city of Kisangani for a second time in less than a week. Rwandan Chief of Staff Brigadier Kayumba Nyamwisa said after the talks that Rwanda and Uganda "went to the DRC for security reasons, as a common cause...War between Rwanda and Uganda is so unfortunate and should be avoided", news agencies reported. A summit between Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Rwandan President Paul Kagame was planned for Sunday in the northwestern Tanzanian town of Mwanza to try to prevent an escalation of tensions, news agencies reported. "Underlying causes of this are not clear to some of us. We have to find a solution," Kagame told journalists on Wednesday. RWANDA-UGANDA: Troops reportedly deployed at border Rwanda and Uganda accused each other of amassing troops along their common border this week in the wake of the Kisangani clashes. But both countries denied the charge. "There has been no troop movement on our side of the border. But troops have been moving on the Ugandan side," Kagame said on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Uganda's Minister of State for Defence Steven Kavuma said in a statement received by IRIN on Thursday that there had been no massive deployment of Ugandan troops to the border but that "we have small units acting as screens to monitor the border for precautionary reasons". "We are watching the situation closely. We...continue to exercise maximum restraint. We urge our brothers and sisters in Rwanda to do the same in the interest of peace in the region," the statement added. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Renewed clashes in Kisangani Fresh fighting broke out between Ugandan and Rwandan troops in the northeastern Congolese town of Kisangani on Tuesday, despite the demilitarisation accord reached between them and a UN Security Council delegation on Monday. "The Ugandans started shelling our positions from 1 a.m. to dawn today. This was done despite the ceasefire agreed upon with them," Rwandan military spokesman Major Emmanuel Ndahiro told IRIN. The Ugandans, for their part, claimed that the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) had advanced from Lubuto Junction to attack Ugandan positions near Bangoka Airport. DRC: Conflict follows demilitarisation accord The clashes took place one day after Museveni and Kagame settled on an agreement to demilitarise Kisangani city, its environs and the airport. A press statement issued after a meeting between Museveni and US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke - who was leading a UN Security Council delegation to the region to assess the DRC situation - and in which with Kagame took part via telephone, said the two sides had agreed to withdraw their troops from Kisangani "to a distance to be agreed between them in detailed negotiations to be held without delay." Negotiations would be held in conjunction with the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) and the Joint Military Commission (JMC) established under last year's Lusaka ceasefire agreement, the statement added. DRC: Kinshasa seeks Security Council action The DRC government requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council following the clashes between Rwandan and Ugandan forces in Kisangani, Congolese state television reported on Tuesday. "Congolese blood has once again been shed through the greed and the cruelty of Uganda's Museveni and Rwanda's Kagame," Information Minister Didier Mumengi said. The two presidents wanted to gain control of the DRC's resources "which they have been looting on a massive scale for two years now," he said. DRC: UN condemns Uganda-Rwanda fighting Meanwhile, MONUC and the UN Security Council last Friday condemned unreservedly the conflict between Ugandan and Rwandan forces, demanding that the parties reaffirm their commitment to the Lusaka accord, reinaugurated on 14 April 2000. DRC: 28 people killed A joint MSF/ICRC team in Kisangani has confirmed that 28 people were killed and 159 others wounded in the clashes between Rwandan and Ugandan forces in the city last Friday and Saturday, an MSF statement said. The statement, received by IRIN on Wednesday, said the joint team had visited 41 health centres and four hospitals in Kisangani on Sunday morning. It said 27 of those killed and 155 of those wounded were civilians, and the rest soldiers. The two warring parties had released between 300 and 400 bombs within 24 hours, it added. DRC: South African military advance team planned South Africa is to provide military logistical assistance for MONUC, a South African military spokesman told IRIN on Thursday. "The role of the advance team is to determine what MONUC expects from us, to identify tasks and be prepared," the military spokesman said. South Africa is prepared to provide loading teams, air traffic controllers, water purification systems and medical units to the force, but no ground troops. RWANDA: Genocide suspect to be interviewed on Habyarimana crash The prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Carla Del Ponte, has authorised a French anti-terrorism judge, Jean-Louis Brugiere, to interview Rwandan genocide suspect Hassan Ngeze regarding the 1994 shooting down of an aircraft, which killed Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana and the-then president of Burundi, the independent Hirondelle news agency reported last Friday. Del Ponte said Brugiere would undertake a recorded interview with Ngeze on 15 May at the ICTR headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, Hirondelle stated. Ngeze said he had information for anyone who wanted to know the truth about the 6 April 1994 air crash. RWANDA: Pope prays for Bishop Misago's release Pope John Paul II of the Roman Catholic Church on Wednesday sent a telegram of solidarity to Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro, who is on trial on genocide and related charges, saying he prayed for him to be freed soon. Prosecutor Edouard Kayihura on Tuesday requested the death penalty for Misago at Kigali Criminal Court, saying he was in the first category of those responsible for the 1994 genocide. RWANDA: Uneven rainfall causes food security concern Local authorities have expressed concern about the food security situation of vulnerable populations in the Bugesera region of Kigali-rural, where uneven rainfall distribution was expected to reduce crop production this agricultural season, an OCHA report stated. It said an estimated 34,500 families were reported to be in need of assistance in the affected communes of Kanzenze, Ngenda, Gashora and parts of Bicumbi. An inter-agency mission has been fielded to the area to assess the situation. Meanwhile, rainfall was reported normal in the rest of the country. BURUNDI: Fighting displaces 30,000 in Makamba About 30,000 people have been displaced in Makamba Province in the southeast of the country in the past fortnight by Hutu rebel attacks and clashes between the rebels and the Burundian army, humanitarian sources said on Friday. A new onslaught by FDD rebels started on 30 April, when a large contingent of rebels crossed into Burundi from Tanzania, the sources said. News agencies reported that at least 200 rebels were killed, but there were no details available of civilian or army casualties. BURUNDI: Diplomats protest army looting of regroupment camp The looting by Burundian army forces of the Kavumu civilian regroupment camp, just outside Bujumbura, on Sunday morning has been raised by the diplomatic community with senior members of the government. A large company of soldiers had entered Kavumu camp, saying they were investigating the reported presence of rebel forces, and rounded up camp residents into three groups, humanitarian sources said. They then searched and looted people's tents, removing from the camp the personal property of regrouped people as well as food and non-food items from the camp stores. Minister for Foreign Relations and Cooperation Severin Ntahomvukye has promised an enquiry into the matter. ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: New offensive launched Ethiopia launched a fresh attack on Eritrean positions just after midnight on Friday, confirming fears expressed by a recent UN Security Council mission to the two countries that "the largest war on the African continent" was to resume. Heavy fighting was taking place at both the Zela Ambessa-Egela front in northern Ethiopia and at the Mereb River Front in the northwest, according to the Ethiopian government web site. The statement blamed Eritrea for invading territory and demonstrating "unwillingness to negotiate" in the collapsed peace talks this week. Unconfirmed reports claim Ethiopian aircraft attacked south of Mendefra, a strategic road linking Ethiopia and Asmara. People started moving out of the northern town of Adigrat in private cars and public vehicles from Thursday, humanitarian sources told IRIN. Travel north from Mekele was stopped for humanitarian workers. A statement issued by the Eritrean Foreign Minister said Ethiopia, regardless of the peace process, had prepared for war and had publicly stated it would be launched "when the preparations are complete." ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UN mission fails to avert fighting Earlier, US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke had warned as he left Asmara that Eritrea and Ethiopia could be on the verge of fresh conflict. According to Reuters, he said new fighting would lead to carnage on the battlefield and exacerbate a hunger crisis. He made the comments to local and international journalists at Asmara airport on Wednesday, when shuttle diplomacy between the two countries failed to make progress after a breakdown of peace talks. Holbrooke had been heading a seven-member team from the Security Council to try and get the two countries to resume peace talks. ETHIOPIA: Election observers ready for more open poll The Ethiopian Human Rights Congress has trained 130 election observers for the 14 May elections in which voters will choose a federal parliament, nine regional assemblies and council members for the capital and the eastern city of Dire Dawa, according to a press statement. Although there has been no official announcement about polling in areas affected by the new offensive, voting was likely to be postponed, diplomatic sources said on Friday. ETHIOPIA: Floods hit drought area Gode, the focus of the drought and hunger crisis in Ethiopia, has experienced three days of torrential rains which has caused flooding. Water is "knee deep" around warehouses in Gode, one aid worker told IRIN. The flooding is reported to be "good and bad", since it disrupts deliveries and causes damage but improves grazing for pastoralist communities. Significant rainfall has also been reported by the ICRC in areas of the Somali region, including Jijiga, Denan, Imi, Fid, Degehabur and the Liben Zones. ETHIOPIA: Suspected anthrax epidemic in Afar Region Following a local alert that "hundreds" of people are reportedly dying from a "peculiar killer syndrome" in the Afar Region, a report from the UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia warns there is an immediate need to "investigate, detect and confirm fears of an anthrax epidemic in Zones 4 and 5 of Afar Region... which appears likely to spread into Amhara Region and other areas of the country". SOMALIA: Clans choose chairmen for Djibouti peace talks Most of the clan groups gathered in Djibouti for Somali peace talks have appointed group chairmen, and are preparing for the plenary session to be held on Saturday, a diplomatic source told IRIN. By Saturday, the Djibouti government will expect clan elders to have decided on numbers per clan delegation. Over 700 representatives are gathered in the pre-conference talks, said the source, including a strong delegation from Puntland. SUDAN: Bashir suspends Turabi, consolidates power Sudanese Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi, ousted as Speaker of Parliament by President Omar al-Bashir in December after a power struggle between the two, on Sunday threatened to turn to the people and refused to rule out the possibility of violence after Bashir moved to restrict his political influence even further. Bashir issued a presidential decree on Saturday suspending the national secretariat of the ruling National Congress Party - including Turabi, its Secretary-General - and closing down the offices of the party's secretaries in Sudan's 26 states, Sudanese media reported. Turabi said he would ignore the presidential decree and continue his political activities within the party, the Sudanese paper 'Al-Ra'y al-Amm' reported. SUDAN: SPLM suspends peace talks The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) on Monday suspended its participation in the IGAD peace talks in protest at allegedly reckless bombing by the Sudanese government of civilian targets. The SPLM claimed, in a statement issued in Nairobi, that the government had flouted its own moratorium on such bombings when it bombarded SPLM-controlled areas. The next round of IGAD talks was scheduled to take place in Nairobi on 17 May. KENYA: Top officials named in corruption probe Senior government officials were on Tuesday named by a parliamentary anti-corruption select committee report as having been involved in corrupt deals, Kenyan newspapers reported. The list included Vice-President George Saitoti, influential cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott and other top officials, as well as Phillip Moi, the son of the president. The report, tabled in parliament, suggested among other recommendations that a partial amnesty be offered to officials who admit corruption within a year and pay back stolen money, the BBC reported. Nairobi, 12 May 2000, 16:00 gmt [IRIN-CEA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ] [This item is delivered in the English service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. 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