U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
email: irin@ocha.unon.org
Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 30
22 - 28 July 2000



CONTENTS:

DRC: More attacks in North Kivu
DRC: Over 20 killed in fresh Mayi-Mayi attacks
DRC: Kabila causes UN to put peacekeepers on hold
ROC: UN alarmed at plight of stranded refugees 
ROC: UN team assists disarmament programme
BURUNDI: Tens of thousands affected by drought
BURUNDI: Upsurge in fighting
BURUNDI: Delegations to meet again in Arusha on 7 August
RWANDA: Government denies ex-premier's accusations
GREAT LAKES: Humanitarians "picking up the pieces"
KENYA: IMF to resume loans
SUDAN: CONCERN premises hit in bombing raid
SUDAN: Humanitarian aid "should not go to rebels"
SOMALIA: Aid workers seized in Mogadishu
ERITREA: 95,000 Eritreans returning home
ERITREA: Asmara cites ceasefire violations
ERITREA: UN Asmara office to support peace efforts


DRC: More attacks in North Kivu

Incidents of banditry are on the rise in the Goma area of North Kivu,
humanitarian sources reported on Thursday. The compound of MSF-Belgium was
attacked last week by armed robbers, with communications equipment and
flight tickets stolen. On 18 July, a truck preceding an MSF-Holland
vehicle was attacked by "uncontrolled armed men" in the Masisi region, 6
km from Kitchanga. One person was killed and all the goods looted. As a
result, MSF-Holland has suspended its activities in the area and its
workers in Kitchanga have been recalled. The sources added that troops of
the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) were mobilising
in Goma town ahead of an operation to flush out "negative forces" in the
Masisi region.

Meanwhile, the Sake area - west of Goma - continues to experience
insecurity. Staff working for the NGO World Vision in Ngunge, near Sake,
fled fighting between RCD troops and the Interahamwe at the weekend. As a
result, a food distribution to Sake could not take place on Monday and the
World Vision operation in the area was cancelled indefinitely until the
security situation improved. World Vision is reviewing its activities
elsewhere in the region. At least 40 people were killed in an attack on a
displaced people's camp in Sake earlier this month. [See also separate
IRIN item of 27 July headlined "DRC: IRIN Feature on tension in North
Kivu"]

DRC: Over 20 killed in fresh Mayi-Mayi attacks

NGO sources in Uvira have reported an increasingly tense situation in the
Hauts Plateaux area, where several people have been killed following
weekend attacks said to have been carried out by the Mayi-Mayi and
Burundian rebels of the Forces pour la defense de la democratie (FDD). 
Nine people were killed and six wounded in the village of Kihuha, while in
nearby Kajembwe over 15 people were killed and two wounded, the sources
told IRIN. Kajembwe was home to both the Banyamulenge and Bafulero, and
people from both ethnic groups died in the attacks. Up to 1,000 residents
have fled their homes and some 300 houses were destroyed. The sources say
the Mayi-Mayi are still hiding out in the surrounding bush and it is
feared they will launch more attacks. 

DRC: Kabila causes UN to put peacekeepers on hold

The UN on Monday announced that it had postponed the first scheduled
deployment of peacekeepers in the DRC as a result of the government
declaring at the weekend that the UN could not deploy any armed
peacekeepers in government-controlled territory. President Laurent-Desire
Kabila said on Congolese television that the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) 
was not free to deploy in Kinshasa or Mbandaka (Equateur province). UN
spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York on Monday that the deployment of a
Tunisian headquarters support unit that was to have arrived in Kinshasa
later this week had been postponed, and could not take place "unless the
DRC Government provides necessary guarantees of cooperation." 

REPUBLIC OF CONGO: UN alarmed at plight of stranded refugees

The UNHCR on Tuesday expressed great concern for tens of thousands of
refugees scattered in a 700 km stretch along the Congo and Ubangui rivers
dividing the Republic of Congo (RoC) and the neighbouring Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC). The refugees were suffering from a wide range of
health problems and many required urgent medical attention, UNHCR
spokesman Ron Redmond told a press briefing. He stressed the need for
humanitarian access to the stranded population, but said "traffic on the
rivers - the only way to reach most of the refugees - has been at a
standstill for the past weeks due to fighting and insecurity along the DRC
side." The affected areas in RoC included north of Loukolela and around
Impfondo, which is just opposite Imese in the DRC, where fighting recently
erupted between the DRC army and the rebel Mouvement de liberation du
congo (MLC), Redmond added.

ROC: UN team assists disarmament programme

A team of United Nations disarmament and political experts was on Friday
scheduled to conclude a mission to the Republic of Congo in which it
gathered information on small arms collection and the reintegration of
former combatants. The six-member mission, led by the UN Department for
Disarmament Affairs and including members of the Political Department, met
the Foreign and Defence Ministers, Rodolphe Adada and Lekoundzou Itihi
Ossetoumba, among other senior officials, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard told
reporters in New York on Thursday. The visit followed a request from the
government of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso for UN assistance in weapons
collection, the spokesman said. The government signed ceasefire agreements
with opposition militias in December and is currently engaged in a
campaign to demobilise and disarm the rebel fighters. 

BURUNDI: Tens of thousands affected by drought

An estimated 600,000-700,000 people are believed to be affected by drought
in Burundi, according to the FAO. The Burundi government, for its part,
has put the number of people requiring assistance at 1.8 million. An OCHA
report on the current situation says the worst-affected areas are Kirundo,
Muyinga and Cankuzo provinces in the north and low-altitude regions in the
Moso and Imbo plains. These areas have consistently been affected by
drought for the past three years and survival mechanisms are therefore
very weak. In Kirundo province especially, people are moving to areas
where they believe there is food and labour opportunities. These include
Tanzania where the refugee camps offer an almost certain guarantee of
food, and Rwanda where employment opportunities are available. The report
points out the potential for long-term damage to the environment, caused
by over-exploitation of the swamplands "which may cause irreparable damage
within the next 10 years". 

BURUNDI: Upsurge in fighting

Fighting has been reported near the capital Bujumbura. News organisations
said the army has launched an offensive in the hills surrounding the city,
after five soldiers were killed in Bujumbura Rural last Friday. Residents
of the city confirmed heavy gunfire at night, but stressed this was a
usual occurrence. The Agence burundaise de presse said 50 people were
killed by rebels in a weekend attack at Nyamuyuga and Gikwiye in the
southeastern Ruyigi province. Dozens of houses were burnt and looted, the
agency said.  Observers point out that rebels opposed to the Arusha peace
accord may be stepping up their attacks as the date for signing grows
closer. The facilitator of the peace process, Nelson Mandela, wants the
sides to sign on 28 August.

BURUNDI: Delegations to meet again in Arusha on 7 August

Heads of delegations negotiating the Burundi peace process are due to
reconvene in Arusha, Tanzania, on 7 August, the Hirondelle news agency
reported on Monday. It quoted Judge Mark Bomani of the facilitation team
as saying that representatives of Burundi's armed rebel groups and the
Burundi army would go to South Africa ahead of that date for talks with
the facilitator Nelson Mandela.

RWANDA: Government denies ex-premier's accusations

The Rwandan government has denied accusations levelled by former prime
minister Pierre-Celestin Rwigema, who fled to the US recently fearing for
his personal security. Foreign Minister Andre Bumaya rejected assertions
by Rwigema that the government was "dictatorial". "The Rwandan government
is democratic and is composed of all eight political parties including the
Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) that he accuses of dictatorship," he told
the Rwanda News Agency (RNA). RPF Secretary-General Charles Murigande said
Rwigema "owes much to the RPF, for without its efforts to depose the
dictatorial regime [of ex-president Juvenal Habyarimana], he wouldn't have
been a minister and prime minister". Rwigema claimed the RPF was so
"undemocratic" that other parties had become "rubber stamps, singing to
the tune of the RPF". Rwigema resigned as prime minister earlier this
year, and President Paul Kagame later appointed him as chairman of the
board of directors of Rwandatel, the country's biggest telecommunications
company. 

GREAT LAKES: Humanitarians "picking up the pieces" 

A UN report on the situation in the Great Lakes notes that as war
continues to grip the region, the humanitarian community is left to "pick
up the pieces" and support fragile communities trying to hold together. A
mid-term review of the region's Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal, issued
by UNOCHA, warned that relief work was becoming more and more complicated
as political reconciliation attempts floundered. The report stressed the
urgency of making up the 47.6 percent shortfall in funding for the Great
Lakes region, noting that the work of some agencies was seriously
threatened. The drought in the region has compounded the problems caused
by ongoing conflict, as has the relentless spread of HIV/AIDS. "From a
humanitarian perspective the constraints are huge and the needs
extensive," the report said. "Large segments of the population continue to
suffer from malnutrition and disease.  Destroyed infrastructure, poor
living conditions and a lack of access to medical care contribute to the
high disease rate."

KENYA: IMF to resume loans

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday voted to resume loans to
Kenya after a three-year suspension, news organisations reported. The IMF
said it believed Kenya had made progress in tackling corruption. The move
comes in the wake of severe power and water rationing imposed by the
Kenyan authorities. On Saturday, the country experienced an unprecedented
power blackout which energy officials said was caused by major breakdowns
in generating and transmission facilities in Uganda and the Kenyan port
city of Mombasa. The government blames the ongoing drought for the
measures it has had to impose, but observers say Kenya is going through
its worst economic crisis since independence in 1963. Regional analysts
say the current crisis is a "classic case of lack of proper management and
foresightedness on the part of the government".

SUDAN: CONCERN premises hit in bombing raid

The NGO CONCERN said on Monday it had evacuated its staff from the town of
Nyamlell in southern Sudan's Aweil west district, Bahr el Ghazal province,
after its compound was hit in an air attack on Saturday. A CONCERN
spokesman told IRIN no-one was reported hurt in the attack, during which
24 bombs were dropped by an aircraft which made four passes over the town. 
Two bombs fell on the CONCERN compound, and the evacuated staff were
described as "very shaken". Humanitarian sources told IRIN that civilians
in the area had "scattered" after the heavy bombing raid.

SUDAN: Humanitarian aid "should not go to rebels" 

The government of Sudan said at the weekend that humanitarian aid going to
an estimated 1.7 million war and famine victims in southern Sudan through
the international Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) relief effort should not
fall into the hands of the rebel SPLA/M. "We will not allow OLS to be used
for the provision of assistance to the rebels," news organisations quoted
President Omar al-Bashir as saying. The official SUNA news agency quoted
government spokesman, Ghazi Salah-Eddin, as reaffirming "the government's
total commitment to the delivery of relief to affected and needy people in
all parts of the country".  It said all routes and ports in the country
were open "for all organisations and societies". However, it added: "The
government of Sudan would not allow relief facilities to be used for the
passage of any supplies that would fan the war and fighting and it would
supervise this matter firmly and meticulously."

SOMALIA: Aid workers seized in Mogadishu

Unidentified gunmen operating in the south of the Somali capital,
Mogadishu, have kidnapped a French woman and a British subject employed by
the NGO, Action contre la Faim (ACF), a spokeswoman for the agency told
IRIN on Wednesday. The spokeswoman, Beatrice D'Ervau, said they were taken
on the night of 25-26 July. "Action contre la Faim is doing everything
possible to secure their release. It is asking those holding them to
release the members of its team as soon as possible."

ERITREA: 95,000 Eritreans returning home

An operation began on Tuesday to repatriate 95,000 Eritreans who fled to
neighbouring Sudan when the Ethiopian-Eritrean border war flared up again
in May this year. A UNHCR spokeswoman in Asmara, Simone Wolken, told IRIN
that the first trucks had been sent on Tuesday morning to eastern Sudan,
and that refugees would be brought to reception centres in Tesseney,
western Eritrea. In a tripartite meeting on 14 July between UNHCR, the
Eritrean and Sudanese governments, representatives decided to return the
refugees as soon as possible because rains had started in the western
Eritrean lowlands and eastern Sudan. "A lot of these refugees are farmers
and want to get back to their fields and homes as soon as possible to
plant and rebuild their lives," the spokeswoman said Western Eritrea is
the main agriculture-producing area of the country.

ERITREA: Asmara cites ceasefire violations

Accusing its southern neighbour Ethiopia of ceasefire violations, Eritrea
has asked the UN Security Council to investigate alleged air raids,
attacks on villages and mine laying incidents, news reports said on
Tuesday. In a complaint similar to one it sent the Organisation of African
Unity (OAU), the United States, the European Union and UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Eritrea demanded "a speedy" investigation.
The Eritrean government alleged that early on 17 July, three Ethiopian
fighter planes penetrated its airspace in the Assab port area.  Two of the
planes were hit "as they attacked our defence installations", it said in a
letter to the Security Council. The action was described as a violation of
the 18 June ceasefire, which ended the two-year border war. Ethiopia
denied the accusations, describing them as "totally false". 

ERITREA: UN Asmara office to support peace efforts

The UN on Thursday opened a liaison office in the Eritrean capital Asmara
as part of its efforts to maintain the impetus of last month's ceasefire
accord between Ethiopia and Eritrea. "The Secretary-General in his last
report on Ethiopia and Eritrea announced his intention to dispatch liaison
officers to the two capitals to keep the momentum of the cessation of
hostilities agreement and to expedite planning for a possible UN
peacekeeping mission,"  UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said in New York. A
report on the state of peace efforts between Ethiopia and Eritrea,
containing the recommendations of the reconnaissance team led by General
Timothy Ford, would be released in New York on Friday, he added. 

Nairobi, 28 July 2000

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


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