U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 33
12 - 18 August 2000



CONTENTS:

DRC: Lusaka summit ends in failure
DRC: Kabila proposes alternative facilitators
DRC: Annan recommends a month extension of MONUC
BURUNDI: Senior army officer killed
BURUNDI: Buyoya in South Africa to discuss "new methodology"
RWANDA: Government wants genocide orphans back
SOMALIA: National Assembly holds session
SOMALIA: Security Council warns warlords
SUDAN: UN lifts flight ban
SUDAN: Eastern Equatoria bombed
HORN OF AFRICA: UN says "massive and continued" assistance necessary
EAST AFRICA: Nearly 20 million facing severe food shortages
ZANZIBAR: Army explains deployment in Zanzibar


DRC: Lusaka summit ends in failure

The meeting of signatories to the Lusaka peace accord ended in failure in
the Zambian capital after a mammoth session on Monday that extended well
into the night. DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila attended the meeting,
but refused to budge over his refusal to accept former Botswanan president
Ketumile Masire as facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue and to
allow UN peacekeepers unhindered access throughout DRC territory.
"President Kabila has refused to listen or discuss the matter," Zimbabwean
President and Kabila's main ally, Robert Mugabe, was quoted as saying. "He
says he does not want Sir Ketumile Masire - period." Kabila then left
Lusaka for home. According to a communique issued after the meeting,
leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) appealed to
Kabila to reconsider. The communique noted that all SADC countries, with
the exception of the DRC, had endorsed Masire as the facilitator. 

DRC: Kabila proposes alternative facilitators

The DRC government remained adamant in its rejection of former Botswanan
president Ketumile Masire as facilitator of the inter-Congolese dialogue.
At the Lusaka summit earlier this week, President Laurent-Desire Kabila
put forward four other names, which were rejected by the other
participants in the meeting. "We think the imposition [of a facilitator]
and rejection of our choices were a conspiracy by the leaders," the press
attache at the DRC embassy in Nairobi, Mubima Maneniang Milang, said on
Thursday. "What we do not want is someone being imposed on us." He told
IRIN Kabila had put forward the names of former South African president
F.W de Klerk, former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, former ANC
secretary-general Cyril Ramaphosa and ex-Senegalese president Abdou Diof
as possible alternative candidates. 

DRC: Annan recommends a month extension of MONUC

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended a one-month extension of
the UN mission in DRC (MONUC). In a letter to the Security Council on
Wednesday, he said the mission - whose current mandate expires on 24
August - should be extended until 30 September to allow enough time to
discuss the impact of latest developments in the country. Thereafter the
appropriate recommendations could be formulated. Annan noted that an
"adverse climate"  in the DRC had so far prevented the full deployment of
MONUC in accordance with UN resolutions. A "sustained campaign of
vilification" against MONUC and individual staff members had created
significant security risks, and severe restrictions imposed by the DRC
authorities had limited MONUC's freedom of movement, Annan said. He added
that the Lusaka peace process was going through an "extremely challenging
phase" and required substantial re-evaluation, not only on the part of the
signatories, but also of the UN.  The role MONUC would play in the current
circumstances remained unclear, he said. 

BURUNDI: Senior army officer killed

A senior Burundian army officer was killed on Wednesday by suspected
rebels, Burundi radio reported on Thursday. Colonel Balthazar Nzeyimana,
who was commander of Burundi's fourth military region, was killed in a
rocket attack on his vehicle, along with two members of his escort in
northeastern Burundi, the radio said. He was travelling between Kigamba
and the Ruvubu river bridge, about 10 km from the Tanzanian border.
Meanwhile the French news agency AFP reported that on Tuesday, rebels
attacked Kabezi town, 13 km south of Bujumbura. Local officials said a
three-hour gunbattle ensued, but no deaths were reported. 

BURUNDI: Buyoya in South Africa to discuss "new methodology" 

Burundian President Pierre Buyoya on Monday left for South Africa for
consultations with the peace process facilitator Nelson Mandela, Burundi's
Umwizero radio reported. The radio noted that the meeting comes within the
framework searching for a "new methodology" on how to resolve issues on
which no consensus has yet been reached. "When I returned from my recent
trip to South Africa, I had said I discussed with the mediator on how to
put in place a new methodology that could help handle items still being
debated, with a view to reaching the peace accord in the shortest time
possible,"  Buyoya said. Other personalities who arrived in South Africa
include Jean Minani of the external wing of FRODEBU, Leonard Nyangoma of
the rebel CNDD, former presidents Sylvestre Ntibantunganya and
Jean-Baptiste Bagaza who leads the radical Tutsi PARENA party. 

RWANDA: Government wants genocide orphans back

The Rwandan government has appealed for international help to secure the
return of an estimated 30,000 children who were flown out of the country
during the 1994 genocide. Some of the children taken by charity
organisations have since been adopted in European countries such as Italy,
Belgium and France, as well as neighbouring African countries. "The issue
of children that left the country during the bad days of the 1994 genocide
needs to be sorted out," the minister of state for social affairs, Odette
Nyiramirimo, told IRIN. "These children were adopted in foreign countries
under unclear circumstances. Some of them have parents who want to know
their whereabouts. In case of adoption, the laws of this country demand
that the parents and government be involved." 

SOMALIA: National Assembly holds session

The Somali Transitional National Assembly (TNA) held its first meeting in
Djibouti on Monday, chaired by General Mohamed Abshire Muse. Under the new
Somalia Charter, the TNA is to be chaired by the eldest member of the
parliament until an assembly speaker is successfully elected, sources in
Djibouti told IRIN. General Abshire, a 74 year-old former police chief
from northeast Somalia, is a factional rival of Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf,
leader of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, who has
rejected the process. 

SOMALIA: Security Council warns warlords

Members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday welcomed the formation of
the new Somali parliament and strongly urged all Somali political forces
to support the Djibouti-hosted peace process. In closed-door
consultations, warlords and faction leaders were issued with a reminder
that "obstructing and undermining the efforts to achieve an overall
settlement in Somalia would not be acceptable", Council President,
Ambassador Agam Hasmy of Malaysia, said in a statement to the press. He
said that Council members urged the warlords to support the National
Assembly. The Council welcomed the decision to reserve seats in the newly
constituted assembly for women representatives, in recognition of their
constructive role in nation-building. 

SUDAN: UN lifts flight ban

All humanitarian relief flights were due to resume throughout Sudan this
week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday. UN spokesman Manoel
de Almeida e Silva said the flight suspension, imposed on 8 August, had
been lifted after the Secretary-General was reassured by President Omar
el-Bashir of Sudan that "all measures" were being put in place to ensure
the safety of Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) relief personnel and
aircraft. "The Secretary-General trusts that the Government of Sudan and
other parties to the conflict will continue to fully honour their
commitment to ensure the safety and security of relief workers," the
spokesman told reporters in New York. He said the warring parties must
also protect "the vulnerable populations whose urgent needs UN
humanitarian personnel are trying to address throughout the country". 

SUDAN: Eastern Equatoria bombed

Ikotos town in eastern Equatoria, southern Sudan, was bombed on Monday,
according to the NGO Norwegian Church Aid (NCA). Spokesman Kristen
Flogstad told IRIN he confirmed by radio that one bomb was dropped in
Ikotos, where the organisation has a relief base. Six bombs were also
dropped on Monday on Palotaka, about 15 km from Parajok, eastern
Equatoria, the spokesman added.  Flogstad said it was the first time
Ikotos, southeast of the regional capital Torit, had been bombed since
last September. "It's a way of spreading terror", he said. During a
bombing campaign last year, civilians fled to the nearby mountains and aid
workers built bomb shelters, he told IRIN. 

HORN OF AFRICA: UN says "massive and continued" assistance necessary

Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan are named as among the worst-affected
countries in an FAO list of 16 sub-Saharan African countries facing
exceptional food emergencies - making the Horn of Africa the hardest hit
region on the continent. The August issue of the UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation's (FAO) Food Supply and Crop Prospect report said continuing
drought had undermined food production in vast areas of eastern Africa,
but also blamed war and civil strife. "Large numbers of people will need
massive and continued emergency assistance" into next year, the report
said. 

EAST AFRICA: Nearly 20 million facing severe food shortages

In East Africa, nearly 20 million people are facing "severe" food
shortages, the FAO report said. The number has gone up by three million
since April.  The continuing drought has undermined food production in
vast areas of eastern Africa. It also blames war and civil strife for
severely limiting farming activities in many areas. 

ZANZIBAR: Army explains deployment in Zanzibar

The Department of Defence and the National Defence Forces have clarified
arrangements being made to dispatch members of the Tanzania People's
Defence Forces (TPDF) to Zanzibar, Tanzanian radio reported on Tuesday. In
a statement, the army said that the move was in line with "their
constitutional responsibility" to improve security and peace in the
country during the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in
slated for October. The statement further said that the army had increased
its forces and equipment in order to fulfill this obligation. The
department denied reports by the opposition parties that the army was
taken to Zanzibar to "increase the number of voters" to help one of the
parties win the elections. It said that the army was not involved in
helping or harassing any political party, and that it would provide
security for all irrespective of political affiliation or belief. 


Nairobi, 18 August 2000


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