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
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Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org

CENTRAL AND EASTERN AFRICA
IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 35
28 August - 1 September 2000



CONTENTS:

BURUNDI: Parties sign scaled-down accord
BURUNDI; Mandela blasts Tutsis
BURUNDI: Tutsi parties reconsider signing peace accord
BURUNDI: Annan praises Arusha deal
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Fighting rages in Equateur
DRC: Kabila rejects deployment of SA special troops
DRC-ZIMBABWE: Harare discloses cost of intervention
SOMALIA: Interim parliament elects new president
SOMALIA: New president speaks to IRIN
SOMALIA: Annan says new administration must be viable
SOMALIA: Hasan goes to Mogadishu
SOMALIA: Protests in north
SUDAN: UN criticised on humanitarian operation
SUDAN: The UN view
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Annan says 19 countries to send peacekeepers
ETHIOPIA: Voters go polls in southeast

BURUNDI: Parties sign scaled-down accord

Thirteen of the 19 parties represented at the Arusha peace process in
Tanzania signed a power-sharing deal on Monday aimed at ending Burundi's
brutal civil conflict. Six small hardline Tutsi parties declined to sign,
attracting international condemnation and fiery criticism from talks'
mediator Nelson Mandela. Two other small Tutsi parties, however, signed it
over the next 48 hours. The former South African president had accused the
six parties of going back on previous commitments and of trying to
sabotage the attempt to end more than seven years of ethnic strife in
which thousands of innocent civilians have been butchered. 

Burundi's President Pierre Buyoya put his signature to the deal for the
government, along with the National Assembly, all seven of the pro-Hutu
parties and at least half of the Group of Ten (G-10) pro-Tutsi parties,
but the latter expressed reservations on certain points. The two principal
armed rebel Hutu groups also did not sign, but the FDD (Forces pour la
defense de la democratie) sent a message of support.

Despite the presence of US President Bill Clinton and over a dozen
regional leaders, the deal looked set to unravel until the last moment as
the G-10 sought to reopen several dossiers. Even the scaled-down agreement
was up in the air until the last moment.

BURUNDI: Mandela blasts Tutsis

Mandela said that all 19 parties had accepted the draft accord, and
particularly promised not to question the final proposal. He said a group
representing mainly the Tutsi community "which is a minority of 14 percent
in Burundi forgot about the agreement". "They wanted to reopen almost
everything," Mandela added. 

"Now I do not think there are many countries in which some leaders will
take a solemn decision on very important matters, when their people are
being killed inside their own country, who do not care for that massacre,
for that slaughter, and wanted to drag out these proceedings," Mandela
said. 

BURUNDI: Tutsi parties reconsider signing peace accord

The four remaining Tutsi political parties which refused to sign said they
were ready to reconsider their position. "We are not saying that signing
is out of the question, we have forwarded conditions and we are waiting
for the reply from the facilitator," the leader of Ralliement pour la
democratie et le developpement economique et social (RADDES) Joseph
Nzeyimana told IRIN on Thursday.

His views were echoed by the leader of the Alliance nationale pour le
droit et le developpement economique (ANADDE), Patrice Sababaganwa, who
was quoted as saying Nelson Mandela, the facilitator, had insulted "the
Tutsi community" by rushing the deal through. The four Tutsi parties yet
to sign the agreement are RADDES, ANADDE, the Parti independent des
travailleurs and the Parti social democratique (PSD). 

BURUNDI: Annan praises Arusha deal

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the agreement and the renewed
hope it provides for a better future for Burundi. He regretted that not
all parties had signed and urged those that have not signed to do so as
soon as possible, the UN said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General underscores the importance for the parties to
remain genuinely committed to the implementation of the agreement. In this
regard, he calls on all armed groups to agree to a cessation of
hostilities," it added. It said a ceasefire would not only "facilitate
implementation of the agreement but also end the suffering of innocent
victims of the violence in the country". 

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Fighting rages in Equateur

Fighting raged during the week in Equateur province in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC), local sources told IRIN, with the Kinshasa
government and the rebel Mouvement de Liberation du Congo (MLC) trading
accusations over ceasefire violations. MLC leader Jean-Pierre Bemba on
Wednesday blamed the war situation and the crisis in the country on
President Laurent-Desire Kabila's refusal to accept the Lusaka accord.
"Kabila has never stopped fighting,"  Bemba told IRIN. "What is he doing
in Dongo and Imese?" He has never stopped bombarding our positions
everywhere along the River Congo and Ubangi," he said.

Bemba said his troops had acted in "self-defence". "What is he crying for? 
Kabila is responsible for the fighting in Congo," Bemba reiterated. "He
must go back and accept the Lusaka agreement because it is the only way to
end the country's crisis," he said. An official of DRC's defence ministry,
David Kokolo Longo, was quoted by the Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday as
castigating MLC for violating the ceasefire, claiming that the rebel
forces had occupied the town of Make in northern Equateur province earlier
this week. Longo warned that the "Congolese Armed Forces will make use of
their right of legitimate defence". 

DRC: Kabila rejects deployment of SA special troops

Although DRC President Laurent-Desire Kabila had agreed to the deployment
of UN peacekeepers in Mbandaka, Kananga and Kisangani, he has rejected the
deployment of South African specialised forces, which could delay the UN
mission's overall deployment. The UN Secretary-General's special envoy to
DRC, General Abdulsalami Abubakar of Nigeria said after briefing the UN
Security Council on Wednesday, that the deployment might be delayed until
the UN had found specialised units from other countries. The units were
required for logistical tasks such as cargo handling, air traffic control
and rescue services. 

General Abubakar said that since Kabila had agreed to certain conditions
for the deployment of MONUC, "it is now a matter of waiting for
outstanding issues to be sorted out". 

DRC: Morjane says Kabila accepts UN deployment

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to the DRC, Kamel
Morjane, said President Laurent-Desire Kabila had agreed to the deployment
of UN troops in government-held areas. In an interview with IRIN on
Thursday, he said the breakthrough had come about after the UN special
envoy, former Nigerian president General Abdulsalami Abubakar, held talks
in Kinshasa with Kabila. He said a decision to deploy the UN troops would
be reached after a review of the situation by the Security Council. The
DRC government's decision to allow the deployment of UN troops follows the
extension of the MONUC mandate.

HORN OF AFRICA: 

SOMALIA: Interim parliament elects new president

Somalia's interim parliament, the Transitional National Assembly (TNA),
meeting in Arta, in neighbouring Djibouti on Saturday elected Abdiqasim
Salad Hasan, 58, a former government minister and member of the Hawiye
clan, as the country's first president in nearly a decade. His victory was
announced at 2:45 a.m. after more than 10 hours of voting. He beat his
closest rival by 145 votes to 92, easily getting more than the simple
majority of 123 votes required. His inauguration on Sunday was attended by
regional leaders, representatives of the Organisation of African Unity
(OAU), the European Union (EU), France, Italy and the United Nations. 

By the next day, as he prepared to visit the country's devastated capital,
Moganidshu as the first president in a decade of civil and anarchy,
several international organisations, including the UN, the Arab League,
and by week's end, the United States, urged Somalis to accept Abdiqasim
Salad and the TNA. Several also pledged political support on the wider
international stage. 

SOMALIA: New president speaks to IRIN

In the first interview since his victory, he told IRIN that his first task
would be to appoint a new prime minister and form a government. The
faction leaders, who have held sway in a decade of civil war and anarchy,
he said could no longer stand against the will of the people. Asked how he
would deal with potential protagonists, Abdiqasim Salad said: "I'm not
going to deal with the warlords actually, I'll be dealing with the people.
I have every confidence in our people. From what I know there are
demonstrations of support in many parts of Somalia, especially in the
south." He said he felt a "heavy responsibility" for the "huge" task
ahead. 

[See also: SOMALIA: IRIN interview with President Abdiqasim Salad Hasan

and

SOMALIA: IRIN profile of Somalia's new president


SOMALIA: Annan says new administration must be viable

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the inauguration of a new
president in Somalia marked an "important milestone" in the endeavour to
reestablish the country as a member of the community of nations. Annan's
remarks were made in a message conveyed to newly elected Somali President
Abdulqassim Salad Hassan by the Secretary-General's Special Representative
for Somalia, David Stephen. 

[See also: IRIN Interview with David Stephen, the UN Secretary-General's
Representative for Somalia

SOMALIA: Hasan goes to Mogadishu

On Wednesday, despite warnings of potential trouble, Abdiqasim Salad,
arrived in Mogadishu to an ecstatic welcome from the public and a show of
support from militiamen previously allied to the country's faction
leaders.  Eyewitnesses in Mogadishu told IRIN Hassan flew into Balidogle
Airport, a former military airbase some 100 km from the capital, on a
privately hired aircraft from neighbouring Djibouti at 10:10 a.m. (07:10
GMT). He then drove in a motorcade that stretched for more than two km
into the capital.

At the same time, two of the main Mogadishu faction leaders, Osman Ali
Atto and Husayn Muhammad Aydid, were reported by the local and
international news agencies to have left the day before for Yemen, to meet
a delegation sent by Hassan from Djibouti. Later in the week, Aydid said
he would not use force to oppose the new president or the TNA, and in
several speeches, Abdiqasim Salad pledged to rebuild the country, called
for reconciliation and assistance to militiamen so that they could start
new lives. The Chairman of the Islamic Courts in Somalia, Hasan Sheik
Muhammad Abdi, told IRIN he would guarantee security for the new
administration. Abdiqasim Salad said it would govern the country for three
years pending a fresh general elections.

[See also: SOMALIA: IRIN Focus on the task facing the new transitional
authority

SOMALIA: Protests in north

Thousands of people in Somaliland denounced the new president as a relic
of the past, serving as a stiff reminder to the Djibouti government of the
challenge that lay ahead. In Hargeisa, capital of Somaliland, protesters
on Thursday burned Somali and Djibouti flags while many held placards
reading:  "No more unity", or "Down with Djibouti"  Similar demonstrations
were reported in the port of Berbera on Wednesday. Somaliland, a former
British protectorate, has enjoyed relative stability compared with other
parts of Somalia, which dissolved into clan-based civil war and anarchy
after the 1991 overthrow of Muhammad Siyad Barreh. 

SUDAN: UN criticised on humanitarian operation

Roger Winter, the executive director of the US Committee for Refugees has
criticised United Nations Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Eric
Vraalsen for saying that the UN-led Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) relief
effort was is "in very good shape." "This optimistic assessment is wrong,
misleading, and strangely out of touch with recent events in Sudan, the
world's largest ongoing humanitarian emergency," Winter said in a
statement released by the committee last week.

SUDAN: The UN view

In an interview with IRIN last week, the UN Special Envoy for Humanitarian
Affairs Tom Eric Vraalsen said after talks with the government in
Khartoum, the Sudanese capital: "I would use this opportunity to urge the
parties to the conflict to redouble their efforts to seek a political
solution to the conflict and in so doing the establishment of a
comprehensive, negotiated ceasefire, which will make it possible for OLS
to go all over the country in peaceful conditions."

Vraalsen, who told IRIN in the interview that OLS was "very good shape" 
following the temporary stoppage earlier this month to relief flights from
its base in Lokichokio in northwest Kenya, also said OLS had not had
access to eastern Equatoria for a "long, long time". He said he had also
discussed the situation of tens of thousands of displaced people in West
and Upper Nile with the government, and that it had agreed to the mission
of a new humanitarian assessment team to the area. "We have an agreement
(with the government of Sudan). It's a signed document between the foreign
minister and myself. There is a paragraph in that document which talks
about this assessment mission, so that was agreed." He said the mission
would go to the area "as soon as possible".

Meanwhile, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail accused the
United States of supporting and assisting the rebel Sudan People's
Liberation Army (SPLA). In remarks published by the newspaper 'Al-Sahafi
Al-Dawli', he said Washington "openly sides with the rebel movement and
offers it political and military assistance". 

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Annan says 19 countries to send peacekeepers

In an effort to speed up deployment of UN solders on the border between
Ethiopia and Eritrea, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has informed the
Security Council that 19 member states from around the world were ready to
contribute troops to the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, a
UN spokesman said on Thursday. 

Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a ceasefire to end a two year-border war in
June. Brokered by the Organisation of African Unity, the deal called for
the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in a buffer zone 25 km into
Eritrean territory. 

ETHIOPIA: Voters go polls in southeast

Ethiopians in the country's southeast finally went to the polls on
Thursday.  While the rest of the country had voted on 14 May,
parliamentary and local elections in this region had been postponed twice
because a crippling drought in the area, news reports said. 

According to the BBC, the Somali Democratic Alliance Forces, the Somali
Democratic People's Party and the West Somali Democratic Party are
contesting 23 seats in the federal parliament, as well as local council
positions. The ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary and Democratic
Front coalition was the main winner in the May elections. 

Meanwhile, in a final campaign tour on Wednesday, the Somali Democratic
Alliance Forces candidate Abdifetah Mursel Shel and two supporters were
killed in the region's Kebri-Dehar constituency when their vehicle was
blown up by a radio-controlled landmine. Several other people were wounded
in the attack. No-one has so far claimed responsibility. 


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


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