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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN Weekly Round-up 3
16 - 22 September 2000


 
CONTENTS:
 
SUDAN: Anti-government protests
SUDAN: Hostilities in the south
SUDAN: Peace moves
SUDAN: US campaign to deny UN post
SOMALIA: Foreign hostages freed in Mogadishu
SOMALIA: Parliamentarian sentenced for "high treason" 
SOMALIA: Demobilisation recruits want "decent job"
SOMALIA: UN security officers attacked by gunmen
SOMALIA: Saudi Arabia bans livestock imports
SOMALIA: Clash in Mogadishu
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Military observers deployed
 
SUDAN: Anti-government protests
 
Disturbances rocked Sudan last Sunday when students protesting against
military service rioted in Kosti, the capital of White Nile State 280 km
south of Khartoum, burning government buildings and banks, the Associated
Press (AP) reported. Ensuing clashes with security forces resulted in at
least two deaths. Diplomatic sources told IRIN that the riots were
symptomatic of general political unrest.
 
State Governor Badawi al-Khayr Idris was quoted by Sudanese state-run
television as blaming the riots on "instigative sides". This, according to
AP, was a veiled reference to followers of the Popular National Congress
(PNC) party, an opposition party headed by Islamic leader Hasan al-Turabi,
the report said.
 
Government security forces subsequently arrested many people belonging to
opposition groups. Sudanese Victims of Torture Group, a human rights body
based in London, issued a press release naming 58 men as having been
arrested following earlier riots in Al-Fashir in western Sudan, Port
Sudan, the capital of Red Sea State, and Al-Ubayyid, the capital of
Kordofan State. 
 
In the western town of Nyala, police on Tuesday charged students who were
protesting against arrests of opposition followers. There were also
incidents in the southeastern town of Al-Qadarif, where, according to the
governor, Mubarak Munir Haju, as quoted in the Sudanese daily, 'Al-Sahafi
al-Dawli', security forces had fired into the air in order to prevent
riots from breaking out. On Wednesday, however, a statement from the
government spokesman's office read on Sudanese television said: "All towns
in Sudan are stable and calm." 

SUDAN: Hostilities in the south

The Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA) announced on Monday that they
had captured Nhialdiu in Western Upper Nile, after a battle on 13
September. In a press release, Samson Kwaje, the SPLA spokesman in
Nairobi, said the town was strategic in its proximity to neighbouring oil
fields. He also said "all oil workers [foreign and national] are hereby
warned to evacuate the area". 
 
On the same day, the Roman Catholic news agency, Misna, reported that a
Sudanese government aircraft had bombed Narus, 45 km from the Kenyan
border town of Lokichokio, killing one person and destroying a Catholic
medical dispensary there. Subsequently Sudanese aircraft bombed the town
for a second time, but on this occasion without causing any casualties. 
 
 On Tuesday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il urged the
United Nations to bring pressure to bear on the SPLA to halt military
operations in Bahr al-Ghazal and "to stop using civilian locations such as
hospitals and schools as human shields", according to AP. This was
necessary so that the area could receive relief supplies and save it from
"another humanitarian tragedy". 
 
SUDAN: Peace moves
 
Last Sunday, shortly before another round of peace talks was due to open
in Nairobi, John Garang, the SPLA leader, said in an interview with the
Qatari television channel, Al-Jazeera, that he was ready to meet Sudanese
President Umar al-Bashir in an attempt to bring an end to the country's
17-year-old civil war. Garang's statement drew a favourable reaction from
Sudanese Culture and Information Minister Ghazi Salah al-Din Atabani, who
was quoted by Sudanese state television, monitored by the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), as saying that the fact that Garang had
now expressed readin> ess to take steps towards a peaceful solution
indicated "a new language". He said he hoped this expressed "a true desire
for peace". 
 
 The peace talks sponsored by the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development opened in Kenya on schedule on 21 September. The government
delegation is led by Ahmad Ibrahim al-Tahir, the president's adviser on
peace affairs, and includes Social Planning Minister Qutbi al-Mahdi,
according to news agencies, while the SPLA delegation is headed by Nhial
Deng Nhial. The talks are being held at a hotel near Lake Bogoria, 180 km
northwest of Nairobi. 
 
Khartoum declared a ceasefire for two weeks in the south of the country on
Thursday, Sudanese state television, monitored by the BBC, reported. The
minister of information and government spokesman [Ghazi Salah al-Din
Atabani] was reported to have said said the ceasefire became effective at
12 p.m. [sic: presumably noon] local time [0900 gmt] on Thursday, and that
no military operations would be undertaken taken during its period of
effectiveness except in self-defence. The report said Khartoum had taken
the initiative "in an effort to achieve peace, stop the bloodshed among
citizens of the country and to prepare an atmosphere conducive to the
peace talks currently being held in Nairobi". Kenyan radio said on Friday
that the focus of the talks was the issue of seperation of state and
religion, self-rule for the south and the right of self-determination. 
 
 Asked about Thursday's announcement, Samson Kwaje, spokesman for the SPLA
told IRIN on Friday: "The government of Sudan is not very serious.  We
have had these situations before.  It is just a gimmick and we don't
respond to gimmicks", adding: "They are just trying to deceive the
international community."
 
 SUDAN: US campaign to deny UN post
 
 The US has been campaigning against Sudan obtaining the African seat on
the United Nations Security Council. US Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright was reported by Reuters on Tuesday as having discussed the issue
with representatives of the 14 countries of the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) on the fringes of the annual meeting of the
UN General Assembly, urging them to bar Sudan from representing them on
the Council. An earlier AP report quoted State Department spokesman
Richard Boucher as citing UN reports that Khartoum had bombed areas in the
country where relief operations were based, which rendered Sudan "an
unsuitable candidate". 
   
 SOMALIA: Foreign hostages freed in Mogadishu
 
 Two aid workers held hostage in Mogadishu since 26 July were freed on
 Monday. Francoise Deutsch, a French administrator, and Jonathan Ward, a
 British logistician, both working for the Paris-based NGO Action contre
la faim(ACF), had been held by militiamen allied to one of the Mogadishu
faction leaders, Uthman Ali Ato. In a press release issued late on Monday,
ACF paid tribute to "responsible Somalis" who had worked on securing the
release of the aid workers. ACF said it thanked "in particular the new
president Abdiqasim Salad Hasan", as well as members of Somalia's civil
society, "who did not cease in their efforts to try and make the
kidnappers see reason". 
 
 SOMALIA: Parliamentarian sentenced for "high treason" 
 
 A clan leader has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for "high
 treason" for attending the Djibouti-hosted Somali National Peace
 Conference.  Abshir Salad Muhammad was found guilty by a Berbera court in
 the self-declared Republic of Somaliland on 16 September, according to a
 report by Radio Hargeysa, monitored by the BBC. 
 
 The leader of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland in
northeastern Somalia, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, was subsequently
quoted by the Puntland newspaper, 'Kaaha Bari', as saying that Puntland
nationals who attended the Djibouti conference were "criminals" who would
be charged in court. He had earlier said that he would not talk with the
interim president of Somalia, Abdiqasim Salad Hasan, in a national
capacity, but only as a clan leader.  >
 
SOMALIA: Demobilisation recruits want "decent job" 
 
 Recruits for a new Somalia police force have so far come from militias
 working for the business sector in Mogadishu. A Reuters journalist
 witnessed about 600 militiamen last Saturday at two "demobilisation"
camps set up in Mogadishu by the new administration. The first recruits
said
 they were joining up because they wanted a decent job and a steady
salary,
 as well as peace in the country, Reuters said. A UN official said that
the success or otherwise of the demobilisation was "very important", and
would be a factor in the international response to the new government. 
 
 SOMALIA: UN security officers attacked by gunmen
 
 Two United Nations security officers have been evacuated from Marka,
southern Somalia, after being attacked by 30 to 40 "fundamentalist" gunmen
at the UN World Food Programme (WFP) compound, a UN statement released on
Thursday said. In consequence, all UN travel and operations in Marka had
been suspended. [See full version on: 
 
 SOMALIA: Saudi Arabia bans livestock imports
 
 Saudi Arabia on Monday banned the import of livestock from several
African countries, including Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and
Sudan. A Saudi Health Ministry official said the ban was imposed to fight
Rift Valley fever (RVF). According to news agencies, the disease has
already killed 42 people in the southern Jizan area of the kingdom. A
Yemeni Health Ministry official said that 17 people had died of RVF in
Al-Hudaydah province, west of the capital, San'a. The ban is expected to
have a devastating effect on countries affected, particularly Somalia.
[See IRIN Focus on livestock ban]
 
 SOMALIA: President asks UN for help
 
 Interim President Abdiqasim Salad Hasan addressed the United Nations
 General Assembly on Tuesday, saying that the recent creation of the
Somali
 national assembly was the beginning of a new era. He asked UN Member
states to adopt a resolution on "Assistance to the Somali Republic", as
the country's infrastructure had been destroyed and children had not gone
to school for two decades. He also called on "warlords"  to review their
positions and respect the aspiration of Somali people to achieve national
unity, social and economic
 development and durable peace. 
 
 UN sources told IRIN that, among member states, there was still "a lot of
 caution" shown towards recent events in Somalia. Abdiqasim Salad had
gained international recognition and support, but was expected to show
progress in forming a government of national unity. 
 
 SOMALIA: Clash in Mogadishu
 
  At least 10 people were killed in fighting between rival militia which
erupted in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Friday. 
 
 According to a report by the BBC on Friday, militiamen loyal to faction
leader Husayn Muhammad Aydid attacked the Mogadishu neighbourhood of
Bermuda with heavy artillery and anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns in
reprisal for a clash last week in which some of Aydid's men were killed. 
The Bermuda neighbourhood was said to be the stronghold of Aidid's rival,
Ali Mahdi Muhammad.
 
 Friday's violence was "a major setback" to efforts by the interim
president, Abdiqasim Salad Hasan, to restore normality in the capital
after his election last August in Djibouti, the BBC reported. Diplomatic
sources told IRIN that there had been a series of clashes in Mogadishu
this week, but these had not constituted "any great challenge". The source
said as a consequence of the president's election and recent political
developments, militias had become "nervous", but were "not an organised
challenge to Abdiqasim". 
 
 ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Military observers deployed
 
 The first 15 UN military observers were deployed on the
Ethiopian-Eritrean border on Friday, where they will prepare the ground
for the >
 4,200-strong peacekeeping mission. Lt-Colonel Paul Gunzu in Addis Ababa
confirmed the deployment to IRIN on Friday. It was expected that by
November, an additional 2,200 peacekeepers would be in place inside the
15-mile buffer zone on the Eritrean side of the border.  Earlier, a UN
official told IRIN that despite some continued problems with access to the
disputed zone, and agreement on an air corridor between the Eritrean
capital, Asmara, and the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, the speedy and
successful establishment of the mission had been attributed to good
cooperation from the two governmentse.
 
 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his latest report on UNMEE, released
on Wednesday, said a human rights component should be established in the
mission. He also warned that the complex humanitarian emergency situation
in both countries as a result of war and drought was "cause for major
concern".  He commended the two leaders for bringing a halt to the
fighting, and encouraged them to keep up the momentum for peace. 
 
ETHIOPIA: Bertini says famine threat averted

Catherine Bertini, UN Special Envoy on the Drought in the Greater Horn of
Africa, said on Thursday that a widespread famine had been averted in
Ethiopia as a result of the massive international relief effort. According
to the UN on Thursday, Ms Bertini said: "When we came in April, this place
was so much different," adding: "The therapeutic feeding centres were
overloaded with children and now we see a very different situation.  A
famine has been averted in this region...because of the generosity of
people around the world." Ms Bertini heard first hand from victims of the
drought how the massive relief effort had saved thousands of lives and
averted disaster.  However, according to WFP, 10.5 million people were at
risk in Ethiopia, 3.3 million in Kenya, 750,000 in Somalia, 335,000 in
Eritrea, and 150,000 in Djibouti, the report said, adding, an additional 2
million people were at risk in Africa's Great Lake Region. 

Bertini, who is Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), is
on a week-long tour of Ethiopia and Kenya, where 90 percent of the 14
million drought-affected people in the Horn live.  During her visit, she
visited therapeutic feeding sites, a hospital, a water project, women's
agricultural cooperatives and a camp for internally displaced people.  In
addition to meeting with local officials, women's groups, elders and aid
representatives, the UN envoy was scheduled to meet with Ethiopian Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi, as well as donors and NGOs on Friday, the UN report
said. 

Nairobi, 22 September 2000


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