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

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e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN Weekly Round-up 17
23 - 29 December 2000



CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: UN peace-building mission recommended
SOMALIA: Violation of arms embargo
SOMALIA: Ethiopia invites faction leaders
SOMALIA: Hiiraan Autonomous Region declared
SUDAN: WFP warns of "looming crisis"
SUDAN: Election results delayed
SUDAN: OAU observers commend elections
ETHIOPIA: OLF "politically bankrupt" 
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: US proposes lifting of arms embargo
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Military meeting encounters obstacle
DJIBOUTI-ETHIOPIA: Port tariffs hiked
DJIBOUTI-ETHIOPIA: Ethiopians deported in round-up

SOMALIA: UN peace-building mission recommended

In a report to the Security Council, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
welcomed the establishment of the Somali Transitional National Government
(TNG) and said Somalia now faced massive challenges of reconstruction and
development. He pointed out that "no country has ever been so long without
central authority" and that the TNG had "begun the process of establishing
itself on Somali soil and expanding the areas under its influence". 
Recovering from a decade of statelessness and conflict would involve "not
only the remaking of political society but also the total reconstruction
of the country's basic infrastructure", the Secretary-General said. In the
report, submitted on 19 December, Annan said he was ready to prepare a
proposal for a peace-building mission for Somalia, which should be based
inside Somalia. However, he said, such a mission would only be possible
when security in Mogadishu had been established. 

The report pointed out that although the Djibouti-hosted peace talks had
involved representatives from all clans, there remained strong opposition
by faction leaders, including leaders in Somaliland in the northwest and
Puntland in the northeast. These territories were "relatively calm"
compared to the "uncertain and sometimes extremely tense" situation in
southern Somalia. It was the responsibility of the TNG, led by interim
President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, to establish a government of unity and
reconciliation through peaceful means, Annan told the Security Council. 

SOMALIA: Violation of arms embargo

The TNG's deputy prime minister has complained that recent deliveries by
Ethiopia of arms to Somalia constitute an open violation of a UN arms
embargo. Osman Jama Ali 'Kalun' made the accusation after the TNG's
council of ministers held a closed-door meeting to discuss the security
situation, said the south Mogadishu-based newspaper 'Xog-Ogaal' on Sunday.
According to the report, monitored by the BBC, the TNG was expected to
send a written complaint to the UN Security Council. Local and
international media reported the arrival in Somalia of arms from Ethiopia
last week for Mogadishu faction leader Musa Sude Yalahow. The arrival of
the trucks carrying the weapons sparked the first military confrontation
between government forces and any faction militia. 

Meanwhile, a diplomatic source told IRIN on Wedesday that faction leader
Muhammad Sa'id 'Morgan' had this month been seen receiving arms in Gode,
the capital of the Ethiopian Ogaden region. Ethiopian armed support for
faction leaders 'Morgan' and Hasan Muhammad Nur 'Shatigudud' was "an open
secret", the source said.

SOMALIA: Ethiopia invites faction leaders

Faction leaders opposed to the TNG have been invited to visit Ethiopia.
The move by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was reported by
Mogadishu-based newspapers 'Ayaamaha' and 'Xog-Ogaal', as well as by the
Puntland regional government radio. Faction leaders Hasan Muhammad Nur
'Shatigadud', Abdan Abdullahi Nur 'Gabyow' and Muhammad Sa'id 'Morgan'
arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, said 'Xog-Ogaal' on Monday.
The Puntland leader, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad, had been expected to arrive in
Addis Ababa on 23 December, according to the south Mogadishu-based daily
'Qaran'.

Meanwhile, the independent 'Jamhuuriya' daily based in Somaliland said
Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Salih had recently alerted Arab heads of
state that Ethiopia was interfering in the internal affairs of Somalia and
was opposed to the TNG. According to the report, Salih had called on Arab
states to support the TNG's interim president, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan. 
Libya, Egypt and Yemen were prepared to send forces to back Abdiqassim,
and Ethiopia was "very concerned" over this development, 'Jamhuuriya' said
on Tuesday. 

SOMALIA: Hiiraan Autonomous Region declared

Hasan Abdulle Qalad, governor of the Hiiraan Region, south-central
Somalia, announced on 20 December in Beled Weyne, that an autonomous
regional government had been set up in Hiiraan. Qalad, a former army
colonel, made the announcement in a press statement to Mogadishu
newspapers and international agencies, 'Qaran' reported on 23 December. A
source in Beled Weyne confirmed to IRIN that Qalad had made the
announcement, but said control of territory was an issue. The governor,
who is from the Hawadle sub-clan of the Hawiye, "doesn't control Beled
Weyne, much less the entire region", according to the source. Beled Weyne,
the capital of the region, is divided by sub-clans into eastern and
western territories, marked by a bridge. The east is the Hawadle area and
the west is Galje'l territory. 

SUDAN: WFP warns of "looming crisis" 

More than 3.2 million people in Sudan are facing serious food and water
shortages because of civil war and widening drought. The WFP December
Update called the situation "a looming crisis". According to WFP, some
700,000 more people are considered vulnerable this month, compared to
estimates made only a month ago. "An additional appeal may be made on the
basis of the assessment recently implemented by WFP and FAO [Food and
Agriculture Organisation]," WFP said. It warned that lack of basic
equipment, such as pumps to draw water from wells, "gives people little
choice but to become nomadic when surface water supplies dry up". People
affected by drought and war had started selling off cattle, causing a drop
in livestock prices, warned WFP. According to the WFP, "grain prices have
gone up, which means that not much locally produced grain is being
harvested".

A joint WFP and FAO report released on 22 December said rainfall in Sudan
had been late, absent or uneven, which had affected crops at critical
growth stages. Both northern and southern states had been affected. But
insecurity was the major cause of food aid need in Sudan, said the FAO/WFP
Crop and Food Supply Assessment. It said WFP - currently feeding 1.7
million people in Sudan - continued to meet food aid needs in an emergency
operation because of "unpredictable food crop production and changing
security circumstances". The operation would be extended until March 2001. 

SUDAN: Election results delayed

The results of Sudan's presidential and parliamentary elections have been
delayed and will probably not be published until 30 December, according to
the General Election Commission (GEC). The results of the elections, held
between 13 and 25 December, had been due for release on 25 December. A GEC
official said publication of the results would probably coincide with the
presidential announcement on 30 December, AFP reported. A preliminary
tally of the presidential poll from several districts had shown that the
incumbent president, Umar al-Bashir, had won more than three times the
votes for his nearest competitor, former military autocrat Ja'far Numayri,
AFP said. 

SUDAN: OAU observers commend elections

A nine-member observer team from the Organisation of Africa Unity (OAU)
has commended the recently concluded elections. "The arrangements...
allowed the Sudanese people, including those outside the country to freely
exercise their democratic rights," said an OAU statement issued 23
December. Saying the elections marked an "important step towards
democratisation", the statement noted that there would be some
"inevitable" logistical challenges in the country, which has a population
of about 30 million. However, there was no specific mention of
war-affected areas, such as southern Sudan, where people were unable to
participate in the elections. 

Meanwhile, President Umar al-Bashir has said that no power-sharing
agreement has been signed with the opposition Ummah Party (UP). In an
interview with Al-Jazeera TV, Bashir said dialogue with the UP was in
progress, but that a number of issues had yet to be tackled. The UP
leader, former Prime Minister Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, recently returned to
Sudan, saying he would participate in the national peace process. 

ETHIOPIA: OLF "politically bankrupt" 

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said that the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF)
has become a terrorist movement. In an interview with the London-based
'Al-Hayat' Arabic newspaper, Meles said the OLF had transformed itself
from a revolutionary movement (a reference to the period during which
Meles had entered into a coalition government with the movement) into a
terrorist movement. He said the OLF was now "politically bankrupt" and
that it had lost popular support. The pro-Ethiopian government Walta web
site, monitored by the BBC, said that Meles had pointed a finger at
Eritrea as playing "a key role in supporting such movements". Eritrea was
"playing with fire", said the Walta report, published on Wednesday.

In the same interview, Meles said the signing of the comprehensive peace
agreement had not changed Ethiopia's relations with Eritrea at present. He
cited Eritrea's use of its ports of Assab and Massawa as "a tool for
blackmail". According to the Walta report, Meles said: "If we are to move
towards normalising ties, we have to make sure that those two ports will
not be used for blackmailing us. We have to take into account that we
should either stop using the ports altogether even after normalisation of
ties or use them according to international guarantees." 

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: US proposes lifting of arms embargo

The US has proposed to the UN Security Council the lifting of the arms
embargo against Eritrea and Ethiopia. The US-sponsored resolution welcomes
the signing of the peace agreement in Algiers, and calls on both countries
to work with the UN peacekeeping force that will oversee the
implementation of the peace deal, the Associated Press (AP) said on
Friday. 

The arms embargo was imposed on the two countries in May in an attempt to
prevent the border war from re-igniting. At the time the Council said the
embargo would be reviewed in 12 months, or lifted once UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan reported "a peaceful definitive settlement of
the conflict" had been achieved. According to AP, Canada and the
Netherlands were "less than enthusiastic" about lifting the embargo so
soon after the peace agreement. Other envoys said both countries should
spend their limited funds for other purposes, Reuters reported from New
York. Canada and the Netherlands - both of whom have peacekeepers in the
two countries - oppose ending the embargo until May when it is due to
expire, news agencies have reported. 

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Military meeting encounters obstacle

Ethiopian and Eritrean military delegations meeting in Kenya have failed
to reach agreement on redeploying their troops to create a 25 km wide
temporary security zone (TSZ), and have referred the matter to the Special
Representative of the UN Secretary-General. The second meeting of the
Military Coordination Commission (MCC) of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and
Eritrea (UNMEE) was held in Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday, 28 December 2000
and was chaired by Maj-Gen Patrick Cammaert, the UNMEE force commander,
said a statement released by UNMEE. 

However, both delegations had agreed to the development of "protocols" for
greater freedom of movement by UNMEE aircraft and helicopters in the
mission area, said the statement. There had also been agreement on
establishing a subcommittee "to develop suitable protocols" for the
resolution of the day to day military issues within the "soon to be
established temporary security zone". 

Discussions on the "redeployment plan" of Ethiopian forces and
"rearrangement plan" of Eritrean forces, needed to create the TSZ, were
inconclusive. The parties decided to refer the matter to the Special
Representative of the Secretary-General on UNMEE, Legwaila Joseph
Legwaila, said the statement. 

The meeting also agreed on "full transparency" of information of
minefields in the area. UNMEE will compile a comprehensive map of known
and suspected minefields based on information to be provided by both
countries on 5 January 2001. This map would be shared by the two parties,
said the statement. 

The military delegations for their respective countries were led by
Maj-Gen Alemshet Degife from Ethiopia and Brig-Gen Abrehaley from Eritrea.
The MCC is one of the main instruments for addressing the military
concerns of the parties and for consultation with them on the activities
of UNMEE, said the statement. 

ETHIOPIA-DJIBOUTI: Port tariffs hiked

Djibouti port authorities plan to raise port charges by up to 150 percent
next month, Ethiopia's private sector has complained. Dubai Port
International (DPI), which took over management of the Djibouti port on a
20-year lease earlier this year, said in a circular that it would increase
tariff rates from 15 January, the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce
announced.  The chamber represents the major importers and exporters in
landlocked Ethiopia, Reuters said. The cost of a tonne of cargo in transit
via Djibouti port would hike to US $2.50 from $1.00, said the Ethiopian
chamber - and no reason had been given for the increase. 

The new port tariffs had increased the cost of fuel, fertiliser and relief
wheat imports by 15 percent, and imposed a 300 percent tariff on all other
commercial goods, said the Ethiopian private newspaper 'Efoyta' on
Wednesday. It said the "exorbitant increase" was being discussed between
Ethiopian and Djiboutian officials. Two thirds of Djibouti's revenue had
been collected from cargo destined for Ethiopia since Ethiopia began to
use the Djibouti port three years ago, 'Efoyta' said. With the tariff
increases, Ethiopia was likely to pay between $15 million to $20 million
extra over the year, estimated the newspaper. 

DJIBOUTI-ETHIOPIA: Ethiopians deported in round-up

The Djibouti government has said it arrested more than 5,000 mostly
Ethiopian illegal immigrants and deported most of them. Interior Minister
Abdallah Abdillahi Miguil told state television on 23 December that the
arrests were carried out to check an increase in banditry and petty theft.
He denied suggestions that the deportations were the result of a security
sweep after a coup attempt earlier this month, led by former police chief
General Yacin Yabeh Galab.  [For full story see IRIN separate of 27
December headlined "DJIBOUTI: Security forces arrest over 5,000 "illegal
immigrants"]

Nairobi, 29 December 2000


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