U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 28
10 - 16 March 2001


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Peacekeeping mission mandate extended
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Agreements needed "without delay" 
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Special Representative "confident of resolution"
SOMALIA: Mogadishu central prison reopens
SOMALIA: New police force tackle militia
SOMALIA: Two Russian fishing vessels held in Kismayo
SUDAN: Turabi faces charges of sedition and incitement
SUDAN: Water and food intervention "critical" 
SUDAN: Oil discovered in the southwest
SUDAN: US urged to "influence south" 

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Peacekeeping mission mandate extended

The United Nations Security Council approved on Thursday a six-month
extension of the mandate of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE), through to 15 September 2001. Adopted unanimously, the resolution
called on Ethiopia and Eritrea to implement their agreements, particularly
the rearrangement of forces necessary for the establishment of a Temporary
Security Zone (TSZ) between the two countries. It also called on both
sides to ensure freedom of movement for UNMEE soldiers, establish a direct
air route between their two capitals, conclude status-of-forces agreements
with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and facilitate mine action initiatives. 

The Security Council stressed that agreements between the two parties
linked the termination of the UN mission with the completion of the
process of delimitation and demarcation of the Ethiopian-Eritrean border.
This was described as a "key element of the peace process". In this
respect, it called on states and international organisations to contribute
to UNMEE's Voluntary Trust Fund to assist in the rapid delimitation of the
border between the two countries and foster reconstruction and
development.

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Agreements needed "without delay" 

The report of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Ethiopia and Eritrea,
distributed 7 March, said important issues which affected the peace
keeping operation of UNMEE remained unresolved. Of primary concern was the
fact that Eritrea "maintains a significant military presence" in the TSZ.
The continued failure of UNMEE to secure a direct high-altitude route
between the two capitals meant it was now "essential that both parties
grant UNMEE unimpeded and unconditional freedom of movement", the report
said. Another issue concerned negotiations with both parties on
status-of-forces agreements and freedom of movement, particularly Eritrea. 
"Eritrea... continues to insist on the inclusion in the status-of-forces
agreement of provisions, which would require the United Nations, contrary
to the existing practice in other peacekeeping operations, to test all
UNMEE personnel arriving in the country for HIV/AIDS." On public
information, Radio UNMEE had managed to broadcast programmes about the
peace process and humanitarian issues in Eritrea, but the Ethiopian
government had "raised objections to the possibility of providing
facilities to UNMEE broadcasting at no charge". [For full text of report
see www.un.org/Docs/sc/reports/2001/202e.pdf]

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Special Representative "confident of resolution" 

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Chief of UNMEE,
Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, has said he is confident that problems between
Ethiopia and Eritrea will be resolved soon. He told journalists in New
York on Tuesday that the conflict, which erupted in 1998, had resulted in
bitterness and distrust, but that the two countries "were ready to make
peace". Legwaila described Ethiopia and Eritrea as "disciplined nations"
with "two disciplined leaders... and two disciplined armies".

Overall cooperation between UNMEE and the host countries was very good,
and there had been quick deployment of 4,000 peacekeepers and some 200
military observers. However, Legwaila said recent difficulties had
prevented the Mission from formally declaring the establishment of the
TSZ. He described the buffer zone as an "operational requirement for the
peacekeeping force". He emphasised that it was temporary and had "nothing
to do with future decisions on the border" between the two countries, this
remaining the greatest obstacle to resolving the conflict. Legwaila said
the TSZ had not been imposed on the two parties, but had been suggested by
Ethiopia and Eritrea when they signed an Agreement on the Cessation of
Hostilities. An important concern was the "forthcoming influx of
internally displaced people and refugees into the TSZ", added the Special
Representative. 

SOMALIA: Mogadishu central prison reopens

Mogadishu's main prison was reopened on 10 March, and immediately became
the home for 50 prisoners awaiting trial. It was last used in 1995, when
UN forces left Somalia. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that 27 more
prisoners arrived on Monday. 

Over the last two years, the Islamic courts have provided the only
detention service in many parts of southern Somalia. Shaykh Hasan Shaykh
Muhammad, the chairman of Mogadishu's Islamic courts, told IRIN that the
Islamic courts were "winding down operations". He said the Islamic courts
were now basically operating as police holding cells. "We can only hold
those we arrest for 24 hours, and then we have to pass them and their
charge sheets on to the prosecutor to file charges in normal courts," he
said. Shaykh Hasan said the Islamic courts - which operated as a critical
security force in Mogadishu before the election of the Transitional
National Government (TNG) last year - had handed over their heavy weapons
to the government. He confirmed that the Islamic courts were still running
the prisons outside Mogadishu, in the absence of a government presence. 

SOMALIA: New police force tackle militia

Police have started to patrol the streets of Mogadishu as the TNG attempts
to establish law and order in the capital. On Monday, a heavily armed
police unit took control of a road block in Shangani, central Mogadishu,
and arrested four militia-men. Local sources told IRIN that police had
managed to maintain control of the area after battling it out with the
militia. Mogadishu Police Commander Colonel Abdi Qeybdid said the
operation had involved more than 100 heavily armed officers, supported by
six "technical" jeeps mounted with heavy guns. Two police officers died
during the fight, and local media said the operation had increased tension
in northern Mogadishu. However, the TNG said the deployment of the police
force was proving a success, and enjoyed public support. [See SOMALIA:
Police deployed in Mogadishu]

SOMALIA: Two Russian fishing vessels held in Kismayo

The Russian foreign ministry said on Wednesday that eight Russians and 20
Kenyans held aboard two fishing boats in Kismayo, southern Somalia, had
been ordered to pay to secure their release. It said the two fishing
vessels, Gorizont-1 and Gorizont-2, had been seized by armed men in the
port of Kismayo in circumstances that "remain unclear", the ITAR-TASS news
agency said. The ministry admitted that it had only a partial and
contradictory picture of events, and that one of the vessels appeared to
have left the port and headed for the Kenyan port of Mombasa. Five Kenyans
were said to have succeeded in escaping and were now in Mombasa, the
ministry added.

Meanwhile, Somali interim President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan apologised for
the incident and told journalists in Mogadishu that his government would
"do everything within our capacity to secure the release of these vessels
and their crew", Associated Press (AP) said on Wednesday. He said there
were many vessels fishing in the territorial waters of Somalia, including
some which were also dumping harmful waste. The TNG government had not
exerted effective control over the southern port, and was still trying to
secure law and order in the capital, Mogadishu, diplomatic sources said. 

SOMALIA: UN appeal aims to "rebuild from ruins" 

The UN called on donors this week to help bring Somalia out of anarchy and
fragmentation, and reduce vulnerability to long-term chronic emergencies. 
Launching the appeal for US $130 million, UN agencies said they would
focus on strategies to support livelihoods; provide education for a "lost
generation"; demobilise tens of thousands of young militia; and link
Somalia's robust private sector to employment opportunities and the public
good at large. "It is time to realise the unique challenges that Somalia
presents to the international community," UN Humanitarian Coordinator
Randolph Kent said. He described Somalia as "a template for dealing with
societies emerging from violent transition".

Good governance and long-term economic recovery were also essential
aspects of the UN appeal, said the press release, issued on Monday.
Assistance was needed to provide governance structures, support in
judicial and police training, public administration, poverty reduction and
funding for civil society institutions. An essential feature of the
programme would be to generate employment as an alternative to activities
which were unsustainable and destroying Somalia's fragile environment,
like the charcoal trade. A component of the appeal would focus on
assisting displaced populations "that have either sought refuge across
borders or within Somalia". The statement said overall funding
requirements represented a significant increase from last year, but that
it was a "fraction of the necessary resources to continue rebuilding a
nation from ruins". 

SUDAN: Turabi faces charges of sedition and incitement

A committee set up by the Ministry of Justice to look into possible
charges against the former speaker of parliament Hasan al-Turabi has
recommended two criminal charges. A Sudanese government official told IRIN
on Monday that Turabi would be charged with "inciting hatred against the
state" and sedition. Both counts were punishable by death or life
imprisonment under the Sudanese criminal code, the official said.

Turabi was arrested on 21 February, along with many senior members of his
party, the Popular National Congress (PNC). The arrests followed the
signing on 18 February, of a "memorandum of understanding" between Turabi
and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). According to the
official, "the possibility exists that all members of [Turabi's] political
bureau will also be charged". He said once formal charges had been
presented, the process "will move swiftly", and Turabi is likely to be
brought before the courts within two weeks. 

Meanwhile, a spokesman of the SPLM, Yasir Arman, said in an interview with
the London-based Arabic language newspaper 'Al-Sharq al-Awsat' that
Turabi's arrest was"pre-planned". Arman said in an article published on 9
March that the SPLM had signed the agreement with Turabi, because of "a
clear change in Dr al-Turabi's political approach".

SUDAN: Water and food intervention "critical" 

Severe drought across many parts of Sudan was affecting several million
people, many of whom were at acute risk of severe food insecurity over the
coming months, the International Federation of the Red Cross/Red Crescent
said in an appeal released on 2 March. It called for Swiss Francs
2,582,404 (equivalent to US $1.6 million) in "cash, kind and services" to
meet the needs of 289,000 beneficiaries for six months, concentrating on
relief activities in Northern and Southern Darfur, and the Red Sea states.

According to the Federation, access to safe water as well as emergency
food is a critical intervention. Stagnation in the livestock trade has
reduced a traditional source of extra income, and many of the poorer
families have already lost or traded all their animals. "The most
vulnerable people are either subsistence farmers or small-scale
pastoralists, whose means of livelihood is now threatened by the drought," 
the appeal said. "The price of food staples in the markets has increased
dramatically over recent weeks." Agricultural labouring opportunities are
also becoming scarce, causing migration. "The nutritional status of the
population is expected to deteriorate rapidly unless an additional
provision of food can be assured until the next harvest," the Federation
warned. 

SUDAN: Oil discovered in the southwest

The Sudanese Ministry of Energy and Mining on Monday announced the
discovery of a new oilfield in the southwest of the country. In a
statement to the press, Undersecretary Hasan Ali al-Tawm said the first
well in the field had a "proven productivity of 4,620 barrels a day". The
oilfield was discovered by a consortium of companies consisting of the
Austrian OMV, Swedish Lundn, the Malaysian Petronas, and Sudapet of Sudan,
news agencies said.

Sudan had a target production of 400,000 barrels of oil per day by the end
of this year, a Sudanese official told IRIN. With this new discovery, that
target "could be surpassed", he said. The new find is near another oil
field already producing oil. The official described the new oilfield as
being in northern Sudan (a political definition) on the border with the
south. International human rights organisations and humanitarian workers
say that massive displacement has been caused by government troops and
pro-government militia moving populations away from prospective oilfields.

SUDAN: US urged to "influence south" 

Factional fighting in southern Sudan could lead to famine unless the US
intervenes diplomatically with rebel forces and other parties, the
US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said. In a letter sent to US
Secretary of State Colin Powell, HRW called on the new Bush administration
to use its influence with southern factions to stave off a potential
crisis. HRW recommended that the US insist that all military support for
southern factions be stopped and a ceasefire be imposed. It also called
for US-convened peace talks in the south.

"This is a good example of where early and skilful US diplomatic
intervention can make all the difference," Jemera Rone, Sudan researcher
for HRW, said. In a statement released on 3 March, Rone said various
factions of the Nuer tribe were fighting a "no-holds-barred war" among
themselves, which threatened to reignite conflict between the two largest
tribes in the south, the Nuer and the Dinka. "The US has tremendous clout
with southerners. Now is the time to use it," Rone said. 

In a report on Sudan released 12 March, HRW said the intra-Nuer and
intra-Dinka conflict was "in violation of both traditional Nuer and Dinka
practices of war and international humanitarian law".  Abuses included the
burning of homes, villages, community structures and reserves of grain, as
well as the killing of women and children. [For full text see
www.hrw.org/hrw/campaigns/sudan98/sudan-analysis.htm]
 
Nairobi, 16 March 2001


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