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

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 33
14 - 20 April 2001


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: At least 38 people killed in clashes
ETHIOPIA: Arrests follow widespread riots
ETHIOPIA: Tigray state president removed
ETHIOPIA: High Court finds 37 guilty of genocide
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: "Milestone" reached in peace process
ERITREA: Protocol agreement outlines "rules of interaction"
SUDAN: Blue Nile offensive "intercepted" rebels say
SUDAN: Journalist released from detention
SUDAN: Opposition party refuses to break with rebel movement
SOMALIA: Aydid in Baidoa for "reconciliation"
SOMALIA: Schools hit by crippling inflation
SOMALIA-DJIBOUTI: Border closed with Somaliland
SOMALIA-DJIBOUTI: Somaliland says "differences" prevent trade
KENYA-SOMALIA: More than 10,000 refugees in Mandera

ETHIOPIA: At least 38 people killed in clashes

At least 38 people were killed and 252 wounded in clashes this week in the
Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, hospital figures have revealed. At one
main hospital alone, 23 dead were registered. Detailed figures from the
hospitals in Addis Ababa were released to Agence France-Presse (AFP). 
Injuries included gunshot wounds. There has been no official confirmation
of the death toll, but a statement broadcast by state radio and television
on Thursday referred to demonstrators as "hoodlums and lumpen". 

Eyewitnesses told IRIN that the chaos began around noon on Wednesday, and
spread out of the city centre to affect the university area, the United
States Embassy area, Merkato, Piazza, Debre Zeit Road and around a school
near the British and Russian embassies, security sources told IRIN. 
Protests initiated by students and high school children also took place in
the countryside, the BBC said. No hospital figures have been obtained from
the regions.

A doctor at one of the main city hospitals, Menelik Hospital, told
journalists that 22 bodies had been collected from the Addis Ababa streets
and brought to the hospital morgue since Tuesday, when the clashes began,
Associated Press (AP) said. 

The international human rights organisation, Amnesty International, warned
on Thursday that Ethiopian security forces were using "excessive force
against students and other demonstrators". Security forces were continuing
to round up people, and hospitals could "hardly cope with the number of
those injured", said Amnesty International. It said security forces had
reportedly fired at demonstrators. Violent riots on Tuesday followed a
student demonstration which began at the Addis Ababa university campus
last week.

ETHIOPIA: Arrests follow widespread riots

Addis Ababa was reported quiet with businesses and shops beginning to
reopen, local sources told IRIN. "Law and order have been restored,"
security sources in the city said. However, diplomatic sources confirmed
that there had been a large number of arrests on Wednesday night. Some of
the arrests were related to looting and violence after widespread
demonstrations and riots that day, but others were reportedly political
arrests. The crackdown followed a government statement warning political
parties against "promoting anarchy".

The government has ordered Addis Ababa university closed indefinitely, and
local secondary schools and colleges closed until Monday. The university
in Mekele, Tigray, has also reportedly been closed, local sources said. 
Student demonstrations last week over the presence of police on campus,
and demands for more representation, led to violent riots this week. 
Diplomatic sources said "other groups had attached themselves to the
process." Regional analysts said such demonstrations were rare in
Ethiopian history, and was likely to be linked to a perceived weakness in
the government, since the dominant Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) 
split last month. Western diplomatic sources said the initial reluctance
of the government to take a more typically tough line with the students
was "seen as a sign of internal weakness" by some groups. Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi's TPLF party - which has been the dominant force in the
coalition government since 1991 - was split last month by a walkout by
prominent central committee members. 

ETHIOPIA: Tigray state president removed

The president of Tigray State, Gebru Asrat, has been removed from his post
along with three other prominent officials. Local newspapers said the
Tigray president and the officials had been removed for failing to live up
to their duties and responsibilities. According to the private newspaper
'Efoita', the officials removed were Gebremeskel Hailu, a senior state
official, Yewubmar Asfaw, member of the executive committee of Tigray
Council, and Teshale Fiseha Tsion, deputy chairman of South Tigray Zone. 
The Tigray State Council said an emergency meeting, attended by 84 percent
of the council's members, also decided that two repentant members of the
splinter group of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) would be
allowed to stay on in their posts. The splinter group, led by former
Defence Minister Abraha Siye, led a walkout on Meles Zenawi last month,
thereby weakening the prime minister's TPLF party. The Tigray State
Council called on the people of Tigray to strongly fight against "elements
that attempted to hinder the peace and democracy achieved", state media
said

Meanwhile, two of the 12 dissident members of the TPLF Central Committee
had been reinstated after going through "self-criticism" and apologising,
local media said. Former police chief Hasan Shifa, and Aregawi Berhe,
deputy-chairman of central Tigray Zone, "candidly criticised" themselves,
'The Reporter' said. 

ETHIOPIA: High Court finds 37 guilty of genocide

The Ethiopian Federal High Court has found 37 people guilty of genocide
and crimes against humanity in their role in the former regime of Mengistu
Hailemariam. Thirteen of those charged were tried in absentia. Those
convicted received up to 20 years "rigorous imprisonment", the 'Ethiopian
Herald' newspaper said on 12 April.  The court found the defendants guilty
of torturing and extrajudicial killings. Also, the mobile criminal bench
of the Oromiya Supreme Court jailed 21 people charged with "perpetrating
genocide and crimes against humanity" under the former regime, which fell
in 1991. Those convicted received sentences of up to 12 years, for
extrajudicial killings of people allegedly belonging to "clandestine
political parties", the report said.

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: "Milestone" reached in peace process

The head of the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) on
Wednesday announced the formal establishment of a Temporary Security Zone
(TSZ) in the disputed border region. Speaking in the Eritrean capital,
Asmara, Special Representative of the Secretary-General Legwaila Joseph
Legwaila said creation of the TSZ was the "penultimate step" in the
resolution of conflict between the former allies. "The establishment of
the TSZ is a milestone in the Ethiopian-Eritrean peace process", he said.

The statement welcomed Eritrea's announcement on 16 April that it had
completed the repositioning of its armed forces out of the proposed buffer
zone. UNMEE commended both parties for fulfilling their obligations to a
peace agreement signed in December last year. "This repositioning allows
for the establishment of the TSZ," Legwaila said. "To delay any further
the establishment of the zone would subject the civilians seeking to
resume their lives in the former war-torn areas to unnecessary suffering," 
he said. 

Legwaila expressed concern that Ethiopia had not informed UNMEE of
redeployment plans in the Irob area. UNMEE "regrets" that Ethiopia did not
communicate the "full nature" of its plans, the statement said. UNMEE said
that it had no option other than to adjust the southern boundary of the
TSZ accordingly. Clarification was needed on the redeployment lines
provided by Ethiopia, observed Legwaila. "This will ensure as far as
possible the inclusion in the TSZ of villages to which Eritrean internally
displaced persons (IDPs) are expected to return," he said. 

ERITREA: Protocol agreement outlines "rules of interaction" 

UNMEE has signed a protocol agreement with Eritrea outlining "rules of
interaction" between UN peacekeepers and Eritrean security personnel in
the TSZ. According to a statement from UNMEE, the agreement was signed on
Tuesday by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General,
Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, and the Eritrean Commissioner for Coordination
with UNMEE, Andeberhan Woldegiorgis. 

The agreement stipulates that all members of UNMEE have "complete freedom
of movement" within the 25 km-wide TSZ, and that there is to be "no
interference" in the activities of the peacekeepers by any party, be they
police, militia, customs or immigration officials. The agreement covers
issues such as the types of arms which may be carried by police and
militia in the TSZ, and provides for the stockpiling of prohibited
weaponry, according to UNMEE. The establishment of the TSZ is part of a
peace agreement signed between Eritrea and Ethiopia in December last year
ending the two-year border war. 

SUDAN: Blue Nile offensive "intercepted" rebels say

The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) says it has repulsed an attack
by government forces in Benderu, southern Blue Nile. Spokesman for the
SPLA Samson Kwaje told IRIN on Tuesday that the SPLA had "intercepted" 
about 1,000 soldiers from Brigade 97 of the Sudanese Army, and captured a
number of heavy weapons, including two T-52 tanks and a number of
transport vehicles. According to Kwaje, about 157 government soldiers were
killed, and more than 100 wounded. Four POWs were taken by the SPLA, Kwaje
said. The government offensive aimed to attack Qaysan and Kurmuk, on the
Ethiopian border, Kwaje said. Kurmuk, a strategic border town, has been in
the hands of the SPLA since 1997. Kwaje denied that the SPLA used the
border town for food supplies, and said the SPLA was "successfully
cultivating in Blue Nile" to support itself. 

SUDAN: Journalist released from detention

Sudanese journalist Alfred Taban was released from detention on Tuesday
afternoon, after being held without charge for nearly a week. Taban,
chairman of the board of Sudan's main English daily 'Khartoum Monitor',
also worked for Reuters news agency and the BBC. A Reuters official
confirmed that Taban had been released, but that no details of his
experience were yet known other than the fact Taban had told Reuters that
he was "fine".

Taban had been arrested and held by State Security Authority after he
tried to attend a news conference by church leaders in Khartoum last
Wednesday, following the cancellation of an Easter ceremony on April 10. 
More than 50 Christian protesters - almost all from the predominantly
Christian south - convicted of taking part in the demonstration against
the government order were flogged, church leaders said. The Sudanese
government said the order had been necessary for security reasons.

SUDAN: Opposition party refuses to break with rebel movement

The Popular National Congress (PNC), one of the main opposition parties,
has refused to cut its ties with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM). The announcement was made by a senior official of the PNC, Bashir
Adam Rahmah, the Associated Press (AP) said on Monday. The PNC, headed by
the former Speaker of parliament, Hasan al-Turabi, said it would stick to
its agreement with the SPLM, despite pressure from the government to
rescind it.

Turabi was arrested on 21 February after signing an accord with the SPLM,
along with some senior members of his party. President Umar al-Bashir said
on Sunday that Turabi would be charged with attempting to overthrow the
government. 

The announcement by the PNC came after a six-member delegation of Islamic
scholars from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan,
after negotiating over a period of five days, failed to reconcile the
government and the PNC. The delegation called for the release of all
"prisoners of conscience", but also called on the opposition not to sign
"any agreements with the SPLA without government authorisation", said the
AP report. Rahmah accused the government of wanting "to rid itself from
freeing Turabi and other political detainees", AP said. 

SOMALIA: Aydid in Baidoa for "reconciliation" 

Faction leader Husayn Muhammad Aydid has held meetings with fellow members
of the newly established Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council
(SRRC) in Baidoa, southern Somalia. The governor of Baidoa, Muhammad Ali
Adan Qalinle, told IRIN that Aydid was in Baidoa to "move forward the
reconciliation process started in Ethiopia". The SRRC was formed recently
in talks hosted by the Ethiopian government which brought together most of
the southern faction leaders opposed to the Transitional National
Government (TNG) in Mogadishu.

Qalinle said the meeting in Baidoa, led by Aydid, the current SRRC
chairman, was debating the formation of a central committee, which was
likely to have over 70 members. Other issues were how to tackle the
importation of fake currency into Mogadishu, the "Arta faction" [TNG], and
Djibouti's interference in Somalia's internal affairs, Qalinle said. The
SRRC would have its headquarters in Baidao, and would establish offices in
Mogadishu and Garowe. Qalinle said Aydid and other Mogadishu-based faction
leaders would remain in Baidoa "as long as they need to".

The governor confirmed that Aydid had come after the locally-based
Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) executive committee had approved the
visit. He said two members had opposed the visit initially, but had
eventually agreed to welcome Aydid. 
 
SOMALIA: Schools hit by crippling inflation

Thousands of Somali school children began a three-day strike on Wednesday
to protest against the crippling economic effects of fake currency. The
strike, organised by the Formal Private Education Network (FPEN), involves
nearly 60 primary and secondary schools in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. 
Chairman of FPEN, Ahmad Abdullahi told IRIN that "unmanageable inflation" 
was undermining the nascent education sector as parents could not afford
even minimal fees. He said if the importation of fake currency into the
capital was not halted soon, "there will be no students left in our
schools." [For full report, see
www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/somalia/20010418.phtmlSOMALIA: 
Schools empty as inflation soars]

SOMALIA-DJIBOUTI: Border closed with Somaliland

Djibouti says it has banned the transport of all goods and people between
Djibouti and the self-declared state of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia. 
A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that the
administration in Somaliland had stolen cigarettes worth US $800,000
belonging to Djibouti businessman Abdirahman Bore, at the airstrip in
Somaliland's port of Berbera. The Somaliland administration was "trying to
use unacceptable blackmail by saying there can be no commercial relations
between Djibouti and Somaliland unless Djibouti recognises Somaliland as
an independent state", Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted the statement as
saying.

The prominent Djibouti businessman, Bore, is close to Djibouti President
Ismail Omar Guelleh, and helped finance and organise the Djibouti-hosted
Somali peace talks last year which elected Somalia's new president,
Abdiqassim Salad Hassan. Last week, Bore went to Hargeysa, Somaliland, to
hold talks with Somaliland President Muhammad Ibrahim Egal.

A UN source said that the ban on commercial flights from Djibouti to
Somaliland, also applied to UN flights with effect from Wednesday morning.

SOMALIA-DJIBOUTI: Somaliland says "differences" prevent trade

The office of President Muhammad Ibrahim Egal of Somaliland has said that
there can be no trade with neighbouring Djibouti because of conflict and
differences. A statement issued by the office said the Somaliland
administration was "displeased" with the way businessman Abdirahman Bore
had interpreted and related talks he had with Egal last week, Radio
Hargeysa reported on Monday. "If he briefs his Djibouti government and its
officials the same way he briefed the media, there could be new
disagreements and differences," the statement said. It said the
discussions held last week had concluded that Bore should "ask his
government and officials of the Democratic Republic of Djibouti to find
ways of ending its hostility and antipathy towards Somaliland".

KENYA-SOMALIA: More than 10,000 refugees in Mandera

More than 10,000 Somali refugees have arrived in the northern Kenyan
border town of Mandera in the past two weeks, the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday. The refugees, mainly from the Somali
border town of Bulo Hawa, are reportedly fleeing inter-factional fighting.
Armed clashes taking place appear to be over control of the road to
Mogadishu. Land mines have been laid on the road to Bulo Hawa, and the
road between Bulo Hawa and Luuq, southern Somalia, has been closed, the
statement said. As a result, Bulo Hawa is effectively cut off from other
centres in Somalia, UNHCR said. 

At present, the refugees are staying with relatives and friends in
Mandera. Some brought belongings by donkey-cart or on local transport,
while others only managed to carry a few personal effects as they walked
across the border. UNHCR said staff had regularly heard gunfire at a
distance this week. 

UNHCR staff have warned that Mandera - a town of only 20,000 people- may
soon be overwhelmed by the influx of refugees. Although Kenya has
maintained an open border policy in the area, the Kenyan local authorities
have recommended that no refugee camp be established as it could encourage
the spread of fighting across the border. They have also warned against
the distribution of humanitarian assistance for the same reason. The
Kenyan government and UNHCR are dispatching a joint mission next week to
determine mechanisms for the delivery of assistance to new arrivals, UNHCR
said. 

Nairobi, 20 April 2001


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