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


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 38
19 - 25 May 2001


CONTENTS:

SUDAN: Khartoum suspends air strikes against southern rebels
SUDAN: Canada pushes for progress in IGAD talks
SUDAN: ICRC flights resume
SUDAN: Emirates lift livestock ban
SUDAN: Guinea worm project targets nine million
SOMALIA: Explosion kills 29 bus passengers
SOMALIA: Puntland nominates five to the SRRC
SOMALIA: Sulayman Gaal arrested for "undermining" Somaliland
SOMALIA: Somaliland denies capture of foreign minister by Puntland
SOMALIA-KENYA: Moi welcomes Somali "head of state"
SOMALIA-KENYA: Faction leaders arrive in Nairobi
ERITREA: WFP says nation agriculturally "crippled"
ERITREA: World Bank team stresses need for peace
ETHIOPIA: Hosts 206,000 refugees
ETHIOPIA: Government urged to release activists
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Religious leaders call off border mission

SUDAN: Khartoum suspends air strikes against southern rebels

The government on Thursday said it would halt air strikes against the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in southern Sudan and the
Nubah Mountains with effect from Friday, the official Sudan News Agency,
Suna, reported. The decision was taken in conformity with the government's
"solid belief in realising peace and stability in the country, and in
furtherance to its keen desire to achieve national rapprochement", Suna
said, quoting a statement from the government spokesman's office. The move
reconfirmed Khartoum's seriousness in making repeated calls for a
comprehensive ceasefire, but "without compromising the inherent rights of
the Sudanese Armed Forces to protect its personnel and/or its logistics",
the statement said. The army also reserved the right "to repulse any
aggression from whatever quarter which seeks to score any field victory
through the exploitation of this decision", according to the government
statement.

Khartoum also called for "an immediate response from the other sides" in
order to promote the peace process in the country, and asked that the
international community support this important step and push for a
comprehensive ceasefire.

The SPLM/A said on Thursday that it did not trust the government's
statement, and that it was just "a public relations exercise". An official
told IRIN that government aircraft had bombed parts of Bahr al-Ghazal,
Eastern Equatoria and southern Blue Nile on Thursday, and that it should
be judged on what it did and not what it said. He said the SPLM/A was not
against a comprehensive ceasefire, but that there were quite a few other
items higher on the agenda for Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
(IGAD) peace talks, whenever they took place.  (The IGAD peace process
addresses the primary conflict in Sudan between the government and the
SPLM/A).

SUDAN: Canada pushes for progress in IGAD talks

Canada on Wednesday expressed concern over the war in Sudan and emphasised
the need to re-energise the peace process under the auspices of the East
Africa regional forum, IGAD. "Without an end to the war, there can be no
sustainable progress in Sudan on important questions of human rights,
development and good governance," Canadian Foreign Minister John Manley
stated in a press release. Canadian Secretary of State (Latin America and
Africa) David Kilgour applauded Kenya's decision to host a summit (on
Sudan) of IGAD heads of government on 2 June, and pledged continued
Canadian support for the IGAD peace process.

"We call on both parties to the conflict to engage genuinely in the IGAD
process," said Kilgour. "Progress to a negotiated peace has been far too
slow, and Canada has recently joined its IPF (IGAD Partners Forum)
colleagues in stressing the need for urgent compromise by the parties, and
for stronger political commitment by IGAD members," he added.

Canada condemned the continued sufering of the Sudanese population
inflicted by both parties to the conflict, and persistent violation and
abuses of human rights - including the serial bombing of civilian targets
by the government of Sudan. Manley specifically cited "the failure by both
sides to ensure full, safe and unhindered access of humanitarian
organisations to populations in need".

SUDAN: ICRC flights resume

The ICRC on Monday announced the resumption of its aid flights in southern
Sudan under new, stricter conditions. The agency suspended flight
operations on 9 May following an incident in which an ICRC aircraft came
under fire, and the Danish co-pilot, Ole Friis Eriksen, was killed. The
decision to resume service, as of Monday, was based on information
indicating that the attack had not been premeditated, but was the result
of a tragic combination of circumstances, and that the ICRC was not
deliberately targeted, the agency stated in a press release.  
[http://www.icrc.org/eng/news]
 
The aircraft had been forced by a technical problem to descend to an
altitude of 2,500m over the Didinga Hills (4.05 N; 33.31 E) in Eastern
Equatoria, an area with plateaus and peaks culminating at over 2,500 m. It
was therefore quite near the ground when it came under fire by what
appeared to have been a light automatic weapon in an area known to harbour
several armed groups belonging to various movements, ICRC stated. From now
on, the ICRC's flights would be subject to more specific security
directives, relating in particular to the zones overflown and the minimum
altitude to be maintained, it added. The agency noted that ICRC aircraft
had been overflying this area for several years, and that all parties
involved in the conflict had been kept fully informed. The ICRC continued
to pursue its contacts with the parties concerned in order to explore the
exact circumstances of the tragedy, it added.

SUDAN: Emirates lift livestock ban

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have lifted its ban on livestock imports
from Sudan, leading to anticipation in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum,
that the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait
would do likewise, the Panafrican News Agency (PANA) reported on Tuesday.  
Muhammad Salih Jabalabi, under secretary of the ministry of animal
resources, said the UAE had lifted the ban after a report by the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) testified that Sudan was free of Rift Valley
fever, the report said. The ban on meat and livestock was imposed on Sudan
and other East African countries in September 2000, following an outbreak
of Rift Valley fever in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, which claimed dozens of
lives. Jabalabi said the Khartoum government hoped the UAE's lifting of
the ban would open the door for similar decisions by the other GCC member
states. Sudan earned the equivalent of US $135 million in 1999 from
livestock exports, with Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the UAE and Qatar among the
major buyers, PANA reported, citing ministry statistics.

The removal of the livestock ban would be important for the livestock
sector in northern Sudan, if less so for the south of the country, where
exports tended to be to Uganda and Kenya, an FAO official told IRIN on
Wednesday. The development could also bring an increase in livestock
prices in Bahr al-Ghazal in the south if more animals were diverted to the
north, and this would be welcomed by southern pastoralists, the official
added. The combined effects of drought and conflict have given rise to
widespread food insecurity, with over 600,000 people at immediate risk, as
well as increased pressure on declining water supplies, shrinking pasture
and the movement of people and livestock in search of pasture.

SUDAN: Guinea worm project targets nine million

The Sudan Guinea Worm Pipe Filter Project has begun the process of
distributing nine million filters in an effort to tackle Guinea worm
disease in the country, which is the world's largest reservoir of the
disease, according to a press release on Tuesday from the Carter Centre,
one of the leading agencies in Guinea worm eradication worldwide. The
parasitic worm cripples its victims, who become infected by drinking
contaminated water. The Carter Centre is working in partnership with
Health Development International (HDI), Hydro Polymers of Norsk Hydro and
Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) in tackling the disease in Sudan, which
accounted for three-quarters of almost 75,000 incidences recorded
worldwide last year.

The regions of Sudan with the highest incidence were: West and South
Kordofan in the midwest, and southern Blue Nile, White Nile and Sinnar in
east-central Sudan, the Carter Centre stated. The nature and incidence of
the disease, the number of nomads and conflict-displaced people, and the
difficulty of accessing safe drinking water gave rise to the idea of
producing and distributing pipe filters in Sudan. "The massive Pipe Filter
Project has the potential to greatly influence the number of new cases [of
Guinea worm disease] in 2002," said Mikkel Storm of Hydro Polymers.  
"However, we must remain aware that it is the continued conflict that
leaves many parts of the country inaccessible or difficult to reach,
making the prevalence of disease and the actual number of cases unknown."  
[for more details, see separate IRIN story of 23 May headlined "SUDAN:  
Aggressive attack on Guinea worm disease"]

SOMALIA: Explosion kills 29 bus passengers

At least 29 people were reportedly killed when a passenger bus exploded on
19 May near the town of Bulo Burte, 220 km north of Mogadishu. The bus, on
a daily run from Bulo Burte to Beled Weyne, the capital of Hiran Region in
central Somalia, exploded when a consignment of gunpowder it was carrying
caught fire, a humanitarian source told IRIN. The gunpowder is used to
break up rocks in quarries, and also to make home-made ammunition, a
former army colonel in Beled Weyne told IRIN. He said transportation of
gunpowder and other explosives on public transport was "routine". The bus,
which was carrying over 50 passengers, exploded at the village of Halgan,
30 km north of Bulo Burte, he said. Most of the injured had been
transported to Beled Weyne hospital, most of them suffering from burns,
local sources said.

SOMALIA: Puntland nominates five to the SRRC

The administration of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland,
northeastern Somalia, has nominated five people for positions in the
Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), according to a
senior Puntland official. The five would "represent the five regions of
Puntland" in the SRRC, Isma'il Warsame, the chief of cabinet of Puntland
President Abdullahi Yusuf, told IRIN.

According to the official, the five - Ambassador Yusuf Umar Al-Azhari from
Mudug Region, General Usman Muhammad Samatar from Bari, Ahmad Hasan Bile,
from Sool, Awad Ahmad Ashara from Sanag, and Abdiqadir Ahmad Egag from
Nugal - are not representing the Puntland administration, but rather their
respective regions. The Puntland administration had nominated them to
represent their communities and the SRRC executive council would determine
what positions these men would be appointed to within the organisation,
Warsame said.

SOMALIA: Sulayman Gaal arrested for "undermining" Somaliland

Security personnel from the administration of the self-declared
independent state of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, have arrested
Sulayman Mahmud Adan - known as Sulayman Gaal - on criminal and political
charges. Somaliland Interior Minister Ahmad Jambir Sultan told Reuters
news agency that Sulayman Gaal had been "undermining Somaliland" by
holding a meeting in Djibouti with President Ismail Omar Guelleh. The
minister said Gaal had also met in Djibouti a representative of the
Mogadishu-based Transitional National Government (TNG). "We have seized
documents that are incriminating, and a list of people, which include MPs
and other personalities... who are believed to be conspirators to the
sabotage," Ahmad Jambir told Reuters.

Sulayman Gaal was arrested at Hargeysa airport on arrival from Britain on
Tuesday, and was taken to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID)
headquarters in Hargeysa, 'Jamhuriya', a local daily said on Wednesday.

Sulayman Gaal held senior posts in the former government, before joining
the northern-based Somali National Movement (SNM). He was among the SNM
leaders who declared the unilateral independence of Somaliland in May
1991. Sulayman served as a senior cabinet official in Somaliland, and in
the 1997 presidential elections came second to President Muhammad Ibrahim
Egal, political sources said. Gaal had been transferred from Hargeysa to
Mandhera prison, 70 km north of Hargeysa, the source said.

SOMALIA: Somaliland denies capture of foreign minister by Puntland

The Somaliland administration has denied that its foreign minister,
Abdihamid Garad Jamma, is being held by Puntland security forces. The
Puntland president's office said in a statement on Thursday that Puntland
frontier forces had captured the Somaliland minister and ballot boxes
allocated "for Sool and the district of Buhoodle in the so-called
Somaliland referendum". The press secretary to the president of
Somaliland, Abdi Idris Du'ale, told IRIN that the Puntland statement was
"baseless" and that the minister was in Las Anod "safe and sound, carrying
on with his duties". According to the official Puntland statement, those
seized on Thursday morning included the minister, his entourage, and "a
foreign lady".
 
SOMALIA-KENYA: Moi welcomes Somali "head of state"

The Kenyan government said in an official statement on 17 May that
President Daniel arap Moi welcomed the establishment of the Transitional
National Government (TNG) in Somalia. It said he had received President
Abdiqassim Salad Hassan of Somalia on 16 May at Kabarak, Nakuru, where the
"two Heads of State held discussions on developments in the Horn of Africa
and, in particular, the ongoing reconciliation process in Somalia". Moi
was willing to meet other Somali leaders who wished to participate in the
peace process as soon as possible, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, of the National
Development Party (NDP), left Hargeysa, the capital of Somaliland, on 19
May, the local newspaper 'Jamhuuriya' said on 20 May. It said Odinga - who
cooperates with the ruling party in Kenya - had been there to deliver a
"special message" from Moi to the president of Somaliland, Muhammad
Ibrahim Egal.

SOMALIA-KENYA: Faction leaders arrive in Nairobi

A group of Somali opposition faction leaders arrived in Nairobi on
Wednesday, including Mogadishu-based Usman Ato and Muse Sudi Yalahow.
General Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan and General Adan Abdullah Nur, both of
the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), were also in Nairobi, a Kenyan
diplomatic source told IRIN. The faction leaders were expected to meet
Kenyan government officials, the source said. All the faction leaders are
members of the recently formed Somali Reconciliation and Restoration
Council (SRRC).

ERITREA: WFP says nation agriculturally "crippled"

Nearly a year after the end of the border conflict with Ethiopia, one
million Eritreans were still struggling to meet basic food needs, the
World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday. The UN food agency said
delays in creating the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) had hampered the
return of many refugees to the rich agricultural areas in and around the
25 km-wide buffer zone.

"This country is agriculturally crippled," said WFP Country Director
Patrick Buckley. "If people are not back in their villages at the latest
in one month's time, they will not be able to take advantage of the rains
to start cultivating and planting," he said. The combined effects of
drought and war on agricultural production in Eritrea had pushed the price
of basic foodstuffs beyond the means of most families, Buckley added.

Many of the returnees were from Eritrea's bread-basket regions of Gash
Barka and Debub, normally two of the most densely populated parts of the
country. According to WFP, these regions had been producing about 70
percent of national food output before war broke out in May 1998. WFP has
appealed for US $44 million from international donors to fund over 102,000
mt of food - enough to feed one million people in the war-devastated
regions of Eritrea until February 2001.

WFP said earlier that the presence of land mines in the TSZ posed serious
risks for returning refugees and for WFP staff operating in the zone. In
its emergency report for May, WFP said that mine incidents had been
"commonplace" in areas around Shilalo and Senafe. It would even be
dangerous for returnees to attempt to plant crops in some areas due to the
land-mine threat, WFP said.

ERITREA: World Bank team stresses need for peace

President Isayas Afewerki met World Bank officials to discuss Eritrea's
economic growth and development, official Eritrean radio reported. The
seven-man World Bank delegation stressed the importance of a "lasting
peace [between Eritrea and Ethiopia] to ensure rapid development in the
economic and social sectors", the Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea
said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, two Eritrean businessmen have launched a new airline, Eri-Air,
the pro-Eritrean government Visafric news agency said on Tuesday. Eri-Air
was the first privately owned airline in Eritrea, Visafric said. The
airline, which plans to operate weekly charter flights between the
Eritrean capital, Asmara and Milan, Italy, made its first trip on 19 May,
carrying Eritreans from Italy.

ETHIOPIA: Hosts 206,000 refugees

Ethiopia hosts at least 206,000 refugees, mainly from Somalia and Sudan, a
senior Ethiopian official said in a statement to the Organisation of
African Unity (OAU). Konjit Sinegiorgis told the OAU Coordinating
Committee on assistance and protection of refugees and internally
displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa, on 17 May, that Ethiopia is also
engaged in helping about 400,000 IDPs. "Ethiopia has a plan to repatriate
60,000 Somali refugees to northwest Somalia and so far 5,462 have been
repatriated," Konjit said. In the statement, she said Ethiopia last year
repatriated 4,855 Kenyan refugees. The official called on African
countries to tackle the "root causes" of refugee flows, and help build a
more "dynamic African society characterised by the rule of law, tolerance
and democracy". She stressed that funding for refugees in Africa was
insufficient.

ETHIOPIA: Government urged to release activists

In a press release on Monday, the human rights group Amnesty International
expressed "deep concern" over the continued detention of human rights
activists Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, and Dr Berhanu Nega. Mesfin, 72,
former head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, and Berhanu, head of
the Ethiopian Economic Association, were arrested on 8 May, and accused of
inciting the 17 to 18 April student unrest in Addis Ababa in April.

The statement said the two had twice been denied bail, with police
claiming that they were still carrying out investigations. They were due
to appear in court again on Friday. The Amnesty statement urges the
Ethiopian authorities to allow the two men and all other detainees access
to "legal and medical advice and expertise". The Ethiopian government has
said it is investigating the role of political and human rights activists
in violent demonstrations following student protests, in which more than
30 people died.

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Religious leaders call off border mission

A series of meetings between religious leaders from Ethiopia and Eritrea
and war-affected communities in the disputed border region has been
postponed. Arne Saeveraas, Country Director of the facilitating agency,
Norwegian Church Aid, told IRIN that the Ethiopian delegation had called
the mission off at the last moment, because it had not been able to
finalise preparations for the visit. The mission, originally scheduled for
19 to 21 May, had been provisionally rescheduled for the end of July, but
could go ahead as soon as the Ethiopian side was ready, he said.
 
Nairobi, 25 May 2001


[IRIN-HOA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: 
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