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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 23
3 - 9 February 2001


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: New pledges "critical"
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Boundary appointments "meet deadline" 
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Agreement to establish security zone
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: "Ambitious agenda" for security zone
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UN appoints Kenyan as chief military observer
SOMALIA-ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian troops withdraw from Gedo
SOMALIA: Government reclaims town
SOMALIA: Puntland accuses Mogadishu of inciting protests
SUDAN: President appoints southern representatives
SUDAN: Order to hand in weapons
DJIBOUTI-YEMEN: Hijacker sentenced to 15 years
DJIBOUTI: Prime minister resigns

ETHIOPIA: New pledges "critical"

The World Food Programme (WFP) warned that new donor pledges for Ethiopia
were "critical", as only one pledge had been received for the natural
disaster operation over the past three months. "With a global break in the
pipeline expected in March, immediate confirmation of donor pledges is
essential to avoid gaps in food distribution," warned the WFP weekly
report, on 2 February.

The food situation had stabilised in many parts of Ethiopia's Somali
region because of good rains and substantial relief distributions over the
last few months, the report said. But it emphasised that pockets of
"severe needs" remained among a population displaced by drought and
insecurity, "even in areas of declining overall food aid needs". Afder and
Liben zones, southeastern Ethiopia, were two of the most needy zones. 
According to the report, WFP will continue to monitor the long dry season
and the recent cutback on food allocations under the new appeal. It said
there was concern over the lack of markets in the traditional cereal
market towns of Gode and Hargele, southeastern Ethiopia. Poor roads in
Afder and Liben zones were causing truck breakdowns and delaying
deliveries.  Security remained a concern in the northern and central part
of the Ethiopian Somali region. "Military activities have increased in the
area south of Aware, and more government troops are reported to be moving
into the region. UN agencies are still able to reach refugee camps in the
area, but monitoring by WFP from the air has been curtailed in Degeh Bur
Zone [southeastern Ethiopia]." 

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Boundary appointments "meet deadline" 

Ethiopia and Eritrea have announced their respective appointments to the
neutral Boundary Commission and neutral Claims Commission provided for in
the 12 December peace agreement signed in Algiers. The United Nations
Mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said the two parties had agreed
not to appoint their own nationals as commissioners, but instead appoint
nationals of the Netherlands, Nigeria, the United Kingdom and the United
States. An official UNMEE statement said the appointments fell "within the
prescribed time-frame", and that the commissioners would appoint a
president in the next 30 days.

The UN Secretary-General has appointed the Chief of the UN Cartographic
Unit, Hiroshi Murakami of Japan, to be Secretary of the five-member
Boundary Commission. The Boundary Commission is to commence its work
within 15 days after it is constituted, and will aim to delimit the border
within six months of its first meeting. Demarcation of the disputed border
remains the biggest obstacle to resolving the conflict, humanitarian
sources told IRIN. 

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Agreement to establish security zone

The third meeting of the Military Coordination Commission (MCC) of the
UNMEE was successfully held in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday. An official
statement released by UNMEE said agreement was reached between the two
parties to move forward to establish a Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) on 12
February. The TSZ is a 25-km deep buffer zone separating the two armies on
the contested border, and its establishment has been an obstacle to
resolving the conflict and deploying UN peacekeepers.

At the military meeting, both Ethiopia and Eritrea had "expressed their
general acceptance of the United Nations proposal for the Southern
Boundary of the TSZ". The statement said the proposal was based on
redeployment plans submitted earlier by Ethiopia in accordance with the
Agreement of the Cessation of Hostilities signed on 18 June 2000, and
following consultations with both governments and peace process partners.
However, UNMEE said it had been noted for the record that Eritrea had the
"reservation that the Southern Boundary does not reflect the 6 May 1998
line of administration". It also noted the Ethiopian reservation
"concerning the possible needs, in the implementation stage, for
adjustments or corrections to the Northern and Southern Boundaries for
both sides".  Despite these issues, both parties had agreed to move ahead
with the redeployment of Ethiopian forces, the rearrangement of Eritrean
forces, and the establishment of the TSZ, said UNMEE.

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: "Ambitious agenda" for security zone

In a press conference held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, UNMEE
Force Commander Major-General Patrick Cammaert said establishing the TSZ
had been "a challenging process". He said he believed UNMEE could "move
forward rapidly to establish" the TSZ, but that the "reservations"
expressed by both parties had been noted on record. "On 10 February... I
intend to declare that there is a credible force of the UN in the mission
area for me to carry out my mission," he told journalists in a press
conference held on Thursday. He said that on 12 February Ethiopia would
"begin to redeploy its forces to the southern boundary", and that on 17
February, Eritrea would "begin to redeploy its forces to the northern
boundary". Ethiopia was expected to complete its redeployment on 26
February, and Eritrea to complete the rearrangement of its forces on 3
March, said Cammaert. These arrangements were in line with the peace
agreements signed last year, Cammaert explained. He told journalists: "We
have a very ambitious agenda ahead of us."

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UN appoints Kenyan as chief military observer

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Brigadier General Christopher
Kibet arap Kuto of Kenya to serve as Deputy Force Commander and Chief
Military Observer to the UNMEE. An official UNMEE statement on Tuesday
said Brigadier Kuto took up his duties when he arrived in the mission area
on 3 February. As Deputy Force Commander, Brigadier Kuto will be
second-in-command to Major-General Patrick Cammaert, who leads the
peacekeeping force of up to 4,200 military personnel, which the UN
Secretary-General has charged with monitoring the bilateral agreements.
Brigadier Kuto has previously served as Chief Military Liaison Officer to
the UN Liaison Office in Belgrade, and later as a staff officer in the
Office of the Force Commander in Sarajevo.

SOMALIA-ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian troops withdraw from Gedo

Ethiopian troops stationed in Luuq, southern Somalia, withdrew on the
night of 4 February. Local and diplomatic sources told IRIN that trucks
from Ethiopia arrived late on that day and evacuated a garrison of some
200 Ethiopian soldiers in Luuq, Gedo Region, southwestern Somalia. "There
are no Ethiopian soldiers left in Luuq," one local source confirmed to
IRIN. Ethiopian soldiers who had been stationed in Somalia have returned
to Dolo on the Ethiopian side of the Somalia-Ethiopian border, said the
source. Ethiopia forces have also withdrawn from the border towns of Bulo
Hawa and Dolo-Somalia, the Mogadishu-based daily 'Ayaamaha' said on
Tuesday, in a report monitored by the BBC. 

Local sources said there were fears that the withdrawal might spark
fighting among local competing factions, as the Ethiopians had run the
local administration for more than a year.

The withdrawal came at a time a UN security mission was due to visit the
area to investigate widespread allegations that Ethiopian troops were
present in Gedo Region. The withdrawal "may have been a result of external
pressure on Ethiopia when the occupation became just too public",
diplomatic sources told IRIN. The Ethiopian government has always angrily
denied the presence of Ethiopian soldiers in Somalia. 

SOMALIA: Government reclaims town

The interim government said it had regained control of Garbahaarrey, the
capital of Gedo Region. Garbahaarrey was last week captured by a Somali
National Front (SNF) faction led by Colonel Abdirazzaq Isaq Bihi.
According to the interim Transitional National Government(TNG), the SNF
faction withdrew because of pressure from the local population. 

"Garbahaarrey is back in the hands of the government forces" Abdirahman
Dinari, Director of Information of the TNG told IRIN, on Monday. He said
Garbahaarrey was calm and there was no fighting. However, Hasan Nur
Sugule, SNF spokesman, said on 4 February that forces loyal to the TNG -
referred to as "the Arta faction" - had attacked Garbahaarrey with 21
jeeps mounted with heavy guns. He said his forces had killed 10 of the
militia and captured six jeeps with heavy guns. His comments about the
fighting in Garbahaarrey were broadcast by the official radio station for
the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia.

There has been no independent confirmation of the situation in
Garbahaarey. 

SOMALIA: Puntland accuses Mogadishu of inciting protests

Authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland have
accused the TNG in Mogadishu of inciting demonstrators in Boosaaso. The
Puntland authorities said the TNG had paid people to incite them
demonstrate in Bosaaso on February, 'Xog-Ogaal', a Mogadishu-based daily
reported on Monday.

The Puntland authorities say that one of the 15 individuals arrested had
admitted to having been given US $8,000 from Mogadishu for the
demonstration, reported the paper. The individuals arrested following the
demonstration were brought to Garoowe, the capital of Puntland, and were
being held in prison there, local sources told IRIN. 

SUDAN: President appoints southern representatives

President Umar al-Bashir has appointed 26 delegates from southern Sudan to
the newly elected parliament. All 26 represent constituencies in war-torn
south, where elections did not take place, the state-owned 'al-Anba'
newspaper said on Monday. The southern appointments include a prominent
member of the United Democratic Salvation Front(UDSF), the political wing
of the pro-government South Sudan Defence Force (SSDF), Joseph Malwal
Deng, the minister of survey and urban development. The UDSF was formed by
the southern rebel factions which signed a peace agreement with the
government in April 1997, Reuters said. Malwal Deng was appointed to
represent his Rumbek constituency in Bahr al-Ghazal State. Most of the
other southern delegates appointed were leading members of the ruling
National Congress (NC) party, 'al-Anba' said.

The ruling party won a sweeping victory in December elections - which were
boycotted by most political parties - with Bashir re-elected president,
obtaining 86.5 percent of the vote. Civil war in southern Sudan prevented
elections going ahead in many parts of the south. The ruling NC controls
90 percent of the 360 seats in parliament, AP said. Twenty-one seats are
being contested in the courts for irregularity and fraud claims. 

SUDAN: Order to hand in weapons

Registered opposition political parties have been ordered to turn in
unlicensed weapons used to guard their leaders and offices. Muhammed Ahmad
Salim, who oversees political parties and organisations, told journalists
on 1 February that he had received a letter from the interior ministry
instructing him to ask parties to deliver weapons unlawfully held by their
followers, Agence France Press (AFP) said. He said possession of such arms
violated the Weapons and Ammunition Act, as well as the Political Parties
and Organisation Act, which bans military or paramilitary organisations
and use or manifestation of force of arms.

Observers said the only militant, armed parties were Hasan al-Turabi's
Popular National Congress (PNC), Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi's Ummah Party, and the
USDF. Of these parties, the PNC appears to represent the biggest challenge
to the recently re-elected President Umar al-Bashir. 

DJIBOUTI-YEMEN: Hijacker sentenced to 15 years

A Yemeni man was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison on 3
February, for hijacking an airliner and landing it in Djibouti, news
agencies said. Jabir Yahya Ali Sattar hijacked the Yemenia Boeing-727 on
23 January from San'a on a domestic flight, but was overpowered by crew
members after it landed in Djibouti. US Ambassador Barbara Bodine, other
embassy staff and Abd al-Wahhab al-Hajri, Yemen's ambassador to the UD,
were among the 91 passengers. Sattar told the court he was unaware that
the US ambassador was on board, and said he only wanted to go to Iraq, AP
reported. The 3 February court session in San'a was attended by four FBI
agents in Yemen, who were helping investigate the bombing of the USS Cole,
in which 17 sailors were killed on 12 October 2000, AP said. 

DJIBOUTI: Prime minister resigns

The Djibouti prime minister, Barkat Gourad Hamadou, has resigned. 
President Ismael Omar Gelleh accepted the resignation of the prime
minister on Tuesday, a Djibouti journalist told IRIN. Hamadou said in a
statement he was resigning because of ill health, and asked the president
to find a suitable replacement, because he had "no longer the strength or
the stamina to carry on", the journalist reported. Hamadou, 70, an ethnic
Afar, has served under two presidents. Last year he spent almost six
months in Paris for treatment for a stroke which left him partially
paralysed.

Nairobi, 9 February 2001


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