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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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 27
3 - 9 March 2001


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Eritrea rejects "redrawn boundaries"
ETHIOPIA: Meningitis epidemic spreads
ETHIOPIA: Water shortage in Somali region
ETHIOPIA: Areas of Somali region "insecure"
ERITREA: MSF-France sets up clinic in Senafe
SOMALIA: Egal says referendum planned for May
SOMALIA: Faction leaders meet in Ethiopia
SOMALIA: Eight die in fighting in Mogadishu
SOMALIA: Puntland leader "ordered" currency
SUDAN: Displaced need urgent assistance in Bahr al-Ghazal

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Eritrea rejects "redrawn boundaries" 

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended a six-month extension of
the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), but said
Eritrea had halted the repositioning of its troops. In a report presented
to the Security Council on Thursday, he commended the progress made in the
peace process, but said there was now "a potentially dangerous vacuum of
authority in the areas where the temporary security zone [TSC] is to be
established". 

In an official press statement released on Thursday, the Eritrean
government said redeployment of its troops had been halted because the
boundaries of the TSC had been changed "radically" by UNMEE from the
original agreement. Yemane Gebremeskel, Eritrean presidential spokesman,
told IRIN that a group of ambassadors had visited the Badda area, southern
Eritrea, on Thursday to assess the changes, and would observe the affected
Senafe area on Saturday, 10 March. He said the legality of the exercise
was in question. Lt-Cdr Albert Wong, UNMEE, said in Addis Ababa on Friday
that negotiations were "moving forward at the highest level". [See
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Eritrean troops remain in security zone.]
 
ETHIOPIA: Meningitis epidemic spreads

The growing meningitis epidemic in Ethiopia has put 8.4 million people at
risk, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
said on Thursday. The Federation has appealed for about US $609,000 to buy
vaccines for one and a half million people in high-risk regions. 

Egov Tsegaye, a UN World Health Organisation (WHO) officer responsible for
communicative disease control, told IRIN from Addis Ababa that the worst-
affected regions were Amhara, parts of Oromiya, and large parts of
southern Ethiopia. "Things are definitely getting worse. We know of 1,700
cases now, in nine provinces, and more than a hundred deaths," Tsegaye
said. 

Unless rapidly treated, meningitis - an infection of the membrane
surrounding the brain and spine - kills up to 80 percent of those
infected. Tsegaye said a quick response to the epidemic was essential.
"We've had a great response from the European Commission Humanitarian
Office (ECHO), and we hope to get enough vaccines out to the regions to
halt the outbreak within a week to 10 days," Tsegaye added.

ETHIOPIA: Water shortage in Somali region

Over 300,000 inhabitants of Ethiopia's Somali Regional State are facing
severe water shortages, the head of the regional Disaster Prevention and
Preparedness Bureau (DPPB), Muhammad Rashid Haji, told IRIN. "The last
rains were four months ago, and they were not enough - almost all water
catchments are dry, and we have run out of funds to truck water to the
areas," he said from Jijiga, capital of the regional state. According to
the official, the worst-affected regions are Liban, Afder, Gode, Warder,
Degeh Bur, and Siq.

He said the Somali Regional State had been trucking water to most areas
since last year's drought, but had to be stopped four months ago when
donor funding ran out. Muhammad Rashid told IRIN that the regional
government was "raising the alarm now to warn people and prevent another
catastrophe". Last year, the region was the epicentre of a drought
emergency, and is precariously recovering after major international
humanitarian intervention. "If the rains don't come soon we may be facing
the same conditions as last year," he said.

Head of the UN Emergency Unit for Ethiopia Gregory Alex agreed that in the
Somali region "the principal issue for people and animals is water". 
Following his recent visit to the region, Alex said there should be
concern for some 125,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) spread out
through the Somali region, who had been "camp-dependent" since the early
1990s. He told IRIN that many had no livestock, and one of the challenges
of development in the area was "changing livelihoods". He said that while
the condition of animals had improved since last year, herds had dwindled. 
Humanitarian agencies often had to work in very isolated conditions in the
vast, underdeveloped region traditionally known as the Ogaden, he pointed
out. Alex said a number of agencies were working on the water problem, but
investment was needed to make a real impact. 

ETHIOPIA: Areas of Somali region "insecure" 

Security in the Ethiopian Somali Regional State had generally improved,
but there were areas where humanitarian agencies struggled to operate,
said security sources in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. In the Somali
region, activities by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) had
increased around the Ogadeni towns of Degeh Bur and Kebri Dehar. Illegal
checkpoints and ambushes made for "difficult working conditions" for
humanitarian agencies, said the source. There was "heavy army deployment" 
in the area, with government soldiers active both around ONLF-affected
areas and on the Ethiopian-Somali border. The security source said another
area of concern was Moyale-Negele, southern Ethiopia, towards the Kenyan
border. According to the source, clashes between the Borana and Gare clans
have led to killings on both sides of the border, despite a large army
presence. 

ERITREA: MSF-France sets up clinic in Senafe

Medecins Sans Frontieres-France (MSF-France), have started a humanitarian
operation in and around Senafe, southern Eritrea, according to an MSF
press release. MSF-France set up a temporary dispensary in Senafe town on
27 February, and after six days an average of 80 people per day were using
the facility, said the statement. MSF-France said the health condition of
the population was "not alarming", but cases of tuberculosis and
malnutrition were discovered. MSF-France would help the Eritrean Ministry
of Health establish health services in the area. MSF also planned to set
up a temporary hospital in Senafe town, said the press statement. 

SOMALIA: Egal says referendum planned for May

A referendum on the constitution of the self-declared state of Somaliland,
northwestern Somalia, is planned for May. Somaliland President Muhammad
Ibrahim Egal told IRIN that he would like international observers to
witness the referendum, which was "also a referendum on the separation of
the country and the renewal of [Somaliland's former independent] status". 
Egal said the referendum would be "a very major undertaking" and was
likely to cost about US $1 million. He said Somaliland lacked resources,
but that international observers would be provided with transport and
local accommodation.

There has been considerable speculation in Somaliland about the date of
the referendum and general elections, after a second deadline was passed
in February by the present administration. "Once the referendum is over,
and the constitution is approved, then the rest is a matter of routine,"
Egal said. General elections would then follow for local government, which
would inaugurate the multiparty system, Egal said. The government would
authorise the registration of political organisations before political
parties were officially introduced. Egal told IRIN that Somaliland would
"borrow from the Nigeria experience" in that any political organisation
that won a minimum of 20 percent of the vote in at least four of the six
regions in the country would qualify as a legitimate political party. 
"These will be the parties that will stand in the general elections for
parliament towards the end of 2001. Then, in 2002, there will be the
presidential elections," he said in an interview with IRIN in Hargeysa.

SOMALIA: Faction leaders meet in Ethiopia

Three of Mogadishu's main faction leaders are in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to
meet other Somali faction leaders opposed to the Transitional National
Government (TNG) of President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan. One of the faction
leaders, Usman Hasan Ali Ato, told IRIN from Addis Ababa that the
initiative was not an Ethiopian one, and that no officials had been met.
He said Addis Ababa was being used as "neutral ground" for the meeting.
"We are here to talk among ourselves and with other political leaders from
the south currently in Addis," Usman Ato told IRIN by telephone. The
faction leaders left Nairobi for Addis Ababa on 2 March.

Husayn Muhammad Aydid, Usman Hasan Ali Ato, and Muse Sudi Yalahow - who
together control parts of north, south and southwest Mogadishu - announced
before they left Nairobi that they had "definitely resolved our
differences" and were now seeking a new " broadly participated"
reconciliation conference. It was the first time the three had travelled
together, sources close to the faction leaders said. 
  
Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf, president of the self-declared autonomous region
of Puntland, northeast Somalia; Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud, leader of
the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA); General Adan Abdullahi Nur Gabyow, of
the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM); and General Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi
Morgan and General Umar Haji Masale of the Somali National Front (SNF),
were all in Addis Ababa for the meeting, news agencies said. 

The TNG Prime Minster Ali Khalif Galayr on Wednesday accused Ethiopia of
"undermining" and "destabilising" the TNG by hosting the talks of the
faction leaders. Umar Qadi, director of policy planning in the prime
minister's office, told IRIN on Thursday that the TNG was involved in
talks with some of the faction leaders and had come "close to an
agreement" when the meeting in Ethiopia was initiated. Qadi refused to
named the factions the TNG had held talks with, saying the government was
"still hopeful that once they return to the country we can make a deal
with them". The TNG was worried that Mogadishu was being targeted for
destabilisation, Qadi said. Responding to whether there had beeb any talks
between the TNG and the Ethiopian government, he said the TNG was "ready
to talk to Ethiopia any time, and at any venue". Ethiopia has always
strenuously denied accusations that it is interfering in the affairs of
Somalia, and has said that it is only interested in facilitating peace. 

SOMALIA: Eight die in fighting in Mogadishu

At least eight people were killed and unknown number wounded when militia
clashed in north Mogadishu on Wednesday, a humanitarian source in
Mogadishu told IRIN. The fighting, which took place in the Towfiq
district, north Mogadishu, started around 1000 local time and lasted for
about an hour, according to the source.

The fighting started when militia set up a roadblock near Suuq-Baad market
and attacked a prominent businessman's car. His escort militia then
responded by bringing in heavy weapons - "from antitank to anti-aircraft
guns", according to the source. In the heavy fighting which ensued, stray
bullets killed innocent people at some distance, the source said. The
fighting was between the Waisle and the Warsangali sub-clans of the
Hawiye-Abgal clan. Members of the Waisle militia, who set up the
roadblock, were reportedly angry after being dismissed by the businessmen
they were working for, said the source. Elders from both groups
intervened, and there were no reports of renewed fighting on Thursday
morning.

SOMALIA: Puntland leader "ordered" currency

Prime Minister Ali Khalif Galayr has accused Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf, the
Puntland leader, of masterminding the importation of newly-printed Somali
shillings in February. Galayr made the charge on Wednesday in Mogadishu at
a press conference. Government sources told IRIN that the TNG had the name
and address of the Indonesian company that printed the money, and a copy
of a letter allegedly signed by Abdullahi Yusuf. According to the prime
minister's office, the TNG has contacted the Indonesian government in an
attempt to halt the printing of more currency, and that the Indonesian
government was "very cooperative".

SUDAN: Displaced need urgent assistance in Bahr al-Ghazal

A Catholic bishop said on 2 March that up to a million displaced people
were suffering from hunger, thirst and disease in the northern part of the
Bahr al-Ghazal are in southern Sudan. After visiting the area, Caesar
Mazzolari, Bishop of Rumbek, said he had seen about 55,000 people in very
poor condition around Malwal Kon. According to the bishop, the displaced
are the result of military confrontations between the government-aligned
Arab Murahilin militia and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

The conflict, which started in early February northwest of Malwal Kon,
resulted in homes, food and property being burned, as well as theft of
livestock, said a report released by the diocese of Rumbek. Civilians
caught up in the battles had fled to safer areas, but were without food,
water, shelter and medical supplies. Mazzolari called for the swift
implementation of an internationally funded feeding programme in the area,
as well the urgent supply of tents, blankets and medicines. He estimated
that at least 12 boreholes would need to be sunk in the affected area to
supply fresh water to those in need. 

WFP information officer Lindsey Davies told IRIN on Wednesday that the
agency had planned to feed 113,000 displaced people in the Aweil East
District in February. "Unfortunately, due to security considerations, we
were only able to feed 55,000 people," she said. "Lack of pledges from
donors has meant that there is a break in the food pipeline, and much more
food is urgently needed," she added. Davies stressed that WFP could feed
many more people now the security situation was better, but only if food
was made available. She pointed out that resources were currently so
limited that only 25 percent rations were being distributed.

Nairobi, 9 March 2001


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