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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 61
27 October - 02 November 2001


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Parliament votes out interim government
SOMALIA: Peace talks open in Nairobi
SOMALIA: Puntland congress gathers steam
SOMALIA: Security Council favours new mission to assess security
SUDAN: NGO reports civilians suffering in Aweil offensive
SUDAN: SPLA alarm on "Bahr al-Ghazal crisis"
SUDAN: Khartoum calls for polio campaign ceasefire
ETHIOPIA: Former officials charged
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: MCC meets in Djibouti, POWs released

SOMALIA: Parliament votes out interim government

The Transitional National Government (TNG) Prime Minister Ali Khalif
Galayr on Sunday fell to a no-confidence motion tabled by disgruntled
members of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA). TNA Deputy Speaker
Muhammad Abdi Yusuf told IRIN that 174 of the 245 MPs voted on the motion,
of whom 141 supported the dismissal of the government, with only 29 voting
in support of the government. Four MPs abstained from the vote.

MPs opposed to Galayr's government tabled the vote of no confidence on 22
October after accusing him of mismanagement and failing to bring peace to
the country. A TNA member and chairman of its foreign affairs committee,
Abdirahman Adan Ibrahim, told IRIN that he had voted against Galayr's
government, because "he neglected his responsibility in the area of
national reconciliation". Ibrahim also said that Galayr's removal from
power had been hastened by the "misappropriation of aid money".

Under the National Charter the president must select a replacement within
30 days. Somali political sources told IRIN on Monday that they did not
expect any sudden appointments, speculating that Abdiqassim would take his
time canvassing the opinions of those involved. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12560]

SOMALIA: Peace talks open in Nairobi

Peace talks aimed at bringing about reconciliation between the TNG and
factions opposed to it opened in a Nairobi hotel on Thursday and looked
set to continue through the weekend. The interim president of Somalia,
Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, heads a team of TNA members, which is meeting
members of the Somalia Restoration and Reconciliation Council (SRRC) led
by SRRC Secretary-General Mawlid Ma'ane.

Opening the talks, Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi asked delegates, "how
long do you want this situation of misery to continue?" Moi told delegates
that the talks were designed to bring about an all-inclusive government
for Somalia. If the talks succeeded in achieving that, Moi said he would
have the Kenya/Somali border, which he ordered closed in July because
insecurity in Somalia was spilling across the border into Kenya,
immediately reopened. Moi himself convened the talks in the hope of
breaking the political impasse in Somalia.

TNG spokesman Abdirahman Ibbi told IRIN that the president would welcome
members of the opposition into his government. "We will work very hard to
make these talks successful," he said. "Lets hope we all seize this
opportunity." However, with many senior SRRC members having refused to
attend, it remains unclear what the talks will be able to achieve. Senior
SRRC members like Husayn Farah Aydid, Muse Sudi Yalahow and Gen Muhammad
Sa'id Hirsi Morgan are reported to be in Ethiopia holding rival talks, and
told IRIN they would not be attending the Nairobi talks. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12637]

SOMALIA: Puntland congress gathers steam

The Puntland conference to elect a new president and administration for
the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia,
resumed work on Sunday after a week long delay before proceeding on Monday
to dismiss the members of the conference's secretariat, whose task is to
oversee the day-to-day proceedings of the conference, a local journalist
told IRIN. The conference chairman, Islan Muhammad Islan Muse, dismissed
the 16-member secretariat, whom he reportedly accused of "sabotaging the
conference and having personal agendas", Adan Abdirahman Dolar, editor of
the Garowe-based Nugal Times Newspaper, told IRIN.

Islan Muhammad had also offered to resign his chairmanship, and asked
conference participants to nominate replacements to represent them on the
secretariat, said Dolar. On Tuesday, the delegates nominated the
replacements, and re-elected Islan Muhammad as chairman. On Wednesday the
conference unanimously endorsed the Puntland charter (constitution) and
the following day appointed a five-member electoral commission whose
function would be "to vet presidential candidates, and draw up regulations
to govern the conduct of elections", Dolar said.

The conference was now waiting for the commission to draw up the rules and
procedures to govern the election of the president and vice-president,
said Dolar. There are about 15 presidential candidates, one of them a
woman, Batran Yusuf Warabe. "She has stirred up a lot of comment, simply
because people in Somalia are not used to women participating in this sort
of contest," Dolar noted. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12629]

SOMALIA: Security Council favours new mission to asses security

The UN Security Council on Wednesday recommended that a headquarters-led
inter-agency UN mission be sent to Somalia to carry out a comprehensive
assessment of the security situation there and prepare proposals on how
the UN can assist the TNG. The Council reiterated its support for the Arta
peace process, which led to the appointment last year of the TNA and
Somalia's first government for more than a decade. "The Security Council
believes that the Arta peace process continues to be the most viable basis
for peace and national reconciliation in Somalia."

The Security Council also expressed deep concern over the deteriorating
humanitarian situation in parts of southern Somalia, where an estimated
300,000 people are at risk of famine. It called on UN member states to
respond "urgently and generously" to the UN Consolidated Inter-Agency
appeal for 2001, which so far is only 16 percent funded. [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12625]

SUDAN: NGO reports civilians suffering in Aweil offensive

The NGO Christian Solidarity International (CSI) on Wednesday cited civil
authorities in the Aweil region of Northern Bahr al-Ghazal in claiming
that government-allied armed forces had killed 93 civilians and enslaved
85 women and children in a new offensive between 23 and 26 October. Over
4,000 civilians had been displaced and hundreds of livestock looted, it
added.  Independent humanitarian sources have confirmed military actions
in the area, and told IRIN of thousands of reinforcements - up to 5,000,
according to one estimate - who have arrived on the military train to lift
the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) siege of Aweil.

However, Muhammad Dirdeiry, the deputy head of mission of the Sudanese
embassy in Kenya described CSI as an organisation which had repeatedly
shown itself to be biased. These latest allegations were "totally
baseless," he told IRIN on Thursday. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12632

SUDAN: SPLA alarm on "Bahr al-Ghazal crisis"

A humanitarian crisis of major magnitude is unfolding in Western Bahr
al-Ghazal State, southern Sudan, as intensified government bombing and
ground attacks by government-armed murahilin tribal militia (usually made
up mainly of Arab Baqqarah and Zaghawah tribesmen) have resulted in the
entire population of Raga County being displaced, the SPLM/A claimed on
Thursday. The SPLM/A called for international condemnation of the
government's (alleged) attacks, for a no-fly zone for government aircraft
"all over the New Sudan" to be imposed, and for an urgent response from
relief agencies to a "humanitarian crisis of great magnitude" emerging in
the area.

There have been reports from inside Sudan of 15,000 people on the move out
of Raga, many moving from Daym Zubayr towards Tombura in the direction of
Western Equatoria, and being actively pursued by People's Defence Forces
(PDF) government militia, humanitarian sources told IRIN. It was difficult
to confirm this information, the numbers of displaced, or the general run
of events, because insecurity still prevailed in Western Bahr al-Ghazal,
they added. With the Daym Zubayr-Tombura road out of commission, and no
airstrip available in the area, it was difficult for relief agencies to
confirm what was happening on the ground, let alone deliver humanitarian
assistance at this time, a UN relief worker told IRIN on Wednesday. [Full
report at Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=12641]

SUDAN: Khartoum calls for polio campaign cease-fire

Sudanese Health Minister of Health Ahmad Bilal Uthman has this week echoed
a UN call for cease-fire days each month in southern Sudan to allow the
campaign for polio eradication to proceed. Uthman said it was essential to
have a cease-fire in the south for five days every month to eradicate
polio, the daily Al-Ray al-Amm newspaper reported. Uthman's call follows
such a request to the government and the SPLM/A by UN
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator Kenzo Oshima when he visited the country in September.

Both the government and SPLM/A have formally agreed on the principle of
"unimpeded access", yet limitations continue, UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan reported to the UN General Assembly last month. Emergency access had
been secured on a case-by-case basis for assessments and polio
immunisation efforts in particular areas but it was vital that aid
agencies benefit from "an extension of the humanitarian space" in southern
Sudan and be allowed to operate with minimal security guarantees, he
added.

ETHIOPIA: Former officials charged

The Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has filed charges
against 12 former government officials and businessmen who have been in
prison since their arrests on corruption charges in May, the
pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on Tuesday. The 12 were
among some 20 heads of government institutions and businessmen arrested on
29 May on suspicion of involvement in corruption. They include Siye Abraha
Hagos, a former defence minister and leader of a dissident group within
the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), who were dismissed from the
party. Also appearing before the Federal Supreme Court as a defendant with
this group was former Prime Minister Tamirat Layne, who is serving an
18-year prison term after being found guilty of corruption three years
ago, Walta reported.

The Commission has submitted six charge files, accusing the officials of
using their offices for personal gain and to advance the interests of
their families. The businessmen were accused of engaging in illegal acts
with the officials, and benefiting from the acts, said Walta. The court
rejected appeals by defence lawyers for bail for their clients, after
prosecutors argued successfully that corruption was not a bailable offence
under the anti-corruption Proclamation No 279/97. The court adjourned the
trial until 5 November, said Walta.

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: MCC meets in Djibouti, POWs released

The ninth meeting of the Military Coordination Commission (MCC) was held
on Monday in Djibouti, a United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE) spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday. Among other issues,
the MCC, comprising representatives of the Ethiopian and Eritrean armed
forces, the Organisation of African Unity and UNMEE, discussed the
challenges it had faced on the ground in carrying out its mandate. Freedom
of movement was foremost among the challenges UNMEE had been experiencing,
the statement said, citing in particular the problems UNMEE faced in
monitoring the positions of the Eritrean defence forces. The commission
also discussed the return of the remaining internally displaced persons
and the numbers of Eritrean militia and police inside the Temporary
Security Zone.

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian defence ministry announced on Wednesday that it
would release, "for health reasons", 23 more Eritrean POWs just a few
weeks after UNMEE officials called on both sides to accelerate the
repatriation of POWs. A spokesman for the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, told IRIN on
Thursday that the POWs had already been released, and that the ICRC was
coordinating their repatriation. He said that since the signing of the
Algiers peace accord last December, and including the 23 released on
Wednesday, Ethiopia had released a total of 879 of the 2,600 Eritrean POWs
it was holding when the war ended. Eritrea, for its part, had so far
released 653 of the 1,000 Ethiopian POWs it was holding, the spokesman
said.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2001


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