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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 63
10 - 16 November 2001


CONTENTS:

SUDAN: Nubah access holds promise of broader progress
SOMALIA: President names new prime minister
SOMALIA: Puntland elects new president
SOMALIA: Widespread dismay over Barakaat closure
ETHIOPIA: Police close all Somali remittance banks
ETHIOPIA: Millions lost to illegal border trade
ERITREA: IDPs still waiting to go home


SUDAN: Nubah access holds promise of broader progress

A major airdrop of food relief to the Nubah Mountains in Southern Kordofan
- highly significant in both humanitarian and political terms - was on
Thursday said to be "going fine" by the UN World Food Programme (WFP). The
agency delivered 100 mt of food on Wednesday and plans to deliver 2,000 mt
in the coming weeks to some 158,000 people. After years of United Nations
negotiations for humanitarian access to what has been the site of serious
fighting between the Sudanese government and rebel Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), strong political leverage from the
United States in recent months and weeks secured an agreement from the two
parties for a four-week period of tranquillity to allow the delivery of
food aid, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Thursday. "This relief
operation is a fantastic breakthrough after such long and difficult
negotiations," said WFP's Country Director for Sudan, Masood Hyder, on
Wednesday.

The US special envoy to the Sudan, John Danforth, on Wednesday said that
the Nubah Mountains was chosen to serve as "a test case" for expanding the
potential for humanitarian cease-fires and rehabilitation efforts. "I hope
the four-week period already offered by the government for delivery of
relief will be extended indefinitely," AFP quoted him as saying.  If there
was progress in the Nubah Mountains, it would be "a test case for
something that could work nationally, and it would do a lot to - at least
within our country [the US] - to indicate that this is progress, this is
moving forward," the Associated Press quoted him as saying at a press
conference in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.  Danforth set the Nubah
operation firmly in the context of a four-point plan to improve the
humanitarian situation in Sudan, serve as a confidence-building step to
bring the warring parties closer together and which could also help
improve relations between Khartoum and the US. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14564]

SOMALIA: President names new prime minister

The president of the Transitional National Government (TNG), of Somalia,
Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, on Monday announced the appointment of Hasan
Abshir Farah as his new prime minister, the TNG director of information
told IRIN.  The move comes two weeks after former Prime Minister Ali
Khalif Galayr was voted out of office by the Transitional National
Assembly in a vote of no confidence. Somali political sources describe
Hasan Abshir, a former army officer, "as a consummate insider" in Somali
politics. A member of the Ise Mahmud sub-clan of the Majerten, he
originates from Garowe, the regional capital of the self-declared
autonomous region of Puntland, where he served as interior minister before
joining the TNG at its formation in Arta, Djibouti last year.

Hasan Abshir served as the mayor of Mogadishu under the former dictator,
Muhammad Siyad Barre, as well as governor of Middle Shabelle and Bakol
regions. He also served as Somalia's ambassador to Japan, and to Germany,
his last assignment before the collapse of the government in 1991.
Following last year's Arta conference, at which he served as its
co-chairman, and which formed the TNG, Hasan was appointed minister of
minerals, water and mineral resources, the post he was holding at the time
of his new appointment. "I am not surprised by this. We all expected him
to be named," an MP told IRIN on Monday. The MP said Hasan would enjoy a
much better working relationship with parliament than his predecessor.
[Full report at Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14160]

Hasan told IRIN on Tuesday that his "first priority will be national
reconciliation". He said: "We must complete the reconciliation process as
we promised. Everything else depends on that. "He said he would take a
two-track approach on this. "I want to start with the factions opposed to
the TNG, while on the other hand talk to the regions which have
administrations," he said, referring to the self-declared republic of
Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, and the self-declared autonomous region
of Puntland, northeastern Somalia. "I will not hesitate to ask for the
help of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development [IGAD], and
particularly our immediate neighbours - Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti,"
Hasan Abshir said. They had a role to perform, and "I am confident they
will play a positive one". [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13954]

SOMALIA: Puntland elects new president

The Puntland general conference on Wednesday elected a new president, a
local source told IRIN. The conference, which has been in session in
Garowe, the regional capital, since 26 August, elected Jama Ali Jama, as
Puntland's new president, Ugas Bashir Ugas Abdi, one of the traditional
elders attending the conference, said. Ahmad Mahmud Gunle was elected as
vice-president, Ugas Bashir said. Jama Ali Jama is a former army colonel
who spent time in the jails of the late dictator, Muhammad Siyad Barre,
for his communist links, Somali sources told IRIN on Wednesday. A member
of the Usman Mahmud sub-clan of the dominant Majerten clan, he originates
from Qardo, in Bari Region of Puntland.

The contest, which had been expected to go into three rounds if no
candidate got 235 votes from the 468 delegates, ended in the first round,
Ugas Bashir said. "We were surprised by Ali Jama's strength. He got 283
votes in the first round, making him the outright winner." Ugas Bashir
told IRIN that the election of Ali Jama was "a new beginning for Puntland,
and marks the end of the confusion that hung over us in the past four
months". [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14309]

Jama Ali and Ahmad Mahmud were sworn in on Wednesday, a local journalist
told IRIN. The two were sworn in for a three-year term of office, Farah
Yusuf Nur, a reporter for Midnimo radio, said. "They took their oath of
office in front of those who elected them," said Farah. Acting President
Yusuf Haji Nur then handed over the reins of power to Jama, wishing him
success. Farah said the people of Garowe were in a festive mood on
Thursday. "We are all breathing easier now that this has come to an end,"
he said. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14522]

SOMALIA: Widespread dismay over Barakaat closure

Somalis from every walk of life have been reacting with dismay, anger and
fear to the decision last week by the US government to order the closure
the Al-Barakaat money transfer company, one of Somalia's biggest, which is
also the only source of income for tens of thousands of destitute Somalis.
Scores of people reportedly took to the streets in protest against the
decision, according to Somali media sources, coinciding with independent
statements of regret being issued by the interim president and a council
of elders. "One is innocent until proved otherwise," said the interim
president, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, on Sunday, reflecting a commonly held
belief that the US decision to shut down Al-Barakaat was taken with
insufficient evidence.

"It was a surprise to all Somali people in general and for the government
to hear from US President George Bush that Barakaat was included in the
list of organisations linked to Al-Qaeda [Al-Qa'idah]," Abdiqassim said on
Sunday night. "There are thousands of Somali families, especially poor
ones, who survive on remittances from relatives." [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13956]

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Barakaat Telecommunications Company, the
largest in Somalia, closed down its international telephone services
throughout Somalia, after its British and American business partners
terminated their relationship with the Al-Barakaat group, a senior company
official told IRIN. "We were forced to shut down on Tuesday night after
our international gateway was cut off by Concert Communications", a
company jointly owned by British Telecom and AT&T, Abdullah Kahiye,
Barakaat Telecommunications general manager said on Thursday. A Concert
Communications spokesman, Naill Hickey, told IRIN, also on Thursday that
the reason for the closure of the link was the Al-Barakaat group's
connection with Osama bin Laden, so "we have terminated our business
relations with them". He declined to elaborate further. [Full report at
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14518]

ETHIOPIA: Police close all Somali remittance banks

Ethiopian police closed down all Addis Ababa-based branches of Somali
remittance banks on Monday, sparking angry scenes in the Ethiopian
capital. Following the closure of Ethiopian branches of the Al-Barakaat
bank last week, and the arrest of its local representative, the Ethiopian
authorities said they now wanted to investigate all agencies which may be
sponsoring terrorism. The BBC quoted an Ethiopian police spokesperson as
saying that Monday's closures were an attempt to "root out agencies that
were sponsoring terrorist networks".

The BBC reported angry scenes in areas of Addis Ababa where Somalis live,
particularly outside the offices of the closed banks, where people were
crying and begging the police to reverse their decision. The affected
banks include Dahabshil, Tawfiq and Al-Amal. Ethiopian authorities said
they had closed all remittance bank branches pending an investigation into
their activities, adding that if no terrorist connections were
established, then the banks could reopen. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14284]

ETHIOPIA: Millions lost to illegal border trade

Ethiopia is losing about 700 million birr (about US $100 million) annually
to illegal trading in live animals, hides and skins across the border with
neighboring countries, according to the Livestock Marketing Authority
(LMA), the pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on Tuesday. It
quoted an LMA official, Belachew Hurisa, speaking at two-day workshop on
livestock production, quality improvement and market promotion, as saying
the "animals and animal products were mainly smuggled to Kenya, Somalia,
Sudan, Eritrea, and Yemen". The LAMA had said that in order to counter
this problem it was important to provide economic incentives, improve
infrastructure, organise markets and raise awareness on the part of the
pastor lists, Walta reported, adding that livestock was the country's
second-biggest foreign currency earner, second only to coffee.

A livestock consultant with the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation
(FAO) Dr Casey Hedge, told IRIN that mainly cattle were being sold across
the border, because "pastoralists get better market prices outside than
locally". He said most of the cattle were being sold on the Kenyan side of
the border. When that happened, "of course the government loses tax
revenues". [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=14291]

ERITREA: IDPs still waiting to go home

An estimated 44,387 Eritrean internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain in
eight camps in Gash-Barka and Debub provinces, the UN Mission in Ethiopia
and Eritrea (UNMEE) said in a press briefing on 9 November. In addition to
these, another 9,311 IDPs are living outside the camps, in locations
around Guluj, Gergef, and Sabunaite in Gash-Barka Province, according to
the Eritrean Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (ERREC), UNMEE said.
These IDPs are mainly from the Om Hajer area and are awaiting the
restoration of social services and the completion of the mine-clearance
work in the area, said UNMEE.

Meanwhile, the return of Eritrean refugees from Sudan, which was suspended
because of the rainy season, resumed on 20 October. About 3,532
individuals had so far returned under the second phase of the programme
being operated jointly by ERREC and the office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said UNMEE. Returning refugees first go
a transit camp set up by the UN refugee agency in Tesenay, and then to
their home villages. The vast majority of the returnees had so far gone to
villages outside the Temporary Security Zone, said UNMEE. [Full report at
Http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=13895]


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


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