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 48
28 July - 3 August 2001


CONTENTS:

HORN OF AFRICA: FAO highlights mixed outlook for food crops
SOMALIA: Fighting around southern towns
SOMALIA: Tension in Bosaso as police seize key installations
SOMALIA: UN suspends flights to Bosaso
SOMALIA-KENYA: Moi bans cross-border trade
ETHIOPIA: Heavy rains cause flooding, strand food convoy
ETHIOPIA: Coffee earnings fall, birr depreciates
ETHIOPIA-SUDAN: Trade link established
SUDAN: UN calls for safe access for polio investigators
SUDAN: Bashir says opposition must sign deal on interim government
ERITREA: Dispute with Yemen over fishing rights
ERITREA: US donates funds for refugee repatriation


HORN OF AFRICA: FAO highlights mixed outlook for food crops

The spectre of another drought is haunting several countries in the Horn
of Africa, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in a new
report on food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, released in Rome on
Wednesday. The report, issued by the agency's Global Information and Early
Warning System (GIEWS), draws attention to the current food-supply
situation in 17 crisis-hit countries, and focuses on prospects for the
current season's crops and on food-assistance requirements. It highlights
Sudan and Somalia where serious food shortages are anticipated in the
coming months. In Sudan, where the number of people needing assistance is
estimated at 3 million, the recent escalation of the conflict in the south
has aggravated the precarious food situation. In Somalia, prospects for
the Gu season's cereal crops are poor as a result of erratic main season
rains, and production of sorghum is forecast to be less than half the
post-war average.  The report also notes the impact of deteriorating
pasture conditions in northern Somalia, and the substantial loss of income
resulting from the ban on livestock imports from the Horn of Africa by
some Gulf states.

In Eritrea, FAO says the outlook for the 2001 main season cereal and pulse
crops is also unfavourable, reflecting a failure of the short rains from
March to May. Although many war-displaced farmers have returned home in
the past few months, large tracts of land are still inaccessible in the
main crop-producing regions of Gash Barka and Debub due to the presence of
land mines. In Ethiopia, the secondary Belg crop, which accounts for 7 to
10 percent of aggregate cereal production in the country, is expected to
be favourable, reflecting generally adequate rains in the central
highlands. Prospects for a good 2001 main season Meher harvest, however,
still depend on continued favourable weather conditions until harvest in
November/December. The full FAO report is available on the internet at:  
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/faoinfo/economic/giews/english/eaf/eaftoc.htm

SOMALIA: Fighting around southern towns

Heavy fighting erupted on Thursday morning in the town of Jilib, 350 km
south of Mogadishu, between forces of the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA) and
militia of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC). The
JVA, which controls the port city of Kismayo, is a grouping of Marehan,
Ogadeni and Habar Gedir clans which support the Transitional National
government (TNG), while the SRRC brings together southern faction leaders
opposed to the TNG.

The fighting started at 0430 local time when SRRC forces led by General
Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan attacked the town to dislodge the JVA forces
in control of it, local sources told IRIN. "They attacked right after
morning prayers," they said. Jilib fell soon afterwards, and the JVA
fighters withdrew to Daay Tubaako village 20 km to the north, sources in
Barawe, 150 km north of Jilib, told IRIN. By late afternoon, however, the
JVA fighters counterattacked and reclaimed the town, sources said.

Jilib VHF radio operators, who went off the air on Thursday, were back by
Friday morning, Abdishakur, a Barawe radio operator, told IRIN. "The town
is in the hands of the JVA," he said on Friday. Although no casualty
figures are available, sources in Barawe who spoke to civilians fleeing
the fighting, told IRIN many civilians and combatants had been killed.
According to latest reports reaching Barawe, the fighting is now
concentrated near the town of Bu'aale (80 km northwest of Jilib), which
Morgan's forces captured from TNG loyalists last week.

SOMALIA: Tension in Bosaso as police seize key installations

Bosaso, the commercial capital and largest town of the self-declared
autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, is reported to be
tense after a special force known as the revenue police took over the
seaport, airport and the main checkpoint of the town, on 29 July, a local
journalist told IRIN. The force engaged in the action supports the new
administration named by clan elders on 25 July, Muhammad Deq, editor of
the Bosaso-based 'Sahan' newspaper, said. The elders, who were meeting in
Garowe the regional capital to discuss the controversy surrounding the
extension of the mandate of President Abdullahi Yusuf and his
administration, last week confirmed Puntland Chief Justice Yusuf Haji Nur
as "acting president". "There is a real fear of a confrontation" between
those who still support Abdullahi Yusuf and supporters of the new
administration, Muhammad Deq said.

Reports reaching Bosaso say a convoy of three to five battle-wagons
carrying a total of about 100 militia left Garowe, the regional capital,
on the night of 29 July on its way to Bosaso to reinforce Abdullahi
Yusuf's forces, he said. Meanwhile, Nur's supporters have set up roadblock
at Qayaadsame some 160 km south of Bosaso on the road between Bosaso and
Garowe. They are also bringing in militias from the rural areas. "They are
on a collision course, and anything can happen at any time," Muhammad Deq
said. Abdullahi Yusuf may have lost the confidence of the people he
enjoyed when he was elected in 1998, and it does not look likely that he
will regain it, but "he is still a force to be reckoned with" politically
and militarily and should not be underestimated, Muhammad Deq cautioned.

SOMALIA: UN suspends flights to Bosaso

The UN on Tuesday suspended all UN flights to Bosaso, the commercial
capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern
Somalia, because of tension over control of the town's seaport and airport
by armed groups, a UN source told IRIN. The UN had moved all its staff who
were working at the airport from the facility into safer compounds within
the town, said the source. All UN staff had also been moved from the port
into other UN compounds after the militia guarding it switched allegiance
on 29 July. The militia had taken the action in support of the new
administration named by clan elders on 25 July, a local journalist told
IRIN on Monday.

SOMALIA-KENYA: Moi bans cross-border trade

President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya on 28 July declared a ban on
cross-border trade between Kenya and Somalia, the Kenyan 'Sunday Nation'
newspaper reported on 29 July. The decision had been made to curb the
influx of arms into Kenya, said the paper. This is the second time in
three years that Moi has imposed a ban on trade with Somalia. In August
1999, he also banned trade with Somalia, citing similar reasons. The ban
was lifted six months later. The paper quoted Moi as saying Kenya would
only deal with Somalia after a legitimate government had been installed in
Mogadishu.

The trade ban would cause Kenyans heavy losses, the Kenyan 'Daily Nation'
newspaper reported on Tuesday. Roughly half a million farmers in the Meru
area who cultivate miraa (also known as qat - Catha edulis), a mildly
narcotic leaf chewed by many Somalis, will be affected by the ban. The
paper quotes 'World Geopolitics of Drugs Annual Report' as saying the
district had been earning US $250 million a year from the miraa trade. In
addition to this, Kenya stood to lose another US $100 million in earnings
from other sources, said the 'Daily Nation'. Also affected by the ban were
air charter companies, which had been operating 15 flights a day to
Somalia, each costing US $4,000, Somali business sources told IRIN. The
Kenyan foreign minister was quoted by the government-owned Kenya
Broadcasting Corporation television on Monday as saying Kenya would
consider reopening its border with Somalia once the TNG there curbed the
flow of illegal arms into Kenya. Meanwhile, in Mogadishu, by far the
largest market for miraa in Somalia, the price of the commodity had more
than doubled since the ban, Muhammad Ali, a Mogadishu resident, told IRIN.

ETHIOPIA: Heavy rains cause flooding, strand food convoy

Over 2,500 residents of the northern Ethiopia border town of Himora have
been displaced from their homes following the overflowing of the Tekeze
river, Ethiopia radio reported on Monday. This flooded parts of the town,
forcing residents to flee to higher ground. The river forms part of the
common border between Ethiopia and Eritrea until it crosses into Sudan
(where it becomes the Setit), a short distance downstream of Himora.

Heavy rains in western Eritrea earlier in July cut roads and caused the
Gash river to flood, forcing the suspension of an operation to repatriate
more than 174,000 Eritrean refugees from Sudan. Humanitarian sources told
IRIN that heavy rain has also been falling in the central highlands of
Ethiopia, cutting some rural roads and making others impassable to all but
four-wheel drive vehicles. On 27 July, the state-run Walta Information
Centre reported that 65 trucks carrying relief food destined for drought
relief operations in South Welo Zone of the Amhara Regional State had been
stranded for eight days some 40 km short of their destination. After local
people failed to pull the trucks out of the mud, local authorities were
appealing for heavy machinery to help rescue the convoy, Walta said.

ETHIOPIA: Coffee earnings fall, birr depreciates

Ethiopia's foreign exchange earnings from coffee exports for the 2000-2001
season were considerably lower than the previous season's, AFP quoted the
Coffee and Tea Authority as saying on Tuesday. The depreciation was blamed
on a fall in coffee prices in the world market. Coffee exports, which
normally account for more than 60 percent of Ethiopia's exports, totaled
92,283 mt for the season and were worth US $168.4 million, AFP said.  
Projections for the season had indicated a market for 135,000 mt,
considerably higher than 115,739 mt exported during the 1999-2000 season.  
A local agricultural expert told IRIN that the Ethiopia coffee crop had
suffered from several seasons of unfavourable rains. In the principal
growing areas of Kefa, Welega and Harerge, the crop also suffers from
coffee berry disease, which has become a major problem in some areas.

Meanwhile, the National Bank told state-run Walta Information Centre on
Tuesday that the Ethiopian birr had depreciated by 18 cents against the US
dollar during the past year, largely due to poor coffee export earnings.  
The average exchange rate against the dollar is now 8.327 birr against
8.299 birr for the same time last year.

ETHIOPIA-SUDAN: Trade link established

A Sudanese embassy official in Addis Ababa has confirmed that Ethiopia has
begun importing and exporting goods through Port Sudan, Reuters said on
Wednesday. "An agreement between the two countries has been concluded and
goods have already started moving to Ethiopia via Port Sudan," Fada
al-Rahman Ali, a counsellor at the embassy, told Reuters. The official
added that the highway linking the port with Gedaref (Al-Qadarif), 150 km
from the border with Ethiopia, had been completed, and goods were being
shuttled from there without any problem. The official also told Reuters
that the Ethiopian Maritime and Transit Service Enterprise (MTSE), a
state-run company which handles the bulk of Ethiopia's foreign trade, was
planning to build warehouses at Gedaref.

Last year, the Ethiopian roads authority announced it was embarking on
"general maintenance" of the 185-km road from Gonder to the border
crossing at Metema. Humanitarian sources told IRIN on Thursday that work
to upgrade the road to an all-season standard, which included the
construction of 10 bridges, was still in progress and was not expected to
be completed until towards the end of the year. Similar work is also
currently taking place to upgrade the gravel road between Gedaref and
Gallabat on the Sudanese side of the border. Until the work on both sides
was complete, the route from Gonder to Gedaref would remain impassable to
heavy trucks in the rainy season, the sources said.

SUDAN: UN calls for safe access for polio investigators

UNICEF and the WHO on 27 July called for the safe passage of several teams
of health workers due to travel late last week and early this week to
investigate the recently confirmed case of wild poliovirus in southern
Sudan. The case was confirmed on 20 July in Ruweng County, Western Upper
Nile/Unity (Wahdah) state, an unstable area contested by the government of
Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), and with a
highly mobile population estimated at 64,000. A joint team from WHO and
Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) security was due in the area on 28 July, to
begin an "urgent and critical investigation" of the confirmed polio case.
The UN agencies on 27 July asked "that the region remain calm while
investigators work through local populations to determine if the
paralysing disease has gained a foothold, and take the necessary steps to
control spread of the virus." [for more details, go to:  
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/ ]

SUDAN: Bashir says opposition must sign deal on interim government

President Umar al-Bashir said on Monday that opposition parties would be
required to enter into a "political agreement" with the government before
being permitted to join a transitional administration aimed at bringing an
end to the country's 18-year civil war, AFP reported. Bashir was quoted by
AFP as telling a meeting of student members of his ruling National
Congress party: "We are not going to object to participation in the
government by any political party that agrees with us, and we are prepared
to admit such a party to the council of ministers or any other position."

The Egyptian-Libyan peace initiative, recently accepted by the Sudanese
government and a number of opposition and rebel groups, provides for an
interim government in which all political forces will be represented.  
However, Bashir suggested that some opposition groups currently based in
Cairo and Asmara could be excluded from such a government: "We will never
hand it [power] over to those residing abroad," he was quoted as saying.

ERITREA: Dispute with Yemen over fishing rights

Eritrea has accused Yemen of disregarding the clarification of the Hague
arbitration court, which settled a dispute over fishing rights in the
Hanish Islands, the London-based Arabic-language newspaper 'Al-Sharq
al-Awsat', reported on 26 July.

The two countries fought a brief war in 1996 over the islands, which were
being claimed by both. The conflict was resolved in 1999 by international
arbitration. Tewelde Medhin, the deputy head of mission in the Eritrean
Embassy in Nairobi, told IRIN on 5 April this year that the marine border
had also been agreed on after the dispute of over the islands dispute was
resolved, and that "relations between the two countries are good and have
been getting better".

Eritrean sources expressed surprise and dismay at what they described as
inaccurate reports to the effect that Eritrea had earlier this month
seized 106 Yemeni fishing boats, 'Al-Sharq al-Awsat' said. The Eritreans
expressed concern that some individuals may be trying to damage relations
between the two countries by circulating such reports. The differences
between the two countries' interpretation of fishing rights arises from
Eritrea's stance that traditional fishing rights are guaranteed for
nationals of both countries in the disputed area, which was later given to
Yemen by the Hague court. The court, however, did not give Yemeni
fishermen the right to fish in Eritrean territorial waters, said the
paper. The paper quotes Eritrean sources as saying, "despite the court's
clarifications, the Yemeni brothers continue to ignore the court's
clarification and are still interpreting the ruling in the way that suits
them".
 
ERITREA: US donates funds for refugee repatriation

The United States government will provide the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs working with it with US $3.5
million to meet the "unexpected and urgent needs associated with the
repatriation and reintegration of Eritrean refugees from Sudan", said a
statement by the US State Department on Monday. The money was part of US
$27 million authorised by US President George W. Bush on 26 July to
respond to "unexpected urgent humanitarian emergencies", in Guinea, Sierra
Leone, Eritrea and Afghanistan, said the statement.

UNHCR had suspended the repatriation of more than 174,000 Eritrean
refugees after rains cut some of the roads leading from camps in western
Sudan, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said in a press briefing on 20 July.  
The repatriation was expected to resume at the end of the rainy season in
early September, Janowski said.

Nairobi, 3 August 2001


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