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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 86
20 - 26 April 2002


CONTENTS:

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: "Positive" meeting between military leaders
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Asmara rejects "shock and confusion" accusations
ERITREA: 5,000 soldiers to be demobilised
ERITREA: Humanitarian issues at the fore after border ruling
ETHIOPIA: Tribal clashes in east
ETHIOPIA: Over 30,000 Somali refugees to go home
ETHIOPIA: Over 40 million at risk of malaria
SOMALIA: Thousands fleeing southwestern towns
SOMALIA: TNG raises concerns with technical committee
SOMALIA: Plans to reopen Mogadishu port
SOMALIA: Somaliland president in South Africa for medical check-up
SUDAN: "War raging" around southern oilfields
SUDAN: Displaced fleeing LRA-linked insecurity into Juba
SUDAN: US sends mine clearance team to Nuba Mountains

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: "Positive" meeting between military leaders

The first meeting between military leaders from Ethiopia and Eritrea since
the new border was announced was hailed as "positive and relaxed" by the
UN on Monday. Brig-Gen Yohanes Gebremeskel from Ethiopia and Eritrea's
Brig-Gen Abrahaley Kifle met in Djibouti within the framework of the
Military Coordination Commission (MCC). According to a statement by the UN
Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), both countries were praised for
their encouraging reaction to the border ruling, issued in The Hague
earlier this month. This was the 13th meeting of the MCC, and the sides
held an initial discussion on how best to implement the border ruling as
well as its military and security implications. The meeting was chaired by
UNMEE Force Commander Maj-Gen Patrick Cammaert. Brig-Gen Peter Augustine
Blay represented the Organisation of African Unity, which was credited
with brokering the December 2000 peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

According to the statement, Cammaert congratulated both sides on the
ruling, saying their reaction to the decision had been "very positive".
Blay "commended the armed forces of both parties for their professionalism
and good discipline on the ground". The MCC was also told that since the
border ruling on 13 April, the situation in the 25-km buffer area, known
as the Temporary Security Zone, had remained calm and stable. It also
emerged that aerial photography of the border had begun on 20 April.

The MCC was now planning to meet more regularly to address issues related
to implementing the decision, the statement said. The 14th meeting will
take place in Djibouti on 10 May. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27413]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Asmara rejects "shock and confusion" accusations

Ethiopia on Thursday accused the government of Eritrea of being in "utter
shock, embarrassment and confusion" following this month's border ruling,
a statement rejected by Eritrea as "ridiculous". In the statement, the
Ethiopian information ministry said the Eritrean government was
"pretending to be the champion of peace", following the decision announced
on 13 April by an independent Boundary Commission in The Hague.

"Ethiopia's victory both in the military field and before the
international court of justice left the regime in Asmara in utter shock,
embarrassment and confusion," the Ethiopian statement said. "The Asmara
government is trumpeting about its border demarcation agenda in the hope
of avoiding burning issues that are being raised by Eritrean citizens," it
went on. "As if the government in Asmara had not arrogantly rejected
peaceful alternatives, it is now pretending to be the champion of peace,
further deceiving and confusing its own citizens."

Eritrea, for its part, said the border ruling was "crystal clear". "The
[Ethiopian] statement is ridiculous," Eritrea's deputy ambassador to
Kenya, Teweldemedhin Tesfamariam, told IRIN. "The border ruling is there
for all to see and we have wholeheartedly accepted it," he said. "We saw
nothing shocking about it, we found nothing to be embarrassed about and we
see nothing confusing in the ruling."

"We find it to be crystal clear, replete with precise geographical
coordinates from modern satellite systems which the five learned judges in
The Hague deemed accurate," Teweldemedhin added. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27464]


ERITREA: 5,000 soldiers to be demobilised

The Eritrean government is to demobilise 5,000 soldiers this week as part
of a pilot project, the head of the National Commission for Demobilisation
said. Tekeste Fekadu told IRIN that 5,000 male and female soldiers would
be released from the army at four discharge centres over a period three
days from 24 April. The soldiers are the first of 200,000 due to be
demobilised following the end of Eritrea's border dispute with Ethiopia.
Their early discharge is part of a pilot project, designed to test the
government's Demobilisation and Reintegration Process (DRP), under which
two thirds of Eritrea's army will be discharged over the next two years.

The 5,000 soldiers to be sent home next week, chosen because they have
valuable skills, will each receive two months' food rations from the World
Food Programme (WFP). They will also be given money, medical tests and
transport home. In an attempt to ease their transition back to civilian
life there are also plans to offer advice about social and health issues
such as HIV/AIDS, post-traumatic stress counselling and information about
how to find work, continuation of education and learning new skills. If
necessary financial, medical and social support will continue long after
they have returned home.

If the pilot project is successful, the government hopes to commence the
first phase of its DRP, under which 80,000 soldiers will be demobilised,
although no date has yet been set. The DRP is estimated to cost nearly US
$200 million, a proportion of which has already been pledged by the World
Bank and other international donors. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27387]

ERITREA: Humanitarian issues at the fore after border ruling

The recent border ruling is likely to have an impact on crucial
humanitarian issues in Eritrea such as reintegration and refugee
repatriation. According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, the decision
may result in a huge refugee return from Sudan. Already, the refugees -
many of whom have been out of Eritrea for 30 years - are going home in
great numbers. Given this mass return, OCHA has underlined the importance
of the reintegration programme for the refugees and also for internally
displaced people (IDPs) in the country.

It noted that additional financial support would be needed for the
rehabilitation of both the areas that would be re-administered as a result
of the ruling, and the areas of return. "IDPs and expellees in camps who
may not be able to return soon will require food aid and other
humanitarian assistance," OCHA pointed out in a report.

Some 48,000 IDPs are still living in 11 camps in the Debub, Gash Barka and
Northern Red Sea zones, OCHA said. "With the transfer of territory, a
large number of people are likely to be in need of relocation assistance,"
it added. "The Ethiopians who are now going to become Eritreans, or
vice-versa, will be a challenge for the humanitarian community with regard
to the allocation of farmland, and basic needs such as food and shelter.
In addition, the views of the affected people will need to be taken into
consideration." The UN is appealing for urgent assistance for various
programmes, including demining, which, OCHA says, will be one of the "most
important challenges" facing the country.

ETHIOPIA: Tribal clashes in east

Fierce tribal fighting has broken out in eastern Ethiopia and is believed
to have claimed dozens of lives, local sources told IRIN on Wednesday. The
clashes, between rival ethnic groups in the Afar Regional State, were
sparked after one group accused the other of encroaching on its land.
Skirmishes between the Afar and Issa communities have gradually increased
over the years. The Afar accuse the Issa - who are tribesmen from Djibouti
- of moving further and further into their territory.

The fighting was also blamed for triggering a fuel scare in the Ethiopian
capital, Addis Ababa, as truck drivers refused to cross the region from
the port of Djibouti. The fighting was centred on the main Djibouti
highway from Gadamaitu to Giwane, a local source added. However, the
ministry of trade and industry said the fuel trucks were delayed because
of heavy rains.

The source told IRIN that sporadic fighting had broken out in early April
and continued throughout much of the month. The number of casualties is
unknown, but some reports - which have yet to be confirmed - say at least
30 people have been killed.

ETHIOPIA: Over 30,000 Somali refugees to go home

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is
planning to repatriate 35,000 Somali refugees from Ethiopia, starting next
week. Zobida Hassim-Ashagrie, the UNHCR representative in Ethiopia, said
only those who returned voluntarily would be assisted. "Repatriation is a
voluntary thing," she told IRIN on Wednesday. "So a refugee has to say
yes, I want to go home. If there is any fear of persecution then they
cannot go home." There are currently about 154,000 refugees in some nine
camps in Ethiopia - mainly Sudanese, Somalis and Eritreans. Tens of
thousands have fled the wars that have blighted the Horn of Africa. Last
year alone, UNHCR repatriated 53,000 people.

Each repatriated refugee is given nine months' worth of food and 330
Ethiopian birr (around US $39) to start a new life. UNHCR also helps with
plastic sheeting and jerry cans to carry water.

UNHCR works alongside the Administration for Refugees and Returnee Affairs
(ARRA) which implements most of UNHCR's programmes. According to Zobida,
there are some obstacles to repatriation, such as landmines in the
northeast of the country, where several large refugee camps are situated.
This has prevented more people from returning home. Somalis used to make
up the largest number of refugees in Ethiopia, but currently there are
more Sudanese refugees. UNHCR says it plans to repatriate a further 20,000
refugees next year. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27439]

ETHIOPIA: Over 40 million at risk of malaria

More than 40 million people in Ethiopia are at risk of malaria, the United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned on Thursday. The disease affects
at least four million people each year and it is the biggest single killer
in the country, said the UNICEF spokeswoman in Addis Ababa, Angela Walker,
at the launch of 2002 Africa Malaria Control Day. "Malaria affects 4-5
million people annually in Ethiopia and is prevalent in 75 percent of the
country, putting over 40 million people at risk," she said. "Malaria
accounts for seven percent of outpatient visits and represents the largest
single cause of morbidity."

The World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the UN Development Programme (UNDP)
and the World Bank launched a campaign in 1998 to fight malaria, called
Roll Back Malaria. The campaign aims to halve the death rate worldwide by
2010. Ethiopia signed up to the campaign in 2001 and launched its own
five-year strategic plan for malaria control. It aims to cut the death
rate by 25 percent by the year 2005.

Thousands of insecticide-treated mosquito nets have been distributed to
try and combat the disease. UNICEF is also urging the private sector to
get involved. But, it said, that taxes and tariffs imposed on the nets had
to be reduced or stopped. UNICEF is also working alongside the government
to focus on areas with a high incidence of malaria and to target the most
vulnerable people such as pregnant women and children under five,
particularly in rural areas. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27460]

SOMALIA: Thousands fleeing southwestern towns

Thousands of people have fled, or are fleeing, their homes in the Gedo
region of southwestern Somalia because of fighting between rival groups,
local sources told IRIN on Thursday. They have been streaming out of the
border towns of Bulo Hawa, and Lugh, despite the onset of the main Gu
season rains.

According to the sources, the fighting is between an alliance of the
Marehan sub-clans of Rer Hasan, Hawarsame and Habar Ya'qub, which are
supported by the opposition Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council
(SRRC), and other Marehan sub-clans sympathetic to the Transitional
National Government (TNG). The Marehan clan dominates the Gedo region.

Scores of people have been killed and many more wounded in the fighting,
which flared up between the two groups in late March and reportedly
displaced thousands of people, said Alidhuh Mahmud, head of the social
affairs committee of Bardhere town in Gedo Region, and a member of the
regional authority. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27466]


SOMALIA: TNG raises concerns with technical committee

Members of Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) in Mogadishu
have met officials from a technical committee set up to prepare for
reconciliation talks, due to be held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The
TNG information minister, Abdirahman Adan Ibrahim Ibbi, told IRIN on 12
April that they had been received the previous night by officials from the
foreign ministry, and given the opportunity to meet anyone they wanted.
The technical committee, set up by the Inter-Governmental Authority on
Development (IGAD), which is brokering the reconciliation talks, is made
up of Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti. However, Djibouti failed to accompany
the other two countries on the fact-finding mission to Somalia earlier
this week, expressing concern that there had not been enough preparation
for the visit.

Abdirahman said that while the meeting in Mogadishu had been useful, the
TNG had nevertheless expressed various concerns regarding the
reconciliation conference. "If you are not in agreement among yourselves,
how can you hope to make agreements between all the Somali factions?", he
asked, referring to the rift among the technical committee members. He
told IRIN the fact-finding mission could not really have a successful
outcome, as one of the frontline states was not taking part. "There is
division among them," he said.

The TNG also informed the technical committee it had a right to know all
the issues that were being discussed and the preparations under way.
Abdirahman said the TNG was concerned that the committee had not given any
details of its itinerary, and had started its mission in Somaliland and
Puntland, rather than in the capital, Mogadishu. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27360]

SOMALIA: Plans to reopen Mogadishu port

NAIROBI, 24 Apr 2002 (IRIN) - Businessmen based in Mogadishu say they are
planning to reopen its port and airport after more than 10 years.
Businessman Ahmed Du'ale Haf, who is also a member of the Transitional
National Assembly, said the city's top businessmen were involved in the
process. The plans had nothing to do with politics, but were "purely
commercial", he told IRIN on Wednesday. "We want to open the port and
airport because the public needs them and the business community needs
them," he added. He told IRIN that at least 21 of the biggest businesses
in Mogadishu, belonging to all the clans, were engaged in the effort. "We
will not fail," he stressed. The two facilities have effectively remained
closed ever since the outbreak of the civil war in 1990, due to
differences between the city's various faction leaders.

However, the Mogadishu-based HornAfrik radio on Monday quoted a Mogadishu
faction leader, Usman Hasan Ali Ato, as warning that no single group could
reopen the port, and that doing so would require agreement from all sides.
He claimed the businessmen were being supported by the "Arta faction
[TNG]".

Sayyid Ali Maalin Abdulle, another businessman involved in the reopening
plan, told IRIN that the group would talk to all the factions in Mogadishu
to convince them of the need to reopen the port. "We have already talked
to some of them, and they have expressed support," he said. "We will
engage in dialogue with all those opposed to the idea, and try to bring
them on board. However, he warned, "we want to reopen the port peacefully,
but if anyone attacks our ships, we will not stand idly by". [Full report
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27440]

SOMALIA: Somaliland president in South Africa for medical check-up

NAIROBI, 25 Apr 2002 (IRIN) - The president of the self-declared republic
of Somaliland, Muhammad Ibrahim Egal, has gone to South Africa for a
"working tour and medical check-up", official radio Hargeysa reported. It
said he left the Somaliland capital, Hargeysa, on Wednesday for a 10-day
visit. "Since Arab countries have a low estimation of us, the Somaliland
president refused to go there," a statement by the president's spokesman
said, referring to the check-up. "Consequently, the president requested
the South African government, which has a diplomatic representative in the
republic of Somaliland, to accept him, which it did." After his treatment,
Egal would follow up on political issues, his spokesman Abdi Idris Du'ale
added.

Diplomatic sources told IRIN this was Egal's second trip abroad in three
months. In February, he visited Ethiopia. He is accompanied by his wife,
Foreign Minister Muhammad Sa'id Ges, Information Minister Abdullahi
Muhammad Du'ale, and the governor of Somaliland's central bank, Abdirahman
Du'ale. The president was reportedly taken from Berbera on a chartered
plane to South Africa, where he checked immediately into a hospital.
According to the sources, Egal has been trying to go for a medical
check-up for at least two years, but was unable to do so because of the
political situation in Somaliland.

Egal, who is known to have contacts with the South African authorities,
will use his trip to brief South African officials on the current
situation in Somalia.

SUDAN: "War raging" around southern oilfields

Serious military engagements are occurring between government of Sudan
forces and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in western
Upper Nile (or Unity/Wahdah State) and northern Bahr al-Ghazal, in the
south of the country, according to humanitarian sources. The government
recently lost control of Koch, and was coming back with significant
reinforcements, who had been stationed to defend the oil area around
Bentiu in order to retake it, one aid worker told IRIN on Thursday.

The SPLA on Thursday accused government forces of having bombarded
villages in western Upper Nile, especially around Koch, Bieh and Rier,
over the previous three days, in contravention of a recent undertaking it
gave the USA on protecting civilians and civilian infrastructure in the
course of the civil war. In a statement released in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, the SPLA spokesman, Samson Kwaje, said the Sudanese army had
meted out "unwarranted destruction" in western Upper Nile, where, he said,
"the war is raging". Kwaje said that intense fighting had resulted in a
high number of casualties on both sides, the Associated Press agency (AP)
reported. The SPLA statement said more details would be released soon.

There is also serious fighting between government troops and the SPLA in
northern Bahr al-Ghazal, especially around the government garrison town of
Wau, aid workers told IRIN on Thursday. Wau is considered a major
strategic target for the SPLA, but is very well fortified and would not
easily be taken by the rebel force, according to observers. [Full report
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27366]

SUDAN: Displaced fleeing LRA-linked insecurity into Juba

Thousands of people displaced by insecurity prompted by a joint
Ugandan-Sudanese military operation against the (Ugandan) rebel Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) in Eastern Equatoria, southern Sudan, have arrived
in the government stronghold of Juba, according to aid officials. Over the
past fortnight, some 7,000 LRA rebels have fled their four main camps on
the eastern bank of the White Nile, in southern Sudan, and dispersed in
several groups, according to the Guardian newspaper in Britain. It cited
intelligence sources as saying LRA groups were besieged by the Sudanese
army southeast of Juba, and by the Ugandan army further east, near Mogiri
and Magwe.

The LRA have recently been attacking villages near Juba, with thousands of
villagers fleeing to camps near Juba and saying their homes had been
looted and burnt, according to sources in Sudan. The rebel group appeared
to be angry with Sudan for cooperating with the Ugandan army and was
attacking government-controlled villages in retaliation, they said.

LRA rebels hiding near Magwe, thought to number several thousand fighters
and their families, included the LRA leader, Joseph Kony, the Guardian
reported on 13 April, adding that UNICEF feared a massacre as Sudanese and
Ugandan troops prepared for an all-out assault on the cultish army.

Meanwhile, the Ugandan and Sudanese governments have extended their
agreement allowing the Ugandan army to pursue the LRA inside Sudan,
according to Radio Uganda. The campaign had been due to expire on
Thursday, 18 April, but was extended this week to allow the operation to
continue, it reported on Thursday, but without indicating the new
deadline. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27367]

SUDAN: US sends mine-clearance team to Nuba Mountains

The United States announced on Tuesday that it would send a
landmine-clearance team to the Nuba Mountains region of south-central
Sudan, where a ceasefire between the government and southern rebels is
currently in operation. "The Quick Reaction Demining Force's
mine-clearance operations will lessen the likelihood of additional
casualties, as refugees and internally displaced persons begin relocation
into areas where mines are known to exist", a statement form the US State
Department said. An advance party had already left for Sudan on 19 April,
and the main deployment, comprising two squads of 10 persons each, were
expected to arrive in approximately two weeks, the statement said.

Between 1989 and 2001, 1,135 persons had become victims of landmines in
the Nuba Mountains, the statement quoted the Sudanese government as
saying.

An agreement to implement a ceasefire in the 80,000-sq km Nuba Mountains
region of Southern Kordofan was signed by representatives of the Sudanese
government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army in
Burgenstock, Switzerland, on 19 January.

"The mine-clearance operations will contribute to the success of the first
phase of the recently concluded ceasefire between the government of Sudan
and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army", the US statement said.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27442]


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