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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Fax: +254 2 622129
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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 90
18 - 24 May 2002


CONTENTS:

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Sides called to The Hague for border talks
ETHIOPIA: New checks on peacekeepers
ERITREA: Demobilisation begins
ERITREA: Remnants of ancient settled community found
ETHIOPIA: Rights group calls for end to crackdown on Oromos
ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: Addis lashes out at Somali government
SOMALIA: Technical committee talks fail
SOMALIA: Bosaso TV and radio station shut down
SOMALIA: Aid agencies welcome, says Puntland
SUDAN: US urges full compliance with Danforth tests
SUDAN: State of emergency after Southern Darfur tribal clashes

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Sides called to The Hague for border talks

Ethiopia and Eritrea traded accusations this week after a high-level
meeting to iron out any potential problems over the border ruling,
announced last month. It is the first time they have met in The Hague
since the ruling was announced on 13 April. The two-day meeting, which
began on Tuesday, was called by the independent Eritrea - Ethiopia Boundary
Commission to discuss modalities for the physical demarcation of the
border. Political tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea have been
increasing since the decision - which both countries agreed was "final and
binding" - was made. In particular, both countries have claimed they were
awarded the disputed village of Badme - where their bitter two-year war
first erupted.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Ethiopian government reacted
angrily to comments by Eritrea that it was undermining the peace process.
"The Ethiopian government wishes to make clear its full and continuing
commitment to the peace process," the Ethiopian foreign ministry said. It
claimed Eritrea had "attacked the integrity of the [Boundary] Commission"
and "raised issues so fundamental as to place in doubt the seriousness of
the Eritrean commitment to the continuation of the peace process".

An earlier statement from the Eritrean foreign ministry said Ethiopia had
demanded that the Commission "reconsider and "correct" the 13 April
decision. "Ethiopia's memorandum demands, among other things, that the
Commission redraw the boundary to give Ethiopia sovereignty over towns on
the Eritrean side of the line whenever Ethiopia can come up with evidence
of Ethiopian 'administration'", the statement said. It added that this
demand "follows a month of Ethiopian military and diplomatic
intimidation". [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27900]

ETHIOPIA: New checks on peacekeepers

Earlier, Ethiopia had imposed new checks on the movements of United
Nations peacekeepers, the UN revealed on 17 May. The move follows a
serious row with the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea
(UNMEE) over the two countries' disputed 1,000-km border. Lawyers from
UNMEE are now analysing documents to establish whether the new checks
breach the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that Ethiopia signed with the
UN. Every UN peacekeeping mission in the world signs a SOFA allowing it
unhindered freedom of movement within its sphere of operations. However,
under the new checks, UNMEE staff must show their passports when
travelling between the two countries, and some of them have been searched
by security officials when doing so. The checks were imposed on UNMEE on 9
May and no indication has been given on how long they will last. [Full
report at:  http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27836]

ERITREA: Demobilisation begins

The Eritrean government last week began the first phase of its military
demobilisation and reintegration process, the official Shaebia website
reported. It quoted Dr Tekeste Fekadu, the commissioner for
demobilisation, as saying 5,000 soldiers would be demobilised in a pilot
project, ahead of the full demobilisation of some 200,000 male and female
fighters. The pilot was originally due to begin last month, but officials
said it was postponed for "technical reasons".

Tekeste said the process would proceed in stages. He added that his
commission was cooperating with government agencies and private
institutions to help demobilised soldiers obtain professional training.
The process, known as Warsay-Yekeallo (meaning current and veteran
fighters), involves members of the regular army, ex-fighters who were
mobilised during the latest war with Ethiopia, and members of the national
services and reserve army.

"The commission has started to implement the first phase of the
demobilisation programme after it organised its personnel and material to
execute the process," Shaebia said. The World Bank, meanwhile, has
approved a US $60 million loan to help with the demobilisation of 60,000
soldiers.

ERITREA: Remnants of ancient settled community found

The remnants of what is thought to be the oldest settled agricultural
community in the Horn of Africa have been discovered on the outskirts of
the Eritrean capital, Asmara. Experts say the sites, which date back to
800 BC, are of "global importance" and believe that they could change the
way the history of the region is viewed. There are thought to be 100
significant sites scattered across a large area of what is considered
prime development land to the south and west of the city, much of which
has been earmarked for new housing.

Archaeologists from the University of Asmara are hoping to complete an
urgent survey of the area to assess the extent of the find before any
building work commences. There are also plans to build an open-air museum
- which will be paid for by the US embassy in Asmara - to provide
information to the public and display items found there.

Using evidence collected during preliminary excavations, archaeologists
have already pieced together a fascinating picture of life, dating back
nearly 3,000 years. The settlement's inhabitants lived in stone houses,
ate cows and goats, drank beer and farmed surrounding fertile land. They
dressed in animal skins - tools for tanning and softening hides have been
discovered, along with needles, stone implements for punching leather and
bronze buttons. To conserve heat on the cool highland plateau, houses were
entered through openings in the roof. For the same reason, according to
archaeologists, homes appear to have shared walls. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27835]

ETHIOPIA: Rights group calls for end to crackdown on Oromos

A leading human rights organisation on Wednesday called on the Ethiopian
government to halt its "violent crackdown" on students from Oromiya
Regional State. The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) demanded that
dozens of students arrested by the authorities be released "immediately".
The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (HRC), which said that five students
had been shot dead in skirmishes with police over the last two months,
backed HRW's call. "We support their calls. Any support that defends human
rights, we appreciate," a spokesman for HRC told IRIN.

Trouble between the police and students flared up in March after a
demonstration calling for increased aid for farmers. The state authorities
declared the protests illegal. HRW said that in the western town of
Shambu, police had opened fire with live ammunition when the students
failed to disperse. There were also reports of shootings and woundings in
two other towns - Ambo and Nekemte. "Shooting at unarmed students is a
shameful misuse of government power," said Saman Zia-Zarifi, academic
freedom director for HRW, in a press statement. "The Ethiopian government
has to investigate and prosecute the authorities responsible for firing on
the students."

So far, the regional government has admitted that two students were shot
dead in battles with police. But HRC says they have evidence showing that
five were killed and a dozen wounded. The regional authorities had also
detained a number of students and teachers, HRW said.

"Human Rights Watch also calls on the Ethiopian government to immediately
free all students detained last week in the Ethiopian capital, Addis
Ababa, during a peaceful rally by Oromo students," said the statement.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27898]

ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: Addis lashes out at Somali government

Ethiopia has said Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) is
trying to "scuttle" the country's forthcoming peace talks after the TNG
accused Addis Ababa of meddling in Somali politics. In a statement issued
on Monday, the Ethiopian foreign ministry said the government was
determined to drive forward the peace process at the forthcoming national
reconciliation conference in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. But it claimed
that the various faction leaders in Somalia had not accepted the TNG as a
broad-based government. The ministry also called on the TNG to be "more
realistic" and accept that only a negotiated deal in the talks would bring
peace to Somalia.

On 17 May, Somalia's ambassador to the UN, Ahmad Abdi Hashi, appealed for
imposing sanctions on Ethiopia, saying it had sent troops into Somalia and
was involved in the latest fighting in Gedo Region. "Ethiopia wants a
balkanised Somalia with small fiefdoms it can rule over," he told a news
conference, according to media organisations. "They are becoming the bully
of the subregion, and that should not be allowed."

The TNG prime minister, Hasan Abshir Farah, told IRIN on Tuesday that his
government was "ready for reconciliation". However, he stressed, that so
long as Ethiopia "is occupying and invading parts of Somalia and pouring
arms into the country, it cannot be an honest broker in the reconciliation
talks". "Ethiopia must choose whether to remain as part of the problem of
Somalia or part of the solution. It cannot have it both ways," he said.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27854]

SOMALIA: Technical committee talks fail

Talks between the frontline states trying to prepare a Somali
reconciliation conference have ended in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, with
little agreement between the sides. According to an official press
release, the talks - held on 19 and 20 May between Djibouti, Ethiopia and
Kenya - were characterised by "warmth, frankness and mutual
understanding". However, a proposed visit to Somalia by the three states -
which make up the technical committee preparing the conference - was
deferred pending further consultations between regional leaders at a
summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in
Addis Ababa later this month.

Officials from Djibouti said the technical committee talks had failed,
because the members were "unable to speak with one voice". "The main
reason is differences over major political issues," Mohamed-Siad Dualeh, a
senior Djibouti foreign ministry official and member of the delegation,
told IRIN on Wednesday. He said this primarily meant differences over the
objectives of the conference.

He noted that the committee had previously stressed the need to speak with
one voice when dealing with the Somali parties to eliminate problems
arising from "any conflict of interpretations". Ethiopia wants the peace
process to start from scratch again, insisting that the Transitional
National Government (TNG) of Somalia should simply attend the talks as a
faction. But Djibouti says there is no question of starting all over
again. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27880]

SOMALIA: Bulo Hawa clashes exacerbate refugee situation

The security and humanitarian situation of Somali refugees living in the
northeastern Kenyan town of Mandera is becoming increasingly difficult as
a result of inter-clan fighting in Bulo Hawa, just across the border in
Somalia, a humanitarian source in Mandera told IRIN on Monday. According
to this source, international NGOs, which are providing the refugees with
most of the assistance they are receiving, are threatening to suspend
operations unless the refugees are relocated to a safer site. "After
Wednesday's [15 May] incident [when four refugees inside Kenya were killed
by stray rounds from the Bulo Hawa fighting], the agencies are not
prepared to put their people in danger," he said.

The fighting is reported to be between an alliance of the Marehan
sub-clans of Rer Hasan, Hawarsame and Habar Ya'qub, supported by the
opposition Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), on the
one hand, and, on the other hand, by sub-clans sympathetic to Somalia's
TNG. The Marehan clan dominates Gedo Region.

The Bulo Hawa clashes, in the north of Gedo Region, southwestern Somalia,
has sent two waves of refugees into Mandera. The first, numbering about
10,000, arrived last month, while another group of several thousand
arrived after last week's fighting, according to aid workers. [Full report
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27837]

SOMALIA: Bosaso TV and radio station shut down

The authorities of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland have
withdrawn the licence of the Somali Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) radio
and television, based in the region's commercial capital, Bosaso, an SBC
official told IRIN on Thursday. "At around 10 am [07:00 GMT] yesterday
[Wednesday], we received an official letter informing us that our licence
had been withdrawn and we should, therefore, shut the station down," SBC
manager Ali Abdi Aware said. "As I am speaking to you, we are off the air
in Bosaso," he added. According to Aware, the authorities accused the SBC
of breaking the region's press laws.

Other sources in Bosaso told IRIN that the SBC had been targeted for
perceived bias against the Puntland leader, Col Abdullahi Yusuf, and
"supporting and the interim government in Mogadishu and Jama Ali Jama [the
former Puntland leader]". Abdullahi Yusuf's forces took control of Bosaso
on 8 May, after forces loyal to his rival for the presidency of the
region, Jama Ali Jama, withdrew without a fight. The SBC was also accused
by the Puntland authorities of having "a political agenda inimical to the
Puntland state", according to sources in Bosaso. Attempts by IRIN to get
comment from the authorities in Puntland were unsuccessful.

Aware denied any partiality in the SBC's reporting. "We have been
impartial to a fault in our reporting. We have not supported Jama Ali or
Abdullahi Yusuf," he said. "In fact, we challenged the authorities to come
up with a single programme that could be construed as biased."  [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=27905]

SOMALIA: Aid agencies welcome, says Puntland

Staff from UN agencies, the EU, and international NGOs, who were evacuated
from Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region
of Puntland, are welcome to return, a senior Puntland official told IRIN
on Wednesday. The staff members were evacuated in early May for security
reasons. A circular issued by the administration of Col Abdullahi Yusuf,
and made available to IRIN on 9 May warned aid agency staff "to stay away
from Puntland of Somalia until further notice".

Isma'il Warsame, Abdullahi Yusuf's chief of cabinet, told IRIN on
Wednesday that the circular was not intended to keep aid agencies away,
but to give the authorities "time to put our house in order". "Once law
and order has been restored to all of Puntland, they are welcome to come
back," he said. Isma'il said an invitation had been sent to all heads of
agencies working in the region to come to Bosaso on 8 June to meet
Abdullahi Yusuf. Following these talks, staff members could return, he
stated.

"We are in communication with the authorities [in Puntland] to arrange
humanitarian access as quickly as possible," humanitarian sources in the
Kenyan capital, Nairobi, told IRIN. The sources said there were worrying
reports of cholera in the area, and because the humanitarian agencies had
a range of important activities to carry out, they were ready to return as
soon as possible.

SUDAN: US urges full compliance with Danforth tests

The United States said on Monday that it considered both the Khartoum
government and southern rebels responsible for continued progress on four
key US-sponsored humanitarian agreements. "We will hold the Sudanese
government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement strictly accountable
for the implementation of the humanitarian agreements that have already
been made, particularly the agreement banning intentional attacks against
non-combatant civilians and the Nuba Mountains cease-fire," US State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement. "The parties
must be prepared to comply fully and completely with all agreements
reached," the statement said.

The statement followed a meeting between US President George W. Bush and
US Special Envoy to Sudan, John Danforth, to discuss prospects for peace
in Sudan. Danforth submitted to Bush a report entitled "The outlook for
peace in Sudan" last month, in which he outlined the progress made on his
four confidence-building measures and recommended that the US continue to
serve as an intermediary between the warring parties in Sudan.

Boucher said the US would "actively support" the efforts of the regional
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), currently being led by
Kenya, while saying that the US was also prepared to work closely with
other, non-IGAD, regional neighbours, particularly Egypt. "We don't want
to be so categorical about it, but IGAD definitely has the lead," said
Walter Kansteiner, US Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs,
quoted by AFP news agency on Monday. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27859]

Subsequently, on Tuesday, the US said Sudan had taken some positive steps
against terrorism, but had not made sufficient progress to be removed from
the US's blacklist of terrorist-sponsoring nations. Sudan, along with
Libya, were the two countries which seemed "closest to understanding what
they must do to get out of the terrorism business", and had "taken
measures pointing in the right direction", the US State Department said in
its Annual Global Terrorism Report.

Khartoum said on Wednesday that the US' contention that Sudan supports
terrorism was erroneous and removed from the facts. "The government has
taken numerous measures in this regard... so Sudan staying on this list of
states sponsoring terrorism is a baseless accusation," the official Sudan
News Agency quoted Minister of State for Foreign Relations Chol Deng Alak
as saying. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27902]


SUDAN: State of emergency after Southern Darfur tribal clashes

The nature of tribal clashes in the central state of Southern Darfur,
which has reportedly seen 50 people killed in recent days, has been
exacerbated by an inflow of arms from neighbouring countries which are
experiencing instability, according to Sudanese diplomatic sources. Media
reports from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday said Sudanese
police and army forces had been deployed in Southern Darfur to prevent
further clashes between two Arab tribes, the Rizayqat and Ma'aliyah, after
the latest outbreak of violence at the weekend.

Reuters, which placed the number of the dead at 27, quoted the daily
Khartoum Monitor newspaper as saying the violence was part of a pattern of
recurrent tribal fighting in the area, where scarcity in grazing areas and
economic hardships had caused intense rivalry between cattle communities
like the Rizayqat and farming groups like the Ma'aliyah. Armed groups of
Rizayqat tribesmen on Saturday attacked and burnt a village of the rival
Ma'aliyah, from Western Darfur, the Associated Press agency (AP) reported
on Tuesday.

"The government of South Darfur, the police, the army and security forces
are in full control of the situation there," AP quoted a public statement,
issued by the interior ministry on Tuesday, as saying. The fighting was
reportedly sparked by a dispute over a cattle grazing area. [Full report
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=27886]


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