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 94
15 - 21 June 2002


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: At least 20 killed in Middle Shabelle
SOMALIA: Faction leader released
SOMALIA: UN concern over humanitarian situation
SOMALIA: Somaliland urged to lift ban on private radio stations
ERITREA: Formal ties with Italy resumed
ETHIOPIA: Parliament warns Italy over return of Axum Obelisk
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN peacekeeping official discussing border issues
DJIBOUTI: 15-year jail term for former police chief
DJIBOUTI: US radio to broadcast from Djibouti


SEE ALSO:

SOMALIA: Interview with Somaliland opposition leader, Ahmed Muhammad
(Silaanyo) at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28422

ETHIOPIA: Interview with leading conservationist Stuart Williams
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28370


SOMALIA: At least 20 killed in Middle Shabelle

At least 20 people have been killed in inter-clan fighting in the Middle
Shabelle Region of south-central Somalia, sources in the regional capital
Jowhar told IRIN on Tuesday. The fighting broke out on Monday after forces
of the self-styled governor of Middle Shabelle, Muhammad Umar Habeb, who
belongs to the Warsangeli sub-clan, attacked positions of forces loyal to
Dahir Dayah, the interior minister of the Transitional National Government
(TNG). The minister is a member of the Agon Yar sub-clan, which like the
Warsengeli, belongs to the main Abgal clan that dominates the Middle
Shabelle region. The fighting initially started in the village of
El-Baraf, some 65 km north of Jowhar, and quickly spread south to Mahaday
- a town of between 15,000 and 20,000 inhabitants, a local journalist told
IRIN. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28372]

SOMALIA: Faction leader released

Col Abdirazzaq Isaq Bihi, the Somali faction leader who was captured in
the border town of Bulo Hawa, southwestern Somalia, has been released,
local sources across the border in northeastern Kenya told IRIN on Monday.
Col Bihi was captured by forces loyal to the pro-Ethiopian Somali
Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC) when they overran Bulo Hawa
on 15 May. The SRRC is a grouping of southern factions opposed to the
Mogadishu-based Transitional National Government (TNG). Bihi was brought
to the Kenyan border town of Mandera on Sunday morning where he was handed
over to local elders. "He is here in Mandera with us and participating in
reconciliation talks [within the Marehan clan]," one elder told IRIN. He
added that the Kenyan authorities in Mandera had participated in
facilitating Bihi's release. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28348]

SOMALIA: UN concern over humanitarian situation

The United Nations Security Council has expressed deep concern over the
humanitarian situation in Somalia following fighting in the south of the
country. In a press statement on Tuesday, it called on all Somali parties
to fulfil their obligation to guarantee safe access to relief agencies and
their personnel. The Council made the call after a briefing on the
humanitarian situation in Somalia by the UN's Deputy Emergency Relief
Coordinator, Carolyn McAskie.

The Council's statement noted that members were particularly worried about
the situation in northern parts of the Gedo Region, southwestern Somalia.
"Successive waves of fighting have caused casualties, large-scale internal
displacement and outflow of refugees, while also disrupting the provision
of humanitarian assistance to the population of the region," it said.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28393]

SOMALIA: Somaliland urged to lift ban on private radio stations

The Paris-based media watchdog, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), has
called on the authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland to
lift its ban on all privately owned radio stations. A circular issued by
the Somaliland information ministry on 5 June said that until broadcasting
regulations were laid down, there would be no private radio stations
because of the "potential dangers" of such operations. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28352]

ERITREA: Formal ties with Italy resumed

Eritrea and Italy have resumed formal diplomatic relations, eight months
after Eritrea expelled Italy's ambassador from the country. Eritrean
President Isayas Afewerki and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met
in Rome last week, on the sidelines of World Food Summit. The official
Shaebia website described the talks as "open and candid". It was the first
time the two men had met since the Italian ambassador, Antonio Bandini,
was asked to leave the country after he protested against the government's
detention of dissident politicians. Bandini was also the representative of
the European Union in Eritrea. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28347]

ETHIOPIA: Parliament warns Italy over return of Axum Obelisk

The Ethiopian parliament has warned that diplomatic ties with Italy could
be cut in a mounting row over the ancient Axum Obelisk, which was taken
from the country over 60 years ago. MPs in the federal parliament on
Tuesday called for tougher action against the Italians for the return of
the historic relic, plundered by Italian troops in 1935. They passed a
five-point resolution demanding its immediate return and called on the
international community to step up the pressure. Ahmed Hasen, chairman of
the Information and Cultural Affairs Standing Committee in Ethiopia,
condemned Italy's refusal to hand back "looted artefacts".

"The international community should challenge the Italian government," he
told over 380 MPs during the two-hour debate. "We may even take measures
of cutting diplomatic ties," he warned. "I hope they [the Italians] give
meaning and attach importance to the resolutions of this parliament."
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28373]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN peacekeeping official discussing border issues

A senior UN peacekeeping official arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis
Ababa on Monday to discuss implementation of the recent ruling on the
border with Eritrea. UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said the Under
Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno, "is in
the region to take stock of the situation on the ground and see what can
be done to move forward implementation of the independent Boundary
Commission's decision". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28368]

DJIBOUTI: 15-year jail term for former police chief

The former chief of police of Djibouti, Gen Yacin Yabeh Galab, has been
convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges relating to an
attempted coup in 2000, a local journalist told IRIN. Yacin was formally
charged in December 2000 with conspiracy and breach of state security,
after the foiled police-led coup attempt which shook Djibouti at the time.
Eleven policemen, including eight senior officers, who were being tried
with the general on the same charges, received prison sentences ranging
from three to 10 years, while one policeman was acquitted, the journalist,
Abdi Adan, said.

The other charges against Yacin Yabeh and his co-defendants included
urging Djibouti citizens to take up arms illegally, carrying and using
weapons of war, and damaging public property, said Adan, who attended the
court proceedings on Monday. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28375]

DJIBOUTI: US radio to broadcast from Djibouti

The governments of Djibouti and the United States have signed an agreement
on setting up radio relay stations in Djibouti to be financed by the US,
the official Djibouti news agency (ADI) reported. The agreement, signed on
18 June, provides for the installation of a medium wave transmitter and a
5-kW FM transmitter at the state-owned Radio-Television Djibouti's (RTD)
relay station in Arta (southern Djibouti). According to the agency, the
transmitters "will relay Arabic radio programmes to the East African
region and the Arabian peninsula". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28424]


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