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
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 75
02 - 08 February 2002


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Foreign terror suspects freed
SOMALIA: Grenade attack on premier's residence
ERITREA: Assembly session "conservative but not regressive"
ERITREA: Denmark to stop aid
ETHIOPIA: Somali State officials vow to "rectify mistakes"
ETHIOPIA: "New era" in relations with Britain
ETHIOPIA: Over 200,000 under-fives have HIV/AIDS
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Dates announced for Security Council mission
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: MCC meets in Djibouti
SUDAN: SPLM/A alleges cease-fire violations in Nuba
SUDAN: USAID says flight denials "stress" aid delivery
SUDAN: Rights group decries "inhumane" sentences

ALSO SEE:

SOMALIA: IRIN Interview with Hassan Mohamed Nur "Shatigadud" at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20344

SOMALIA: IRIN Interview with Hussein Aideed at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=2027

SUDAN: IRIN interview with Riek Machar at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20426


SOMALIA: Foreign terror suspects freed

The Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia has freed 11 foreign
nationals who were arrested in December for suspected links with terrorist
groups. Zakariya Mahmud Haji, the TNG information minister, told IRIN in
December that nine of the men "were of Iraqi nationality", and had been
arrested "because we are not sure who they are". The nine, along with two
Eritrean nationals, were arrested on 18 December last year on the orders
of the anti-terrorist task force set up by the TNG after the 11 September
attacks in New York. They were released on Tuesday after "a long police
investigation found that they had no links with any terrorist
organisation", the TNG director of information, Abdirahman Dinari, told
IRIN on Wednesday. He said the police investigations had found that some
of them were in possession of illegal Somali documents, "such as
passports, which were confiscated". They were, however, free to stay in
the country, added Dinari. [Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20421&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA]

SOMALIA: Grenade attack on premier's residence

Four people were wounded on 1 February, two of them seriously, when a hand
grenade was thrown into the compound belonging to the prime minister of
the TNG Hasan Abshir Farah, according to the Mogadishu police chief. "At
around 9:15 p.m. local time [1815 GMT], a bomb was thrown at the prime
minister's residence by an unknown individual or individuals," the police
chief, Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdid, told IRIN on Monday. Qeybdid, who was in
Farah's residence at the time of the incident, said the attack was
"intentional", but the motive was not yet clear. However, "at no time was
the prime minister's life in danger", he stressed.

A Land-Cruiser pick-up belonging to the police chief's security escort was
destroyed in the incident, Qeybdid said, adding that all the wounded were
members of his own detail.

Other sources in Mogadishu told IRIN that the attack could have been aimed
at the police chief or the prime minister, or "more likely was intended to
embarrass the TNG, which last month issued a directive banning carrying of
weapons on the streets of the city", in its effort to curb spiralling
crime. Qeybdid said the police were investigating the incident. "Our
investigations are ongoing, and we have leads," he said, adding that the
investigations "should be over in a couple of days, and the results will
be made public".

ERITREA: Assembly session "conservative but not regressive"

Eritrea's National Assembly session wound up its work over the weekend
after adopting a number of resolutions, including the setting up a
committee to look into the issue of the private press. Other measures
included approving a national budget of 10.9 billion nakfa (about US $700
million) and a decision to postpone the formation of political parties.
The assembly ratified the electoral law earlier last week. Regional
observers told IRIN on Monday the outcome of the session was conservative,
but the most important issue was that the assembly actually convened in
the wake of last year's political upheavals and after a long delay. "The
results are not nearly as forward-looking as many had hoped, yet not as
regressive as many had feared," one observer said.

Regarding the draft law on political parties, the assembly said the
"overwhelming majority of people" believed that now was not the right time
to form parties. "Taking into consideration the opinions of the people
[and]... notwithstanding the fact that, in principle, the formation of
political parties is acceptable and constitutional, the issue, should
however be postponed for the time being," the National Assembly resolved.

On the press law, the assembly underlined the importance of freedom of the
press, the official 'Shaebia' web site said. It accused the private press,
which was closed down last year following the arrest of 11 prominent
dissidents, of "divisive acts against the unity of the people". "Drawing
lessons from this negative experience and ascertaining the importance of
newspapers that value responsibility and professional ethics... the
National Assembly has authorised a committee that will prepare the ground
for the national press to enter a new, positive phase," the assembly
resolution said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20331]

ERITREA: Denmark to stop aid

The Danish government is to stop development assistance to Eritrea because
of its "assaults on democratic principles and human rights". The move is
part of a new Danish policy aimed at reviewing its assistance to
developing countries. "The government wishes to break with the habitual
thinking of years, which dictates that if only assistance increases,
everything will be good," an official Danish government report said. The
report, issued in January, summarises the government's review of
development and environmental assistance to developing countries. It said
assistance would be "reorientated" to promote sustainable development
through "poverty-oriented economic growth". "Together with its EU
partners, Denmark will make demands regarding good governance and the
willingness to increase respect for human rights and democracy in
development cooperation," the document said.

In Eritrea's case, bilateral programme cooperation would end in 2005,
starting with a "radical reduction" in 2002. Informed sources told IRIN
that direct bilateral aid, which amounted to US $12 million per year,
would be slashed to about $7 million with effect from this year, before
stopping altogether in 2005. But, the sources said, this did not affect
humanitarian assistance.

Eritrea's deputy ambassador to Kenya, Temedhin Temariam, criticised the
move saying "empty stomachs and empty minds cannot harbour democracy". "I
don't understand how stopping development aid for agriculture and
education can further the development of democracy and human rights in
Eritrea," he told IRIN on 1 February. "The biggest human right is the
right to life, which is the right to food. And education is a major source
of democracy." He added that the people and state of Eritrea would march
towards democracy, "but at our own pace". [Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20275&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ERITREA]

ETHIOPIA: Somali State officials vow to "rectify mistakes"

Senior officials of Ethiopia's Somali State have admitted making "some
errors", but have now pledged to improve their performance, the
pro-government Walta Information Centre reported. Speaking jointly at the
federal prime minister's office in connection with a Somali forum held in
Addis Ababa, Muhammad Dirir, the minister of mines, Abdirashid Dulane, the
president of the Somali State, and Dr Abdulmajid Husayn, the chairman of
the forum, said they had agreed to embark on better strategies aimed at
"eliminating the corruption, nepotism, narrow nationalism and ethnicity,
which are rampant in the state". "We have failed in a number of cases. We
have failed to keep pace with our brothers and sisters in the country.
Yes, we have failed to organise the people and make them benefit from
development activities," Walta quoted them as saying.

These pledges were the outcome of an eight-month evaluation of the Somali
State ruling party, the Somali People's Democratic Party (SPDP), and came
as part of the federal government's "Renewal Process", whereby national
and regional parties were asked to evaluate and criticise themselves,
local sources told IRIN on Thursday. The sources said the government had
called the SPDP leaders to the capital to "knock their heads together".
"It would be nice for them [party leaders] to return and start governing,"
the sources added. They said the SPDP was reportedly split into two
factions, which was why the evaluation had taken so long. [Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20438&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ETHIOPIA]

ETHIOPIA: "New era" in relations with Britain

Britain has pledged more than US $40 million to Ethiopia over the next
three years in the first aid agreement since the end of the war with
Eritrea. British Ambassador to Ethiopia Myles Wickstead said the
agreement, which was signed Wednesday, was a significant breakthrough for
both countries. "These are the first talks for four years and it is an
important signal of the strengthening relationship between our two
countries," he said at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa. Britain stopped
aid to Ethiopia, along with many countries around the world, after the
start of the devastating two-year war with Eritrea.

The ambassador said he believed Ethiopia would abide by the decision of
the Boundary Commission later this month, which will rule on delimitation
of the common border with Eritrea. "The government has made it very clear,
and it is on the record that it will accept the recommendations of the
Boundary Commission," he said. "We think that it is absolutely the right
attitude, and peace and stability are of course one of the preconditions
for economic growth and development."

The State Minister of Finance and Economic Development and head of the
Ethiopian delegation praised the new initiative. Dr Mulu Ketsela said the
time was right to foster greater trade and development between the two
countries. "We believe that the British government can be our invaluable
partner in our capacity development programme and also in the fight to
eradicate poverty so as to ensure economic growth," she said. [Full report
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20422]

ETHIOPIA: Over 200,000 under-fives have HIV/AIDS

Two hundred and fifty thousand children under the age of five are living
with the HIV/AIDS virus in Ethiopia, according to the ministry of health.
Desta Woldeyohanes, who heads the HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted
Diseases Prevention and Control Section of the ministry, said the children
had contracted the virus from their mothers. "The problem here is the
mothers are not getting tested before they get married, and the mothers
may be infected before marriage," she told IRIN. "While she is pregnant,
maybe the husband gets infected and passes the virus on to her and the
unborn child."

Ethiopia has the third highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in
the world. Only India and South Africa have a larger population living
with the virus. According to the ministry of health, around 3.2 million
people have contracted the virus in the country. As yet no official
figures exist on the number of children between the ages of five and 14
who have contracted the virus.

The virus has also orphaned a million children, placing a huge burden on
already overstretched social services. Desta said the ministry of health
was aiming to increase the number of counsellors in the country to work
with people who had HIV/AIDS. Speaking at the opening of a 10-day
workshop, she said up to 250 people would be trained by the ministry. The
ministry believes that by the year 2014, the number of orphans will reach
2.1 million. The Ethiopian government has identified AIDS as one of the
toughest issues it now faces, and has turned to the international
community for help. The World Bank has already given a US $59 million loan
to the government to help tackle the crisis. [Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20420&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ETHIOPIA]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Dates announced for Security Council mission

All 15 members of the UN Security Council will travel to Ethiopia and
Eritrea from 20 to 25 February to address the peace process between the
two neighbouring countries and to discuss the further implementation of
the Algiers peace accord, signed in December 2000. According to a
statement from the Security Council, the delegation will be headed by
Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby of Norway. The Council members are due to meet
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 22 February and
President Isayas Afewerki in Asmara, Eritrea, on 24 February. The mission
will also have other meetings in the two capitals and visit the Temporary
Security Zone.

"This is a very critical time in the promising peace process between
Ethiopia and Eritrea,"  Kolby said. "The upcoming determination by the
Boundary Commission and its implementation are pivotal steps towards
building a comprehensive and lasting peace. Norway is pleased to
contribute to this important process and welcomes the participation of all
15 members of the Security Council." [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20345]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: MCC meets in Djibouti

A delayed meeting of the Military Coordination Commission (MCC), which
took place in Djibouti on Tuesday, heard that there had been an
improvement in working relations with Eritrean liaison officers and
commanders. The 11th MCC meeting, postponed from 10 January over a
disagreement over the venue, was chaired by the Force Commander of the UN
Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Major-General Patrick Cammaert.
According to an UNMEE press release, the chairman explained that since the
last meeting, the Mission had improved its monitoring of a set of "blind
spots" north of the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) "through a combination
of prior-notification visits, intensified patrolling along major and
secondary access routes, and a general improvement of working relations
with Eritrean liaison officers and local commanders on the ground". As a
result, UNMEE had acquired a better overall understanding of these
restricted areas, he said. [Full report:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20419&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ERITREA-ETHIOPIA]


SUDAN: SPLM/A alleges cease-fire violations in Nuba

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) claimed on Wednesday
that Sudanese government forces had attacked its positions in the Nuba
Mountains region of Southern Kordofan, south-central Sudan, violating for
the second time a cease-fire agreement both parties had signed on 19
January. The SPLM/A spokesman, Samson Kwaje, told IRIN on Thursday that he
feared the six-month cease-fire deal was in danger of collapsing if the
international community failed to apply pressure on the Sudanese
government to honour its commitments under the agreement. "Khartoum has
broken it twice in 10 days, first on 23 January and then on 3 February.
This means they are not serious with their commitment. There are so many
agreements Khartoum has broken. They have never negotiated with us
faithfully," Kwaje said.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the rebel movement claimed that the
garrison commander of the Sudanese government forces at Reka Station had
"ordered two companies to move out of their base and [they then] opened
fire at our forces at Tasare in a determined attempt to provoke new
hostilities that would put into tatters the cease-fire". SPLA forces had
"withheld their fire in respect of the cease-fire agreement", Kwaje
claimed.

However, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdiery, charge d'affaires at the Sudanese
embassy in Nairobi, told IRIN on Thursday that there had been no shooting
incidents in the region since the cease-fire agreement came into effect on
22 January, and that a Joint Security Committee [JMC], appointed by both
parties to implement the cease-fire, was "already handling the situation
on the ground, and there has been no shooting at all". "The incident they
are referring to, in fact did not even happen. They are not even claiming
casualties," Dirdiery said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20442]

SUDAN: USAID says flight denials "stress" aid delivery

Despite significant improvement in humanitarian access to the Nuba
Mountains region, humanitarian flight denials are continuing to restrict
aid delivery to affected populations in parts of southern Sudan, according
to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). "These
denials significantly stress the delivery of humanitarian assistance to
Sudan's under-served populations," USAID said in its "Complex emergency
situation report for Sudan" on 31 January. Government of Sudan
humanitarian flight denials had reportedly increased significantly during
2001 in opposition-controlled locations in southern Sudan, particularly
affecting populations in Upper Nile, Western Bahr al-Ghazal, and Eastern
Equatoria, USAID said.

In the Nuba Mountains region, the humanitarian situation had been
"steadily improving" over the last few months, the USAID report said.
Following the visit to Sudan in November of the US peace envoy, John
Danforth, the Sudanese government agreed to a four-week period of
tranquillity in the Nuba Mountains, during which the UN World Food
Programme delivered some 2,039 mt of food aid. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20423]

SUDAN: Rights group decries "inhumane" sentences

Special "emergency courts" established in 2001 in Sudan are being used to
impose inhumane sentences such as death by stoning and amputations, Human
Rights Watch (HRW) said on 1 February. "These recent sentences from the
Sudan judicial system are nothing short of inhumane," Jemera Rone, Sudan
researcher for HRW said in a statement. According to HRW, "emergency
tribunals" were set up in 2001 under the state of emergency, originally
declared in December 1999 and renewed for the second time in December 2001
to last until the end of 2002, to deal summarily with crimes such as armed
robbery, murder, and arms smuggling.

The emergency tribunals were composed of one civil judge and two military
judges, and defendants were not allowed legal representation, and were
allowed only a week to appeal to the district chief justice, HRW said. The
lack of legal representation for the accused, the summary nature of the
proceedings, and the limited right of appeal "directly contravenes
international commitments that Sudan has adopted under the ICCPR
[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]". HRW cited the
cases of six men in in the western states of Northern Darfur and Southern
Darfur, who had been sentenced to limb amputations since December 2001 for
crimes such as robbery and illegal possession of weapons.

In a letter to Sudanese President Umar Hasan al-Bashir on 1 February, HRW
urged him to intervene to ensure that the "cruel and inhuman" sentences
were not carried out. According to HRW, the sentences contravene Article 7
of the ICCPR, which HRW cited as saying "no one shall be subjected to
torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Limb
amputations were cruel, inhuman and degrading because they mutilated the
convicted person, subjected him to discrimination and isolation, and
prevented him from taking part in most forms of gainful employment, HRW
said. According to HRW, inhumane sentences were also being passed outside
the scope of the emergency tribunals, in Sudan's criminal courts. HRW
cited the case of Abok Alfa Akok, a pregnant, 18 year-old southern
Sudanese woman sentenced to death by stoning for committing adultery.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=20279]


IRIN-CEA
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