U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 78
23 February - 01 March 2002


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Mogadishu still too dangerous for UN, Annan says
SOMALIA: UNICEF employee kidnapped in Mogadishu
SOMALIA: At least 12 killed in Mogadishu fighting
SOMALIA: Telecommunications in Baidoa partially restored
ETHIOPIA: Envoy denies interference in Somalia
ETHIOPIA: EU donates largest-ever grant
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Security Council urges restraint ahead of border ruling
SUDAN: Helicopter fires on fleeing civilians, kills 17
SUDAN: Anti-torture group expresses concern at amputations

ALSO SEE:

SUDAN: Focus on oil-related clashes in western Upper Nile at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=23300


SOMALIA: Mogadishu still too dangerous for UN, Annan says

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said the security situation in
Mogadishu is still too uncertain for a long-term UN security presence in
the Somali capital. In a report to the Security Council, Annan stated that
Somalia remained one of the most dangerous environments in which the UN
operates. "Security conditions for United Nations staff vary radically
from place to place and are difficult to predict," he said. "In
particular, the security situation in Mogadishu does not allow for a
long-term United Nations presence... Under these circumstances, a
comprehensive peace-building programme cannot yet be launched in Somalia."

"The lack of a single authority through which the United Nations can
engage within Mogadishu and the continued closure of the air and sea ports
do not bode well for an increased United Nations presence there," he
added. But, he said, UN programmes would be expanded through humanitarian
and development projects, as well as specific peace-building activities,
such as community-based initiatives, reduction of small arms, police
training and quick impact projects to improve security.

Annan said although the Security Council had noted that the Arta peace
process, which brought in the Transitional National Government (TNG), was
the most viable basis for peace and reconciliation in Somalia, this
process was currently "incomplete". Reconciliation was "stymied", and
there was also a divergence of views among members of the regional
grouping, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which is
trying to promote peace and reconciliation in Somalia. However, he
expressed "cautious optimism" that a way forward could be found in the
national reconciliation process. "This will require political will on the
part of the Somali political leaders and the sustained encouragement and
support of Somalia's immediate neighbours and of the wider international
community," Annan said. Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=23213]

SOMALIA: UNICEF employee kidnapped in Mogadishu

A national officer working for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in
Mogadishu was kidnapped by gunmen in the south of the city on Thursday, a
UNICEF spokesman told IRIN on Friday. The spokesman added, however, that
UNICEF lacked further information and the "biggest concern is for the
safety and wellbeing" of the staff member. The man Ahmad Ma'alin Muhammad,
better known as 'Dishapilin', was walking from his house in Medina,
southwest Mogadishu, towards his office on Thursday morning "when four men
in a Land Rover Defender kidnapped him", a source in Mogadishu told IRIN.
According to the source, two of the kidnappers were armed with AK-47
assault rifles. It is unclear why Ahmad was kidnapped, where he is being
held and by whom. "He is definitely somewhere in south Mogadishu," a
humanitarian source in Mogadishu told IRIN. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=23398]


SOMALIA: At least 12 killed in Mogadishu fighting

Fighting erupted in Mogadishu's southwest Medina district on Monday
morning, leaving at least 12 people dead and an unknown number of others
wounded, local sources told IRIN on Tuesday. he fighting broke out at 1000
local time (0700 GMT) when militia loyal to Mogadishu faction leader Muse
Sudi Yalahow attacked supporters of Umar Mahmud Muhammad Finish, his
former right-hand man and deputy, a local resident said. Both Yalahow and
Finish belong to the Da'ud subclan of the Abgal clan. The fighting died
down on Monday evening, but resumed on Tuesday "when Yalahow forces
supported by troops of [faction leader] Husayn Aydid attacked our
positions", Abdullahi Shaykh Hasan, a spokesman for Finish, told IRIN. The
fighting started when Yalahow's forces tried to recapture the Jazira
airstrip, which is currently controlled by troops loyal to Finish,
Abdullahi said. Yalahow lost the airstrip last December. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22822]

Meanwhile, a Swiss aid worker, murdered in the town of Marka on Friday, 22
February, was on Monday described as an "angel of mercy" by local
residents. Aw-Maye Shuja'a Sufi, a local elder, told IRIN that 70 year-old
Verena Karer was "one of us". "The whole town is saddened by her death,"
he said. Karer, who arrived in Marka - 100 km south of Mogadishu - as a
voluntary nurse in 1993, at the height of the famine in Somalia, was
killed by two gunmen on Friday night, Muhammad Dahir, an employee of a
local nongovernmental organisation (NGO), told IRIN. She was murdered in
the compound of a secondary school she had built and opened late last
year. Police investigators dispatched from Mogadishu by the TNG confirmed
to IRIN they had arrested three male suspects. "I cannot give you any more
details on the investigation, except to say it is still ongoing, and we
should be able to issue a statement soon," a police source said. [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22480]

SOMALIA: Telecommunications in Baidoa partially restored

Telecommunications in the town of Baidoa, which had earlier been
disconnected from the rest of Somalia, have been partially restored,
Baidoa governor Muhammad Ali Adan Qalinle told IRIN on Thursday. The town
is controlled by the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA), which closed down
all telecommunications on 18 February amid reports of military movements
in the area. The move followed fighting in neighbouring Gedo Region,
pitting forces of the pro-TNG Juba Valley Alliance against the opposition
Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC). Such a move by the
RRA was usually a prelude to troop movements, humanitarian sources told
IRIN at the time.

Only one telecommunications firm - the Baidoa branch of the Olympic
Company - has been allowed to reopen, according to Qalinle, the RRA
governor. He said the other companies would be allowed "to reopen soon",
but declined to explain the delay. The NationLink telecommunications
company and Barakaat both have branches in Baidoa. Local sources told IRIN
that Olympic restored its services at 2300 local time on Wednesday, adding
that the company was restricting international access to "senior RRA
officials and officials of international aid agencies - probably on the
instructions of the RRA". Ordinary residents were not yet allowed to make
calls to foreign countries, the sources added.

Qalinle refused to define who was and who was not permitted to make
international calls. He also declined to explain why the RRA had shut down
telecommunications in the first place, stating: "We had our reasons." He
went on to tell IRIN that some RRA senior officials had left for Ethiopia
on Wednesday. "The RRA's secretary-general and its secretary for defence
left for Ethiopia yesterday [Wednesday] to attend a meeting of the SRRC,"
he said. Other sources in Baidoa told IRIN that two SRRC senior officials
- General Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan and Abdullahi Shaykh Isma'il - had
also departed for Addis Ababa.

ETHIOPIA: Envoy denies interference in Somalia

Ethiopia's envoy to the UN has dismissed as "preposterous" claims by
Djibouti that his country is interfering in Somalia's affairs. Addressing
a press conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, on Wednesday,
Ambassador Abd al-Majid Husayn said Ethiopia would never interfere with
another state but added that "instability" in Somalia was spilling over
the border into his country. The Djibouti foreign ministry earlier this
week criticised Abd al-Majid over an interview he gave to the Reuters news
agency, in which he was quoted as saying that if Somalis did not solve
their problems "we will do it for them". According to Reuters, he also
warned that Ethiopia would "change the rules of the game" in Somalia.

But Abd al-Majid, who is an ethnic Somali, said he had been misquoted by
the news agency, and that Djibouti should have sought clarification before
issuing its statement. He added that nations should stop speaking on
behalf of Somalia and let the country sort out its problems. Ethiopia
"takes great exception when tiny states take that mantle and behave like
they are the superpower of the region", he said. "Djibouti and Ethiopia
are two friendly countries... It is not in their interest to create
trouble for us, and it’s not in our interest to create trouble for them."

However, he insisted there were elements within Somalia’s TNG who had
links to terrorists. "So the sooner they get rid of those elements linked
with the terrorists then the better for everybody in the sub-region," he
told reporters. He added that Ethiopia had "deferred" recognition of any
ruling body in Somalia "until there is a broad-based government". "Until
that is done we are not going to recognise any government," he said. [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=23245; also see:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22823]

ETHIOPIA: EU donates largest-ever grant

The European Union (EU) has given its largest-ever grant to Ethiopia to
help rebuild the crumbling transport infrastructure and fight poverty.
More than four billion Ethiopian birr (around US $480 million) have been
donated by the EU's 15 member states. Half the money - which covers the
years 2002 to 2007 - will be used for transport and building roads. A
spokesman for the EU told IRIN on Thursday that successive droughts faced
by the country and its trading agreements with EU countries were behind
the decision to donate such a large sum. "Ethiopia is one of the biggest
beneficiaries for this period," he said. "It will have some impact on the
Ethiopian economy in areas like poverty reduction. But this is difficult
to measure."

Ethiopian Minister of Finance and Economic Development Sufyan Ahmad and
Deputy Director-General for Development of the European Commission
Athanassios Theodorakis signed the agreement, called the Country Strategy
Paper (CSP). Theodorakis told a press conference the agreement "is a sign
of the long and healthy relations between the EU and Ethiopia". [Full
report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=23282]


ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Security Council urges restraint ahead of border ruling

A UN Security Council mission, which recently visited Eritrea and
Ethiopia, has expressed satisfaction that a final legal settlement of the
border issue is on the verge of completion. In a report on its mission to
the two countries last week, the high-level delegation, led by Ambassador
Ole Peter Kolby of Norway, congratulated the leaders of both nations on
the progress made in the peace process. The report also welcomed
statements by both sides reaffirming that the border decision - due to be
delivered this month by an independent Boundary Commission in The Hague -
is "final and binding".

"The international community attaches the highest importance to this
decision and praises the resolution by peaceful means of the border
conflict," the report stated. "The commitments of both parties [to the
decision] represent a pivotal measure of their dedication to the peace
process." Ethiopia and Eritrea went to war over a border dispute in 1998,
which lasted for two years.

"The delegation urges, however, both sides to refrain from any action that
could have destabilising effects - including population movements and
movements of troops and militia - until procedures for transfer of
territorial control are agreed upon," the report said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=23396]

[See also: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22392;
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22479; and:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22451]

SUDAN: Helicopter fires on fleeing civilians, kills 17

A government helicopter-gunship specifically targeted the homes of
civilians and fired on people as they ran for cover during an attack on a
relief food distribution in one of Sudan's key oil-producing regions last
week, according to humanitarian sources. It hovered over a compound
housing several aid agencies before firing horizontally, aiming at
civilian homes, according to relief workers citing civilians who fled the
village of Bieh, western Upper Nile, after the attack. "Rockets were used
to blow up tukul [house] after tukul with people inside, followed by
machine guns aimed at those running for cover," sources informed IRIN. The
US government on Thursday 21 February said it would suspend peace
discussions with Khartoum until it received a "full and complete
explanation" for the attack, which took place on Wednesday 20 February
during a government-approved distribution of relief food to some 10,000
people in the area.

Although initial reports said 17 people had died in the attack, more
recent information has suggested that at least 24 people were killed, and
the figure could be higher still, according to informed sources. Because
many people had been killed while still inside their tukuls, it had been
difficult to ascertain the exact number of casualties. Civilians caught
inside their homes when the gunship opened fire had been "burned beyond
recognition", making it difficult even to tell whether the victims were
male or female, according to one account. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=23107]

The Sudanese government announced on Saturday that it would investigate
the 20 February helicopter attack. "The Ministry of Defence has formed a
high-level commission of inquiry to investigate what happened in the Bieh
region in Unity [Wahdah] State and submit its findings and recommendations
quickly to the specialised quarters," the Sudanese foreign ministry said
in a statement broadcast on Sudan TV. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=22583]

SUDAN: Anti-torture group expresses concern at amputations

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMTC) on Tuesday expressed its
urgent concern that the government of Sudan appears to have resumed the
punishment of amputation of limbs, "and that it is beginning
systematically to execute sentences of amputation given in 2000 and 2001".
It said in a statement that it had received information from one of its
partner organisations, the Sudanese Victims of Torture Group (SVTG), that
46-year-old Anthony James Ladou Wani had had his right hand amputated on
24 January after his conviction on charges of stealing motor-vehicle
spares. Wani was sentenced in May 2000 after a trial in which he had no
legal representation, because he was unable to pay for it, and had been
detained since in Kober prison, in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum,
according to the Swiss-based organisation.

The punishment of amputation "is against the Government of Sudan's
international obligations, with regards to Article 5 of The Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and Article 7 of The International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights", according to the OMTC. The use of amputation
as a punishment was also prohibited under the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which has
been ratified by Sudan, it said. In its statement, the OMTC called on
Khartoum to "immediately stop the inhuman practice of amputation" and to
abolish the use of amputation - enshrined in the Sudanese Criminal Act
1991 - as a method of punishment. It also urged the Sudanese authorities
to commute all sentences of amputation, ensure access to legal
representation and guarantee a right of appeal for all individuals.

Muhammad Ahmad Dirdiery, charge d'affaires at the Sudanese embassy in
Nairobi, told IRIN on Wednesday that amputations were among the
punishments set out under Shari'ah law, and which are practised throughout
the Islamic world, not just in Sudan. "The punishments are part of our
religion. Amputation as a punishment occurs throughout the Islamic world,
so why single out Sudan?" he asked. International human rights conventions
to which Sudan is a signatory do not prohibit the Islamic interpretation
of human rights, according to Dirdiery. "Because we are part of those
conventions does not means we are denied our right to practice Shari'ah.
There is a cross-cultural interpretation of human rights, and the
Euro-northern hegemony of culture is not our interpretation," he said.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=23110]


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