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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 112
26 October - 01 November 2002


CONTENTS:

HORN OF AFRICA: US admits sending more troops
SOMALIA: Truce agreement signed at Eldoret conference
SOMALIA: Annan hails truce accord
SUDAN: Landmark aid deal signed
SUDAN: Government casts doubt over talks
SUDAN: Talisman sells controversial oil stake
SUDAN: Human rights still problematic - UN
ERITREA-SUDAN: Refugee agency unaware of forced repatriations
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UNMEE head regrets "mistakes" in peace process
ERITREA: Asmara condemns "axis of belligerence"
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Addis calls for end to Eritrea's "aggressive posturing"
ETHIOPIA: Largest-ever polio vaccination campaign under way
ETHIOPIA: UN urges end to "collective punishment" for farmers
ETHIOPIA: Britain returns sacred treasure

ALSO SEE:

ERITREA: Interview with opposition figure, Hiruy Tedla Bairu at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30644

ETHIOPIA: Interview with Yves Gazzo, EU representative at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30618

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Interview with outgoing UNMEE commander Maj-Gen Patrick
Cammaert at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30603

HORN OF AFRICA: US admits sending more troops

Top US commander Gen Tommy Franks has admitted sending additional forces
to the Horn of Africa to help in the global fight against terrorism.
Addressing a briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday, Franks - who is the
commander of the US Central Command - said 700 to 800 troops had been sent
to Djibouti. "We do have more forces in that region [Horn], down around
Djibouti," he said. "If you look at the global war on terrorism, then what
you see... we said a long time ago, first off we're going to rout the
terrorists out of Afghanistan and get rid of the Taliban. "We also said
that there are going to be some friendly nations and we're going to want
to work with them in order to help them help themselves get over the
terrorist problem. And we also said it may be necessary from time to time
to coerce others to get rid of the terrorist problem." [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30661 ]

SOMALIA: Truce agreement signed at Eldoret conference

After days of delay and disagreement at the Somali peace talks, Somalia's
various political factions and the Transitional National Government (TNG)
signed a temporary ceasefire on 27 October. The groups, meeting in the
western Kenyan town of Eldoret, agreed to suspend all hostilities for the
duration of the Somali national reconciliation conference, a source close
to the talks told IRIN. Under the agreement, in addition to the ceasefire,
Somalis committed themselves to abide by the final outcome of the
conference, to set up an all-inclusive federal system of government, to
combat terrorism and to enhance the safety of aid workers in the country.
Participants believe the accord will succeed if the international
community is committed to its implementation. "It will work if the various
factions believe that this time the international community is serious
about the peace process," Abdikarim Ahmad Ali, a minister in the TNG, told
IRIN. He said if the political groups saw a real commitment to
implementing the agreement "then it will hold". [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30619 ]

SOMALIA: Annan hails truce accord

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has hailed the signing of a truce
agreement by Somalia's various political factions and the TNG. He urged
the Somali parties to abide fully by their commitments and to move into
the next phase of the reconciliation process "with determination and a
true spirit of reconciliation", a statement issued by his spokesman said.
Voicing concern about continued violence and insecurity in parts of
Somalia, the statement called for an immediate end to all fighting,
pointing out that the clashes not only undermined the reconciliation
process but also impeded the provision of humanitarian and development
assistance in the country. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30703 ]

SUDAN: Landmark aid deal signed

The Sudanese government, the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A) and the United Nations system on Saturday signed an historic
agreement allowing unimpeded humanitarian access to hundreds of thousands
of people in Sudan. "In the whole history of OLS we have never had
unfettered access. Some places we know are facing dire conditions and we
can expect the demands to be extraordinary," Ronald Sibanda, of the UN's
Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), said in a statement. The arrangement would
last from 1 November and until the end of 2002, when peace talks being
held in Kenya under the aegis of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority
on Development (IGAD) are scheduled to end. The World Food Programme
estimated the agreement would enable the UN food agency to provide food
aid to an additional 558,000 people, on top of the 3 million people
already targeted for assistance. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30620 ]

SUDAN: Government casts doubt over talks

The Sudanese government has claimed southern rebels have violated an
agreed truce, putting in doubt the future of peace talks to bring an end
to the country's 19-year civil war. "If the GOS [Government of Sudan]
troops are compelled to intervene or [are] thus drawn in any new fighting
over there, this could do away with the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]
altogether," a statement from the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi said.
According to the statement, the forces of an SPLM/A-allied militia on
Thursday morning attacked the towns of Koch and Thorken in western Upper
Nile (Wahdah State). No comment was immediately available from the SPLM/A.
The government delegation to the peace talks in Machakos, Kenya, has made
an official complaint about the attack to the special envoy of the IGAD,
which is coordinating the talks. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30602 ]

SUDAN: Talisman sells controversial oil stake

Canadian oil company Talisman Energy on Wednesday announced the sale of
its Sudanese oil interests, saying it would end uncertainty over their
future. "Shareholders have told me they were tired of continually having
to monitor and analyse events relating to Sudan," Talisman president and
chief executive officer, Jim Buckee, said in a statement. Talisman's 25
percent share in the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company (GNPOC)
would be sold to ONGC Videsh Ltd, a subsidiary of India's national oil
company, for US $758 million, and would be completed by the end of the
year, the statement said. Talisman has come under fire from human rights
groups, which have argued that the company's four-year involvement served
to support the forced displacement of people to make way for oil
exploration, and that oil revenues have been used by the Sudanese
government for arms purchases. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30681 ]

SUDAN: Human rights still problematic - UN

Continued abuses by both the government and rebels means there has been no
overall improvement in the human rights situation in Sudan, a UN report
says. In his report to the UN General Assembly last week, Gerhart Baum,
the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Sudan, said he had "continued to
receive information pointing to the perpetration by all parties to the
conflict of numerous serious violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law". Among the main issues of concern were those related to
the continuing state of emergency, the "virtual impunity" enjoyed by the
security services, the persistence of press censorship and the limited
room for the political activities of opposition parties, the report said.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30645 ]

ERITREA-SUDAN: Refugee agency unaware of forced repatriations

The UN refugee agency UNHCR has said it is not aware of plans for the
forced repatriation of Eritrean refugees from Sudan following assertions
by Asmara that Eritreans are being "relocated" by the Sudanese
authorities. According to the Eritrean Relief and Refugee Commission
(ERREC), the Sudanese authorities have "started deviating" from agreed
procedures on the repatriation of Eritrean refugees. In a statement, it
said ERREC officials were "unjustifiably expelled" from Sudan and life for
many Eritrean refugees in Sudan was "becoming increasingly unbearable".
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30708 ]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UNMEE head regrets "mistakes" in peace process

The head of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), Legwaila
Joseph Legwaila, has expressed regret that details of "confidential" talks
with the Ethiopian government were passed on to journalists. His comments
follow an official protest by the UN after Ethiopian militia earlier this
month illegally entered the demilitarised Temporary Security Zone (TSZ)
between Ethiopia and Eritrea, and threatened UN peacekeepers. The details
were passed on to journalists during a weekly press briefing, three days
after the Ethiopians said they would investigate the incident. In an
interview with Ethiopian television, Legwaila said he would never release
details of confidential meetings unless both governments agreed in
advance. "But I have always said to everybody, by the way, the people who
are handling this peace process are human beings and the governments are
also run by human beings," he said. "Once in a while there will be
mistakes." [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/pr!
int.asp?ReportID=30622 ]

ERITREA: Asmara condemns "axis of belligerence"

Eritrea has reacted strongly to accusations by Ethiopia that it is playing
a "subversive" role in the Horn of Africa. In a statement, the Eritrean
foreign ministry condemned the "official announcement" by the Ethiopian
government that it had formed an "axis" with Sudan and Yemen "to
perpetrate acts of subversion and aggression against Eritrea". Earlier
this week, the Ethiopian information ministry issued a statement saying
the three countries had "agreed to act together" to stop Eritrea from
"destabilising" the region. Eritrea said this "axis of belligerence
against a sovereign state" violated international law and the UN Charter.
"Each of the three countries of the Axis has been individually pursuing
bellicose policies of aggression and subversion against Eritrea for the
past years," the statement said. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=30707 ]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Addis calls for end to Eritrea's "aggressive posturing"

The Ethiopian government has called on the international community to help
curb what it describes as Eritrean aggression in the Horn of Africa. A
statement issued by the information ministry accused the Eritrean
government of playing a "subversive" role in the region. It also said that
Yemen, Sudan and Ethiopia would "act together" to prevent the tiny Red Sea
country from "destabilising" the Horn. "The Eritrean government is in a
state of hostility with the Sudan and Yemen too," the Ethiopian statement
said. "The world is well aware of the worst form of human rights
violations which the Eritrean regime is perpetrating over its own people.
The task of dealing with this belligerent and aggressive government within
Eritrea is the exclusive duty of the Eritrean people. However countries of
the subregion have to work together to stop the regime from destabilising
our region," it added. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30639 ]

ETHIOPIA: Largest-ever polio vaccination campaign under way

Ethiopia launched its biggest-ever polio vaccination campaign on 24
October as it was revealed that the country is almost totally free of the
virus. More than 14 million children are to be targeted in the final
immunisation in Ethiopia, in which more than 74,000 volunteers will take
part. The Ethiopian army has also been mobilised to help with the campaign
in areas which are deemed insecure. "It is the largest mass immunisation
thus far in this country," World Health Organisation representative Angela
Benson said at the launch. It also emerged that no cases of wild
poliovirus had occurred in Ethiopia for the last 20 months since January
2001 - a major breakthrough for the country. [full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30601 ]

ETHIOPIA: UN urges end to "collective punishment" for farmers

The UN's Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia has called for the abolition of
"collective punishments" imposed on farmers who cannot afford to repay
fertiliser debts. In a report on the surplus-producing areas of Gojam and
Awi in the north of the country, it noted that weather conditions and the
debt policy were hitting crop production. Harvests were declining in areas
where officials punished entire villages when some farmers did not repay
debts for agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertiliser, the report
said. Under a rural development plan, farmers can only get credit for
seeds and fertiliser if 85 percent of the debt of the local kebele
(district) has been repaid. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30663 ]

ETHIOPIA: Britain returns sacred treasure

A sacred treasure, plundered by British troops more than a century ago,
has been returned to Ethiopia. An amulet, worn by Emperor Tewodros II in
1868, was brought back to Ethiopia by one of the leading campaigners for
the return of treasures plundered from the country. Richard Pankhurst, a
Briton living in Ethiopia, travelled to the UK to receive the historic
relic from a private collector. "It is unique and the only one of its
kind," a delighted Prof Pankhurst told IRIN. "It is impossible to put a
material value on it, because there is nothing quite like it." Tewodros
wore the amulet - a lucky charm made of parchment with ancient religious
Ge'ez writing on it - during the battle of Maqdala against the British in
1868. British troops stormed and pillaged the then capital of Abyssinia
during a mission to secure the release of two British envoys being held
captive by Tewodros. The emperor shot himself rather than face defeat.
[Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=30683 ]


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