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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 120
21 - 27 December 2002


CONTENTS:

ERITREA: Thousands may starve, WFP warns
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: New UNMEE deputy representative appointed
SUDAN: Nuba ceasefire extended
SUDAN: State of emergency extended
SOMALIA: Peace talks adjourned
SOMALIA: Four school killed in bus attack

ERITREA: Thousands may starve, WFP warns

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) on 20 December warned that there would
not be enough food supplies to care for about one million Eritreans in the
coming months. In a statement, Patrick Buckley, the WFP country
representative for Eritrea, said the prospect of thousands starving was a
"stark reality". "Ships carrying food aid from abroad take months to
arrive," he stated. "Considering the magnitude of the crisis at hand, each
day is critical." WFP said it had only received US $9 million of food and
cash contributions against a request last month for $105 million. "Unless
firm donations are urgently made within the next few weeks, there will be
a break in supply from April onwards," the statement warned. Earlier last
week, the UN Children's Fund warned that 2.8 million Eritreans - over half
the population - were experiencing pre-famine conditions due to the
devastating drought currently gripping the country. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31457]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: New UNMEE deputy representative appointed

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a new deputy special
representative for the UN mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE). Angela
Kane, a German national, currently the Director of the Americas and Europe
Division of the UN's Department of Political Affairs, would be based in
the Eritrean capital, Asmara, a UN statement said on 20 December. She will
be one of two UNMEE deputy special representatives. The other deputy,
Cheikh-Tidiane Gaye, is based in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Kane
has worked in the UN system for 25 years in a variety of political and
managerial positions. Her appointment would be effective on 15 January
2003, said the statement.

SUDAN: Nuba ceasefire extended

The Sudanese government and southern rebels have extended for the second
time a ceasefire agreement in the Nuba Mountains region until mid-2003,
according to news agencies. "This is indeed a great moment for all the
people of the Nuba Mountains... The Nuba people have for years been in the
front line of the war and without adequate humanitarian support," Jan Erik
Wilhelmsen, chairman of the international Joint Military Commission, the
body charged with overseeing the ceasefire, was quoted as saying by
Reuters. The government and the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army-Nuba (SPLM/A-Nuba) originally signed the renewable six-month
ceasefire in the 80,000 sq km Nuba Mountains region of Southern Kordofan
State, on 19 January this year, following a proposal made by US peace
envoy John Danforth. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31490]

SUDAN: State of emergency extended

Sudan's parliament on Monday approved the extension of a state of
emergency for a fourth year, news agencies reported. Despite being imposed
for an initial period of three months, the state of emergency has been in
effect continuously since its original imposition in December 1999, when
Sudanese President Umar Hasan al-Bashir also sacked Islamist leader Hasan
al-Turabi as Speaker of parliament, Reuters said. The Sudanese government
says the continuation is necessary as a result of security concerns,
including those arising from the country's 19-year civil war. "The
decision was taken in Monday's session after parliament ratified reports
explaining security justifications which require extending the state of
emergency," Reuters quoted the Sudan News Agency as saying. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31498]

SOMALIA: Peace talks adjourned

The Somali peace talks currently under way in the western Kenyan town of
Eldoret have been adjourned until after the Kenyan elections, according to
a source close to the talks. The talks being held since 15 October under
the auspices of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development
(IGAD) "will break for the Christmas holidays and the Kenyan elections
[scheduled for 27 December]" Peter Nyaga, of the press liaison centre of
the Kenyan foreign ministry, told IRIN on Tuesday. "The talks will resume
in earnest by Monday [30 December]", he said. Nyaga added that most of the
Somali delegates were still in Eldoret, but that most of the facilitators,
"including the IGAD technical committee, are out of town". Also leaving
Eldoret were the surplus delegates, whose transport costs back to Somalia
were being met by IGAD, Somali sources told IRIN. "People have been
leaving all this week. In fact, there is a plane leaving this morning [24
December] for Somalia," said one source. Last week the Somalis agreed to
reduce the number of delegates from over 700 to 300. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31485]

SOMALIA: Four children killed in bus attack

At least four students were killed and 15 others wounded when heavily
armed gunmen opened fire on a school bus in south Mogadishu on Wednesday,
a local journalist told IRIN on Thursday. The incident took place in
Wardigley district when the gunmen attacked the bus shortly after it had
picked up the students from the Ahmad Gurey School, near Ali Kamiin
junction. "Those killed were between the ages 16 and 19," said the source.
The motive for the attack is unclear, but is reported to be related to
infighting between two Hawiye clans - the Saleeban (Habar Gedir) and
Murusade. "There has been continuous skirmishing between the two sides in
the last couple of days," said the journalist. The attack on the bus
followed an increase in robberies, car-jackings, kidnappings and general
banditry in the city over the last few months, sources told IRIN. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31496]


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