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 104
31 August - 06 September 2002


CONTENTS:

DJIBOUTI: Multiparty politics approved
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Annan recommends extension of UNMEE mandate
ETHIOPIA: Government, UN appeal for aid after rains fail
ERITREA: Government appeals for urgent humanitarian aid
ERITREA: Government sets up demining authority
SOMALIA: IGAD ministerial meeting to be held on Friday
SOMALIA: Abducted UN employee freed
SOMALIA: Over 15 killed in Mogadishu fighting
SOMALIA: Gedo Region "temporarily" closed to UN
SOMALIA: Disputed regions "non-issue" for Puntland
SOMALIA: RRA leaders in talks with TNG
SUDAN: Annan urges sides to resume talks
SUDAN: Turabi transferred to jail
SUDAN: Over 500 child soldiers demobilised in south


DJIBOUTI: Multiparty politics approved

Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh has announced the introduction of
multiparty politics to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the country's
constitution on 4 September. In a speech to mark the occasion, the
president hailed the achievements of the Djibouti people over the last 10
years. He described the 10th anniversary as a "new departure" for the
country. "In keeping with this law on which our republican institutions
are based, our people will, from today [4 September], participate in the
process of multiparty politics," he said, according to the jibouti news
agency (ADI). He cautioned against tribalism, regionalism, demagogy,
disrespect for constitutional rule and violence. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29722]


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Annan recommends extension of UNMEE mandate

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended that the mandate of the UN
Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) be extended by six months. In his
latest progress report to the Security Council on the two countries, he
said the peacekeeping force was committed to playing its role throughout
the border demarcation process and contributing to stability on the
ground. For this reason, he recommended an extension of the mandate until
15 March 2003. UNMEE's current mandate expires on 15 September 2002. Annan
urged the two governments "to continue to display statesmanship" during
the demarcation phase, noting that the armies of both countries had
maintained a "relatively good level of cooperation" with UNMEE. "However
during recent months there has been an increase in the number of incidents
and subsequent accusations and counter-accusations by the parties of
physical assault and abduction of local populations on both sides of the
southern boundary of the [Temporary Security] Zone," he stated. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29717]


ETHIOPIA: Government, UN appeal for aid after rains fail

The Ethiopian government and the UN say nearly US $12 million is required
to stave off the effects of poor rains in the country. In a joint appeal
launched on Tuesday, the UN and the government's Disaster Prevention and
Preparedness Commission (DPPC) said the failure of rains in some parts of
the country had led to a further 2,347,715 people seeking additional or
continued relief assistance as of July 2002. Existing relief beneficiaries
were originally estimated at 3.6 million. The appeal notes that the
current food deficit for September-December 2002 now stands at 103,583 mt,
and is expected to rise once further assessments have been made. It
stressed that supplementary foods were essential and urgent interventions
were needed in non-food sectors such as health, water supply, agriculture
and livestock. Almost all regions of the country were affected, the
document noted, but particularly Afar; Shinile and Fik in the Somali
region; Harerge in the Oromiya region; the Southern Nations, Nationalities
and People's region (SNNP); and Tigray region. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29672]


ERITREA: Government appeals for urgent humanitarian aid

The Eritrean government has again appealed for urgent humanitarian
assistance to combat the effects of drought in the country. The Eritrean
Relief and Refugees Commission (ERREC) made the appeal last week at a
meeting in the capital, Asmara, attended by diplomats, NGO representatives
and UN officials. It called for 400,000 mt of grain "to avert the
impending humanitarian crisis that would result from this year's prolonged
drought". Eritrean radio said that a government, UN and NGO task force
formed last month had noted the current drought was "very severe" and
"requires an urgent and positive response".  A UN senior political affairs
officer, James Borton, told a press conference in Asmara on Friday it was
"quite a step" for the government to issue an appeal this early in the
year. "They are obviously very concerned that production will not be
anywhere near the targets they had hoped for," he said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29652]


ERITREA: Government sets up demining authority

After ordering most international demining groups to leave the country,
the Eritrean government has set up its own demining authority. According
to Eritrean radio, the authority will be tasked with "studying landmines
planted in the country, demining, and turning the mined areas into
productive land". It will also sensitise the public on mine awareness and
coordinate the demining programme in the country. The radio said that
following the end of the Eritrea-Ethiopia border war in 2000, five
international demining groups entered the country - Halo Trust, Danish
Church Aid, Danish Demining Group, Mine Awareness Trust and RONCO - to
demine the Temporary Security Zone between the two countries and develop
Eritrea's demining capacity. But Brigadier-General Abrahaley Kifle, who
heads Eritrea's Commission for Coordination with the UN peacekeeping
force, claimed some NGOs "were trying to overstay in the country by
operating in areas where there are no landmines", after the their
contracts expired in June. He said they were given a one-month ultimatum
to leave the country. He also accused some organisations of "only
collecting shrapnel". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29646]


SOMALIA: IGAD ministerial meeting to be held on Friday

A meeting of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
ministerial committee on Somalia is scheduled to take place on Friday in
the Kenyan capital Nairobi, an IGAD source told IRIN on Thursday. The IGAD
meeting - originally meant to bring together the so-called frontline
states of Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya - has now been expanded to include
all IGAD member states, the source said. The three countries had been
mandated to take the lead in preparing for the Somali reconciliation
conference, which is to be held in Eldoret, western Kenya. However their
work has been affected by a number of delays arising from differences
between them. Diplomatic sources told IRIN that "representatives of all
members of the ministerial committee on Somalia will be there". The full
IGAD committee on Somalia comprises Djibouti, Kenya, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Sudan, and Uganda. The meeting, to be held at Nairobi's Grand Regency
Hotel, will open on Friday morning "and will discuss, among other things,
the technical committee report", the sources said.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29725]


SOMALIA: Abducted UN employee freed

A UN employee who was abducted in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, last week
was freed on Wednesday, the UN announced in a statement. The Office of the
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia welcomed the release
of Muhammad Farah Omar, who works for the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO). It said he was set free "when factional fighting broke
out in north Mogadishu near the building where he was being held, close to
the Lafweyne Hotel". "His captors fled and Mr Omar was freed along with
five other Somalis who had been abducted and held there," the statement
said. "Mr Omar was taken for safekeeping to the UN compound, then checked
by a UN medical officer and returned to his family." Maxwell Gaylard, the
UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator said "this appalling wave of
criminal abductions" was not just affecting UN staff. "There are reports
that many more ordinary Somalis have also been kidnapped, including
children," the statement quoted him as saying. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29716]


SOMALIA: Over 15 killed in Mogadishu fighting

At least 15 people were killed and over 30 wounded in two days of fighting
in the north of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a local journalist told
IRIN on Wednesday. The fighting, in the districts of Karaan and Yaqshiid,
broke out early on Tuesday morning, when militia of the Warsangeli subclan
attacked militia forces belonging to the Agon-Yar subclan. Both groups
belong to the main Abgal clan. The fighting, which subsided later on
Tuesday, resumed on Wednesday morning. The fighting which was initially
confined to the Fagah road junction area has reportedly spread to all
parts of Yaqshiid and Karaan, a Mogadishu resident, Awil Hashi, told IRIN.
"We had a lull yesterday, but it is intensifying today," he said on
Wednesday. "This fighting is a continuation of earlier fighting between
the two sides in Mogadishu, in May," he added. In May, Warsangeli forces
loyal to the self-styled governor of Middle Shabelle, Muhammad Umar Habeb,
attacked and looted the home of Dahir Dayah, the interior minister of the
Transitional National Government (TNG). The minister is a member of the
Agon Yar subclan. "Each side is out to avenge perceived wrongs done to
them by the other side," the local journalist said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29696]


SOMALIA: Gedo Region "temporarily" closed to UN

The United Nations announced on Tuesday that it has temporarily closed
Gedo Region in southwestern Somalia to UN flights and international staff.
The closure comes one day after an aircraft carrying the UN Resident and
Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Max Gaylard, came under fire from a
local militia as it prepared to take off from Garbahaarey town. The region
was "temporarily closed to all UN air operations and international staff
ground operations due to insecurity", UN spokeswoman Sonya Green told
IRIN. She said the UN was "reviewing, gathering information and discussing
the extent and duration of the closure, given the humanitarian needs in
the region". Gedo Region has one of the most serious humanitarian
situations in Somalia, due to drought and persistent clan wars. A report
in July by the UN-EU Food Security Assessment Unit (FSAU) and USAID's
Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS) warned that up to 200,000
people in the region were considered to be vulnerable to food insecurity.
Green said that on Monday, local militia - hired to guard contracted
vehicles - opened fire on the plane operated by the UN Combined Air
Services (UNCAS) "in what is believed to be a dispute over payment". One
militiaman had "managed to fire seven shots at the plane and an employee
on the airstrip", she said, adding that no-one was injured and the plane
was not hit. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29674]


SOMALIA: Disputed regions "non-issue" for Puntland

The disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag are part of the self-declared
autonomous region of Puntland and therefore not an issue to be discussed
with another party, a senior Puntland official told IRIN on Monday. "The
people of Sool and Sanaag have decided they are part of Puntland, and for
us that is it," said Isma'il Warsame, Abdullahi Yusuf's chief of cabinet.
Warsame said Puntland President Abdullahi Yusuf had "no immediate plans to
visit the regions, but can do so anytime he wants as the leader of
Puntland". "As far as Puntland is concerned this is a non-issue," he
added. The regions which fall geographically within the borders of the
former British Somaliland, but where most of the clans are associated with
Puntland, are claimed by both Puntland and the self-declared republic of
Somaliland. Warsame told IRIN that relations with Somaliland were normal.
Both parties were interested in good neighbourliness and the economic and
security interests of both sides "make it imperative that we keep our
relations cordial". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29649]


SOMALIA: RRA leaders in talks with TNG

Talks between a deputy chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) and
the speaker of the Transitional National Assembly (TNA) are reported to
have taken place last week in Banaaney village of Qoryooley district, 130
km southeast of Mogadishu, a source close to the talks told IRIN on
Monday. The talks between Mohammed Ibrahim Habsade, deputy chairman of the
RRA and Abdalla Derow Isak, the TNA speaker - both members of the
Rahanweyn clan - were shrouded in secrecy, the source said. Following the
talks, Habsade went to Mogadishu - his first visit to the capital since
the establishment of the TNG in 2000.  Habsade, the second vice-chairman,
and Shaykh Adan Madobe, the first vice-chairman of the RRA, have fallen
out with the RRA chairman, Colonel Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud,
following fierce fighting in Baidoa in July. The fighting first broke out
in Baidoa, the headquarters of the RRA, on 1 July between forces loyal to
Shatigadud and those of his two deputies, in an apparent power struggle.
On 31 July, Shatigadud's forces managed to drive those of his opponents
out of the town and secure it. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29653]

SUDAN: Annan urges sides to resume talks

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday urged the Sudanese government
and southern rebels to return to the negotiating table and put an end to
the country's 19-year civil war. In a statement released by his office,
Annan called on the government and the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLM/A) "to build upon the progress made towards bringing
an end to devastating conflict in the Sudan". Sudanese government
negotiators walked out of talks on Monday after SPLM/A forces seized the
strategic southern town of Torit, located some 100 km southeast of the
Nile River port and the key government garrison town of Juba. US Assistant
Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner has also
expressed regret over the suspension of talks. "The United States is
deeply disappointed by the decision of the government of the Republic of
Sudan to withdraw its delegation from the Machakos talks," he said in a
statement. US involvement in the peace process, including the appointment
of a special envoy to Sudan, has been seen by many observers as a key
factor in bringing both sides to the negotiating table. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29730]


SUDAN: Turabi transferred to jail

Sudan's Islamist opposition leader, Hasan al-Turabi, who has been under
house arrest for the past year, has been transferred to prison, according
to media reports. Turabi, the former Speaker of parliament, was arrested
in February 2001 on charges of undermining the constitution and waging war
against the state. His arrest marked the end of a long power struggle with
President Umar al Bashir, whom he helped bring to power in a 1989 coup.
Turabi's transfer to jail follows a presidential decree extending his
house arrest for another year. The decision sparked violent protests from
his supporters, and attacks on prominent government officials in Khartoum.
Wisal al-Mahdi, Turabi's wife, complained that the authorities at Kober
Prison, in the north of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, were barring her
from visiting her husband, AFP reported. A regional analyst told IRIN on
Tuesday that Khartoum's decision to transfer Turabi to jail indicated it
was becoming "increasingly nervous" of his influence on the northern
population. "He is the major political threat to the government," the
analyst said. "He controls the Muslim extremist groups. They don't know
what he might do next." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29679]


SUDAN: Over 500 child soldiers demobilised in south

Some 562 child soldiers in southern Sudan have been released and reunited
with their parents under a new demobilisation programme being carried out
by the international organisation, Save the Children-Sweden. Alebel Derib,
the organisation's programme manager in southern Sudan, told IRIN on
Tuesday that the event - which took place between 3 and 10 August in Bor
North and South counties, Jonglei State - was the first in a series of
child demobilisations in the region. Most of the freed children were part
of a civil defence group charged with protecting the community and its
resources, he said. Prior to this, Save the Children-Sweden had identified
and registered 1,210 children serving with the rebel Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), which controls large swathes of
territory in the south of the country. "Many of them were serving as
community guards, protecting villages," Derib said. "This has to stop. We
have been raising awareness in the communities. They have agreed to get
the children back to school." According to Derib, the demobilisation is
being carried out with the support of the SPLM, which has developed a
policy against recruiting children as soldiers. "The movement no longer
has intentions to use children to fight," he said. "They have made a
commitment against using child soldiers."  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=29677]


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