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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 121
28 December 2002 - 03 January 2003


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: About 30 killed in renewed fighting in Puntland
SOMALIA: Puntland says Somaliland supporting dissident forces
SOMALIA: Swiss national shot dead in Somaliland
ETHIOPIA: More than 11 million face severe food shortages
ERITREA: Deadline passes for ending refugee status
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Annan says peace process "progressing steadily"
SUDAN: Sides accuse each other of violating peace deal


SOMALIA: About 30 killed in renewed fighting in Puntland

Fighting has again broken out around the villages of Jadid and Qararsoor
in the Qardho area, some 260 km south of Bosaso, the commercial capital of
the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, according to local
sources. The fighting pits forces loyal to Col Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad
against those of Jama Ali Jama, both of whom claim to be the legitimate
president of Puntland. The fighting, which broke out on Monday, follows
the failure of mediation efforts between the two sides by Qardho elders, a
local journalist told IRIN from Garowe, the region's administrative
capital. Isma'il Warsame, Abdullahi Yusuf's chief of cabinet, told IRIN
that the total death toll from both sides was around 30. "The numbers
being bandied around are exaggerated. Around 30 people were killed and
roughly 60 wounded," he said. However, sources in Garowe told IRIN that
the death toll was over 40, with twice that number wounded. According to
these sources, 55 injured militiamen were brought into Garowe in the last
couple of days, with another group, of unknown number, being sent to
Bosaso. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31550 ]

SOMALIA: Puntland says Somaliland supporting dissident forces

The Puntland authorities have accused the neighbouring self-declared
republic of Somaliland of supporting dissident forces, charges dismissed
by Somaliland. Abdishakur Mire Adan, the Puntland deputy information
minister, told IRIN on Friday that the Somaliland authorities were
supporting Jama's forces in order to destabilise Puntland. "We have
evidence that the Dahir Riyaleh [Somaliland president] administration has
given both financial and material support to the anti-Puntland forces,"
Abdishakur said. He also accused the Somaliland authorities of providing
Jama's forces with bases inside Somaliland. "We know they [Jama forces]
are in Erigavo, Aynabo, and Eil-Afweyn," he said. However, Abdullahi
Muhammad Duale, the Somaliland information minister, told IRIN that
Somaliland "has nothing to do with what is happening in Puntland". [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31564 ]

SOMALIA: Swiss national shot dead in Somaliland

A Swiss national was killed by gunmen on Monday night in Hargeysa, the
capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia,
according to local sources. The 29-year-old man was identified as Yuti
Martin, a Swiss businessman who was in Hargeysa to set up a poultry
project with Somali business associates, the sources told IRIN on
Thursday. He was killed when gunmen opened fire while he was standing in
front of a restaurant. The motive for the killing is unknown, but six
suspects are in police custody "helping police with their investigations",
Abdullahi Muhammad Duale, the Somaliland information minister told IRIN on
Thursday. Martin's body was sent home on Wednesday on a Somaliland
chartered aircraft via Addis Ababa, where it was transferred to a
Lufthansa flight to Switzerland, Duale told IRIN. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31551 ]

ETHIOPIA: More than 11 million face severe food shortages

More than 11 million Ethiopians are facing severe food shortages following
a prolonged dry spell leading to poor harvests in many parts of the
country, according to a joint report released on Monday by the UN Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food programme (WFP). A WFP
press release quoted the report as saying that the 2002 cereal and pulse
production of 9.2 million tonnes to be 25 per cent below the 2001 harvest.
"Late, poorly distributed and early cessation of the 2002 seasonal rains
were the main cause of the decline of grain production," it said. As a
result, Ethiopia will need to import 2.3 million tonnes of cereal for
2002. With 328,000 tonnes of commercial imports forecast, a deficit of 1.8
million tonnes remains. "This deficit will have to be covered by a
combination of emergency food aid and bilateral donations," the report
said." [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31526 ]

ERITREA: Deadline passes for ending refugee status

With the deadline for the cessation of refugee status for Eritreans
expiring on 31 December, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) says thousands are
seeking continued refugee status, while others have asked to be taken home
or have applied to remain as immigrants. Neighbouring Sudan hosts the
largest number of refugees, and the number of Eritreans seeking interviews
to determine their need for continued protection more than doubled in the
two weeks before the deadline, UNHCR said.  It said Eritrean refugees were
also asking to join repatriation convoys from Sudan, which are due to
resume on Sunday after a six-month gap due to heavy rains and tension in
Sudan's border region with Eritrea. More than 20,000 people have so far
registered to return home once the convoys resume. A total of 103,000
refugees, out of over 320,000 in Sudan, have returned since May 2001.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31552 ]

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Annan says peace process "progressing steadily"

The peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea is progressing steadily,
despite difficulties and delays, according to UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, as quoted in a report to the Security Council on 27 December. In
it, Annan said that since the ceasefire agreement was signed between the
two countries in June 2000, Ethiopia had released all remaining Eritrean
prisoners of war, adding that he was encouraged by the fact that there had
been no ceasefire violations since the establishment of the Temporary
Security Zone. "I hope that these achievements, which are a credit to the
parties, will be carried forward," Annan is quoted as saying. He noted
that the peace process was now about to enter the crucial phase of border
demarcation, with all its legal, humanitarian and human rights
implications. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31529 ]

SUDAN: Sides accuse each other of violating peace deal

Recent claims by Sudanese rebels accusing the government of violating a
peace agreement have raised fears of a resumption of hostilities between
the two sides and cast a cloud over ongoing peace talks. The Sudan
People's Liberation Movement/Army on Tuesday claimed that government
soldiers and militia forces had launched surprise attacks on the
rebel-held town of Tam in the Western Upper Nile region, and on Reang,
east of Koch in southern Sudan. It said the attacks were repulsed by the
SPLA. SPLM/A spokesman Samson Kwaje also accused Sudanese President Umar
Hassan al Bashir of "beating war drums" via the Khartoum media. Under the
terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in November at the
end of the latest round of peace talks underway in Kenya, the parties
agreed on a cessation of hostilities throughout the country. The agreement
was to last until the end of March 2003. Peace talks are due to resume in
the Kenyan town of Machakos later this month. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=31554 ]


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