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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 188
12 - 18 April 2003


CONTENTS:

ERITREA: British national killed
ERITREA: Chapter with Ethiopia closed, Isayas says
ETHIOPIA: Border commission accused of "belittling" calls for change
ETHIOPIA: Anti-HIV/AIDS drugs to be produced locally
ETHIOPIA: Rights group calls for details of 39 "disappeared" people
ETHIOPIA: Swedish aid may be pulled if war resumes with Eritrea
SOMALIA: Human rights should be "at forefront" of peace talks - Amnesty
SOMALIA: Somaliland preliminary results due on Friday
SOMALIA: Italian woman wins UNHCR award for work with Somalis
SOMALIA: TNG sacks ministers
SOMALIA: UN discusses improving arms embargo implementation

ALSO SEE:

SOMALIA: Interview with UN Representative Maxwell Gaylard at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33540

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Interview with Stein Villmustad of Norwegian Church Aid at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33539

ETHIOPIA: Interview with senior water ministry official Tamene Gossa at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33480


ERITREA: British national killed

A British national working in Eritrea was killed in the western Bisha area
at the weekend, the British embassy confirmed on Thursday. The man,
Timothy Nutt, was working for the Canadian Nevsun company which is mining
for gold in the area. British ambassador Mike Murray told IRIN that the
Eritrean authorities were investigating the murder and the embassy was in
close contact with the government regarding the matter. "We will not
speculate about the cause of his death," the ambassador added. A statement
issued by Eritrea's foreign ministry blamed the radical Eritrean Islamic
Jihad Movement (EIJM) for the killing. "It is clear that this cowardly act
of terror is designed to discourage investment in Eritrea by terrorising
foreign investors," the statement added. "The government of Eritrea
extends its condolences to the family of the deceased and vows that it
will hunt down the perpetrators of this crime." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33542]


ERITREA: Chapter with Ethiopia closed, Isayas says

Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki has said that as far as his country is
concerned, the chapter of war with Ethiopia is closed. In an interview
with Radio France Internationale, broadcast on 16 April, he described the
two year border conflict from 1998-2000 as "unnecessary" and an "unwanted
development". He stressed the importance of peace for the Eritrean people
who, he said, had paid heavily for their liberation in 1991 and who had
made many sacrifices. He said Eritrea had tried to work in harmony with
Ethiopia, but "to our surprise, Ethiopia declared war in 1998". He accused
the Ethiopian government of "territorial ambitions and hegemony". He said
the issue could not even be resolved militarily, and finally a legal
process had to resolve it. "It was a senseless war and should have been
avoided," he said. "The political attitude of the rulers in Ethiopia is
still the problem, otherwise for us the chapter is closed." [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33512]

ETHIOPIA: Border commission accused of "belittling" calls for change

Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin has accused the independent Boundary
Commission of “belittling” Ethiopia's calls for changes to the new border
with Eritrea. “No-one expects the government of Ethiopia to accept these
mistakes committed by the Commission,” he said in a statement written in
Amharic. A translation was received by IRIN on Wednesday. Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi has also written a letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan
asking for UN support over the ruling, a source close to the peace process
told IRIN. Tension has been mounting following the latest announcement by
the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC), stating categorically
that the disputed village of Badme - where the two countries' border
conflict flared up in 1998 - is in Eritrean territory. The foreign
minister accused the EEBC of making errors in both the western and central
sectors of the 1,000 km border region. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33521]

ETHIOPIA: Anti-HIV/AIDS drugs to be produced locally

Ethiopia is to become one of the first countries in Africa to produce its
own drugs to tackle the devastating HIV/AIDS crisis, health officials told
IRIN on Tuesday. The country, alongside South Africa, is to receive
technological support so that it can manufacture anti-retroviral (ARVs)
drugs to treat patients suffering from the virus. The scheme, which was
announced by Ethiopia’s Drug Administration and Control Authority, could
save the impoverished country millions of dollars. Mengistu Wolde-Aregay,
deputy head at the authority, told IRIN that by producing its own drugs
Ethiopia could afford to treat more patients. The government is looking at
paying for ARVs to prevent mother to child transmission. But other
patients would have pay for drugs themselves. Mengistu said that Ethiopia
and South Africa are the only two countries on the continent to be
selected for the scheme, which should be up and running within three
months. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33491]

ETHIOPIA: Rights group calls for details of 39 "disappeared" people

The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) clashed with the government on
Tuesday over claims that 39 people “disappeared” after being held by the
security forces. The group argues that the whereabouts of some 39 people
who were held by security forces are unknown. But government officials
described the findings in an EHRCO report as “extremely dubious”. “This is
not correct," a senior government official told IRIN. "They are being
driven by a political agenda.” EHRCO dismissed the accusations. “The
whereabouts of 39 people who were abducted by security forces at different
times still remain unknown,” it said in a report issued on Tuesday, in
which it named the individuals. Security forces picked some of the 39 more
than five years ago, according to the report. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33490]

ETHIOPIA: Swedish aid may be pulled if war resumes with Eritrea

The Swedish government has announced it will double aid to Ethiopia, but
warned that the deal could be jeopardised if war breaks out with Eritrea.
Lars Ronnas, deputy head of the Department for Africa in the Swedish
government, said it would be “difficult” to justify a major aid package
during renewed conflict in the Horn. The 1.5 billion Ethiopian Birr
package (US $176 million) comes amid increased tensions between both
countries over the latest announcement by an independent boundary
commission. At the weekend, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin
questioned the validity of the 21 March announcement in which the
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) stated categorically that the
village of Badme was in Eritrea. He urged the EEBC to reconsider. The
symbolic village of Badme was the flashpoint of the 1998-2000 border war
between the two countries. It also emerged that a key meeting in Nairobi
last week between religious leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea to boost the
peace process was cancelled at the last minute. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33454]

SOMALIA: Human rights should be "at forefront" of peace talks - Amnesty

The London-based rights group Amnesty International (AI) has called for
human rights to be at forefront of discussions at the Somali peace
conference now being held in Kenya. In a statement issued this week, AI
said a new interim government was likely to emerge from the talks within
few months if obstacles to an agreement could be overcome. For that
reason, "strong international support for human rights reconstruction is
now needed more than ever". The statement said that despite the Somali
parties having signed a ceasefire agreement on 27 October 2002, there had
been numerous violations, with many crimes going unpunished due to the
absence of "a system of justice and policing". "Amnesty International
therefore recommends that human rights monitoring is added to the task of
the ceasefire monitors, so as to begin to address the wider questions of
impunity and accountability, which will be central to ensuring that there
is lasting peace and the beginnings of the law during the period of the
next stage of interim government and beyond," the statement said. It
called on the international community to support the establishment of
human rights advisers and monitors to start at the same time as the
ceasefire monitoring. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33541]

SOMALIA: Somaliland preliminary results due on Friday

The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland are due to
announce the preliminary results of Monday's presidential elections on
Friday, according to a senior official. The chairman of Somaliland's
electoral commission, Ahmad Haji Ali "Adami", told IRIN that the
commission was planning to release preliminary results by Thursday but
"heavy rains have impeded results from coming in from outlying districts".
He said results from Hargeysa, the capital, were in, but "we are still
waiting for the others. This has pushed back our timetable by at least two
days", he said. Adami said the voting had been "peaceful and orderly with
not a single report of violence". He added that voter turnout had been
heavy, with most of the estimated one million or so Somalilanders eligible
to vote, casting their ballots. He admitted, however, that there were
problems in the disputed regions of Sool and Sanaag. He said voting was
proceeding normally in some districts, but in others "it is not going very
well because of security reasons".  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33516]

SOMALIA: Italian woman wins UNHCR award for work with Somalis

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has named an Italian woman as the winner of
its annual humanitarian award for her work with displaced Somalis. A UNHCR
statement said Annalena Tonelli won the Nansen Refugee Award, "given to
individuals or organisations that have distinguished themselves in work on
behalf of refugees". The statement quotes Commissioner Ruud Lubbers as
saying the selection committee had chosen 60-year-old Tonelli "in
recognition of her selfless dedication in the service of the Somali
community, the majority of them returned refugees and displaced people".  
Tonelli, who currently runs a 200-bed hospital in Borama, in the
self-declared republic of Somaliland, has worked in Somalia for the last
33 years. She has set up clinics to fight tuberculosis, and raised
awareness about HIV/AIDS and the harmful effects of female genital
mutilation, the statement said. The award, which includes US $100,000 for
a refugee project of the recipient's choice, will be formally presented to
Tonelli on 25 June in Geneva.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33517]

SOMALIA: TNG sacks ministers

The Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia has dismissed two
ministers for "misconduct" because they failed to adhere to the TNG's
position at the ongoing peace talks in Nairobi, a senior TNG official told
IRIN on Tuesday. Ahmad Isa Awad, the director of the prime minister's
office, said Prime Minister Hassan Abshir Farah had written to the TNG
president requesting their dismissal. The two, Abdirahman Muhammad Nur
Dinari, the minister of commerce, and Asho Ahmad Abdallah, the minister of
state for disarmament and demobilisation, were sacked for "insubordination
and adopting positions contrary to the TNG's position in the peace talks",
Ahmad Isa said. They were among a group of TNG delegation members who
signed a letter in early March expressing opposition to the TNG's position
at the talks, and accusing it of undermining the talks. Ahmad Isa noted
that not only had they adopted a contrary position, "but they continued to
spread unfounded rumours and allegations disparaging to the TNG leadership
and detrimental to the progress of the peace talks". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33486]

SOMALIA: UN discusses improving arms embargo implementation

The UN Security Council has discussed better ways of implementing the UN
arms embargo on Somalia, according to a press statement issued on Monday.
The Council's proceedings followed a report presented late last month by
the panel monitoring the embargo in which it said the embargo was
consistently being breached. It recommended that the Council send a clear
signal that all future violators would face sanctions. The three-member
Panel of Experts, investigating violations of the arms embargo on Somalia,
was named by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan last September. Last week its
mandate was extended by the Council for another six months. The Council
expressed deep concern "about this continued flow of weapons and military
equipment from sources outside Somalia, and called on all member states to
support and cooperate with the panel in the implementation of its
mandate". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33487]


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003


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