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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 137
19 - 25 April 2003


CONTENTS:

ERITREA: Mining company to continue work despite employee's murder
ETHIOPIA: Aid agencies warn of "slow starvation"
ETHIOPIA: Ethiopia to hold "Birr for a Compatriot" concert
ETHIOPIA: Anti-SARS measures in place
SOMALIA: Business community demands role in peace process
SOMALIA: Somaliland opposition says poll recount puts it ahead
SOMALIA: Opposition to protest against Somaliland poll result
SOMALIA: Community-based project aims to promote economic recovery
SUDAN: Government hails Bush remarks on peace process
SUDAN: Opposition groups meet in Asmara



ERITREA: Mining company to continue work despite employee's murder

The Canadian mineral exploration company, Nevsun Resources Ltd, has said
its activities in Eritrea will continue, despite the murder of one of its
consultants last week. In a statement, Nevsun - which is drilling for gold
and diamonds - said the murder of Timothy Nutt, a Briton who was working
as an independent consultant for the company, was a tragedy. It described
the reaction of the Eritrean military and police to the incident as
"swift" and said the government had been "forthright and extremely
cooperative". It noted that the Eritrean government had issued a statement
blaming the murder on "terrorists". "While suspects have been detained in
custody, the police have not concluded their process," Nevsun added. "It
is important to note that Eritrea is a country with a very low crime rate
and this act of violence is considered by the Eritrean authorities as an
anomalous isolated event." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33604]

ETHIOPIA: Aid agencies warn of "slow starvation"

Millions of children in drought-stricken Ethiopia are being “slowly
starved” by the international community, leading charities warned on
Monday. “We are appalled by the lack of full rations to food aid
beneficiaries in Ethiopia, which amount to slow starvation for those
without other sources of food,” said a statement issued by Save the
Children Alliance, Action Aid, CAFOD, and Christian Aid. “For the
international community to allow this to happen in the 21st century is
unforgivable,” added the aid agencies which all work in Ethiopia. The
statement follows sharp criticism by the head of the UN’s World Food
Programme (WFP), James Morris, who said donors were overlooking the crisis
in Africa to deal with Iraq. “How is it that we routinely accept a level
of suffering and hopelessness in Africa that we would never accept in any
other part of the world,” he said. He stated that WFP was facing a cash
shortfall of US $1 billion to meet the needs of 200 million Africans who
are malnourished and 50 million who are severely affected by drought.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33606]

ETHIOPIA: Ethiopia to hold "Birr for a Compatriot" concert

Ethiopia is to hold its own version of the Live Aid appeal - launched in
1984 to combat the famine which claimed a million lives. Artists and
businesses are to hold a major concert and a telethon in order to raise
some 14 million Ethiopian birr (US $1.7 million) for drought victims. A
charity song will also be released in preparation for the festival which
will take place in the capital Addis Ababa on 25 May. Selome Tadesse, who
is heading the campaign called Birr for a Compatriot, told IRIN: “At the
moment there is major donor fatigue and every basket is drying up." “With
the current world situation we might not be the first ones on the list
when it comes to aid flow, so if we do something we hope that might
motivate donors," added Selome, a former spokeswoman for the government.
“If we are going to get out of this situation every citizen must take some
responsibility in fighting poverty,” she said. “We need to ask what are we
doing ourselves – not donors – but what are Ethiopians doing ourselves.”
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33607]

ETHIOPIA: Anti-SARS measures in place

Ethiopia has become the latest country to draw up emergency plans to
combat the deadly pneumonia-like illness, SARS, which has claimed some 159
lives across the globe. The health ministry says Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) poses a threat to the country with its air links to Asia
and the Far East. Although the government says there have been no cases so
far, it is not taking any risks and has set up a quarantine service. The
ministry says it will now start screening passengers from Far East and
Asian countries in a bid to prevent the virus entering Ethiopia. Both Bole
International Airport in the capital Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa airport are
to be targeted by officials and monitoring centres set up. A national
committee has been set up to combat the virus and officials have been
working with the World Health Organisation and the Center for Disease
Control (CDC). [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33608]

SOMALIA: Business community demands role in peace process

The Somali business community has demanded a role in the ongoing peace
talks in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The call came during a two-day
workshop for the Somali Business Council (SBC), held last week in Dubai,
and jointly organised with the Center for Research and Dialogue (CRD), an
affiliate of the War-Torn Societies Project International, according to
press statement. Sharif Ahmad Shino, the SBC chairman, told IRIN that the
group comprised members from all Somali clans, and had come together "to
see how best we can contribute to the reconciliation process".  "We have
members from all clans, who can bring pressure and influence political
leaders," he stated. Jibril Ahmad Abdulle of CRD told IRIN that any future
government in Somalia was unlikely to succeed in establishing itself
without the support of the business community. "Without their support it
is next to impossible to get a government going," he said. "So it is
logical to have them involved." Sharif said the business community, more
than any other group, wanted a stable government. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33633]

SOMALIA: Somaliland opposition says poll recount puts it ahead

The main opposition party in the self-declared republic of Somaliland says
its recount of last week's vote in presidential elections shows it to be
ahead of the declared winner. Usman Abdillahi Egal, the head of the
Hargeysa branch of Kulmiye (Solidarity) Party, told IRIN that a recount of
last week's votes showed that its presidential candidate, Ahmad Muhammad
Silanyo, was ahead of the declared winner, President Dahir Riyale Kahin,
by 76 votes. "We have recounted the votes and it shows that we are ahead,"
he said. "We have informed the election commission."  The Somaliland
Election Commission (SEC) on Saturday declared Kahin of the Unity of
Democrats Party (UDUB) the winner of Somaliland's first multiparty
presidential election, which was held on 14 April. The decision was,
however, challenged by the Kulmiye candidate, who told IRIN that the party
"categorically rejects" the results of last week's elections "as they have
been announced". "It was discovered that votes from Gara'ad and Burao,
which were cast in favor of Kulmiye, were mistakenly counted and credited
to UDUB," Usman said. "They simply made a mistake of calculations during
counting." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33656]

SOMALIA: Opposition to protest against Somaliland poll result

The main opposition party in the self-declared republic of Somaliland says
it will protest against the results of last week's presidential elections
by peaceful means. The presidential candidate for the Kulmiye (Solidarity)
Party, Ahmad Muhammad Silanyo - the main challenger to incumbent President
Dahir Riyale Kahin - told IRIN that his party "categorically rejects" the
results of last week's elections "as they have been announced". Silanyo,
however, stressed that his party would not do anything "to compromise the
integrity, peace and stability this country [Somaliland] has achieved".
"We will, however, resort to peaceful means to rectify the injustice done
to us," he said. The Somaliland Election Commission (SEC) on Saturday
declared Kahin of the Unity of Democrats Party (UDUB) the winner of
Somaliland's first multiparty presidential election, which was held on 14
April. According to the SEC, Kahin obtained 205,595 votes, or 42.08
percent of the votes as opposed to 205,515, or 42.07 percent, for Silanyo,
out of a total vote of 498,639 votes cast. About 800,000 people were
eligible to vote.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33609]

SOMALIA: Community-based project aims to promote economic recovery

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has launched a prototype
community project in parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu which it hopes
will be expanded to cover the entire city. The project, implemented by a
local NGO, SAACID (Somali for 'To Help'), has employed 600 local people
(300 men and 300 women) and hired private sector hauliers to remove sand
and garbage from the streets of Mogadishu. The scheme, launched earlier
this month, is being carried out in six of the city's 16 districts for a
period of three months. "The project is seen very much as a test case to
determine whether it is possible to operate effectively in war-ravaged
Mogadishu," said Joe Connolly, the project's chief technical adviser.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33688]


SUDAN: Government hails Bush remarks on peace process

The Sudanese government has described as "encouraging" remarks made this
week by US President George Bush hailing the country's ongoing peace
process. In a report to the US Congress on Tuesday, Bush said he would not
reimpose sanctions on Sudan because efforts to forge a peace deal with the
rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) had been made "in
good faith".  "There is still much work remaining," Bush added. "It is now
time to move the peace process to a new level where the actions of both
parties replace promises as the measure of their commitment to peace."
Negotiating in "good faith" was part of the conditions set by the Sudan
Peace Act, established by the US government last October. Sudan's deputy
ambassador to Kenya, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, welcomed the move and said
the US had an important mediating role in the search for lasting peace in
his country. "In the past, the US has played a negative role," he told
IRIN. "But the Bush administration has made a shift towards being even
handed and playing a constructive role towards achieving peace in Sudan."
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33660]

SUDAN: Opposition groups meet in Asmara

Sudanese opposition groups, under the umbrella National Democratic
Alliance (NDA), are meeting in the Eritrean capital Asmara this week to
discuss Sudan's peace process. Eritrean state media reported on Tuesday
that senior NDA officials, including the leader of the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) John Garang, were attending the meeting.
The SPLM/A spokesman in Nairobi, George Garang, confirmed that the meeting
was taking place. "They will be discussing current issues, including the
peace process," he told IRIN. According to Eritrean radio, Al-Amin
Muhammad Said, the secretary of Eritrea's ruling People's Front for
Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), told the meeting his country supported the
search for comprehensive peace in Sudan, and would "make boundless efforts
to that end". However, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, spokesman at the Sudanese
embassy in Nairobi, told IRIN the Asmara meeting went against the spirit
of the peace process organised by the regional Inter-Governmental
Authority on Development (IGAD). [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33615]


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