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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Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 140
10 - 16 May 2003


CONTENTS:

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Dialogue on border issue "unthinkable", says Eritrea
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: No reason why demarcation shouldn't start on time, says
UN
ERITREA: Reports of meeting with Sudan denied
ETHIOPIA: Gov't defends economic policy
ETHIOPIA: Flood victims succumbing to disease
ETHIOPIA: Gov't to boost aid in south
SOMALIA: Peace talks enter critical stage
SOMALIA: Puntland talks hit snag
SOMALIA: EC funds landmine action
SOMALIA: Kahin confirmed as president, opposition unhappy
KENYA-SOMALIA: Somali refugees return home
SUDAN: Too early to tell if disease is Ebola
SUDAN: WFP uses barges to transport food
SUDAN: Peace talks resume in Kenya


ALSO SEE:

HORN OF AFRICA: Sattler to hand over command of US anti-terror force at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34116



ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Dialogue on border issue "unthinkable", says Eritrea

Eritrea has rejected any notion of a dialogue regarding the border issue
with Ethiopia, saying the matter is closed and "hermetically sealed".
Acting Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed told IRIN on Monday his
government wanted to put an end to rumours circulating that there could be
a dialogue on the border issue. Ethiopia has been unhappy over an
independent border ruling, which specifically puts the town of Badme -
flashpoint of the two-year border war between the countries - in Eritrea.
Addis Ababa has been seeking a review of the ruling and Ethiopian
officials have indicated they may not accept the decision, which both
sides agreed in their December 2000 peace agreement would be final and
binding. In a statement read out to IRIN, Ali Abdu said the border
decision issued by the Boundary Commission on 13 April 2002 "made it
crystal clear that the case was put to rest once and for all". Since that
date, the Boundary Commission has issued a series of reports rejecting
Ethiopia's request for "variations" to the border line.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34031]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: No reason why demarcation shouldn't start on time, says
UN

The UN Force Commander in Eritrea and Ethiopia has said there is no reason
why demarcation of the border between the two countries should not begin
in July as scheduled. Major General Robert Gordon told a video-linked news
briefing in the two countries that the military situation was calm.
Reports of a shooting incident across the Mereb river, allegedly involving
the Eritrean armed forces supported by tanks, had been wildly exaggerated,
he said. "This is of course completely nonsense, it is alarmist and it is
fantastical," he stated. "No such heavy equipment and no Eritrean armed
forces operate within the Temporary Security Zone." He said there had been
reports of exchanges of small arms fire in the area, "probably between
militia and local villagers". Gordon stressed that while demarcation was
the domain of the independent Boundary Commission, "as far as the Force is
concerned, there are no impediments that I can foresee that should stop
that demarcation process starting as per schedule". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34143]

ERITREA: Reports of meeting with Sudan denied

Eritrea has denied reports of a planned meeting in Libya between President
Isayas Afewerki and his Sudanese counterpart Omar al-Bashir. The Sudanese
president visited Tripoli last week and there were reports in the Sudanese
and foreign press that Isayas would meet Bashir and the Libyan leader
Colonel Muammar Qadhafi in a bid to mend strained relations between
Khartoum and Asmara. But Eritrea's acting Information Minister Ali Abdu
Ahmed on Tuesday dismissed any idea of a meeting between the Sudanese and
Eritrean presidents. "There is no meeting, such reports are total
fabrication," he told IRIN. He claimed the reports had been "deliberately
leaked" by the Sudanese media, and that a meeting at this time would be
"ridiculous". Ties between the two countries have become increasingly
tense, and their common border remains closed - an act "unilaterally
carried out by Sudan", said Ali Abdu. Each side accuses the other of
supporting its rebel groups. Asmara blames the Eritrean Islamic Jihad
Movement (EIJM) - which it says is backed by Sudan - for the recent murder
of a British geologist Timothy Nutt in western Eritrea. Both the EIJM and
Khartoum have denied the allegation. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34058]

ETHIOPIA: Gov't defends economic policy

The Ethiopian government has defended its agricultural-led development
strategy - the cornerstone of its economic policy for combating poverty.
In a statement, the information ministry stated that "rural-centred
development" is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty that is gripping
country. But it also acknowledged that eventually it would turn to the
industrial sector to reinforce economic growth in the impoverished
country. "It is important to note that without industrial development it
is hardly possible to secure a fair share of benefits for our country from
the global economy," the statement pointed out. Agriculture is the
backbone of the Ethiopian economy, accounting for half the country's GDP
and also nine tenths of exports. Coffee is the major foreign exchange
earner and the country has the largest livestock population - at over 80
million animals - in Africa. But major hurdles remain. Annual agricultural
production is less than the population growth in the country, and
already-small land holdings are shrinking. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34083]

ETHIOPIA: Flood victims succumbing to disease

Fears are mounting that survivors of the severe flooding in southern
Ethiopia, which has claimed about 40 lives, may now fall victim to
disease. Humanitarian organisations said on Tuesday that many of the
victims of the flooding had been weakened due to the preceding severe
drought in the region. Tens of thousands of people were forced from their
homes after the main Wabe Shebelle river burst its banks on 22 April,
flooding lowland areas of Somali Regional State. The UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) said that already weakened children were more likely to succumb
to respiratory infections, diarrhoeal and other waterborne diseases. "With
few safe water supplies functional in the area, people are drinking
directly from the river and are at great risk of getting waterborne
diseases," UNICEF said. UNICEF, which has been distributing emergency
medical kits, warned that more than half the children in the region were
suffering from malnutrition. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34069]

ETHIOPIA: Gov't to boost aid in south

The Ethiopian government has announced it will boost aid rations to combat
the worsening food crisis in the south of the country. It says it will
increase cereal rations in the worst-affected areas to the internationally
recommended allowance of 15 kg per person per month. The decision comes
after aid agencies expressed concern over the situation in the Southern
Nations, Nationalities and People's Region (SNNPR). Alarm has also been
raised by humanitarian organisations working in the Fik zone of Somali
region where malnutrition among children is "far above acceptable levels."
Both areas have seen malnutrition rates soar despite efforts to combat the
scale of the food crisis in the country. In a related move, the US also
met with other major donors in Ethiopia to reiterate the magnitude of the
crisis and the scale of food requirements. According to the World Food
Programme (WFP), the country is still facing a major food shortfall -
despite a renewed appeal by the government. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34068]

SOMALIA: Peace talks enter critical stage

The Somali peace talks, currently under way in the Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, have entered their final and critical stage, Kenyan Foreign
Minister Kalonzo Musyoka told delegates on Wednesday when he opened a
plenary session of the conference. The minister appealed to the Somali
leaders "to put your differences aside" for the sake of the Somali people.
The talks, which opened on 15 October 2002, have been held up by wrangling
over the allocation of seats to drafting committees and to the plenary
sessions. Musyoka, who symbolically tabled the committees' reports,
accused some factions of "blatantly" violating the cessation of
hostilities agreement signed by the Somali parties on 27 October last
year. Under the terms of the agreement, the Somali groups undertook to
suspend all hostilities for the duration of the peace conference. Since
then there have been multiple violations, with fighting breaking out in
the capital, Mogadishu, the towns of Las Anod in the northeast and Baidoa
in the southwest, and in the Bari, Bay, Bakol, Gedo and Lower Shabelle,
Middle Shabelle and Middle Juba regions. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34118]

SOMALIA: Puntland talks hit snag

Peace talks to end conflict in the self-declared autonomous region of
Puntland have become bogged down over the issue of power-sharing, sources
in Bosaso told IRIN on Thursday. Talks have been under way in Bosaso, the
commercial capital, since 10 May, between the Puntland administration of
Col Abdullahi Yusuf and "the armed opposition" led by Gen Ade Muse Hirsi.
But they have stalled "over the issue of power-sharing and the formation
of a new cabinet", the sources said. Ade Muse is said to have insisted on
the removal of certain individuals from the Puntland administration and on
the formation of a new cabinet, demands rejected by Abdullahi Yusuf. "This
is the reason why the announcement of a peace agreement - which was to
have been made on Wednesday - was delayed," the sources said. The two
sides are also said to have disagreed on the length of a new
administration in Puntland, before elections are held. However, Puntland's
acting information minister, Abdishakur Mire Adan, denied that the talks
were faltering.  [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34117]

SOMALIA: EC funds landmine action

The European Commission has approved a major project to support the second
phase of a nationwide landmine impact survey for Somalia. In a statement
on Wednesday, the EC said it had allocated E1.5 million (US $1.73 million)
to the project. An EC official told IRIN that this second phase - to be
implemented by the UN Development Programme and the UN Office for Project
Services - will be carried out in the self-declared autonomous region of
Puntland and southern Somalia, particularly in the Baidoa area, "security
and access permitting". The first phase of the project was carried out in
the self-declared republic of Somaliland between 1 May 2002 and March
2003.  Landmines have been extensively used in Somalia, during conflicts
with Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s and during the civil war in the 1990s
when all sides to the conflict laid mines. Almost all regions of Somalia
have been affected by mines or unexploded ordnance (UXO). The project will
include technical assistance for the Somali authorities to develop a
mine-action policy, strategy for clearance and implementation of the
Ottawa convention on antipersonnel mines, the statement said. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34088]

SOMALIA: Kahin confirmed as president, opposition unhappy

The constitutional court of the self-declared republic of Somaliland on
Sunday confirmed the incumbent president, Dahir Riyale Kahin, as the
winner of last month's presidential election, local sources told IRIN on
Monday. On 19 April, the Somaliland Election Commission (SEC) declared
Kahin of the Unity of Democrats Party (UDUB) the winner of Somaliland's
first multiparty presidential election, which was held five days earlier.
According to the SEC, Kahin obtained 205,595 votes (42.08 percent of the
poll), as opposed to 205,515 (42.07 percent) for Silanyo, out of a total
vote of 498,639 votes cast - a difference of just 80 votes. The
presidential candidate for the Kulmiye (Solidarity) Party, Ahmad Muhammad
Silanyo - Kahin's main challenger - told IRIN at the time that his party
"categorically rejected" the results of the elections. Kulmiye is said to
be unhappy with the court's ruling, and "the party's top brass have been
in meetings throughout the day to consider the next step", a Kulmiye
official told IRIN. The official said that Kulmiye "does not recognise
UDUB as the winner of the elections". "The court's ruling is not based on
the facts and is an injustice," he said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34029]

KENYA-SOMALIA: Somali refugees return home

The first batch of 2,880 Somali refugees who have been accommodated at
Dadaab and Kakuma camps in northern Kenya, this week began returning to
Somalia, more than a decade after they fled their war-torn country. The UN
refugee agency UNHCR said the return operation kicked off on Tuesday, with
the airlift of 50 refugees to Galkayo, northeast Somalia [Puntland state].
The UN refugee agency said it also expected to assist the return of a
further 300 refugees to Bosaso and Galkayo over the next five days. "Ten
years is a long time in exile. Some of the children returning to Somalia
today will be seeing their homeland for the first time, a sad truth but a
happy moment," said George Okoth-Obbo, UNHCR's Representative in Kenya.
The 2,880 returning refugees are part of 6,000 Somali refugees who signed
up in 2001 to voluntarily return home. Their return however was delayed by
a combination of funding difficulties and security problems in Somalia.
Those returning have received an assistance package consisting of basic
supplies such as plastic sheeting, blankets and utensils, UNHCR said.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34060]

SUDAN: Too early to tell if disease is Ebola

Ten people have died in an outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in southern
Sudan, the UN confirmed on Wednesday. According to Ben Parker, spokesman
for the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, there have been 178
confirmed cases of the disease which first broke out in the town of
Ikotos, close to the Ugandan border. Scientists from the World Health
Organisation (WHO) have been to Ikotos and nearby Imatong to gather
samples in order to identify the disease. The team of scientists is also
training local people on how to deal with the outbreak. Dr Sou Abdurahman,
who heads the WHO office for southern Sudan, told IRIN on Wednesday the
experts were expected to return to Kenya in "two or three" days with the
samples. These would then be taken to the Kenya Medical Research Institute
(KEMRI) laboratories in Nairobi for further analysis. "Nobody knows if it
is Ebola. But it is a severe disease because it kills," Abdurahman said.
The NGO, Norwegian Church Aid, which operates in the area, first alerted
WHO to the disease. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34092]

SUDAN: WFP uses barges to transport food

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) this week said it had launched a new
cost-effective way of providing humanitarian support to some 485,000 war
affected people in southern Sudan, by using barges to transport emergency
relief food along the Nile River. The launch of the cross-line barge
operation will drastically reduce transport costs by as much as 60
percent, compared with airlifts, WFP said in a statement. The operation
follows last month's signing of an agreement between the UN and Sudan's
warring parties, allowing the re-opening of river corridors for
transporting humanitarian aid. The UN agency said improved security in
locations both under the control of the Khartoum government and the rebel
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) had made it possible to
launch the operation along the Nile from Malakal to Juba. It said the use
of barges along the river Nile corridor was a welcome development in "what
remains one of the most expensive humanitarian operations in the world".
The use of barges along the Nile was suspended in 1998 following an attack
in which three aid workers were killed and several injured. The current
operation is expected to last until August. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34066]

SUDAN: Peace talks resume in Kenya

Talks aimed at ending Sudan's long-running civil war resumed in the Kenyan
town of Machakos on Saturday, with the signing of a partnership agreement
on administrative arrangements for a transitional period. The accord,
signed by the Sudanese government and rebel Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLM/A) outlined specific measures necessary for building
up the humanitarian, security and development needs of southern Sudan
during the first six months of the transitional period. Both sides have
expressed confidence that the current round of talks - facilitated by the
regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) - can bring
about a final agreement to end the 20-year war, in which an estimated two
million people have been killed and four million displaced. SPLM/A chief
negotiator Nhial Deng Nhial told the opening session that his movement
supported the new "holistic" approach taken by the mediators. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=34030]


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