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Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 147
28 June - 04 July 2003


CONTENTS:


ERITREA: Warning of widespread starvation unless donors respond
ERITREA: Urgent action needed to help economy - IMF
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN concerned about upsurge in border shootings
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: "Temporary arrangements" not a solution, says Annan
SOMALIA: Prominent doctor killed in Mogadishu
SOMALIA: Ethiopia denies backing possible attack on Kismayo
SOMALIA: Faction leaders' cooperation on landmines praised
SOMALIA: Thousands protest against violence
SUDAN: Sudanese want just and lasting peace, mediator says
SUDAN: Rebel group enacts 26 new laws in south
SUDAN: Cessation of hostilities agreement renewed


ALSO SEE:

ETHIOPIA: Feature - UN envoy to witness drought-stricken region at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35148

ETHIOPIA: Interview with ILO Ethiopia head, Michel Gozo at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35120

ETHIOPIA: Interview with Mulugeta Said, head of food security in Amhara
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35096

ETHIOPIA: Interview with Horn conflict specialist Medhane Tadesse at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35062



ERITREA: Warning of widespread starvation unless donors respond

The UN's World Food Programme has warned that unless the desperate food
crisis is addressed in Eritrea, the country will face the "irreversible
spectre" of malnutrition and starvation. Deputy Country Director Mamadou
Mbaye expressed gratitude for an Australian donation of US $806,000 but
stressed that "time is running out". "We are very grateful for the
donation, which gives us some valuable breathing space, but we are still
desperately short of funds," he said in a statement. Eritrea is reeling
from one of the worst droughts in its history, the effects of which have
been exacerbated by the 1998-2000 war with Ethiopia. Two thirds of its 3.7
million population require humanitarian assistance. The UN's Deputy
Humanitarian Coordinator Carolyn McAskie, who recently visited the
country, said the difficulty in getting pledges to the region meant that
less than 19 percent of the food aid was actually on the ground.  [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35103]


ERITREA: Urgent action needed to help economy - IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called for "decisive and urgent"
action by Eritrea to confront what it described as the enormous economic
challenges ahead. In a report, following bilateral discussions with
Eritrea, the IMF's executive directors said the challenges included
addressing the severe drought in the country, accelerating the
demobilisation and reintegration of some 200,000 combatants,
re-establishing macroeconomic stability and laying the foundations for
sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. The directors
acknowledged that many of the problems stemmed from the drought, the
legacy of war with Ethiopia, political and governance difficulties as well
as limited resources, but stressed there had also been "policy slippages".
"Directors recognised that external assistance will be critical for the
success of the economic strategy, and encouraged the authorities to step
up their efforts to resolve outstanding governance issues with donors to
permit the resumption of such assistance," the report said. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35121]


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN concerned about upsurge in border shootings

The UN has revealed there have been five shooting incidents involving the
Ethiopian armed forces at Humera, in the western sector of the border
between Ethiopia and Eritrea, since the beginning of the year - three of
them fatal. Major-General Robert Gordon, Force Commander of the UN
peacekeeping mission (UNMEE), on Thursday confirmed that the latest
incident involved the killing of a 15-year old Eritrean boy who had
wandered across the border in pursuit of his camels.  In his latest report
on the two countries, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that the
number of incidents in this area "could suggest a propensity to use
excessive force in this locality".  Gordon told a weekly press briefing
that he had held talks with Ethiopian defence ministry officials who
pledged to be "more careful about their rules of engagement". Furthermore,
he said, UNMEE was taking steps to have a "more overt presence" in the
Humera area. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35172]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: "Temporary arrangements" not a solution, says Annan

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned that lasting peace in Eritrea
and Ethiopia cannot be based on "temporary arrangements". In his latest
report to the Security Council, issued on Monday, he said the peace
process was still at a critical stage. According to a UN summary of the
report, he praised the two sides for their cooperation with the UN
peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, UNMEE. "However, lasting
peace cannot be built on the basis of temporary arrangements," he said.
"In the absence of significant forward movement, precious momentum could
be lost and prove difficult to regain, which in turn could impact on the
longer-term goals of reconstruction and development." Lasting peace, he
added, required the expeditious demarcation of the border "and a
relationship between the parties that enables them to address problems
through peaceful discourse". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35101]

SOMALIA: Prominent doctor killed in Mogadishu

A prominent doctor and younger brother of faction leader Hasan Muhammad
Nur Shatigadud was killed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Wednesday
by unknown gunmen. Dr Husayn Muhammad Nur, one of the best eye specialists
in Mogadishu, was gunned down in front of his clinic by unidentified
gunmen, his colleague Dr Abdullahi Farah Aseyr told IRIN on Thursday. The
reason for the killing is not yet clear, but sources in Mogadishu told
IRIN it had been "a kidnapping gone bad", because he resisted. "It is a
huge loss not only for our profession and his family but for the people
who depended on him," Aseyr said. He told IRIN that Husayn, who returned
from Italy in 1990, had declined to leave the country "as many other
professionals have done". "He felt he was needed here and he stayed," he
said. Aseyr added that the killing would have "a chilling effect" on other
doctors "who are in the diaspora, and who we have being trying to
encourage to come back". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35153]

SOMALIA: Ethiopia denies backing possible attack on Kismayo

The chairman of the pro-interim government Juba Valley Alliance [JVA]
militia based in Kismayo, Col Barre Adan Shire Hirale, has said his rival
Gen Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan is preparing to attack the southern Somali
port city. Hirale claimed that Morgan was receiving support from the
government of Ethiopia and the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland
in northeastern Somalia. "All his forces have been sent from Puntland with
the approval of Col Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad [Puntland leader]," Hirale told
IRIN. "Morgan is being armed and supported by Ethiopia and is currently in
Gode [Ethiopia] awaiting more weapons." However, both Ethiopia and
Puntland have strongly denied the accusations. Ethiopia's envoy to the
Somali peace talks in Kenya, Abdi'aziz Ahmad, told IRIN his country knew
of no plan by Morgan to attack Kismayo. "These accusations are baseless
propagated by people who blame any differences, even with their wives, on
Ethiopia," he stressed. "Ethiopia's interest lies in the successful
conclusion of the peace talks and we would not do anything to jeopardise
that." [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35124]


SOMALIA: Faction leaders' cooperation on landmines praised

Somalia's faction leaders have shown encouraging support to the
international community's efforts to curb the use of landmines, and to
clear out mines which have been buried for years throughout the country, a
Swiss-based international humanitarian organisation has said. Lare Okungu,
the Africa regional director of Geneva Call which is dedicated to landmine
action, said several Somali factions had cooperated with landmine
initiatives and some had even sought assistance for mine clearance in
regions under their control. "The goodwill we have seen so far is paving
the way forward," Okungu told a meeting in Nairobi aimed at reviewing a
landmine accord signed last November. "The international community has
opened the door for mine action in Somalia. But it is important that the
initiative comes from the Somalis themselves. We can only assist
technically," Okungu said. The November agreement was signed by 16 Somali
faction leaders and the Transitional National Government at a meeting
facilitated by the regional body Inter-Governmental Authority on
development (IGAD) in Kenya. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35104]

SOMALIA: Thousands protest against violence

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the Somali capital,
Mogadishu, on Sunday to protest against continuing violence and abductions
in the city, according to one of the organisers. Abdullahi Muhammad Shirwa
of the Civil Society in Action told IRIN on Monday that the protest, one
of the largest ever seen in the city, was organised by a grouping of 46
civil society organisations. These included women's and human rights
groups, professionals and "even Koranic schools". Habibo Haji Jim'ale, a
member of the Law Society of Somalia, another of the organizers told IRIN
that robberies, car-jackings, kidnappings and general banditry in the city
had been increasing over the last eight months. "We [demonstrators] want
to tell the faction leaders to assume responsibility for whatever happens
in areas under their control," she said. "They cannot on the hand say 'we
control this area' and on the other deny responsibility for what happens
there." Shirwa said the demonstrators were also protesting against any
"renewed conflict in the Lower Juba Region". Local media have been warning
during the last few days that an attack on Kismayo by faction leader Gen
Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan is imminent. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35063]

SUDAN: Sudanese want just and lasting peace, mediator says

On the eve of what may be the last stage in the Sudanese peace talks, due
to begin on Sunday, people all over Sudan are ready and waiting for "a
just and lasting peace", the chief mediator in the peace process, Lazarus
Sumbeiywo, told reporters in Nairobi. A 10-day trip to government and
rebel-held areas in both northern and southern Sudan - which included
visists to Khartoum, Malakal, Bentiu, Juba, Kurmuk, Malualkon, Yei,
Ikotos, and Rumbek - allowed him to speak to a wide range of people and to
"confirm that the people themselves want peace", he said.

"They are tired of war, tired of death and destruction. They want to
return to their homes and villages. They're tired of living in camps for
displaced," he said. It is hoped that the peace talks, which begin in the
Kenyan town of Nakuru on Sunday and are due to last for seven days, will
lead to a final Draft Framework Agreement by mid-August. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35175]


SUDAN: Rebel group enacts 26 new laws in south

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) has enacted 26 new
laws, called the Laws of the New Sudan, which will govern SPLM areas in
south Sudan until a peace deal is signed between the rebel group and the
government. After the signing of a peace accord, the laws would be
"amended to fit in with the new developments", the SPLM commissioner for
legal affairs and constitutional development, Michael Makuei, told IRIN.
He said the texts were signed into law on Sunday by SPLM/A leader John
Garang, but they would not be enforceable until they had been distributed
to all the relevant authorities in southern Sudan. The new laws cover a
range of areas including financial institutions, forestry, insurance, the
judiciary, NGOs, passports and immigration, policing, prisons, and
wildlife conservation. Makuei said they would help to establish law and
order in southern Sudan and establish good governance there. [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35154]

SUDAN: Cessation of hostilities agreement renewed

The cessation of hostilities agreement between the government of Sudan and
the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) was renewed on
Monday until the end of September. Originally signed in October 2002, the
memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been extended every three months
since. The latest extension would last from 30 June until 30 September,
Sudan's deputy ambassador to Kenya, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, told IRIN.
The agreement binds both sides to a "cessation of hostilities" in all
areas of Sudan, which includes retaining their military positions,
refraining from any offensives or attacks on civilian populations, and not
supplying areas with weapons or ammunition. In an addendum to the MOU,
which was signed in February 2003, both sides guaranteed to give
notification of all troop movements and supply of combat items, to provide
the locations of their forces and allied militia, and to allow a
Verification and Monitoring Team to investigate any alleged military
attacks. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35071]


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