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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 159
20 - 26 September 2003


CONTENTS:

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Meles urges UN to "salvage" peace process
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Asmara rules out any border changes
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN concerned over peace process
ETHIOPIA: Don't link aid to border issue, says minister
ETHIOPIA: Ethiopians urged to eat rice
ERITREA: Warning of difficult humanitarian situation next year
SOMALIA: Hargeisa airport averts closure
SUDAN: Breakthrough security agreement signed
SUDAN: International community hails progress in peace talks
SUDAN: Refugees continue to flee from Darfur into Chad


See also: ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Feature - A question of timing at http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36834


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Meles urges UN to "salvage" peace process

Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi has urged the UN Security Council to
"salvage" the faltering peace process with Eritrea, saying the independent
boundary commission set up to resolve the bitter border dispute was in a
"terminal crisis".  In a three-page letter to the Council, dated 22
September, he urged the UN body to "set up an alternative mechanism to
demarcate the contested parts of the boundary." Diplomats said the move
was a blow for the international community which was hoping demarcation of
the 1,000 km border with Eritrea would begin next month and end by June
2004. The move also comes as the European Union (EU) warned in a statement
that only a "definitive end" to the border dispute would bring peace to
the beleaguered region. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36780]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Asmara rules out any border changes

The Eritrean government has reiterated there can be no renegotiation of
the ruling on the border with Ethiopia and said latest moves by Addis
Ababa to have the decision changed shows its primary motive is to see the
"disintegration" of Eritrea. Earlier this week, Ethiopian Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi sent a letter to the UN Security Council calling for a new
body to rule on contested areas of the border, particularly the symbolic
town of Badme where the two-year border war flared up and which has been
awarded to Eritrea. "Badme has become a second pretext for a second war,"
acting Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed told IRIN on Thursday. He said
the call for a new body to rule on the contested areas was a "clear
violation" of the Algiers peace agreement which formally ended the bitter
war between the countries. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36818]

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: UN concerned over peace process

The United Nations on Thursday said the Eritrea-Ethiopia peace process had
entered its "most critical" stage following calls by Ethiopian Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi for a new body to rule on the border.  "This new
development concerns us that we have entered a very critical stage in the
peace process," Gail Bindley Taylor Sainte, spokeswoman for the UN's
Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), told journalists.  "It probably
is the most critical phase that we have faced since we've been here," she
said. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36808]

ETHIOPIA: Don't link aid to border issue, says minister

The Ethiopian government has urged international donors not to link
desperately needed development aid to the outcome of the contested border
ruling with Eritrea. Information Minister Bereket Simon insisted that
fighting poverty and border demarcation were two separate issues.  "The
international community has an obligation as well as a responsibility to
assist Ethiopia, if Ethiopia is going to really extricate itself from this
poverty," he told IRIN. He was speaking earlier this week at the end of a
three-day congress of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary
Democratic Front (EPRDF). "We don't think it is proper to attach the
development assistance issue with the issue of the border conflict
settlement," he stated. "These are two separate things." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36805]

ETHIOPIA: Ethiopians urged to eat rice

Ethiopians should consider changing their eating habits as part of the
fight against repeated famines that have hit the nation, the United
Nations said on Wednesday. Sam Nyambi, the UN country representative in
Ethiopia, urged the nation to adopt "diet diversification" as a means of
combating recurrent droughts. "It is a process we want to encourage, even
more so in countries that are drought-stricken because you need to expand
the ability of a family to survive," Nyambi said. His comments come as the
UN and Japan launched a bid to encourage the impoverished nation to start
growing a drought-resistant breed of rice called NERICA (New Rice for
Africa). [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36800]

ERITREA: Warning of difficult humanitarian situation next year

A food security watchdog has warned of a difficult humanitarian situation
in Eritrea next year due to the lingering effects of the devastating
drought which gripped the country for much of this year. In its latest
report, the US government's Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) noted that
only just over half the food aid requirement for 2003 had been pledged.
Furthermore deliveries had been slow. "Slow deliveries have made it very
difficult to intervene adequately in time," the report pointed out. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36835]

SOMALIA: Hargeisa airport averts closure

The imminent threat of closure to Hargeisa airport in the self-declared
republic of Somaliland has been averted for now after urgently-needed
funds were found for vital rehabilitation work, the UN said on Friday.
According to a statement by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the
airport will remain operational for another six months, after UNDP and the
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) provided US $150,000 to
proceed with emergency patchwork. "This is not a long term solution," ICAO
Chief Technical Adviser Joe Brunswig said. "The emergency patchwork will
deal with the immediate safety concerns and avert the closure of the
airport for now, but the fact of the matter is that the landing strip
needs to be completely re-carpeted." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36831]

SUDAN: Breakthrough security agreement signed

A key stumbling block in Sudanese peace negotiations was overcome on
Thursday with the signing of a security agreement between the government
of Sudan and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in
Naivasha, Kenya. Under the deal, Sudan will have two separate armed forces
as well as integrated units and an internationally monitored ceasefire
agreement once a final deal has been signed. The breakthrough, achieved
after three weeks of unprecedented talks between SPLA leader John Garang
and Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha, has raised hopes on all sides
for a final peace settlement. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36821]

SUDAN: International community hails progress in peace talks

The international community has widely welcomed an historic agreement on
security arrangements between the Sudanese government and the rebel Sudan
People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).  UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan urged the parties to sustain the current pace of the talks, taking
place in Naivasha, Kenya, and to reach a "speedy settlement of the
conflict". The US State Department hailed the "extraordinary courage" of
Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha and SPLM/A Chairman John Garang,
and committed itself to working "tirelessly" with both parties to resolve
the remaining issues. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36830]

SUDAN: Refugees continue to flee from Darfur into Chad

Sudanese refugees are continuing to flee from Darfur in western Sudan into
Chad to escape militia attacks, according to the NGO, Medecins Sans
Frontieres (MSF). While the numbers remained unclear, pockets of people
continued to cross the border every night when they could get across more
easily, Sonia Peyrassol, MSF Operational Coordinator for Chad, told IRIN.
Border officials appeared to be trying to stop the flow, she said, but it
was unclear whether it was on the Sudanese or the Chadian side. [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36798]


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