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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 155
23 - 29 August 2003


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: Malaria worsening due to drug resistance
ETHIOPIA: Distribution of water equipment aims to combat disease
SOMALIA: "No paradise in Yemen", prospective refugees told
SOMALIA: Peace talks must encompass human rights, says expert
SOMALIA: Faction leader "disappointed" by talks
DJIBOUTI: Thousands of illegal immigrants leaving ahead of deadline
SUDAN: Monitoring mission suspends patrols in western Nuba Mts
SUDAN: Peace talks adjourned

ALSO SEE:

HORN OF AFRICA: Global deal to help landlocked countries at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36242 and
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36267


ETHIOPIA: Malaria worsening due to drug resistance

The fight against a growing malaria epidemic in Ethiopia is being hampered
because of a resistance to available drugs, humanitarian agencies warned
on Monday. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) warned that the parasite's resistance was "aggravating the epidemic
and causing a high death toll". Malaria is already the third biggest
killer in Ethiopia with some 100,000 lives claimed each year. More than 40
million people are at risk. But UN agencies also warned that a slow
response to "unexpected" emergency needs and a "lack of clarity" on who
should have access to free drugs were also exacerbating the crisis. In
particular they cited the Southern Nations and Nationalities People's
Region (SNNPR) where high death rates have hit highland areas -
traditionally safe from malaria. They also noted that the emergency had
not yet reached its peak, adding that the height of the crisis is expected
to occur next month.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36166]

ETHIOPIA: Distribution of water equipment aims to combat disease

Vital water purifying equipment is being distributed in Ethiopia's
drought-stricken areas to combat the growing threat of water-borne
diseases, the United Nations said on Monday. The water supplies will be
targeted at women and children in eight hard-hit areas around the country,
according to the UN's Children's Fund (UNICEF). "This contribution is
particularly significant as safe water is vital to prevent the outbreak of
waterborne diseases," said UNICEF head Bjorn Ljungqvist. UNICEF estimates
some 4.2 million people are in urgent need of clean, safe water. It also
warns that the end of the rainy season in Ethiopia means unsafe water runs
into rivers and contaminates the sources people are now tempted to use.
"Consumption of such unsafe water can lead to an increase in water-borne
diseases and epidemics," Ljungqvist added. Among the equipment distributed
are five water purification kits and some 1,620 emergency drinking water
kits which can purify water for household use. The US $775,000 deal is
being funded by the Norwegian government and will be supplied to Somali
region, Oromiya, Amhara, Gambella, Tigray, Harar, Afar and the Southern
Nations and Nationalities People's Region.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36157]

SOMALIA: "No paradise in Yemen", prospective refugees told

At least 30 refugees seeking a new life in Yemen are feared to have
drowned after being forced to jump into the sea from a boat near the
Yemeni coast. The boat had earlier left the coastal village of Marer, 10
km south of Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous
region of Puntland, a survivor told IRIN by telephone from Yemen on
Wednesday. Ahmad Adan said the boat had been carrying 85 passengers,
including 10 women and a two-year-old child. The 24-year-old from Wanle
Weyne in southern Somalia's Lower Shabelle region said that as they neared
the Yemeni coast, the boat crew started forcing people to jump. "Three
miles off the coast, they started forcing people into the water, at
gunpoint," he said. "Those who tried to refuse were beaten badly and then
thrown overboard. Many of those who jumped did not even know how to swim."
Husayn Haji Ahmad, the acting Somali consul-general in Aden, said so far
38 people had been found alive.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36215]

SOMALIA: Peace talks must encompass human rights, says expert

A UN-appointed independent expert on human rights for Somalia has said the
more attention given to human rights at the Somali peace talks in Kenya,
the greater the scope for peace. Dr Ghanim Alnajjar arrived in the region
this week on an 11-day mission. It is his third visit since his
appointment by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001, according to
a press statement from the UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator's Office
for Somalia. "Right now a lot depends on the peace process," Alnajjar said
the statement. "The more human rights are considered at the talks, the
higher the chance of peace. It is an opportunity for Somalis to show their
commitment to human rights." He went on to note, however, that the current
state of human rights in the country was "not promising". "Northwest
Somalia [Somaliland] and northeast Somalia [Puntland] had shown
improvement last year, but [the issue of] human rights in Somalia is
complicated as some regions improve one year while others deteriorate," he
said.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36217]

SOMALIA: Faction leader "disappointed" by talks

Prominent Mogadishu-based faction leader Usman Hasan Ali Ato has expressed
disappointment over the conduct of the Somali peace talks currently
underway in Nairobi. "The process is being corrupted by the involvement
and influence of some countries," said Ato, who is currently in Mogadishu.
"It seems that certain Somali groups, supported by a foreign power, are
being favoured to the detriment of others, and this will not lead to a
successful outcome," he told IRIN on Tuesday. Ato denied local media
reports that he had walked out of the talks. "I did not walk out of the
talks," he said. "I am here [Mogadishu] to consult with my people. I don't
want to walk out." He said everyone wanted a successful outcome to the
talks. "However, the way the conference is being conducted, if not quickly
changed, will lead to its failure," he warned. "The mediators need to
return the conference to the Somalis and refrain from siding with any
group, otherwise there will be no point in any of us returning."
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36190]

DJIBOUTI: Thousands of illegal immigrants leaving ahead of deadline

Thousands of illegal immigrants are leaving Djibouti ahead of a deadline
imposed by the government in the tiny Horn of Africa country, a local
journalist told IRIN on Monday. Djibouti Interior Minister Abdiqadir
Du'ale Wa'ays last month warned illegal immigrants to leave by the end of
August or face expulsion. "In the last three weeks, over 10,000 illegal
immigrants have left of their own accord to beat the deadline," the
journalist said. "If any of them are caught after 31 August they will
probably be forcibly deported and will not be allowed to take anything
with them." The Djibouti news agency (ADI) on Monday quoted Wa'ays as
saying that "several thousand illegal migrants have spontaneously
responded to my appeal by leaving our country, in families or
individually, to return to their respective countries with their goods or
personal effects".
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36164]

SUDAN: Monitoring mission suspends patrols in western Nuba Mts

The international monitoring mission in the Nuba Mountains has suspended
patrols and flight inspections in the western Julud area after the rebel
Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) withdrew its monitors from the
team. According to a statement from the Joint Monitoring Mission/Joint
Military Commission (JMM/JMC) which is overseeing a ceasefire agreement in
the Nuba Mountains area, the SPLM recently arrested eight people for
entering Julud which is under rebel control. The rebels are reportedly
unhappy over a later decision by the local JMC commander to have the
detainees escorted back to their villages. JMM/JMC spokesman Anton Kohler
told IRIN an investigation into the arrests was underway which would,
among other issues, determine exactly who the detainees were. He noted
that any party was within its rights to suspend participation in the
patrols if it was not satisfied. The patrols throughout the JMC's five
sectors in the Nuba Mountains are made up equally of SPLM, Sudanese
government and international representatives.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36213]

SUDAN: Peace talks adjourned

The Sudan peace talks, which have been underway in the Kenyan town of
Nanyuki, were adjourned on Saturday until 10 September to give the
negotiating teams time for further consultations. According to a statement
issued by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) - which is
facilitating the talks - delegations from the Sudanese government and the
rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) had discussed
procedural and outstanding matters before the adjournment. The talks
resumed on 10 August after stalling in July when the Sudanese government
team rejected a draft power-sharing document that had been signed during
previous negotiations in the Kenyan town of Nakuru. "After a series of
engagements through consultations and direct talks, the parties asked for
an adjournment in order to consult further with their principals," the
IGAD statement said. Sudan's deputy ambassador to Kenya Muhammad Ahmad
Dirdeiry told IRIN on Monday that the parties engaged "very
constructively" during the 10-23 August session of talks - the seventh
since the negotiations began in Kenya in July 2002. He said that both
parties had agreed to the adjournment.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36163]


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