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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 186
27 March - 2 April 2004


CONTENTS:

SUDAN: Think-tank links lack of progress in peace process to Darfur 
  conflict
SUDAN: UN human rights experts "gravely concerned" over Darfur situation
SUDAN: Annan "disturbed" by continuing war in Darfur
SUDAN: Opposition leader and 10 officers arrested
SUDAN: Tribal fighting reported in Bahr al-Ghazal
ETHIOPIA: Parliament votes for independent probe into violence in 
  Gambella
ETHIOPIA: National HIV/AIDS forum launched
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Special envoy to discuss humanitarian situation
SOMALIA: Hopes of revitalising peace talks
SOMALIA: Peace demonstration held in Mogadishu
SOMALIA: National immunisation campaign begins


ALSO SEE:

ERITREA: Interview with Yemane Gebremeskel, Director of the President's
Office at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40360

ERITREA: Landmine awareness education returns to the villages at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40364

SUDAN: Think-tank links lack of progress in peace process to Darfur
conflict

The "negative trends" in the peace talks between the government and the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and the deteriorating
conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region are linked, according to the
International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank.

"The fate of the IGAD [Inter-Governmental Authority on Development] peace
process remains linked to Darfur developments," said the ICG in a report
issued on Thursday. "The international community has responded to the
Darfur crisis largely with quiet diplomacy, fearing too much pressure on
Khartoum would endanger the IGAD peace talks. It is clearer by the day,
however, that the conflict there must be resolved if there is to be
overall peace in Sudan."

Since January 2004 - with a three-week break for a Muslim pilgrimage - the
two sides have been negotiating the future status of three disputed areas
- the Nuba mountains, southern Blue Nile and oil-rich Abyei - resulting in
a deadlock over the latter. ICG said Khartoum had "slowed" the IGAD
negotiations earlier this year to give itself time for a major offensive
in Darfur. "The government used the three-week break [for the Hajj
pilgrimage] until talks resumed on 17 February to launch a massive
military offensive in Darfur it hoped would remove any reason to negotiate
further with the SLA/JEM [Sudan Liberation Army/Justice and Equality
Movement] rebels [in Darfur]," it said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40275 ]


SUDAN: UN human rights experts "gravely concerned" over Darfur situation

Meanwhile, eight UN human rights experts were quoted in a UN press release
as saying on 26 March that they were "gravely concerned" by the scale of
reported human rights abuses and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in
Darfur. The statement said the Fur, Masalit, Dajo, Tunjur, Tama and
Zaghawah ethnic groups had been the principal targets of "systematic human
rights violations" perpetrated mainly by "government-aligned militias such
as the Janjawid, Murahilin and the Popular Defence Forces".

It was being alleged, they said, that the government was "encouraging the
actions of these militia" in order to effect the forcible displacement of
these non-Arab communities of which, since February 2003, 750,000 had been
internally displaced, while over 100,000 had fled to neighbouring Chad.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40347 ]

For its part, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) noted in a press release issued in New York on Tuesday that in
addition to violence, civilians in Darfur were also having to contend with
water shortages and outbreaks of communicable diseases. Internally
displaced persons (IDPs) were being subjected to persistent attacks
involving "indiscriminate killings, gang rapes, looting, forced migration
and general intimidation", all taking place "on a daily basis throughout
the region", it said.

Officials at the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi told IRIN on Wednesday that
they had no information about the continuing attacks. On the contrary,
they said, the situation in Darfur was "actually improving". [Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40350 ]


SUDAN: Annan "disturbed" by continuing war in Darfur

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said he is "very disturbed" by
continuing fighting in Darfur, describing civilian casualties and human
rights violations there as "unacceptable", according to a statement issued
by his spokesperson on Wednesday.

The statement, which was distributed to the participants of the ceasefire
talks on Darfur currently being held in the Chadian capital, N'Djamena,
quotes Annan as saying that the fighting in Darfur "is having a
devastating impact on the lives and wellbeing of the people" and "must
stop".

In the statement, Annan welcomed the efforts of Chadian President Idriss
Deby, the government of Sudan, parties to the conflict and the
international community to end the conflict. He called for an end to the
fighting and urged all parties "to work intensively towards declaring an
effective humanitarian ceasefire". He also stressed that humanitarian
organisations "must receive safe and unimpeded access to all those in
need". [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40367 ]


SUDAN: Opposition leader and 10 officers arrested

The Sudanese government has confirmed that 10 military officers and a
senior opposition leader, Hasan Abdullah al-Turabi, have been detained.
The officers, it said in an official statement, had been planning a coup
since 2002. The statement, sent to IRIN by the Sudanese embassy in the
Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said the Council of ministers had met in an
emergency session on Wednesday, chaired by President Umar Hasan al-Bashir,
and was briefed by Defence Minister Maj-Gen Bakri Hasan Salih.

It quoted a government spokesman as saying that the alleged plot had
targeted the Al-Jayli Refinery and Garry Electricity Station. The arrested
officers were headed by a colonel, it said. Investigations were
continuing.

Turabi, it added, was detained for "inciting violence and ethnic and
regional conflicts in various states of the country". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40377; also see:  
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40347 ]


SUDAN: Tribal fighting reported in Bahr al-Ghazal

Fighting has broken out between the Dinkas of Aluakluak Payam (location)
of Yirol County and those of the Akot and Pacuong payams of Rumbek County,
resulting in a number of deaths, injuries and displacements, according to
a report issued by the NGO PACT on 24 March.

It said the fighting, which broke out on 16 March, had also led to looting
of property, and was affecting about 15,000 people from Aluakluak and
5,000 from Akot and Pacuong. "The fighting mostly affected the people of
Aluakluak Payam who are now displaced from their homes and are now staying
under trees," the report said.

The report recommends that food distributions to the affected populations
be undertaken "without delay". It also calls for the provision of
household items, such as pots, blankets and mosquito nets, as well as
seeds, which they have lost to looting. The report recommends that
agencies concerned in peace-building undertake projects to normalise the
"relationship between the two communities through peace and
reconciliation". It also stresses the need for the perpetrators of the
violence "to be brought to book immediately". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40318 ]


ETHIOPIA: Parliament votes for independent probe into violence in Gambella

The Ethiopian parliament has decided that an independent body be set up to
investigate reports of violence between different ethnic groups in the
western Gambella region, in which hundreds of people are believed to have
been killed. The parliament, in a meeting on 25 March, resolved that the
independent body would be charged with establishing the real causes of the
violence and what role the government was playing to quell it.

In a separate statement issued from Brussels the same day, the EU
expressed concern over "sporadic but persistent" fighting in western
Ethiopia. "While noting the actions taken by the government of Ethiopia to
stabilise the area, the European Union emphasises the need for government
security forces and the military to act in an impartial and lawful manner
if tensions between the various ethnic groups in the region are to be
reduced," it said. "The European Union calls for a public and independent
inquiry into suggestions of involvement by members of the Ethiopian
military in violence directed against innocent civilians," the statement
added.

Earlier this month, the government apologised to local tribes for its
inadequate response to prevent a massacre in early December that led to
the eruption of the violence. The troubles were sparked by the murders of
eight government refugee workers when their vehicle was attacked in the
area. The bodies of the men, which were badly mutilated, were paraded
around Gambella town, provoking reprisal attacks on Anyuaks, a local
ethnic group who were blamed for the killings. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40319 ]


ETHIOPIA: National HIV/AIDS forum launched

Ethiopia has launched a National Partnership Forum Against HIV/AIDS to
coordinate a multi-sectoral response to the disease, highlight the
government's commitment and bring together a wide range of partners to
avoid duplication of efforts, the government said. A statement from the
foreign ministry quoted President Girma Wolde-Giorgis, who launched the
forum on Wednesday, as saying: "We should be able to discharge our
historical responsibility of saving the generation from HIV/AIDS."

The statement quoted Girma as telling the forum that among other
initiatives to fight the pandemic, the government had decided to supply
anti-retrovirals to people living with HIV/AIDS. He called on Ethiopian
society to actively involve itself in preventing the further spread of
HIV/AIDS.

Nigatu Mereke, the forum's chairman, said it had been convened due to a
waste of valuable resources resulting from duplication of efforts in turn
arising from lack of coordination among those fighting HIV/AIDS in
Ethiopia. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40380]


ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Special envoy to discuss humanitarian situation
 
The UN secretary-general's special envoy for the humanitarian crisis in
the Horn of Africa will start a two-day visit to Eritrea on Wednesday,
OCHA has announced. Martti Ahtisaari, a former president of Finland and
recently chairman of the Independent Panel on the Safety and Security of
UN Personnel in Iraq, will proceed to Ethiopia after Eritrea. This is his
third visit to Eritrea.

OCHA said the envoy would, during the visit, be updated on the
humanitarian situation in the region and highlight any gaps in assistance.
He would also discuss the progress made in the implementation of recovery
and food security strategies that could reduce the region's vulnerability
to drought, including Eritrea's Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper,
the National Food Security Strategy and the recently approved Integrated
Recovery Programme.

"An estimated 1.9 million people are unlikely to be able to feed
themselves in Eritrea this year. The need for a timely and adequate
response to avert a humanitarian catastrophe is a priority," OCHA said.
"The country has suffered four years of drought with rains in 2003 below
average, resulting in crop failure and loss of livestock. Compounding this
is the continuing border conflict with Ethiopia," the statement said.
"Household coping mechanisms and safety nets that would normally prevent
starvation are being eroded."


SOMALIA: Hopes of revitalising peace talks

The facilitators of stalled Somali peace talks are hoping to make progress
this week with the start of discussions on the rules of procedure for
phase three of the talks, a source close to the negotiations told IRIN.
Participants at the talks taking place in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, had
been given a draft copy of the rules, and were expected to begin
discussing them on Wednesday in a series of committees, he said. "The
committees should be up and running by tomorrow," the source said.

It was important that the draft rules, which had been approved by the
ministers of the facilitating IGAD countries, be discussed thoroughly by
the Somalis themselves so that they could take over "ownership" of the
process, the source added.

Each of the political groups taking part in the talks had been asked by
the IGAD mediators to provide a list of three members for the committees.
But by Tuesday not all of the names had been forwarded. The IGAD
facilitators were also trying to ensure that all the traditional elders
would return to Kenya, the source added. About 30 out of 174 traditional
elders had left, he said, whereas only one or two of the political leaders
were absent. A number of leaders walked out of peace talks in Nairobi, and
have been holding meetings this month in the town of Jowhar, 90 km north
of Mogadishu. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40322 ]


SOMALIA: Peace demonstration held in Mogadishu

Several thousand Somalis, mainly women and children, demonstrated in
Mogadishu's main stadium on Wednesday, demanding that the war-torn
country's faction leaders expedite the ongoing peace talks Nairobi,
sources said. Organised by local NGOs, the demonstrators called on faction
leaders who have boycotted the talks to respect an earlier agreement
signed in Eldoret, Kenya, in 2002, in which they committed themselves to a
ceasefire and promoting the peace process.

"The message from the demonstrators was that the warlords have to respect
agreements and return to the talks," Abdullahi Shirwa, head of Peaceline,
one of the NGOs that organised the demonstration, told IRIN from
Mogadishu. "We see the conference as the best option for the Somali
people."

A peace message from the Civil Society in Action, a coalition of 56 NGOs,
professional bodies, youth and women's groups, was read out during the
demonstration. It urged the warlords to cease hostilities and allow peace
to return to the country. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40378 ]


SOMALIA: National immunisation campaign begins

Tens of thousands of vaccinators trekked across Somalia on Monday as a
three-day national immunisation campaign targeting all children under five
years was launched, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement.
In what it described as a "miraculous victory for children over conflict
and devastation", UNICEF said the last case of polio was reported in
Somalia in 2002. The country had, as a result, been removed from the list
of polio-endemic countries.

"If polio can be stopped in Somalia, it can be stopped anywhere," Carol
Bellamy, UNICEF's Executive Director said in the statement. "This success
is a testament to the will of the Somali people and the effectiveness of
strategies in place to stop the virus. If the remaining six endemic
countries employ these strategies with equal determination, the world's
children will be finally free of this crippling disease."

The six countries where polio is still endemic are Nigeria, India,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Niger and Egypt. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40293]


IRIN-CEA
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Fax: +254 2 622129
Email: IRIN@ocha.unon.org

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004


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