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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 187
3 - 9 April 2004


CONTENTS:

CHAD-SUDAN: Darfur talks dogged by disagreements
SUDAN: Bush condemns "atrocities" in Darfur
SUDAN: IDPs from southern Sudan caught up in Darfur violence
ETHIOPIA: Government says situation in Gambela improving
ETHIOPIA: IOM and government wooing skills and funds from diaspora
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Humanitarian envoy ends regional visit
SOMALIA: Child malnutrition in parts of the north


ALSO SEE:

SUDAN: Interview with UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40412

SUDAN: Peace and the region at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40388

SUDAN: Interview with government humanitarian aid commissioner on the
Darfur crisis at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40455 ]


CHAD-SUDAN: Darfur talks dogged by disagreements

The Sudanese government delegation to peace talks in Chad and
representatives from Darfur's rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army and
the Justice and Equality Movement, were holding talks with the Chadian
mediators on 2 April, but not with each other, a Western diplomat said.

An EU official told IRIN that the negotiations, which started on
Wednesday, were still "procedural". The rebels wanted international
observers to attend all the discussions, while the government was in
favour of monitors being present only during discussions on humanitarian
issues, he said. Another reason for the lack of progress might be the fact
that too many international observers had turned up for the talks, the
Western diplomat said, including delegations from the African Union, the
UN, the EU and the US.

The diplomat said the government had reneged on an agreement to allow
officials from the US and EU to take part in peace talks on the war-torn
Darfur region. He told IRIN that following talks with EU and US officials
for over a month, the government and Darfur's two rebel groups had agreed
to allow the monitors to take part. The formula agreed upon was to hold
talks in Chad, under the chairmanship of Chadian President Idriss Deby,
and with the EU and US "actively involved in talks about a humanitarian
ceasefire". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40395 ]

By Tuesday, one week after arriving in Chad for peace negotiations, the
Sudan government and two armed movements in Darfur province had still not
held direct talks. A senior official of the Chadian government said on
Tuesday that this impasse could force Chad to abandon its efforts to bring
the parties to the negotiating table. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40451 ]

On Wednesday, however, the BBC reported that the two delegations had met
face to face for the first time, but gave no details of what then ensued.


SUDAN: Bush condemns "atrocities" in Darfur

US President George Bush on Wednesday urged the Sudanese government to
"immediately stop local militias from committing atrocities against the
local population" in Darfur, western Sudan, and to provide humanitarian
aid agencies with unrestricted access to vulnerable people. "I condemn
these atrocities, which are displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians,
and I have expressed my views directly to President [Umar al-] Bashir of
Sudan," a statement issued by the US Department of State quoted Bush as
saying.

According to Bush, new fighting in Darfur had "opened a new chapter of
tragedy in Sudan's troubled history". He said: "For more than two and a
half years, the US has been working closely with the government and the
Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) to bring peace to Sudan. This
civil war is one of the worst humanitarian tragedies of our time,
responsible for the deaths of two million people over two decades."

Warning that the US would "move toward normal relations with the
government only when there is a just and comprehensive peace agreement
[with] the SPLM", Bush called for "unrestricted access for humanitarian
relief throughout Sudan, including Darfur". The Sudanese government, he
added, must "not remain complicit in the brutalisation of Darfur". [Full
story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40473 ]


SUDAN: IDPs from southern Sudan caught up in Darfur violence
 
Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the state of Southern Darfur,
western Sudan, say their camp was looted and burned by Arab militiamen on
4 April, but this was denied by a government official in the state
capital, Nyala.

The camp, home to thousands of Dinkas - an ethnic group from southern
Sudan - is located on the edge of Abu Ajurah, a village about 40 km from
Nyala. Almost all of it was burned by Janjawid - Arab militias allied to
the government - several of the IDPs told IRIN in Nyala. "We are targeted
because we are black," a Dinka teacher claimed. "The Janjawid said: 'We
don't want any black skin here.'"

The government Humanitarian Aid Commissioner in Nyala, Jamal Yusuf Idris,
denied that the Dinka were targeted. He confirmed to IRIN that a group of
"Arabs" had burned down houses belonging to members of the Fur ethnic
group in Abu Jura and killed eight people, but said it was because the Fur
were accused of killing two Arabs. "The Dinka were not attacked at all,
they have no reason to worry," he said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40472 ]


ETHIOPIA: Government says situation in Gambela improving

The Ethiopian government said on Monday that the situation in the volatile
southwestern region of Gambela, where scores of people have been killed in
ethnic clashes, mainly between the Anyuak and Nuer, has improved. In a
statement sent to IRIN by the Ministry of Federal Affairs, Ethiopia said
that "the situation on the ground has come down to normality". It said
security in the region had been beefed up, the perpetrators of the
violence arrested, destroyed homes rebuilt and the provision of relief was
ongoing.

"Once the normal functions of state and public services are in place, a
fresh and new turnaround towards rapid development is mandatory... The
lasting solution to the incessant conflict in Gambela is rapid and speedy
development with grass-roots (indigenous people's) support. Federal
intervention is aimed at creating a conducive and enabling environment for
improved governance and palpable development initiatives," the government
said.

Gambela is located in southwestern Ethiopia bordering on Sudan. There have
been persistent conflicts between the Nuer (population 90,517) and the
Anyuak (62,586). There are also other minority groups in the region. "The
Nuers felt marginalised and the Anyuak elite were not willing to give away
their domination. This led to a chain of ethnic conflicts in the year
2001/02," the statement said. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40425 ]


ETHIOPIA: IOM and government wooing skills and funds from diaspora

Thousands of skilled Ethiopians living in various parts of the world are
being wooed to contribute skills and remittances towards helping to
develop their homeland, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
has said. "IOM is assisting the government to put in place mechanisms to
use Ethiopians in the diaspora, even those coming home on short terms
visits," Charles Kwenin, the head of IOM in Ethiopia, told IRIN on 2
April.

The initiative is part of the IOM's capacity-building strategy called
"Migration for Development in Africa" (MIDA), which seeks to contribute to
socioeconomic development through the mobilisation of skills, financial
and other resources of the African diaspora to reduce poverty and
strengthen the technical and institutional capacities of the public and
private sectors.

Kwenin said a website "to provide relevant information on how to do
business in Ethiopia" had been launched during a workshop on the
"Mobilisation and Utilisation of Diaspora Skills and Remittances for the
Development of Ethiopia", which was held in the capital, Addis Ababa, on
31 March. The site will be used to disseminate information to Ethiopians
living abroad and to collect data on those wishing to participate in the
development of their country of origin. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40426 ]


ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Humanitarian envoy ends regional visit

The United Nations envoy for the humanitarian crisis in the Horn of
Africa, Martti Ahtisaari, wrapped up his visit to Ethiopia and Eritrea by
thanking donors for responding to food appeals for the region, relief
workers said.

A UN statement said the envoy had arrived in Ethiopia from Eritrea on 2
April for a three-day visit to review the humanitarian situation and
measures taken by the government and relief agencies to break the cycle of
hunger and poverty there. Some 880,000 mt of emergency food and US $85
million in non-food assistance were needed in Ethiopia this year. So far,
half of the requirement for food and 20 percent of the non-food items had
been pledged by donors, the statement added.

The envoy arrived in Eritrea on 31 March, where he was updated on the
humanitarian situation and discussed progress in the implementation of
recovery and food-security strategies. According to the UN, about 1.9
million people are unlikely to be able to feed themselves in Eritrea this
year, mainly because the country has suffered four years of drought, with
rains in 2003 below average, resulting in crop failure and loss of
livestock. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=40440 ]


SOMALIA: Child malnutrition in parts of the north

About 20 percent of the children in the drought-affected northern Somali
regions of Sool and Sanaag are believed to be malnourished, a study by the
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in February found. In its monthly review of
the situation in Somalia for March, UNICEF said the results of screening
some 7,457 children had shown that about 1,490 were moderately
malnourished and 126 severely malnourished. "Overall, about 20 percent of
the children are malnourished," it said.

UNICEF added that it had signed an agreement with an NGO, Action Contre La
Faim, to carry out a nutrition survey in Garowe, Dangorayo and Burtinle
districts of the Nugal Region in Puntland. UNICEF is also supporting the
screening of children for malnutrition in the Bay and Bakool regions, and
in the capital, Mogadishu. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=40477]


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