U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for Central and Eastern Africa

Tel: +254 2 622147
Fax: +254 2 622129
e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org


HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 179
7 - 13 February 2004


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: Renewed fighting reported in the west, 10,000 flee
ETHIOPIA: Ethnic violence leaves 18 dead in the east
ETHIOPIA: Campaign launched to preserve national heritage
SUDAN: Thousands still fleeing attacks in Darfur
SUDAN: Gov't will not attend Darfur humanitarian access talks
SUDAN: Parties differ on peacekeeping during transitional period
SUDAN: UN report predicts record harvest
SOMALIA: TNA endorses agreement
SOMALIA: Abducted UN staff member released

ALSO SEE:

ETHIOPIA: IRIN interview with anti-FGM activist Berhane Ras-Work at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39370

ETHIOPIA: Interview with British International Development Secretary
Hilary Benn at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39465

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Focus on UN Special Envoy Lloyd Axworthy's mission at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39465

SUDAN: Special reports on peace prospects in Sudan at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39439


ETHIOPIA: Renewed fighting reported in the west, 10,000 flee

Renewed fighting has erupted in the western Gambella region bordering
Sudan, claiming as many as 40 lives, according to UN and humanitarian
sources. The clashes broke out just weeks after fighting had left up to
150 people dead in Gambella, officials told IRIN on Monday. It had broken
out on 6 February at the Dima refugee camp, about 800 km from the capital,
Addis Ababa, and home to 18,700 Sudanese refugees, the humanitarian
sources said. Clashes also occurred around a gold mine, 30 km from Dima in
late January, as well as in the town itself a day later, they added.

In its weekly bulletin released on 6 February, the World Food Programme
(WFP) said security conditions in the region had "deteriorated
significantly" over the last few weeks. "These security incidents come on
the heels of similar incidents that took place in the Gambella area in
mid-December 2003, which resulted in the loss of lives and damage to
property," it stated.

The fighting in western Ethiopia sparked international concern. British
International Development Secretary Hilary Benn, who arrived in Ethiopia
on 8 February, has told the British parliament that up to 150 people died
in the December clashes. "There is still a high level of ethnic violence
in Ethiopia," Benn told parliament recently. "We take human rights very
seriously." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39379 ]

His four-day visit took place amid mounting concern over the country’s
human rights record and criticism of foreign donors for turning a blind
eye to this aspect. Rights organisations say abuses being perpetrated by
the government - which has held power for 12 years - are being passed over
because Ethiopia is an ally in the war on terror.

Benn, who was due to meet Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, was expected to
raise the country’s human rights record, as well as the unresolved border
dispute with Eritrea. Tackling Ethiopia’s entrenched poverty and the
HIV/AIDS pandemic that has left one million children orphaned was also
expected to be on the agenda, officials told IRIN. His visit comes as
bilateral diplomatic ties are being consolidated and levels of aid are
rising – 75 percent of which is expected to be given directly to the
government. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39368; also see:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39420 ]

On Wednesday, the federal affairs ministry said in a statement that 10,000
people had fled ethnic fighting in Gambella that claimed more than 250
lives when renewed clashes broke out at the gold mine near Dima, in which
196 people were killed in a single day. It stated that local police forces
had been "overwhelmed" in the violence, and that the army had been sent in
to restore order.

"These atrocities were conducted by an armed group of over 200 men who
claim to be the leaders of the Anyuak," the ministry said in reference to
the attack on the gold mine, which the Anyuak claim as being on their
territory. Most of the victims originated from the neighbouring Southern
Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Regional State. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39448 ]


ETHIOPIA: Ethnic violence leaves 18 dead in the east
 
Ethnic violence left at least 18 people dead and several hundred homes
burnt down in eastern Ethiopia, the country’s human rights organisation
revealed on 6 February. The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (ERCHO) said
fighting had erupted between the Somali and Oromo ethnic groups competing
for political power in West Harerge. It noted that the violence had been
sparked by plans for a referendum on who would control the Meisso District
administration, 500 km east of Addis Ababa.

Scores of ethnic groups live peacefully alongside each other in Ethiopia.
But ERCHO argues that ethnicity is gradually seeping into the political
arena and daily life. "Since the coming into effect of the ethnic- and
language-based division of administrative units, several ethnic and
religious conflicts have occurred in many parts of the country," ERCHO
stated in a special report released on 6 February.

Its president, Prof Mesfin Wolde-Mariam, said the government's policy of
dividing power along ethnic lines, was fuelling conflict. "These conflicts
are becoming alarming and [are] increasing," he warned. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39343 ]


ETHIOPIA: Campaign launched to preserve national heritage
 
The government on Saturday warned that Ethiopia's historical and cultural
artefacts were continuing to be plundered, and called for greater
protection of its antiquities. It stressed in a statement that the looting
was obstructing ongoing vital survey work and research aimed at fully
exploring and documenting the country's historical background.

"Regrettably the theft and smuggling of our cultural heritage has not yet
been brought to a halt up until now," the information ministry said in the
statement. "The task of conserving and preserving our heritage must
include efforts to retrieve the numerous historical and palaeontological
resources looted and taken abroad."

The government spokesman, Zemedkun Tekle, told IRIN that education lay at
the heart of successfully preventing thefts of antiquities by both
tourists and locals. "We are trying to make the people aware so that they
do not let visitors take items," he said. "We are also improving our
vigilance, especially in historical areas." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39376 ]


SUDAN: Thousands still fleeing attacks in Darfur

Thousands are still fleeing for their lives from militias and aerial
bombardments in the western region of Darfur, despite claims by the
government this week that the war is over.

Every day for the last three weeks, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) had
been observing "hundreds" of families, numbering between 10 and 20 per
family, fleeing into Chad, MSF's Astrid Castelein told IRIN from Tine
Chad. MSF staff running mobile clinics had seen the refugees arriving
along a 100-km stretch of border south of Tine, she said, many of them
from Karnoi in western Darfur.

Sources in western Darfur told IRIN that government-aligned Arab militias,
known as the Janjawid, who are an armed cavalry force, were still "very
active" south of Junaynah in the areas around Murnei and Gukor. In the
last few days, about 8,000 people had arrived in Junaynah from Gukor,
bringing the total number of displaced in the town to between 35,000 and
45,000.

Meanwhile, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il said on Monday
that military operations in the region had been put "behind us", and that
the government had now "entered the political phase of the conflict". A
government statement declared an end to military operations "in the entire
region of Darfur". [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39424; also see:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39406 ]


SUDAN: Gov't will not attend Darfur humanitarian access talks, UN envoy
due in Khartoum

The government said on Monday it would not attend talks to discuss
humanitarian access with rebels from the war-torn western Darfur region. A
government spokesman, Sa'id Khatib, told IRIN that the government had
received no invitation take part in the talks being organised by the
Geneva-based NGO, the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. "We are not going
to attend, because nobody invited us," he said.

Both Darfur's rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and
Equality Movement, as well as the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance, which
describes itself as a national political and military movement, but whose
leadership stems from Darfur, said last week they would participate.

Dr Mutrif Siddiq Ali, the undersecretary of the Sudanese foreign ministry,
told IRIN on Monday that the government would not attend, because the
issue of access had been "politicised" too much. Issues of humanitarian
access should not be "subject to manipulations" and used "as a tool for
political and military gains", he said. {Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39381 ]

Meanwhile, UN Special Envoy Tom Eric Vraalsen on Thursday arrived in the
capital, Khartoum, to follow up on the promise made earlier this week by
the authorities to grant humanitarian access to millions of war-affected
civilians in the western part of the country. President Umar Hasan
al-Bashir on Monday formally declared that his government had defeated
rebels in Darfur, pledging to open up immediate humanitarian access to the
region.

In a statement, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
described this new development as a "breakthrough", following months
during which agencies had been prevented from reaching large numbers of
displaced civilians caught up in what was seen as one of the worst
emergencies in Africa. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39455 ]


SUDAN: Parties differ on peacekeeping during transitional period

Differences have emerged between the Sudanese warring parties over the
structure and mandate of a proposed UN-supported peace-monitoring team to
operate during the crucial six-and-a-half-year transitional period planned
to follow the signing of a final peace agreement. The differences arose
following a hint by US Secretary of State Colin Powell last week that up
to 10,000 international monitors could be deployed in Sudan once a final
deal is reached.

"In addition to Cote d'Ivoire and what we're doing in Liberia, if we get a
settlement in Sudan, which I think is likely if we can solve the problem
of Abyei [one of the three disputed regions], then there will be another
requirement there for 8,000 to 10,000 UN monitors, so another bill,"
Powell told journalists during a round-table discussion on African issues
in New York on 6 February.

Samson Kwaje, the official spokesman of the rebel Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army, told IRIN on Monday that Sudan not only needed
monitors but also peacekeepers on the ground to ensure that both parties
fully implemented the terms of the peace accord during the transitional
period. The government, on the other hand, has ruled out a role for
peacekeepers, and instead said it preferred the idea of peace monitors,
similar to those already being implemented under the facilitation of
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39398 ]


SUDAN: UN report predicts record harvest

A record bumper harvest of food and cereals with a large surplus is
expected in Sudan in 2004 by virtue of improved security and favourable
weather conditions, but up to 3.6 million people in war-affected regions
will still need food aid, a joint UN assessment report has projected.

The Special Report, jointly commissioned by the UN Food and Agricultural
Organisation and the WFP, forecast a record cereal harvest of 6.3 million
t for Sudan in 2003/04, 63 percent higher than last year's production and
47 percent above the average of the previous five years.

The report, released on Thursday, attributes the improved food prospects
on favourable weather, timely provision of agricultural inputs and fewer
outbreaks of pests or diseases. "Rainfall throughout most of the country
was generally favourable during the 2003 cropping season, and cereal
production benefited from a relatively low incidence of pests," the report
said. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39451 ]


SOMALIA: TNA endorses agreement

After three days of debate, the Transitional National Assembly (TNA) of
Somalia, gave its blessing to an agreement signed by the Transitional
National Government (TNG) and Somalia's various political factions. The
leaders of the Somali groups meeting in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, had
on 29 January signed "a landmark breakthrough" agreement on a number of
contentious issues that had plagued the peace talks.

The debate on a motion seeking endorsement for the agreement began after
the TNG cabinet had given its approval on 3 February, Abdikarim Ahmad Ali,
the TNG parliamentary affairs minister, told IRIN. Abdikarim said that
after the debate, 155 members present of the 245-seat TNA had voted on the
motion, of whom 136 supported the government's endorsement, with only one
MP voting against it. Eighteen MPs abstained. The motion supporting the
agreement was passed on 8 February. After the vote, the president of the
TNG, Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, had signed "a decree making the agreement
legal and binding on the government", said Abdikarim.

Meanwhile, senior traditional elders from the Hawiye, one of the country's
four major clans, had also expressed support for the agreement, one of
them told IRIN on Monday. Mu'allim Harun Mu'allim Yusuf, the chairman of
the elders' committee, said the Mogadishu meeting, attended by over 60
elders from all Hawiye sub-clans, had endorsed it and called on all the
Somali leaders and people to follow suit. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39373 ]

On Thursday, the Kenyan ambassador to Somalia, Muhammad Abdi Affey, told
IRIN that the peace process was on course and would move into its final
phase soon. He said a plenary of the conference would be convened "within
the next few days" to endorse the agreement signed by the Somali leaders
on 29 January. Affey said that when the document is presented to the
plenary session, he expected it to be endorsed. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39447 ]


SOMALIA: Abducted UN staff member released

The Office of the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia
welcomed the release on 7 February of Rolf Helmrich, a UN employee
abducted earlier near the southern town of Kismayo, the UN said in a
statement.

The UN expressed its appreciation to the Juba Valley Alliance (JVA), which
controls the area, for its efforts "in effecting the release of Helmrich"
said the statement.

Somali sources in Kismayo told IRIN that the JVA had negotiated the
release of Helmrich, who was being held near the town of Jilib, some 180
km north of Kismayo. "They [JVA], along with NGOs operating in the region,
were responsible for his release," said one of the sources. The captors
were "known criminals from Mogadishu", said another. "The JVA has
reportedly vowed to track them down and bring them to book", he added.
"Now that he [Helmrich] is out, they feel they have a free hand to deal
with them." [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39367 ]

Helmrich later said said that although the conditions of his captivity
were harsh he had not been ill-treated. Speaking to the press on Tuesday,
he said the worst part of his abduction had been "the actual hostage
taking", during which weapons were brandished and shots fired. However, "I
was not mistreated by the hostage takers, in fact towards the end they
wanted me as their commander," he said, tongue in cheek. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39404]


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

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