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 181
21 - 27 February 2004


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: US government wants Gambella violence investigated
ETHIOPIA: Government lifts ban on journalists' association, court case
postponed
ETHIOPIA: Doubts raised over government's resettlement scheme
ETHIOPIA: WFP to provide $150 million for food aid
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Axworthy departs from region without meeting Isayas
SUDAN: Paramilitary forces attack aid workers in the south
SUDAN: Expedite preparations for return of IDPs and refugees, says
advocacy group
SOMALIA: Six faction leaders demand postponement of peace talks
SOMALIA: Factions accuse talks organisers of mismanagement
SOMALIA: Security Council warns obstructionist leaders


ALSO SEE:

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

SUDAN: Special report III: Chronology of events at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39682


ETHIOPIA: US government wants Gambella violence investigated

The US government has called for "transparent, independent" inquiries into
clashes in Ethiopia’s troubled western border region where hundreds have
been killed. In a statement issued from Washington on 20 February, the US
said the government must investigate allegations that its troops were
involved in the killings. Adam Ereli, the US government deputy spokesman,
also told journalists in Washington that the crisis in Gambella region was
"deteriorating" following fighting between ethnic groups and the Ethiopian
armed forces.

"Fully transparent and independent investigations by the government would
encourage restoration of peace in the troubled region," Ereli said in a
statement. The US call came as two human rights organisations condemned
the international community for its silence over the "atrocities" being
perpetrated in Gambella, which is about 800 km west of the capital, Addis
Ababa. The US-based Genocide Watch and Survivors' Rights International
alleged that the Anyuak ethnic group was being subjected to rape,
executions and torture.

The government, however, rejected allegations that its troops were
involved in the fighting, and told IRIN that they were restoring order.
"These statements from the human rights groups are not correct. The
government troops are not there to kill Anyuaks, they are there to make
peace. We have stated this time and again," Zemedkun Tekle, the
information ministry spokesman, told IRIN.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39626 ]


ETHIOPIA: Government lifts ban on journalists' association, court case
postponed

A government ban on the country’s besieged independent journalists'
association has been lifted ahead of court action seeking to overturn the
ruling, officials told IRIN on Monday. The move came as the former
Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association (EFJA) leadership began
legal proceedings against the ban. They are also claiming that the
government illegally orchestrated their overthrow and helped establish a
new leadership for the troubled 13-year-old association.

Robert Shaw of the International Federation of Journalists said his
organisation did not recognise the EFJA's new leadership, who were elected
in January. "There appears to be clear government interference to
establish a new leadership of the EFJA," he told IRIN. He pointed out that
the "interference" was in direct contravention of international agreements
to allow freedom of association ratified by the Ethiopian government. Shaw
also called on the new leadership to convene a meeting of all EFJA members
to resolve their internal crisis and address in-house wrangling.

Meanwhile, Kifle Mulat, the ousted president of the EFJA, dismissed the
lifting of the ban as a "purely political move". The court hearing, at the
Federal First Instance Court, was adjourned until 23 March, because the
justice ministry had not yet prepared its case, for which it was fined the
equivalent of US $4.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39630 ]


ETHIOPIA: Doubts raised over government's resettlement scheme

Up to 1 million people could be moved by May under the government’s
controversial US $220 million resettlement programme, humanitarian aid
sources told IRIN on Wednesday. Under the country’s largest-ever
relocation drive, the government is hoping to have resettled tens of
thousands of families by the time the rains come in three months' time.

But the programme has prompted expressions of concern on the part of the
international community over the pace at which the move - directed by
Deputy Prime Minister Adisu Legese - is to be implemented. "There is a
growing scepticism," one senior aid official said. "We are concerned that
problems under the resettlement drive could be worse than first expected,"
he told IRIN.

The EU recently raised its unease over the programme, warning that it
could be seriously undermined if the current population boom, which is
growing faster than the economy, continued unabated. "It is suggested that
both the scale and the pace of the programme be carefully considered to
take account of the humanitarian, economic and environmental risks posed,"
it said. Fears are also mounting over the potential spread of HIV/AIDS as
families are moved around the country.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39673 ]


ETHIOPIA: WFP to provide $150 million for food aid

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) will provide $150 million to help feed
millions of Ethiopians hit by shortages, the organisation announced on
Monday. In a statement, the WFP said the money would be used to purchase
some 400,000 mt of food aid within Ethiopia for 2.9 million people. "The
overall humanitarian needs for 2004 are reduced significantly as compared
to 2003," it said, but noted that 980,000 mt of food aid was still needed
in 2004. It went on to point out that of this, more than 500,000 mt was as
yet "un-resourced".

The contribution will cover over 40 percent of the country's total relief
food needs for 2004, according to the WFP deputy spokesman, Melese Aworke.
However, the support was dependent on donors, he added, and would be in
the form of food, in kind, or cash.

According to the WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),
Ethiopia this year recorded one of its largest harvests in five years
after good rains. But even so, the government and aid agencies say that
this year, 7 million people will still need international food aid to
survive - the worst months being April, May and June.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39649 ]


ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Axworthy departs from region without meeting Isayas

UN Special Envoy Lloyd Axworthy expressed disappointment on Monday after
failing to visit Eritrea at the start of his peacekeeping mission. He
described Eritrea as the "missing voice" in his efforts to overcome the
stalled three-year peace process between it and neighbouring Ethiopia.

Eritrea has criticised the appointment of a UN special envoy as a way of
opening the door to renewed negotiations despite the existing "final and
binding" ruling on its border with Ethiopia.

"I am disappointed I am not going to Eritrea," Axworthy said at the end of
his five-day visit to Ethiopia, where he met the Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi. "It would be very important to talk to the Eritreans. They have a
very important case to make and I would like to deal with it," he
stressed. He said he did not believe renewed conflict was likely, but
advised the international community to remain vigilant. "You should always
be concerned when there is an impasse, because people can run with it," he
told reporters as he prepared to leave Addis Ababa.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39648]


SUDAN: Paramilitary forces attack aid workers in the south

Paramilitary forces in Nimnim, western Upper Nile, deliberately attacked
eight aid workers working in the area last week, according to the UN. The
early morning attack on 20 February was specifically directed at the aid
workers' temporary compound outside the village of Nimnim, where they had
been staying for three days distributing food and other relief items, said
a statement issued by the UN Humanitarian Coordinator. The relief workers
came under rifle, machine-gun, rocket-propelled-grenade and mortar fire
from "unidentified militia forces" for 20 minutes, before the workers fled
from the scene on foot. Meanwhile, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/
Army (SPLM/A) forces, which nominally control the area, counterattacked.

The emergency response team of aid workers who were attacked consisted of
three international staff members and five Sudanese from the UN Children's
Fund, the WFP, the FAO, World Vision International, a UN security officer
and an official of the humanitarian wing of the SPLM/A, the Sudan Relief
and Rehabilitation Association. A number of injuries were sustained, but
not by the aid workers, who were flown out of the area by UN security
later that day. Relief activities for about 30,000 people in the area have
been suspended.

The UN strongly condemned the attacks, and called on the government of
Sudan and the SPLM/A to identify, detain and prosecute the perpetrators,
said a statement. "Attacks on humanitarian workers in conflict situations
are war crimes," said the UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan,
Bernt Aasen.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39720 ]


SUDAN: Expedite preparations for return of IDPs and refugees, says
advocacy group

The government, the SPLM/A and relief agencies need to expedite
preparations for the return of 1 million internally displaced persons
(IDPs) and thousands of refugees to their homes in southern Sudan once a
peace agreement is signed, the advocacy group, Refugees International (RI)
said. "If progress towards peace in Sudan continues, the large-scale
returns of displaced persons and refugees to their former homes will be
one of the largest, most hazardous and difficult operations that
governments, the UN and aid agencies have ever attempted," the agency
said.

Some 570,000 Sudanese refugees outside the country, and between 3-4
million IDPs are expected to return home once a peace deal has been signed
between the government and the SPLM/A.

Over 1 million IDPs and thousands of refugees are expected in the first
six months, which could lead to southern Sudan being "overwhelmed", said
RI. "Planning to receive potential returnees has begun, but the
preparations are far from complete," it added, warning that current
planning might be too late if large-scale returns were to begin soon.
Donors must immediately begin to fund programmes to assist returnees,
rather than wait for a final peace deal, it stressed.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39688 ]


SOMALIA: Six faction leaders demand postponement of peace talks

Six faction leaders participating in the Somali peace talks in Kenya, but
who are currently in Somalia, have called on the organisers to postpone
the opening of the third and final phase of the talks, and accused some of
Somalia's neighbours of bias. A statement issued on Saturday after the
group met in the southeastern town of Jawhar, 90 km north of the capital,
Mogadishu, accused Kenya of "unprincipled management" of the talks and of
frequent changes of attitude, and Djibouti of "biased interference" in
favour of the Transitional National Government (TNG) and lack of
neutrality.

The group also expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of the
international observers, whom it accused of "flagrant political
interference".

According to the statement, in order to save the talks, "it is essential"
that they be moved from Kenya to a more neutral country. Signatories to
the statement are the Jawhar-based faction leader, Muhammad Habib; Shaykh
Adan Madobe of the Rahanwein Resistance Army; Gen Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi
Morgan; Abdullahi Shaykh Isma'il; Mahmud Sayyid Adan of the Somali
National Front; and Abdiqadir Abdi Hasan. They belong to the Somali
Reconciliation and Reconstruction Council, a grouping of southern factions
opposed to the TNG.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39625 ]


SOMALIA: Factions accuse talks organisers of mismanagement

Some Somali factions participating in the Somali peace talks in Kenya have
accused the conference organisers of mismanaging the proceedings and
disregarding the conference rules during the latest plenary session,
according to a press statement issued on Tuesday.

On Monday night, the plenary endorsed "by a large majority" an agreement
concluded in January, according to a source at the Inter-Governmental
Authority on Development (IGAD), under whose auspices the talks are being
held. 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 earlier been plaguing the peace
talks.

Awad Ashara, the spokesman for the self-declared region of Puntland in
northeastern Somalia, told IRIN that the way the plenary had been
conducted was wrong, because the organisers had "violated the rules of
procedure". Ashara said his group wanted the plenary reopened. It had been
declared closed by Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka, who is also
the chairman of IGAD's ministerial facilitation committee for the Somali
peace talks. "We need clarifications on a number of issues, which, once
dealt with, will need the endorsement of the plenary," Ashara said.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=39684]


SOMALIA: Security Council warns obstructionist leaders

The UN Security Council has called on Somali parties taking part in peace
talks in Kenya to "reach a peaceful settlement", and warned those blocking
progress that it will keep a close watch. In a statement to the press
following consultations on Wednesday, the current Council president,
Ambassador Wang Guangya of China, warned that "the Security Council
condemns those who obstruct the peace process, and stresses that those who
persist on the path of confrontation and conflict will be held
accountable".

The Council called on Somalis to build on the progress made at the peace
talks currently under way in Kenya under the auspices of the IGAD, in
order to establish "a viable transitional government".

The Security Council also expressed concern over "the continued flow of
weapons and ammunition" into Somalia, calling on all "states and entities"
to cooperate with the monitoring group which oversees the arms embargo. A
four-member panel of experts to investigate violations of the arms embargo
on Somalia and advise the Council's sanctions committee was appointed by
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in September 2002.


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