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

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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-Up 201
4 - 10 December 2004


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Cautious optimism on stalled peace process
ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Kofi Annan welcomes any step that may bring peace
ERITREA: Ship delivers donated food to Massawa port
ETHIOPIA: WFP appeals for donations to feed refugees
SOMALIA: Relief agencies seek $164 million for 2005
SOMALIA: Somali political leaders urged to support peace
SUDAN: Security Council concerned over Darfur
SUDAN: Gov't, SPLM/A resume talks on southern conflict

ALSO SEE: SOMALIA: Interview with Jan Egeland, UN USG for Humanitarian
Affairs http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44591 ]


ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Cautious optimism on stalled peace process

The recent announcement by Ethiopia that it would accept "in principle" a
ruling to end a simmering border dispute with Eritrea was broadly
welcomed, but the complex issue of when and how the two countries can
enter into dialogue to try and normalise relations still remains.

"I am not jumping up and down, but at least there is more traction there
than there was," the UN special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Lloyd
Axworthy, told IRIN from Winnipeg, Canada. "It could be the beginnings of
a new chapter for peace, but there has to be another step, which is how
the two countries begin engagement."

Ethiopia had refused, until now, to respect an April 2002 ruling by the
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, part of the Permanent Court of
Arbitration based in The Hague. Axworthy believes the international
community should work to build on the momentum generated by the new pledge
by Ethiopia.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44520 ]


ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Kofi Annan welcomes any step that may bring peace

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Wednesday he welcomed any step
that may bring peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea. He spoke after studying
a five-point proposal unveiled by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to
break a deadlock between the two countries over their common border.

"The Secretary-General welcomes any step which may contribute to full
implementation of the 2000 Algiers Agreements and the subsequent decision
of the boundary commission, to the initiation of dialogue between Ethiopia
and Eritrea, as well as to the restoration of normal relations between
these two neighbouring countries," a statement by Annan's spokesman said.

Ethiopia had refused to respect the April 2002 ruling by the
Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, part of the Permanent Court of
Arbitration based in The Hague. Meles announced in parliament on 25
November that Ethiopia would accept the ruling "in principle".

[Full story
on: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44596 ]


ERITREA: Ship delivers donated food to Massawa port

Some 42,500 mt of donated wheat worth US $13.8 million has arrived in
Eritrea, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Monday. The wheat,
it added, would help alleviate the suffering of nearly a million people
affected by war, widespread drought and the combined economic impact.

WFP Country Director Jean-Pierre Cebron said the donation would support
its emergency and recovery operations in the particularly hard-hit areas
of Gash Barka, Debub and Anseba.

The wheat was donated by the European Commission and the governments of
Ireland, Japan and the United States.

[Full story on:
[http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44531 ]


ETHIOPIA: WFP appeals for donations to feed refugees

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) cautioned on Wednesday that it would be
forced to reduce food rations to more than 118,000 refugees in camps in
Ethiopia unless it received vital donations.

The agency said, in a statement issued in Addis Ababa, it needed US $4.2
million "to provide enough food for the refugees for at least the next six
months". It also said it required an extra 8,500 mt of cereals, vegetable
oil, pulses, salt and blended foods.

If fresh assistance did not materialise, it said, WFP would "reduce
rations to beneficiaries by 30 percent from January 2005", in addition to
the expectation that cereal stocks could end by April.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44566 ]


SOMALIA: Relief agencies seek $164 million for 2005

The UN and other relief agencies in Somalia launched an appeal on Monday
for about US $164 million to, among other things, provide urgently needed
aid and services to hundreds of thousands of conflict and drought-affected
people in the war-ravaged nation.

The Somalia 2005 Consolidated Appeal Process (CAP) also targets the
promotion of human rights and access to basic services, support for good
governance and building the capacity of the Somali civil society.

According to the appeal, the agencies are seeking the funds to tackle food
shortages, improve health services, support education and enhance
protection and respect for human rights in 2005.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44533 ]


SOMALIA: Somali political leaders urged to support peace

The UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency
relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, has urged Somali political leaders to
encourage a peaceful resolution of conflict in the war-ravaged, Horn of
Africa country.

"They have to stop their old practises of fighting each other every time
they have a problem," Egeland, who visited Somalia from 3 to 5 December,
told IRIN in the capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland,
Hargeysa. "They have to learn peaceful conflict resolution."

Describing the conditions in Somali returnee camps as "really bad",
Egeland called for more international assistance to the returnees. [Full
story on: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44565 ]


SUDAN: Security Council concerned over Darfur

The UN Security Council expressed deep concern on Tuesday over the recent
escalation of violence in the western Sudanese region of Darfur and called
on all parties to the conflict to stop renewed clashes.

"The members call on all parties to cease all acts of violence and
implement provisions of Security Council resolutions," the ouncil
president for December, Algerian Ambassador Abdallah Baali, said in a
press statement.

The call followed a briefing by the UN under-secretary-general for
political affairs, Kieran Prendergast, who said the humanitarian situation
in Darfur was "dire". He said the number of people affected by the
conflict had risen to almost 2.3 million - more than a third of the total
population since the November.

Prendergast said November had been characterised by violence and a marked
deterioration in the security situation.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44567 ]


SUDAN: Gov't, SPLM/A resume talks on southern conflict

The Sudanese Vice President Ali Uthman Taha and the leader of the Sudan
People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), John Garang, resumed
high-level talks on Monday in their latest attempt to end two decades of
war in the south, officials said.

The resumption of talks, the officials added, had raised hopes that a
comprehensive peace accord between the two parties could be signed before
the end of the year, as agreed in a memorandum of understanding signed by
them in November.

"The SPLM/A is optimistic and determined to have a comprehensive peace
agreement before the end of the year," spokesman Yasser Arman, who is
attending the talks in the Kenyan town of Naivasha, told IRIN on Tuesday.

The two leaders arrived to resume high-level negotiations more than a week
after delegations from both parties had started discussing details of a
permanent ceasefire and security measures.

[Full story on:
http://www.irinnews.org/print.asp?ReportID=44546 ]


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