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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-Up 288
23 - 29 July 2005


CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: Five killed in grenade attacks in Somali region
ETHIOPIA: Amnesty concerned over pilots
ETHIOPIA: Elections to be repeated in 20 constituencies
SOMALIA: Kenyan crew of hijacked ship to be freed
SOMALIA: Interim president moves to Jowhar
SOMALIA: Dozens killed in clashes in southwestern town
KENYA-SOMALIA: New arrivals in dire need of help
SUDAN: Fresh violence could affect Darfur peace process
SUDAN: CPA implementation facing obstacles - ICG


ALSO SEE:

ERITREA: Drought a major cause of hardship
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48328

KENYA-SOMALIA: New arrivals in dire need of help at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48296

SUDAN: The forgotten nomads of Darfur at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48335


ETHIOPIA: Five killed in grenade attacks in Somali region

A series of grenade attacks that killed five people in Ethiopia's Somali
region was designed to disrupt forthcoming elections there, officials
said. Simultaneous attacks occurred in six places across the region on
Sunday, Ali Mohammed Kunaye, speaker of the Somali regional parliament,
said.

"These attacks are an attempt to disrupt the elections because the
registration of voters is due to start today," Kunaye said. "This is an
attack by anti-peace elements who want to reject the elections."

The attacks targeted a bar and a nightclub in Jijiga, the capital of
Somali region, and the homes of four regional officials. The police were
carrying out investigations, federal police deputy commissioner Hassan
Shauffa said. Eastern Ethiopia's Somali region, with a population of
around four million, is one of the country's poorest and most remote.
The region has been blighted by skirmishes between a separatist rebel
group and the government.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48294]


ETHIOPIA: Amnesty concerned over pilots

Two of three Ethiopian pilots who allegedly defected to neighboring
Djibouti may have been forcibly returned against their will, Amnesty
International (AI) said on Friday. "Amnesty fears that they may have
been forcibly returned without having had their asylum claims assessed
in a fair and satisfactory procedure in accordance with international
refugee law and standards," the organization said. AI was concerned that
the two pilots could be at risk of further torture or ill-treatment and
prolonged detention without charge or trial, or a military trial that
might fall short of international fair trial standards, in which they
might be sentenced to death for desertion.

The Ethiopian defence ministry said they had no information on the fate
of the three pilots, who reportedly flew their Ethiopian military
helicopter to neighbouring Djibouti around 10 June. In a statement
Amnesty urged the Ethiopian authorities to reveal the whereabouts of the
pilots and allow them immediate access to relatives, lawyers and any
medical treatment they may require.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48290]


ETHIOPIA: Elections to be repeated in 20 constituencies

Ethiopia is to repeat elections in at least 20 of the 524 constituencies
contested in the disputed 15 May polls, the chairman of the National
Election Board (NEB) said. Kemal Bedri said the fresh vote would take
place in mid-August. Investigators, he added, had found evidence of
abuses in more than 100 polling stations in these constituencies.

"We don't have all the investigation details in but at the moment we
will hold re-elections in around 20 constituencies," he said. The
election board was also awaiting results of investigations in 139
constituencies - but had thrown out complaints by political parties in
75 others. Kemal blamed delays in releasing results on the poll probe
investigation process, which he said was new to the country.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48272]


SOMALIA: Kenyan crew of hijacked ship to be freed

The men who hijacked a Kenyan-registered vessel laden with food aid off
the northeastern coast of Somalia over a month ago have agreed to
release some of the crew, sources said on Thursday. A spokesman for
those holding the vessel said the eight Kenyan crewmembers would be
freed soon, following the intervention of Kenya's ambassador to Somalia,
Muhammad Abdi Afey. "We have spoken to the ambassador and we will
release the Kenyans," Muhammad Abdi Afweyne, the hijackers' spokesman,
told IRIN by phone.

He added that the Sri-Lankan captain and a Tanzanian crewmember would,
however, remain on the ship. A humanitarian source said: "Local [Somali]
leaders were asked to intervene but had failed to secure the release of
the ship and its crew." The MV Semlow was hijacked on 27 June between
Haradhere and Hobyo, some 400 km northeast of the capital, Mogadishu, on
its way to the Gulf of Aden port of Bossaso, in the self-declared
autonomous region of Puntland.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48341]


SOMALIA: Interim president moves to Jowhar

Somalia's interim president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, on Tuesday arrived
in the town of Jowhar, 90 km north of the capital, Mogadishu, to join
the prime minister in the temporary seat of the transitional government,
officials said. "He is there to set up base and will continue to work
from there [Jowhar]," Dahir Mire Jibril, the president's chief-of-staff,
told IRIN on Wednesday.

Yusuf, Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi and supporters in the fractious
Transitional Federal Government (TFG) are trying to set up interim state
institutions in Jowhar pending the restoration of security to the
capital, which they say is currently too unsafe. Yusuf travelled to
Jowhar from his northeastern hometown of Galkayo in the self-declared
autonomous region of Puntland. Jibril said the president would visit
other parts of Somalia, "especially the south", although no date had
been set for the visit.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48315]


SOMALIA: Dozens killed in clashes in southwestern town

Dozens of people were feared dead and many more injured in clashes that
broke out on Friday and continued over the weekend in the town of
Boru-Hache, also known as El-Waaq, in southwestern Somalia's Gedo
region, sources said. "Violations of human rights and international law
occurred, particularly with regard to the protection of civilians in
time of war," Abdullahi Alas Jimale, chief investigator of the
Mogadishu-based Isma'il Jim'ale Human Rights Centre (IJHRC), said.

Boru-Hache is situated on Somalia's border with Kenya. IJHRC said
thousands of people displaced by the clashes between two clans had fled
across the border to seek refuge in the neighbouring Kenyan border town
of El Wak. The weekend clashes pitted militias from the Garre clan
against those from the Marehan. Both sides, Alas said, had used heavy
weapons, including anti-aircraft guns, which were fired "without regard
to the lives and property of the civilian populations".

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48293]


SUDAN: Fresh violence could affect Darfur peace process, warns UN

The recent outbreak of violence in the western Sudanese region of Darfur
could threaten ongoing efforts to bring lasting peace to the strife-torn
region, the UN warned on Tuesday. "The violence is a matter of serious
concern to us, especially given that we had just reported to the [UN]
Security Council that the situation was quiet and both sides seemed to
be respecting the ceasefire agreement," Radhia Achouri, spokesperson for
the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), said.

Achouri said UNMIS was yet to establish which party started the
fighting. The mission, she added, had however learnt that the fighting
involved Sudanese government forces and rebels of the Sudan Liberation
Army (SLA). Other reports gave conflicting accounts of the clashes that
occured on Friday and Saturday. The official Sudanese news agency said a
group of Darfur rebels had attacked a convoy of civilian vehicles
guarded by the armed forces on the road between Nyala, the capital of
South Darfur, and El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

[Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48298]


SUDAN: CPA implementation facing obstacles - ICG

The implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in
January between the Sudanese government and the southern Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) is badly behind schedule, a think-tank
said on Monday. In a report titled: "The Khartoum-SPLM Agreement:
Sudan's Uncertain Peace", the International Crisis Group (ICG) said
implementation of the CPA had been delayed by several obstacles.

These included Khartoum's lack of will to embrace genuine power-sharing
and elections, and lack of capacity in the south to establish and
empower basic structures of governance. "To keep the accords on track,
the international community must focus on broadening participation and
transparency, particularly handling of oil revenues, promote SPLM/[A]
dialogue with the government-allied militias and quickly deploy the UN
peace support mission," the report said.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=48273]


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
2005


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