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HORN OF AFRICA
IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-Up 350
28 October - 3 November 2006


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Mediators halt talks between interim gov't and Islamic group
SOMALIA-ETHIOPIA: Agencies warn of possible flooding in southern Somalia
ETHIOPIA: Flood toll rises amidst appeals for aid
SUDAN: Bashir "refuses" UN force, despite Chinese mediation
SUDAN: Government still seeking military solution in Darfur, Pronk says


See also:
SOMALIA: Opening Mogadishu port
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56101&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA


SOMALIA: Mediators halt talks between interim gov't and Islamic group

Mediators have called off talks between Somalia's transitional 
government and the Islamic group that is dominant in the south, saying 
further consultations were needed before the peace process could 
proceed.

The talks, which were due to be held in the Sudanese capital of 
Khartoum, were intended to reconcile Somalia's Transitional Federal 
Government (TFG) with the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC).

Sources said the main bone of contention was the UIC's demand that 
Ethiopian troops allegedly deployed in Somalia should withdraw.

"It was commonly established and agreed that there is a need for further 
consultation on both substantive and procedural issues to move the 
dialogue forward," the mediation team comprising the African Union, 
League of Arab States, European Union, Organisation of the Islamic 
Conference, United Nations and the east African regional 
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), said in a combined 
statement.

Amid widespread fears that lack of dialogue could lead to an escalation 
of violence between the two sides, the mediators urged them to exercise 
restraint.

Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56183&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA]


SOMALIA-ETHIOPIA: Agencies warn of possible flooding in southern Somalia

Localised flooding could have a serious impact on southern Somalia, 
following heavy rains in the country and the Ethiopian highlands that 
have swelled the Juba and Shabelle rivers, the United Nations Office for 
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned on Thursday.

"Based on latest flood watch reports from [Somalia Water and Land 
Information Management unit], we fear the situation could get worse for 
the Juba Region [in the south]," Matthew Olins, deputy head of OCHA 
Somalia said. "This week, the risk has been moderate, but we are already 
seeing small-scale damage in Gedo, Middle and Lower Shabelle, Middle and 
Lower Juba, and areas around Mogadishu."

He added: "If we have flooding in Gedo, then we might expect something 
worse in Juba, given the continuation of heavy rainfall in the region 
and patterns of flooding during the Deyr [rainy] season. We are carrying 
out an inter-agency assessment of the situation in the Gedo region."

Meanwhile, stagnant water and crocodiles have been hampering efforts to 
help thousands of people left homeless across southeastern Ethiopia, and 
the death toll as a result of the flooding continues to rise.

Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56191&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=SOMALIA-ETHIOPIA]


ETHIOPIA: Flood toll rises amidst appeals for aid

The death toll following flash floods in southeastern Ethiopia has risen 
to 67 with thousands more displaced, humanitarian officials have 
announced, adding that emergency aid is being flown to the affected 
areas.

"We have started sending out help, emergency items," Sisay Tadesse, 
spokesperson for the government's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness 
Agency (DPPA), said. He added that nearly 20,000 tonnes of relief aid 
was being sent by truck on Monday.

"Sixty-seven dead people have been counted at the moment and we estimate 
the number of people who live in the affected zones at 280,000," a 
humanitarian worker said from the town of Gode, about 650 kilometres 
southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa. Nearly half of the population 
living near the banks of the Wabe Shebelle River in Ethiopia's 
southeastern Somali State had been forced from their homes, another aid 
worker said, adding that the number of people affected by the floods 
could still rise.

Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56141&SelectRegion=Horn_of_Africa&SelectCountry=ETHIOPIA]


SUDAN: Bashir "refuses" UN force, despite Chinese mediation

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir reaffirmed on Friday his 
opposition to a United Nations peacekeeping force in the troubled Darfur 
region of Sudan, despite mediation by China's president, Hu Jintao.

"We refuse to accept the entry of UN peacekeepers into Sudan because the 
impact of our refusal is better than the impact of our acceptance," 
Bashir said, speaking in Arabic at a news conference at Sudan's embassy 
in the Chinese capital of Beijing. "We dare not think of what the 
consequences would be of them being there."

Bashir, in Beijing for a major summit of Chinese and African leaders, 
said UN involvement in Sudan would be equivalent to the United States' 
presence in Iraq. He added that war in Darfur only affected seven 
regions, and the number people who had died because of the fighting had 
not exceeded 10,000. Darfur's main problems, he went on, were public 
health-related and similar to those found in the rest of Sudan.

The fighting in Darfur began in 2003, pitting the Sudanese army and 
allied Arab militias against rebel groups who said they had taken up 
arms to fight for greater autonomy for the western Sudanese region.

Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56234&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN]


SUDAN: Government still seeking military solution in Darfur, Pronk says

In his briefing to the United Nations Security Council on Friday, the 
UN's top official in Sudan, Jan Pronk, highlighted the government's 
gross violations of the Darfur Peace Agreement and stressed that Sudan 
was still looking for a military solution to the deepening crisis.

Pronk added that his ongoing criticism of the Sudanese government's 
decision to seek a military solution, having signed a ceasefire 
agreement, had prompted his expulsion from his position of UN Special 
Representative for the Secretary-General in Sudan.

"The government is mobilising more and more forces in the region, 
amongst others, those coming from the south. Security Council 
resolutions forbidding offensive air operations are being neglected," he 
told council members in what he characterised as "probably" his last 
briefing to the council.

To illustrate, Pronk cited a meeting he had held with rebel commanders 
in Birmaza, where he implored leaders to stop looting aid vehicles, and 
to stop attacking the African Union Mission (AMIS), which is in Darfur 
until the end of December.

Full report: 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56102&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN]


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