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 351
11 - 17 November 2006


CONTENTS:

ERITREA: Reporters 'may have died in detention'
ETHIOPIA: Stagnant water hampering aid efforts in flood-hit areas
SOMALIA: One killed in demonstration over khat supplies
SOMALIA: Floods displace thousands more in Hiiraan region
SOMALIA: Govt rejects outcome of speaker's talks with Islamic courts
SUDAN: Government 'accepts' UN troops in Darfur
SUDAN: More support for Darfur starts with Africa, top UN peacekeeper
   says
SUDAN: African Union to probe Darfur massacre

Also see: Jungle boost for peace process at
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56411&


ERITREA: Reporters 'may have died in detention'

Three Eritrean reporters who have been in detention in a remote
northeastern jail for five years are believed to have died in unclear
circumstances, a global media freedom watchdog reported.

Reporters Without Borders, which has written to the Eritrean government
seeking an explanation, said on Tuesday that the three were being at a
place called Eiraeiro. "Dozens of political prisoners have disappeared
into jails run by the armed forces," it added.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56389]


ETHIOPIA: Stagnant water hampering aid efforts in flood-hit areas

Water levels are receding in southeast Ethiopia but humanitarian efforts
to help thousands of people displaced by floods are being hindered by
stagnant water, amid fears of increased risk of water-borne diseases.

About 68 people died and thousands fled their homes in the Somali region
after the Wabe Shebelle river burst its banks in early November, washing
away livestock and damaging infrastructure, including bridges and roads.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56377]


SOMALIA: One killed in demonstration over khat supplies

At least one person was killed on Thursday as forces belonging to the
Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) fired shots to disperse protesters in the
Somali capital of Mogadishu, hours after the UIC had burnt a consignment
of khat, a popular mild narcotic, a local source said.

The demonstration was organised by khat traders - mostly women who make
a living by selling the plant leaves. "They [the traders] were angry
that the courts have burnt the first consignment in four days," the
source said.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56397]


SOMALIA: Floods displace thousands more in Hiiraan region

Continued flooding in southern Somalia has displaced tens of thousands
of people in the Hiiraan region, with large tracts of farmland submerged
in and around Beletweyne, the region's capital, sources said on Tuesday.

A journalist, Abdirahman Dini, said rain-induced floods caused the
Shabelle River to burst its banks and flood Beletweyne, 350 km northwest
of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56359]


SOMALIA: Govt rejects outcome of speaker's talks with Islamic courts

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has rejected an
agreement reached in the capital, Mogadishu, between the Union of
Islamic Courts (UIC) and a delegation of members of parliament led by
the speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, a senior official told IRIN on
Monday.

"The speaker had no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the TFG,"
Abdirahman Dinari, the TFG spokesman, said. "He did not consult with the
President or the Prime Minister and whatever the outcome the government
is not bound by it."

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56336]


SUDAN: Government 'accepts' UN troops in Darfur

The Sudanese government has 'agreed in principle' to the deployment of
United Nations peacekeepers in the western region of Darfur alongside
African Union forces, officials said after a high-level meeting in the
Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

"A hybrid operation is agreed in principle, pending clarification of the
size of the force," stated a communique released at the end of the
meeting.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56407]


SUDAN: More support for Darfur starts with Africa, top UN peacekeeper
says

An increased role for United Nations' peacekeepers in the troubled
Darfur region of western Sudan should be led by African diplomatic
initiatives, the UN's top peacekeeping official Jean-Marie Guehenno has
said.

The African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Council is scheduled to meet
in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, next week to decide
upon the future of some 7,000 AU troops currently in Darfur to help
protect civilians from attacks by government forces, allied militias and
rebel forces.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56375]


SUDAN: African Union to probe Darfur massacre

The African Union is to investigate the killing of at least 30 civilians
on 11 November by hundreds of armed militiamen, who attacked a camp for
internally displaced people at Sirba near Kulbus in the Sudanese state
of West Darfur, a source said.

The militiamen, supported by 18 military vehicles, injured scores more,
including women and children. They also burned down almost 100 houses.
"The assailants were said to be on camels and horses, and the village
was razed," the AU official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity,
said.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56357]


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Fax: +254 2 622129
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