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 367
10 - 16 March 2007


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Up to 40,000 civilians flee Mogadishu
SOMALIA: IDP camp hit in attack on presidential palace
SOMALIA: Government moves to Mogadishu
ETHIOPIA-SUDAN: Refugee repatriation to southern Sudan resumes
SUDAN: UN investigators accuse gov't of atrocities in Darfur

See Also:

SUDAN: Living with the threat of rape in Darfur at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70696

SUDAN: Inter-communal violence causing more suffering in Darfur at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70665

SOMALIA: A tortuous road ahead in search of peace at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70652


SOMALIA: Up to 40,000 civilians flee Mogadishu

Escalating violence and insecurity in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, 
forced at least 40,000 civilians to flee the city in February, United 
Nations humanitarian agencies working in the country have said.

"Insecurity, fear of attacks, removal from public buildings and outright 
violence are the main reasons for the movement of peoples and more than 
40,000 people have left Mogadishu in the past month," the agencies said 
in a February situation report released on Wednesday.

[Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70719]


SOMALIA: IDP camp hit in attack on presidential palace

A number of internally displaced people were killed when their camp in 
the Ali Kamin area of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, was hit during an 
attack on the presidential palace, local residents said.

At least 14 people died and 32 were wounded when unidentified gunmen 
attacked the palace on Tuesday. The city was reportedly calm on 
Wednesday, a day after the attack, which occurred as President Abdullahi 
Yusuf shifted base from the town of Baidoa to the capital.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70690]


SOMALIA: Government moves to Mogadishu

Somalia's interim parliament has voted to move the interim government to 
Mogadishu, the capital, from its temporary seat in Baidoa, barely three 
months after Ethiopian-backed government forces ousted the Union of 
Islamic Courts (UIC) from the city.

"The government has been present in the city, but parliament had to 
officially approve the move," Madobe Nuunow Muhammad, Information 
Minister, told IRIN on Tuesday.

[Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70664]


ETHIOPIA-SUDAN: Refugee repatriation to southern Sudan resumes

The opening of two new return corridors from Ethiopia to southern Sudan 
will ease the repatriation of thousands of refugees, mostly to Upper 
Nile, Jonglei and Blue Nile States, according to the United Nations High 
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The refugees have been living in Fugnido, Dimma and Yarenja camps in 
western Ethiopia. The first convoy of 800 left on Saturday from Fugnido 
for Pagak.

[Full story at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70647]


SUDAN: UN investigators accuse gov't of atrocities in Darfur

A United Nations mission investigating human rights in Darfur has 
accused the Sudanese government of failing to protect civilians, saying 
the government had participated in orchestrating and committing 
atrocities against its own people.

"The situation [in Darfur] is characterised by gross and systematic 
violation of human rights and grave breaches of international 
humanitarian law," stated the report, compiled for the UN Human Rights 
Council by a team headed by Nobel peace prize winner Jody Williams.

[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70650]


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