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 402
6 - 12 Octoebr 2007


CONTENTS:

SOMALIA: Ministers demand confidence vote
SOMALIA: IDPs cause overcrowding in Galgadud towns
SOMALIA: Families flee escalating violence
SUDAN: Government violated arms embargo, says expert panel
SUDAN: Southern pull-out threatens peace deal
SUDAN: Darfur attack "targeted women and children"

Also see:
ERITREA: Interview - President says border issues "must be resolved"
at [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74764]


SOMALIA: Ministers demand confidence vote

Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG) was thrown into disarray 
after 22 ministers signed a letter demanding a vote of confidence in the 
government. "We have given the letter requesting the confidence vote to 
the speaker of parliament [Sheikh Aden Madobe] this morning [11 
October]," said Justice Minister Hassan Dhimbil Warsame. Twenty-two out 
of 30 ministers signed the letter, he said.

Warsame said the ministers took the action "after it became very clear 
that this government was not up to the job and has failed to deliver 
what the Somali people wanted".

[Full report at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74741]


SOMALIA: IDPs cause overcrowding in Galgadud towns

An estimated 50,000 people who fled violence in Mogadishu are living in 
difficult conditions, with inadequate food, shelter and sanitation in 
two towns in Galgadud region of central Somalia, local officials said on 
10 October. The displaced are in the Galgadud regional capital, Dusa 
Mareb, 500km north of Mogadishu, and in the nearby town of Guri-Eil.

"Our estimate is that since the end of April, between 4,000 and 5,000 
families [24,000 to 30,000 people] have arrived in Dusa Mareb," Mohamed 
Madobe, the district commissioner, told IRIN.

[Full report at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74732]


SOMALIA: Families flee escalating violence

Armed opponents of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) have 
increased their attacks on government targets in the capital, Mogadishu, 
killing at least four officials over the weekend, local sources said on 
8 October. The attacks and the response by the Ethiopian-backed 
government troops have led to more people being displaced, a local 
journalist, who requested anonymity, said.

"They [insurgents] have intensified their attacks on government forces 
and positions in the month of Ramadan," the journalist told IRIN. "At 
least 15 well-coordinated attacks on various government forces positions 
[took place]."

[Full report at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74696]


SUDAN: Government violated arms embargo, says expert panel

Sudanese authorities and rebel groups in the western Darfur region have 
violated a UN Security Council arms embargo, a panel of experts has 
said. According to a report compiled by the panel following 
investigations from September 2006 to August 2007, the government 
airlifted arms and equipment into Darfur's three provincial capitals, El 
Fasher, Nyala and El Geneina. These included military airplanes and 
helicopters.

It had also made numerous offensive over-flights in Darfur, and engaged 
in aerial bombardments. Some of the flights involved white aircraft and 
in one instance a plane with "UN" markings.

[Full report at: 
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74742]


SUDAN: Southern pull-out threatens peace deal

Sara Pantuliano, a research fellow at the Humanitarian Policy Group of 
the ODI think-tank in London, said the decision by Southern Sudan's 
former rebel group and now leading party to withdraw from the central 
government was a "badly needed wake-up call for the international 
community", which has neglected the North-South peace process, partly 
because of the Darfur conflict.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) announced on 11 October 
that it was boycotting the national unity government, accusing the north 
of violating the terms of the 2005 peace deal. However, the party ruled 
out an imminent return to arms.


SUDAN: Darfur attack "targeted women and children"

The recent attack on Muhajiriya town in South Darfur, in which 45 people 
died and thousands fled their homes, mainly targeted women, children and 
the elderly, a rebel faction said.

"The government moved forces into the town two days earlier," Mohammed 
Bashir, spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), said from 
Khartoum, the capital. "With air cover, they attacked the town, burnt 
down half of it and killed mainly children, women and the elderly."

[Full story
at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74735]


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