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HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 231 for 12-18 February 2005 - OCHA IRIN

Sunday 20 March 2005


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IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 231 for 12-18 February 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Security Council warns over border situation
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: EU urges restraint over unresolved border dispute
ETHIOPIA: Concern over high child mortality in Somali region
SOMALIA: Two dead, six injured in Mogadishu explosion
SOMALIA: Ministers to explain new government policies in regions
SOMALIA: Preparations for relocation to Mogadishu on track, say officials
SUDAN: Refer Darfur violations to the ICC, senior UN official urges
SUDAN: New proposals on Darfur suspects could delay justice - HRW
SUDAN: IFAD to fund Kordofan farmers, pastoralists
SUDAN: More than 750 prisoners of war to be released soon

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ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Security Council warns over border situation

The military build-up on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea could "aggravate" simmering tensions, the president of the UN Security Council said. Ambassador Joel W. Adechi of Benin said the 15-member body was considering asking UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to send either an envoy or a mission to defuse pressure, UN News reported on Tuesday.

His comments came as the European Union said they were "particularly concerned" by the military build-up along the 1,000-km border that separates the two countries. The UN peacekeeping mission for Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) also confirmed that it had been asked by Ethiopia to investigate a new clash between armed men on the border. According to spokeswoman Gail Bindley Taylor Sainte, the Ethiopian army informed the peacekeepers that they killed two men and captured five on the border, who they believed to be Eritrean soldiers.

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ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: EU urges restraint over unresolved border dispute

The European Union (EU) expressed concern on Monday over the military build-up by Ethiopia and Eritrea and urged both sides not to ignite another war in the Horn of Africa. The Dutch ambassador, Rob Vermaas, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, said: "The EU is particularly concerned about the recent military build-up on both sides of the border and urges both sides to refrain from any action that could lead to a resumption of hostilities."

Vermaas added that development support to Ethiopia could be "directly influenced" by political and governance issues, citing the unresolved border dispute with neighbouring Eritrea. "In this context, the EU would like to reiterate its firm commitment to assist Ethiopia and Eritrea in finding a way forward to implementing the decision of the Boundary Commission," he said. His comments came as Prime Minister Meles Zenawi presented the government's annual economic progress report to donors and appealed for more aid to help reduce poverty.

Full report

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ETHIOPIA: Concern over high child mortality in Somali region

The death rate from disease among young children in a remote pocket of Ethiopia's Somali region has reached crisis point, the global charity Save the Children UK (SCF-UK) warned on Tuesday. It called for immediate medical intervention in Gashamo district, where as many as 18 children in a population of 14,000 were dying each week from diarrhoea. Nutritionist Hassan Taifour, who carried out the survey, told IRIN that one in three children was affected.

"The situation there is critical," said Taifour, one of SCF-UK's emergency response personnel. He said his team had seen fresh graves as well as children being taken for burial. According to accepted international guidelines, an under-five mortality rate above two out of 10,000 per day should be treated as an emergency. Statistics provided by SCF-UK showed the daily death rate had reached 4.87 per 10,000 in Gashamo. At a recent government-led Emergency Nutrition Coordination Unit meeting in Addis Ababa, aid agencies noted that mortality rates there were among the "highest ever" seen.

Full report

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SOMALIA: Two dead, six injured in Mogadishu explosion

An explosive device went off on a street corner in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, early on Thursday, killing at least two people and injuring six others, local sources told IRIN. "The device, believed to be a bomb, was left in a box on a motorcycle near the former Foreign Affairs ministry building," a Mogadishu resident said. "The explosion took place at around nine o'clock [0600 GMT] and could be heard a kilometre away." The explosion occurred while military experts from several African countries were in the city to assess the situation, ahead of the proposed deployment of an African Union (AU) peace mission.

Somalia's Prime Minister, Ali Muhammad Gedi, is expected in Mogadishu by the end of this week. The special adviser to Gedi, Abdurrahman Ali "Malaysia", said the prime minister had condemned the explosion "in the strongest terms and sends his condolences to the families of those killed and injured".

Full report

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SOMALIA: Ministers to explain new government policies in regions

At least 40 members of Somalia's interim government left the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday for various regions of Somalia to explain the new government's policies to the public, an official in prime minister Ali Mohammed Gedi's office said. The delegations, made up of five teams of ministers and members of parliament, were due to visit regions in southern and central Somalia.

The teams were to spend five days "explaining government policies and establishing a presence" in those regions, he said. The trip is the latest indicator that momentum is building up for the Kenya-based Somali government to return home. It is the first "bold" trip for the new government to venture into the regions, according to a Somali political source.

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SOMALIA: Preparations for relocation to Mogadishu on track, say officials

The interim Somali government, based in Nairobi, Kenya, is continuing its plans to start relocating to Somalia on 21 February despite the killing of a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalist in Mogadishu last week, the prime minister's office said. "The plan to relocate the government to Somalia is still on track," Abdurrahman Ali "Malaysia", the special adviser to the prime minister, Ali Mohammed Gedi, told IRIN on Monday.

The first group of cabinet ministers that is expected to leave for the Somali capital, Mogadishu, will be led by the deputy prime minister, Hussein Aydid. The "prime minister will definitely be in Mogadishu within the next five days", Ali said. "The PM [prime minister] was horrified by the killing of [Kate] Peyton and has condemned the killing," Ali added.
Ali quoted Gedi as saying: "If those responsible were expecting to scare us, then they are mistaken. We will not be deterred. We will return to Mogadishu."

Full report

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SUDAN: Refer Darfur violations to the ICC, senior UN official urges

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, on Wednesday recommended that the UN Security Council refer reports of human rights violations in the western Sudanese region of Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a statement from the UN in New York said. "The Commission held the view that referral to the ICC was the only credible way of bringing alleged perpetrators to justice and advised against other measures," Arbour said as she presented the findings of the UN appointed Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, to the Council. She said crimes such as murder, torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and forced displacement had been perpetrated on a widespread and systematic basis.

"What is most urgently needed are concrete measures to bring the current violence to an end and restore security and dignity to the people of Darfur," Arbour noted. "The Commission, in my view, eloquently and powerfully argues that referral to the ICC is the best means by which to halt ongoing violations and prevent future ones," she added. The United States, which opposes the first permanent global criminal tribunal, had proposed an ad hoc war crimes tribunal be set up, arguing that it could begin operating quickly by sharing infrastructure with the Rwanda tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania.

Full report

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SUDAN: New proposals on Darfur suspects could delay justice - HRW

The proposal to try suspected perpetrators of crimes against humanity in the western Sudanese region of Darfur in a new ad hoc tribunal in Tanzania, rather than referring them to the International Criminal Court (ICC) could delay justice, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. "The US proposal to create a new tribunal for Darfur is a mirage of a solution," Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at HRW, said in a statement released on Wednesday. "A new ad hoc court would lack the speed and staying power to get the job done."

The report of the UN Commission of Inquiry for Darfur recommended that the UN Security Council refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC to hold those most responsible to account. The US, which opposes the global criminal tribunal, has proposed an ad hoc war crimes tribunal be set up instead, claiming it could begin operating by sharing infrastructure with the Rwanda tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania. To complete its existing docket on schedule, the Rwanda tribunal will have to use every resource it has," Dicker said.

Full report

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SUDAN: IFAD to fund Kordofan farmers, pastoralists

An estimated 200,000 households in the impoverished central Sudanese region of Kordofan are to benefit from a new programme by the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Farhana Haque-Rahman, IFAD's chief of media relations, said in a press statement on Monday. The loan agreement was signed by Lennart Bage, president of IFAD, and Magzoub El Khalifa, the Sudanese federal minister of agriculture, at IFAD headquarters in Rome. IFAD, the statement said, would provide more than half the financing for the Western Sudan Resources Management Programme, with a loan of about US $25.5 million.

According to Haque-Rahman, resource management, which was a source of conflict in the past, is the central element of the eight-year programme. Various activities will be undertaken to regulate land and water use, thus helping to reinforce stability in the region. A land-use plan, drawn up in consultation with local pastoralists and farming communities, as well as regional authorities, would be incorporated in forthcoming land-tenure legislation. The new programme was designed to support the comprehensive peace agreement signed on 9 January by the Sudanese government and the Southern People's Liberation Army/Movement, particularly concerning provisions for wealth- and power-sharing with regard to land tenure reform and decentralisation.

Full report

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SUDAN: More than 750 prisoners of war to be released soon

A memorandum of agreement between the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Sudanese government could soon see more than 750 prisoners held by the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), freed. "The ICRC has maintained an active dialogue on these issues with both parties over the past weeks," Lorena Brander, ICRC media relations delegate in Sudan told IRIN on Tuesday. "It is a hopeful sign that the government has decided to sign the memorandum, which sets out the rules and principles governing the release and transfer of persons detained in the course of the armed conflict in southern Sudan," she said.

"The ICRC has visited and registered more than 750 prisoners who are held by the SPLM/A," Brander said. "The government has stated they are not holding any prisoners in relation to the conflict. If it would be the case that the government was holding prisoners too, the ICRC might be asked to facilitate their release as well," she added. The parties requested the ICRC to facilitate the release of detainees after a permanent ceasefire between the government and the SPLM/A was signed on 9 January in Nairobi, Kenya.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Other recent HORN OF AFRICA reports:

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 234 for 12-18 March 2005, 18/Mar/05

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 233 for 5-11 March 2005, 11/Mar/05

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 233 for 26 February-4 March 2005, 4/Mar/05

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 232 for 19-25 February 2005, 25/Feb/05

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 230 for 5-11 February 2005, 11/Feb/05

Other recent reports:

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 222 for 12-18 March 2005, 19/Mar/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 18/Mar/05

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly 268 round-up for 12-18 March 2005, 18/Mar/05

HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 234 for 12-18 March 2005, 18/Mar/05

ANGOLA: Report highlights plight of returnees, 17/Mar/05

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