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Sunday 18 December 2005


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IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 287 for 16-22 July 2005

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

CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UNMEE warns of continuing border incidents
ETHIOPIA-DJIBOUTI: UNHCR concerned over pilots who flew to Djibouti
ETHIOPIA: Election fraud investigations a "failure" - opposition
ETHIOPIA: Ogaden rebel group offers to end war
SOMALIA: Baidoa tense amidst fears of possible militia attack
SOMALIA: Houses to be built for tsunami survivors
SUDAN: North Darfur families receive seeds and tools
SUDAN: Pockets of severe malnutrition in Bahr el Ghazal

ALSO SEE:

HORN OF AFRICA: 18 million facing food shortages at:
Full report

ETHIOPIA: Focus: Rural economy threatened by neglect of donkeys at:
Full report

SUDAN: Interview with Amb Baba Gana Kingibe, head of AMIS at:
Full report

ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: UNMEE warns of continuing border incidents

The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has expressed concern over "continuing incidents of violence" along the disputed 1,000 km border between the countries. At UN-hosted Military Coordination Commission talks on Saturday between the armed forces of Eritrea and Ethiopia in Nairobi, Kenya, the commander of the UN peacekeeping forces in the region, Maj Gen Rajender Singh, called on both sides to try and resolve the hostility.

The UN has frequently warned that small-scale events, if left unchecked, had the potential to spiral out of control and evolve into a larger crisis. "He appealed to the Eritrean and Ethiopian delegations to cooperate in addressing these incidents with more vigour in the future," a UNMEE statement said. Eritrea's Col Zecarias Ogbagaber told the meeting that the stability of the 25 km-wide demilitarised zone could be threatened by localised occurrences.

Full report

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ETHIOPIA-DJIBOUTI: UNHCR concerned over pilots who flew to Djibouti

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, appealed on Friday for access to three Ethiopian air force men who allegedly defected to neighbouring Djibouti. UNHCR said it was increasingly concerned that the airmen - two pilots and an engineer - could have been returned to Ethiopia against their will. "I would like to reiterate UNHCR's deep preoccupation regarding the situation of the three Ethiopian pilots who may intend to seek asylum in Djibouti where they recently arrived," Kamel Morjane, UNHCR assistant high commissioner, said in a letter to Djibouti's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf.

He added: "I would highly appreciate your assistance in this issue because it will be essential so that UNHCR, in collaboration with the government of Djibouti, can find an appropriate solution in conformity with international refugee law." The three Ethiopians allegedly flew their Ethiopian military helicopter to neighbouring Djibouti around 10 June, said UNHCR.

Full report

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ETHIOPIA: Election fraud investigations a "failure" - opposition

Ethiopia's two main opposition parties on Tuesday branded investigations into election fraud a "complete failure", and said their observers had been arrested, beaten and even killed. The vice chairman of the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), Berhanu Nega, said the government and the election board had, from the start, rigged the probe into alleged malpractices. "The investigation process was a complete failure," he said.

"Our representatives and witnesses have been harassed, threatened, barred and killed upon their return from the hearings. "The environment in which the panels conducted the investigation was too flawed to ascertain that there was vote rigging," he added. Investigations in 139 of the 524 constituencies contested in the 15 May poll could prove crucial in deciding who wins a majority of seats in the country’s parliament, as partial results show the government leading by the narrowest of margins.

Full report

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ETHIOPIA: Ogaden rebel group offers to end war

An armed rebel group waging a bloody guerrilla war in lawless eastern Ethiopia on Tuesday offered a truce to end its decade-old fight against the government. The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) offered peace talks in a neutral country to try to bring an end to the fighting that has plagued this arid region. The decision was announced in a statement following an exchange of letters between Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Ogadeni clan elders in an attempt to secure peace in one of the poorest and most remote parts of the country.

Key elections are scheduled to take place in the region in just over a month, which could tip the balance in Ethiopia's 15 May national elections, where partial results have the government and opposition parties on level pegging. "The ONLF is ready to engage in negotiations with the government in order to find a just and lasting solution to the conflict between the people of the Ogaden and Ethiopian regime if such talks are conducted in a neutral country," the statement said.

Full report

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SOMALIA: Baidoa tense amidst fears of possible militia attack

Tension rose on Wednesday in the southwestern Somali town of Baidoa amidst reports that a militia group was poised to attack the town, local leaders said. The governor of Baidoa, Muhammad Ali Qalinle, said forces loyal to former Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) chairman Hassan Muhammed Nur Shatigudud, and former RRA first deputy chairman Shaykh Adan Madobe, both ministers in the Somali transitional government, had been mobilised in an area 76 km west of the town.

"Our forces have been put on high alert to deal with any eventuality," Qalinle added. The Somali transitional Minister of Information, Muhammad Abdi Hayir, told IRIN: "Our position is that the two sides should resolve their differences through dialogue and peaceful means." A local businessman who requested anonymity told IRIN: "There is tension building up in the town. Many are preparing to leave if fighting breaks out again."

Full report

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SOMALIA: Houses to be built for tsunami survivors

Four hundred housing units are to be built for survivors of the December 2004 tsunami in Hafun town, northeastern Somalia in a joint programme between the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). The 12-month project that begins in August will reconstruct houses, public buildings and sanitation facilities at a cost of US $1.35 million. It is part of a larger integrated development programme involving various organisations, a statement issued by the two agencies on Tuesday, said.

The tsunami, which displaced more than 5,000 people, damaged most buildings on the town's seafront because the largely unplanned settlements were located "on a flat, low-lying sand plate" that made most of them vulnerable to the colossal waves. A joint UN agency assessment mission in February 2005 identified areas for investment in Hafun, some 1,500 km northeast of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to bridge the gap between relief and development.

Full report

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SUDAN: North Darfur families receive seeds and tools

Some 70,000 vulnerable rural households in the Sudanese state of North Darfur have received seeds and agricultural tools from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the agency said on Wednesday. "Some 550 tonnes of field crop seeds, including millet, sorghum and groundnut, and around 79,000 tools, including hand and donkey ploughs, were distributed outside displacement camps to conflict-affected households and to host communities to encourage them to stay on their land," FAO said.

The assistance is expected to help these families produce enough food to feed themselves for almost three months. The agency said as a result of the two-year war in the region, drought and failed harvests, few North Darfurian farmers had seeds to plant; the available seeds would not be sufficient to cultivate even a third of the area that was cultivated before the conflict.

Full report

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SUDAN: Pockets of severe malnutrition in Bahr el Ghazal

Several counties in the southwestern Sudanese region of Bahr el Ghazal are facing food shortages with thousands of people suffering from severe malnutrition, according to the UN World Food Programme and a famine early warning system. "Almost 6,000 people were fed in therapeutic and supplementary feeding centres in four counties in Bahr el Ghazal in June," Laura Melo, spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said on Friday.

Pockets of severe malnutrition had been noted in Twic, Gogrial, Aweil and Raga counties, she added. "We are talking about 6,000 people in four counties. This is a very high number and a situation of great concern," she said, noting that WFP had provided food assistance to 230,000 people in the whole of Bahr el Ghazal in June.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Other

Other recent HORN OF AFRICA reports:

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 305 for 10-16 December 2005, 17/Dec/05

UNMEE monitoring tense border despite setbacks, 16/Dec/05

UN relocates expelled staff from Eritrea to Ethiopia, 15/Dec/05

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 304 for 3-9 December 2005, 12/Dec/05

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 303 for 26 November-2 December 2005, 2/Dec/05

Other recent reports:

HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 305 for 10-16 December 2005, 17/Dec/05

MIDDLE EAST: Appeal to Arab world to give more to world’s poorest, 16/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 16/Dec/05

ZIMBABWE: Health budget fails to address brain drain, 16/Dec/05

CENTRAL & EASTERN AFRICA: IRIN-CEA Weekly Round-up 309 10-16 December 2005, 16/Dec/05

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