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Tuesday 21 February 2006


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Southern Africa

Regions

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 301 for 12-18 November 2005

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

CONTENTS:

ETHIOPIA: More protesters released from jail
ETHIOPIA: Police blame opposition over recent unrest
ETHIOPIA: Donors concerned over political unrest
SOMALIA: MPs resolve to bridge differences
SOMALIA: Heavy sentences for murder of aid workers in Somaliland
SOMALIA: Thirteen die of measles in Awdal region
SUDAN: Darfur rebels urge AU to move January summit from Khartoum
SUDAN: Clashes erupt between communities in Western Equatoria
SUDAN: First APCs to arrive in Darfur on Friday

ALSO SEE:

SUDAN: Focus: Fighting fistula in Khartoum
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SUDAN: Political developments raise concern, analysts say
Full report

ETHIOPIA: Interview with World Bank representative
Full report

ETHIOPIA: More protesters released from jail

Ethiopian authorities have announced the release of another 3,858 detainees who were seized after days of political unrest that claimed the lives of at least 46 people. The latest release brings the total number of those freed to 8,200. In a statement broadcast on state television late on Monday, the authorities said they had released people from three detention centres around the country.

"The detainees were released as they were not found to be direct actors in the violence," said the statement from federal police. The announcement did not specify the date of their release. Police have yet to announce how many people were rounded up during the November arrests after security forces clashed with demonstrators who were protesting the outcome of parliamentary elections or how many will face charges.

Full report

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ETHIOPIA: Police blame opposition over recent unrest

The Ethiopian police on Monday presented to parliament a report that lays the blame for violence that followed legislative elections in May squarely on the country's two main opposition parties. The 19-page report of a probe into the political unrest prepared by the Police Commissioner, Workneh Gebeyehu, said the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) and the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF) had been behind the unrest in which dozens were killed.

Opposition legislators dismissed the report as "propaganda" and accused the ruling party of using state-controlled media to run a smear campaign against them. Lawmakers loyal to the ruling party sitting in the House of People�s Representatives endorsed the report, voting for the establishment of a "neutral, independent commission" to investigate the upheaval.

Full report

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ETHIOPIA: Donors concerned over political unrest

Ethiopia's key donors have expressed concern over violent unrest following the May elections and said they were reviewing development cooperation modalities to ensure aid is distributed in a "non-partisan manner". Political turmoil erupted after opposition groups alleged widespread vote rigging by the ruling bloc in the 15 May polls. Earlier this month, the opposition parties announced a boycott of the parliament.

Some 42 people were killed in clashes with the security forces in June. In early November, another 46 people were killed in fighting that spread from Addis Ababa, the capital, to other parts of the country and sparked a massive crackdown by security forces. "The Development Assistance Group [DAG] is concerned about these political disturbances and the effects that these can have on sustainable development for the country," said 17 key donors in a statement on Friday.

Full report

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SOMALIA: MPs resolve to bridge differences

Somali parliamentarians based in Mogadishu have resolved to hold talks with the rest of the government, which operates from Jowhar, in a bid to bridge differences that have paralysed the new administration. Omar Hashi, speaking on behalf of the Mogadishu-based leaders, said they reached the decision on Tuesday at a meeting of more than 100 MPs chaired by Sharif Hassan Shaykh Aden, the speaker of the Somali transitional parliament.

"It was a unanimous decision to engage our colleagues in Jowhar and hold a face-to-face meeting without preconditions," he said. Hashi added that the meeting would be held in Somalia - a demand the Jowhar-based group, headed by President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and Prime Minister Ali Muhammad Gedi, had insisted on. The Mogadishu group dropped their demand that the meeting be held outside Somalia under international mediation.

Full report

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SOMALIA: Heavy sentences for murder of aid workers in Somaliland

A court in the self-declared republic of Somaliland sentenced eight people to death on Monday for killing several aid workers between 2003 and 2004. Two humanitarian workers, Richard Eyeington and his wife, Enid, were shot dead in October 2003 at their home in a school compound in Sheik town, some 250 km from the Somaliland capital, Hargeysa.

The two had been working for SOS Children's Villages in Somaliland for a year to reopen a school for 100 children, which had been closed down in the 1970s during the regime of Muhammad Siyad Barre. The killings occurred just two weeks after the murder of an Italian hospital director, Annalena Tonelli, in Borama town, 10 km from Hargeysa. Her murderers have never been found.

Full report

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SOMALIA: Thirteen die of measles in Awdal region

Thirteen people have died of measles over the last three weeks in the northern Awdal region of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, medical sources confirmed in the capital, Hargeysa, on Sunday. "Since 23 October, 13 people - of whom eight were below 15 - died from measles in villages located on terrains and mountains in Zeilla district within Awdal region," said Abdirahman Jamaa, the regional medical officer.

"Twenty-three others in nearby areas, including Sheikhware, were diagnosed with measles symptoms," he added. Ali Sheikh Omar, director of communicable disease control in Somaliland, said a team was being dispatched to the affected areas.

Full report

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SUDAN: Darfur rebels urge AU to move January summit from Khartoum

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), one of the two main rebel groups in the conflict-torn western Sudanese region of Darfur, has asked the African Union not to go ahead with a plan to hold its January summit in Khartoum, and to ensure that Sudan does not assume the AU presidency in 2006. The planned summit, JEM president Khalil Ibrahim Mohamed said, would compromise the AU�s mediation role in Sudanese peace talks.

"We are totally refusing the suggestion that Bashir would become the new chairman of the AU. The AU troops will lose their impartiality," Mohamed, told IRIN on Wednesday. "Bashir can never hold the AU presidency while conducting peace negotiations in Darfur at the same time," the rebel leader added.

Full report

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SUDAN: Clashes erupt between communities in Western Equatoria

Clashes between communities in the southwestern Sudanese state of Western Equatoria have left several people dead and forced humanitarian agencies to evacuate international staff, a senior UN official said on Wednesday. The fighting erupted on Monday between the Dinka and the Zande, who form the majority of the population in the Yambio region near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, leading to the looting and burning of the UN health agency's compound.

Although the exact circumstances of the clashes were still unclear, preliminary reports indicated that the fighting followed the return of the state governor. Initial scuffles at the airport developed into rioting, with Zandes beating Dinkas.

Full report

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SUDAN: First APCs to arrive in Darfur on Friday

The first armoured personnel carriers (APCs) intended to enhance the peacekeeping capabilities of the African Union (AU) forces are expected to arrive in the western Sudanese region of Darfur on Friday, according to an AU official. Noureddine Mezni, spokesman of the AU in Khartoum, said on Tuesday that the Sudanese authorities had authorised the deployment of 105 APCs donated by the government of Canada.

"The first three or four APCs will arrive in El Fasher [the capital of North Darfur] on 18 November with a direct flight from Dakar [the capital of Senegal]," Mezni said, adding that it would take a month for all of the APCs to arrive in Darfur. Following recent attacks on AU troops that killed four soldiers, the Sudanese government had come under international pressure to allow the rapid deployment of the vehicles.

Full report

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[ENDS]

�Theme(s)	Other

Other recent HORN OF AFRICA reports:

UN envoy urges quick response to drought crisis, �21/Feb/06

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 314 for 11- 17 February 2006, �17/Feb/06

IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 313 for 4 - 10 February 2006, �10/Feb/06

EC gives �5 m for drought-affected people, �9/Feb/06

Millions facing critical food shortages, �6/Feb/06

Other recent reports:

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Donors pledge support for humanitarian crisis, 21/Feb/06

ANGOLA: Ready to play larger security role in Africa, 21/Feb/06

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 17/Feb/06

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 270 for 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 317 covering 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

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