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Tuesday 21 February 2006 |
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IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 303 for 26 November-2 December 2005[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]CONTENTS: ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Top US envoy meets government officials A top US diplomat arrived in Ethiopia on a three-day mission to help breathe new life into a stalled peace process with Eritrea, the US embassy said. Donald Yamamoto, the deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, met Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on Monday. He will also discuss post-election disturbances in Ethiopia with members of his administration, an official said. "Yamamoto is in Addis Ababa for discussions with the government on the border situation and on the current internal political situation," said Anthony Fisher, US embassy public affairs counsel. Full report ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Possible pullback of troops from border - UNMEE Ethiopia may be willing to pull back thousands of troops recently moved close to its tense border with Eritrea, the UN military commander in the region said on Thursday. Maj-Gen Rajender Singh, commander of the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) peacekeeping force, said Ethiopia had indicated that they would comply with a recent UN Security Council resolution calling for a return of both Ethiopian and Eritrean troops to their 16 December positions. "This is very positive," observed Singh, whose 3,200 peacekeepers monitor the "tense and potentially volatile" 1,000 km border between the two countries. Since December, Ethiopia has moved eight divisions - totalling around 50,000 men - towards the border in what it called a purely defensive measure, the UN maintained in a previous statement. Full report ETHIOPIA: Four soldiers killed in landmine blast Four Ethiopian soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit a newly laid landmine near the border with Eritrea, UN officials said on Tuesday. The anti-tank mine was planted around 15 km south of the demilitarized buffer zone created to separate the two countries' armies following their 1998-2000 border dispute that has continued to cause tension between the Horn of Africa neighbours. "Four Ethiopian soldiers died and three were injured when their military vehicle hit a newly laid landmine," said Phil Lewis, head of the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre of the Ethiopia-Eritrea peacekeeping mission. "We do not know who was responsible," he said by telephone from the Eritrean capital, Asmara. Full report ETHIOPIA: Parliament establishes panel to probe violence A panel to investigate post-election clashes in Ethiopia, where some 88 people have been killed by security forces since June, will publish its findings in three months, parliament ruled on Tuesday. The decision came after the lower House of People's Representatives approved the establishment of an 11-member panel to probe the killings in June and November. Opposition leaders condemned the inquiry - ordered by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi - as a "whitewash" before the panel's members were even elected. "We do not expect anything credible to come out of this," said Beyene Petros of the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces, who voted against the commission in parliament. Full report SOMALIA: IGAD calls for the lifting of arms embargo The subregional body that brokered Somalia's reconciliation process has called for the lifting of a UN arms embargo on that country to enable its transitional federal government (TFG) to establish security institutions. The council of ministers of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), which met in the Somalia town of Jowhar, the temporary seat of the TFG on Tuesday, said Somalia had a legitimate government which should be allowed the create law enforcement agencies. "The Council of Ministers underlines the necessity in recognising that Somalia has a legitimate government and in line with the transitional federal charter has the solemn right to establish, train and equip its law enforcement authority while seeking regional and international cooperation towards achieving that goal of lifting the UN arms embargo," the ministers said in a joint communique. Full report SOMALIA: Heavy rains in north, poor season in south Two consecutive seasons of above-normal rainfall and distribution of relief by aid agencies in Sool, Sanag and Toghdeer regions of northern Somalia have led to an improvement of pastoral conditions there, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP). Despite the improved situation in the north, however, delayed and below-normal rainfall in southern Somalia during the current wet season was expected to lead to major food shortages in the region next year, the agency warned. "Sufficient rainfall for the last two seasons led to increased livestock numbers and improved body condition due to availability of pasture and water, making livestock more productive," said Jean-Pierre Mambounou, head of WFP's sub-office in Hargeysa, the capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia. Full report SUDAN: New IDPs seek refuge in Gereida, South Darfur Some 5,000 people sought refuge in Gereida town over the past week, following violent clashes in the conflict-torn western Sudanese state of South Darfur that had already displaced 15,000, the international NGO Oxfam reported. "We are now estimating that between 18,000 and 20,000 IDPs [internally displaced persons] have newly arrived in Gereida, although the number hasn't been officially confirmed yet," Nicki Bennett, spokeswoman for Oxfam in Sudan, said on Wednesday. "We are still seeing the regular arrival of households who fled their villages every day," she added. "Everything we are hearing indicates that more people will arrive over the next few days." Although the initial influx of IDPs was mainly from the Massalit ethnic group, the most recent arrivals were predominantly from the Falata community. Full report SUDAN: Aid agencies prepare for large Dinka movement in the south A group of up to 12,000 people of the Dinka ethnic group and a large number of cattle were approaching the southern Sudanese capital of Juba on the way back to their southeastern homeland in Bor, raising tensions in the area, aid workers said. "The Bor-Dinka have been displaced for the past 16 years in the western part of the country because of the war," Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday. Sixty-two Dinka cattle camps had fled the violence in Jonglei State during the 21-year civil war that claimed 2 million lives. "Return movements started over a year ago, and between 25 and 28 cattle camps have already completed their journey back," said Mario Samaja, who is responsible for returns and reintegration at the UN office of the deputy resident and humanitarian coordinator for southern Sudan, on Tuesday. Full report [ENDS]
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