HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN News Briefs

Story Filed: Thursday, May 11, 2000 4:35 PM EST

Nairobi (UN Integrated Regional Information Network, May 11, 2000) - ERITREA: Envoy warns of fresh outbreak of fighting - UN special envoy Richard Holbrooke warned as he left Asmara that Eritrea and Ethiopia could be on the verge of fresh conflict.

According to Reuters, he said "we are very close to a resumption of hostilities and the outbreak of a new round of fighting". Holbrooke said new fighting would lead to carnage on the battlefield and exacerbate a hunger crisis. He made the comments to local and international journalists at Asmara airport on Wednesday, when shuttle diplomacy between the two countries failed to make progress after a breakdown of peace talks. The US ambassador to the UN has been heading a seven-member team from the Security Council to try and get the two countries to resume peace talks. He said if the fighting resumed after two years of hostilities, it would constitute "the largest war on the African continent", reports Reuters.

ETHIOPIA: Suspected anthrax epidemic in Afar Region

Following a local alert that "hundreds" of people are reportedly dying from a "peculiar killer syndrome" in the Afar Region, northeastern Ethiopia, a report from the UN Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia (UN-EUE) warns there is an immediate need to "investigate, detect and confirm fears of an anthrax epidemic in Zones 4 and 5 of Afar Region... which appears likely to spread into Amhara Region and other areas of the country". In an investigative mission in April, UN-EUE found 51 people in one village, Whama, had died in February and March alone. Health workers and doctors - including an MSF doctor operating in Dubti hospital - report an "unknown" fatal disease which includes swelling of the neck and cheeks and bloody diarrhoea.

Pastoralist Afars in Ethiopia, who share international borders with Eritrea and Djibouti, are suffering "persisting drought", warns the report, made worse by the Ethiopia-Eritrean conflict which has displaced some 30,000 Afar people. Cross-border animal trading has ceased since the beginning of the conflict in 1998, which "represents a major cut back for the Afar economy". Despite some rainfall in the region, the northernmost territory near the Eritrean border remains dry. The conflict has also restricted traditional drought-related migration.

Approximately 17,000 internally war-displaced Afars are in need of non-food relief items, reports the UN-EUE.

ETHIOPIA: Army in Ogaden helps with relief effort

Ethiopian state television reported members of the National Defence Forces have offered military vehicles in the region for transporting water. The chairman of the Gode zonal administration, Abdi Kebede said in an interview that members of the Defence Force had been active in relief distribution in cooperation with the zonal administration and aid organisations, and have assisted in transporting relief food and other materials by land and air.

Ethiopian troops have been active in the Ogaden region since 1992 in declared operations against Islamic fundamentalists, and along the Ethio-Somali border.

[IRIN is about to release a special report on the Ogaden].

ETHIOPIA: Absent official sentenced to firing squad

A senior official from Mengistu Haile Mariam's former regime was on May 8 sentenced to death "in absentia" for the execution of 197 people. Lieutenant Eshetu Alemu was serving as a member of the Provisional Military Administrative Council for Gojjam. According to the court, the convict - who is among hundreds of accused former officials who fled the country - should be executed by firing squad.

DJIBOUTI: Ethiopian refugees repatriated

More than 1,700 Ethiopian refugees in Djibouti have been voluntarily repatriated, says UNHCR, following an announcement by the UN agency that "blanket refugee status" was being withdrawn from 1 March for Ethiopians who fled during the Mengistu regime. The regime collapsed in 1991.

Djibouti becomes the first country to complete the voluntary repatriation of pre-1991 Ethiopian refugees. UNHCR said some 51,000 Ethiopians were in camps in eastern Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti and Yemen.

A UNHCR statement said that Ethiopians who choose not to repatriate and do not present a valid claim for continued refugee status would no longer be entitled to international protection. But UNHCR has appealed to host governments to allow Ethiopians who will lose refugee status to stay in the countries and regularise their status, spokesman Kris Janowski said.

DJIBOUTI: Somali clans choose chairmen for peace talks

Most of the clan groups gathered in Djibouti for Somali peace talks have appointed group chairmen, and are preparing for the plenary session to be held on Saturday, a diplomatic source told IRIN. By Saturday, the Djibouti government will expect clan elders to have decided on numbers per clan delegation. Over 700 representatives are gathered in the pre-conference talks, said the source, including a strong delegation from Puntland. A traditional leader has been elected head of the Mujerten delegation, which represent Mujerten from all parts of Somalia, including Puntland.

SOMALIA: Puntland leaders angry over "King Kong" representation

The Puntland regional administration is angry over the election of King Kong - "a prominent Somali cultural leader" - as a spokesman for the Darod, reports the Puntland newspaper 'Sahan', monitored by the BBC.

Puntland vice-president Mohammad Abdi Hashi is in Djibouti for the talks, and contacted the Puntland administration from Djibouti to claim the Djibouti government "did not recognise the election of King Kong", reports the paper. The vice-president also complained about the accommodation at the Djibouti talks and claimed he would like to return home, but did not have the means to do so, said the report.

The Mujerten clan are a branch of the Darod, whose civic leaders are attending the talks in Djibouti. Controversy over the election comes because the Puntland vice-president, attending the talks, will be under pressure by the Puntland administration to represent political leaders, while the Djibouti talks are focusing on traditional and civic leaders.

Meanwhile, President of Puntland regional state, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf, met in Garowe with the chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, Hassan Muhammad Nur, "Shaat Gadud", and the chairman of the Somali Patriotic Movement, Colonel Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, and warned that the Djibouti conference "could result in renewed fighting", reports 'Xog-Ogaal' newspaper. The political leaders said regional governments should be established in Somalia before the Djibouti peace talks were held. They said regional governments could then form a central government, reports 'Xog-Ogaal'. The three discussed forming an alliance to cooperate in political and economic issues, said the report.

SOMALILAND: Air Djibouti planes banned

All flights by Air Djibouti planes to Somaliland have been banned, according to Dahir Hajir Osman, Somaliland's deputy Minister of aviation and air transport, reports Hargeisa Radio. The minister accused InterSomal travel agency, representatives of Air Djibouti, of encouraging Air Djibouti planes to land at unauthorised airstrips. The ban was reported to be effective from 10 May. According to the minister, an Air Djibouti plane landed at Burco airport without prior notice, "endangering the country's national security and contravening its aviation laws", said the report. He said the illegal landing came at a time "when anti-Somaliland activities were being committed".

The Somaliland government has declared itself opposed to peace talks being held in Djibouti, and have rejected visiting Djiboutian delegates.

SOMALIA: Hussein Aideed to meet President Museveni

Mogadishu-based faction leaders Hussein Aideed, Osman Ali Ato, and Mohamed Kanyare Afra have been invited to Kampala to meet with President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, reports 'Xog-Ogaal'. The three leaders are expected to hold talks with President Museveni before going on to other countries "most likely Eritrea and Libya", reports the paper.

This item is delivered by the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit (e- mail: irin@ocha.unon.org; fax: +254 2 622129; Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN), but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.

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