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SUDAN: Khartoum suspends air strikes against southern rebels
The government on Thursday said it would halt air strikes against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in southern Sudan and the Nubah Mountains with effect from Friday, the official Sudan News Agency, Suna, reported. The decision was taken in conformity with the government's "solid belief in realising peace and stability in the country, and in furtherance to its keen desire to achieve national rapprochement", Suna said, quoting a statement from the government spokesman's office. The move reconfirmed Khartoum's seriousness in making repeated calls for a comprehensive ceasefire, but "without compromising the inherent rights of the Sudanese Armed Forces to protect its personnel and/or its logistics", the statement said. The army also reserved the right "to repulse any aggression from whatever quarter which seeks to score any field victory through the exploitation of this decision", according to the government statement.
Khartoum also called for "an immediate response from the other sides" in order to promote the peace process in the country, and asked that the international community support this important step and push for a comprehensive ceasefire.
The SPLM/A said on Thursday that it did not trust the government's statement, and that it was just "a public relations exercise". An official told IRIN that government aircraft had bombed parts of Bahr al-Ghazal, Eastern Equatoria and southern Blue Nile on Thursday, and that it should be judged on what it did and not what it said. He said the SPLM/A was not against a comprehensive ceasefire, but that there were quite a few other items higher on the agenda for Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) peace talks, whenever they took place. (The IGAD peace process addresses the primary conflict in Sudan between the government and the SPLM/A).
SUDAN: Canada pushes for progress in IGAD talks
Canada on Wednesday expressed concern over the war in Sudan and emphasised the need to re-energise the peace process under the auspices of the East Africa regional forum, IGAD. "Without an end to the war, there can be no sustainable progress in Sudan on important questions of human rights, development and good governance," Canadian Foreign Minister John Manley stated in a press release. Canadian Secretary of State (Latin America and Africa) David Kilgour applauded Kenya's decision to host a summit (on Sudan) of IGAD heads of government on 2 June, and pledged continued Canadian support for the IGAD peace process.
"We call on both parties to the conflict to engage genuinely in the IGAD process," said Kilgour. "Progress to a negotiated peace has been far too slow, and Canada has recently joined its IPF (IGAD Partners Forum) colleagues in stressing the need for urgent compromise by the parties, and for stronger political commitment by IGAD members," he added.
Canada condemned the continued sufering of the Sudanese population inflicted by both parties to the conflict, and persistent violation and abuses of human rights - including the serial bombing of civilian targets by the government of Sudan. Manley specifically cited "the failure by both sides to ensure full, safe and unhindered access of humanitarian organisations to populations in need".
SUDAN: ICRC flights resume
The ICRC on Monday announced the resumption of its aid flights in southern Sudan under new, stricter conditions. The agency suspended flight operations on 9 May following an incident in which an ICRC aircraft came under fire, and the Danish co-pilot, Ole Friis Eriksen, was killed. The decision to resume service, as of Monday, was based on information indicating that the attack had not been premeditated, but was the result of a tragic combination of circumstances, and that the ICRC was not deliberately targeted, the agency stated in a press release. [http://www.icrc.org/eng/news]
The aircraft had been forced by a technical problem to descend to an altitude of 2,500m over the Didinga Hills (4.05 N; 33.31 E) in Eastern Equatoria, an area with plateaus and peaks culminating at over 2,500 m. It was therefore quite near the ground when it came under fire by what appeared to have been a light automatic weapon in an area known to harbour several armed groups belonging to various movements, ICRC stated. From now on, the ICRC's flights would be subject to more specific security directives, relating in particular to the zones overflown and the minimum altitude to be maintained, it added. The agency noted that ICRC aircraft had been overflying this area for several years, and that all parties involved in the conflict had been kept fully informed. The ICRC continued to pursue its contacts with the parties concerned in order to explore the exact circumstances of the tragedy, it added.
SUDAN: Emirates lift livestock ban
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have lifted its ban on livestock imports from Sudan, leading to anticipation in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, that the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait would do likewise, the Panafrican News Agency (PANA) reported on Tuesday. Muhammad Salih Jabalabi, under secretary of the ministry of animal resources, said the UAE had lifted the ban after a report by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) testified that Sudan was free of Rift Valley fever, the report said. The ban on meat and livestock was imposed on Sudan and other East African countries in September 2000, following an outbreak of Rift Valley fever in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, which claimed dozens of lives. Jabalabi said the Khartoum government hoped the UAE's lifting of the ban would open the door for similar decisions by the other GCC member states. Sudan earned the equivalent of US $135 million in 1999 from livestock exports, with Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the UAE and Qatar among the major buyers, PANA reported, citing ministry statistics.
The removal of the livestock ban would be important for the livestock sector in northern Sudan, if less so for the south of the country, where exports tended to be to Uganda and Kenya, an FAO official told IRIN on Wednesday. The development could also bring an increase in livestock prices in Bahr al-Ghazal in the south if more animals were diverted to the north, and this would be welcomed by southern pastoralists, the official added. The combined effects of drought and conflict have given rise to widespread food insecurity, with over 600,000 people at immediate risk, as well as increased pressure on declining water supplies, shrinking pasture and the movement of people and livestock in search of pasture.
SUDAN: Guinea worm project targets nine million
The Sudan Guinea Worm Pipe Filter Project has begun the process of distributing nine million filters in an effort to tackle Guinea worm disease in the country, which is the world's largest reservoir of the disease, according to a press release on Tuesday from the Carter Centre, one of the leading agencies in Guinea worm eradication worldwide. The parasitic worm cripples its victims, who become infected by drinking contaminated water. The Carter Centre is working in partnership with Health Development International (HDI), Hydro Polymers of Norsk Hydro and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) in tackling the disease in Sudan, which accounted for three-quarters of almost 75,000 incidences recorded worldwide last year.
The regions of Sudan with the highest incidence were: West and South Kordofan in the midwest, and southern Blue Nile, White Nile and Sinnar in east-central Sudan, the Carter Centre stated. The nature and incidence of the disease, the number of nomads and conflict-displaced people, and the difficulty of accessing safe drinking water gave rise to the idea of producing and distributing pipe filters in Sudan. "The massive Pipe Filter Project has the potential to greatly influence the number of new cases [of Guinea worm disease] in 2002," said Mikkel Storm of Hydro Polymers. "However, we must remain aware that it is the continued conflict that leaves many parts of the country inaccessible or difficult to reach, making the prevalence of disease and the actual number of cases unknown." [for more details, see separate IRIN story of 23 May headlined "SUDAN: Aggressive attack on Guinea worm disease"]
SOMALIA: Explosion kills 29 bus passengers
At least 29 people were reportedly killed when a passenger bus exploded on 19 May near the town of Bulo Burte, 220 km north of Mogadishu. The bus, on a daily run from Bulo Burte to Beled Weyne, the capital of Hiran Region in central Somalia, exploded when a consignment of gunpowder it was carrying caught fire, a humanitarian source told IRIN. The gunpowder is used to break up rocks in quarries, and also to make home-made ammunition, a former army colonel in Beled Weyne told IRIN. He said transportation of gunpowder and other explosives on public transport was "routine". The bus, which was carrying over 50 passengers, exploded at the village of Halgan, 30 km north of Bulo Burte, he said. Most of the injured had been transported to Beled Weyne hospital, most of them suffering from burns, local sources said.
SOMALIA: Puntland nominates five to the SRRC
The administration of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, has nominated five people for positions in the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), according to a senior Puntland official. The five would "represent the five regions of Puntland" in the SRRC, Isma'il Warsame, the chief of cabinet of Puntland President Abdullahi Yusuf, told IRIN.
According to the official, the five - Ambassador Yusuf Umar Al-Azhari from Mudug Region, General Usman Muhammad Samatar from Bari, Ahmad Hasan Bile, from Sool, Awad Ahmad Ashara from Sanag, and Abdiqadir Ahmad Egag from Nugal - are not representing the Puntland administration, but rather their respective regions. The Puntland administration had nominated them to represent their communities and the SRRC executive council would determine what positions these men would be appointed to within the organisation, Warsame said.
SOMALIA: Sulayman Gaal arrested for "undermining" Somaliland
Security personnel from the administration of the self-declared independent state of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, have arrested Sulayman Mahmud Adan - known as Sulayman Gaal - on criminal and political charges. Somaliland Interior Minister Ahmad Jambir Sultan told Reuters news agency that Sulayman Gaal had been "undermining Somaliland" by holding a meeting in Djibouti with President Ismail Omar Guelleh. The minister said Gaal had also met in Djibouti a representative of the Mogadishu-based Transitional National Government (TNG). "We have seized documents that are incriminating, and a list of people, which include MPs and other personalities... who are believed to be conspirators to the sabotage," Ahmad Jambir told Reuters.
Sulayman Gaal was arrested at Hargeysa airport on arrival from Britain on Tuesday, and was taken to the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) headquarters in Hargeysa, 'Jamhuriya', a local daily said on Wednesday.
Sulayman Gaal held senior posts in the former government, before joining the northern-based Somali National Movement (SNM). He was among the SNM leaders who declared the unilateral independence of Somaliland in May 1991. Sulayman served as a senior cabinet official in Somaliland, and in the 1997 presidential elections came second to President Muhammad Ibrahim Egal, political sources said. Gaal had been transferred from Hargeysa to Mandhera prison, 70 km north of Hargeysa, the source said.
SOMALIA: Somaliland denies capture of foreign minister by Puntland
The Somaliland administration has denied that its foreign minister, Abdihamid Garad Jamma, is being held by Puntland security forces. The Puntland president's office said in a statement on Thursday that Puntland frontier forces had captured the Somaliland minister and ballot boxes allocated "for Sool and the district of Buhoodle in the so-called Somaliland referendum". The press secretary to the president of Somaliland, Abdi Idris Du'ale, told IRIN that the Puntland statement was "baseless" and that the minister was in Las Anod "safe and sound, carrying on with his duties". According to the official Puntland statement, those seized on Thursday morning included the minister, his entourage, and "a foreign lady".
SOMALIA-KENYA: Moi welcomes Somali "head of state"
The Kenyan government said in an official statement on 17 May that President Daniel arap Moi welcomed the establishment of the Transitional National Government (TNG) in Somalia. It said he had received President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan of Somalia on 16 May at Kabarak, Nakuru, where the "two Heads of State held discussions on developments in the Horn of Africa and, in particular, the ongoing reconciliation process in Somalia". Moi was willing to meet other Somali leaders who wished to participate in the peace process as soon as possible, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, of the National Development Party (NDP), left Hargeysa, the capital of Somaliland, on 19 May, the local newspaper 'Jamhuuriya' said on 20 May. It said Odinga - who cooperates with the ruling party in Kenya - had been there to deliver a "special message" from Moi to the president of Somaliland, Muhammad Ibrahim Egal.
SOMALIA-KENYA: Faction leaders arrive in Nairobi
A group of Somali opposition faction leaders arrived in Nairobi on Wednesday, including Mogadishu-based Usman Ato and Muse Sudi Yalahow. General Muhammad Sa'id Hirsi Morgan and General Adan Abdullah Nur, both of the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), were also in Nairobi, a Kenyan diplomatic source told IRIN. The faction leaders were expected to meet Kenyan government officials, the source said. All the faction leaders are members of the recently formed Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC).
ERITREA: WFP says nation agriculturally "crippled"
Nearly a year after the end of the border conflict with Ethiopia, one million Eritreans were still struggling to meet basic food needs, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday. The UN food agency said delays in creating the Temporary Security Zone (TSZ) had hampered the return of many refugees to the rich agricultural areas in and around the 25 km-wide buffer zone.
"This country is agriculturally crippled," said WFP Country Director Patrick Buckley. "If people are not back in their villages at the latest in one month's time, they will not be able to take advantage of the rains to start cultivating and planting," he said. The combined effects of drought and war on agricultural production in Eritrea had pushed the price of basic foodstuffs beyond the means of most families, Buckley added.
Many of the returnees were from Eritrea's bread-basket regions of Gash Barka and Debub, normally two of the most densely populated parts of the country. According to WFP, these regions had been producing about 70 percent of national food output before war broke out in May 1998. WFP has appealed for US $44 million from international donors to fund over 102,000 mt of food - enough to feed one million people in the war-devastated regions of Eritrea until February 2001.
WFP said earlier that the presence of land mines in the TSZ posed serious risks for returning refugees and for WFP staff operating in the zone. In its emergency report for May, WFP said that mine incidents had been "commonplace" in areas around Shilalo and Senafe. It would even be dangerous for returnees to attempt to plant crops in some areas due to the land-mine threat, WFP said.
ERITREA: World Bank team stresses need for peace
President Isayas Afewerki met World Bank officials to discuss Eritrea's economic growth and development, official Eritrean radio reported. The seven-man World Bank delegation stressed the importance of a "lasting peace [between Eritrea and Ethiopia] to ensure rapid development in the economic and social sectors", the Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, two Eritrean businessmen have launched a new airline, Eri-Air, the pro-Eritrean government Visafric news agency said on Tuesday. Eri-Air was the first privately owned airline in Eritrea, Visafric said. The airline, which plans to operate weekly charter flights between the Eritrean capital, Asmara and Milan, Italy, made its first trip on 19 May, carrying Eritreans from Italy.
ETHIOPIA: Hosts 206,000 refugees
Ethiopia hosts at least 206,000 refugees, mainly from Somalia and Sudan, a senior Ethiopian official said in a statement to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Konjit Sinegiorgis told the OAU Coordinating Committee on assistance and protection of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa, on 17 May, that Ethiopia is also engaged in helping about 400,000 IDPs. "Ethiopia has a plan to repatriate 60,000 Somali refugees to northwest Somalia and so far 5,462 have been repatriated," Konjit said. In the statement, she said Ethiopia last year repatriated 4,855 Kenyan refugees. The official called on African countries to tackle the "root causes" of refugee flows, and help build a more "dynamic African society characterised by the rule of law, tolerance and democracy". She stressed that funding for refugees in Africa was insufficient.
ETHIOPIA: Government urged to release activists
In a press release on Monday, the human rights group Amnesty International expressed "deep concern" over the continued detention of human rights activists Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, and Dr Berhanu Nega. Mesfin, 72, former head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council, and Berhanu, head of the Ethiopian Economic Association, were arrested on 8 May, and accused of inciting the 17 to 18 April student unrest in Addis Ababa in April.
The statement said the two had twice been denied bail, with police claiming that they were still carrying out investigations. They were due to appear in court again on Friday. The Amnesty statement urges the Ethiopian authorities to allow the two men and all other detainees access to "legal and medical advice and expertise". The Ethiopian government has said it is investigating the role of political and human rights activists in violent demonstrations following student protests, in which more than 30 people died.
ETHIOPIA-ERITREA: Religious leaders call off border mission
A series of meetings between religious leaders from Ethiopia and Eritrea and war-affected communities in the disputed border region has been postponed. Arne Saeveraas, Country Director of the facilitating agency, Norwegian Church Aid, told IRIN that the Ethiopian delegation had called the mission off at the last moment, because it had not been able to finalise preparations for the visit. The mission, originally scheduled for 19 to 21 May, had been provisionally rescheduled for the end of July, but could go ahead as soon as the Ethiopian side was ready, he said.
Nairobi, 25 May 2001
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