Return-Path: Received: from kichungi.ocha.unon.org ([194.54.67.234]) by mailin07.sul.t-online.com with esmtp id 146DU5-1fN0sra; Wed, 13 Dec 2000 16:06:21 +0100 Received: from africa-english by kichungi.ocha.unon.org with local (Exim 3.14 #3) id 146DI4-0001Td-00 for zdwf-@t-online.de; Wed, 13 Dec 2000 17:53:56 +0300 Received: from umva.ocha.unon.org ([194.54.67.232]) by kichungi.ocha.unon.org with esmtp (Exim 3.14 #3) id 146Cjp-0007vN-00 for africa-english@kichungi.ocha.unon.org; Wed, 13 Dec 2000 17:18:33 +0300 Received: from mail.ocha.unon.org ([172.16.1.3]) by umva.ocha.unon.org with smtp (Exim 2.11 #3) id 146Cs2-00062s-00 for english@ocha.unon.org; Wed, 13 Dec 2000 17:27:02 +0300 Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 17:27:02 +0300 (BEAUT) From: IRIN To: IRIN - English Service Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Subject: HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN Update, 13 December [2001213] Precedence: bulk X-Filter: mailagent [version 3.0 PL68] for africa-english@ocha.unon.org Sender: IRIN Africa English Service HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN Update, 13 December CONTENTS: ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Peace agreement signed SOMALIA: Faction leader expresses support for government SOMALIA: Juba floods damage crops SUDAN: Presidential and parliamentary elections SUDAN: OPEC investment agreement approved SUDAN: Junior minister in protest resignation ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Peace agreement signed Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi signed a comprehensive peace agreement in Algiers on Tuesday. Algerian television monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that, by signing the peace deal, the two leaders had ended their two-year border war. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Togolese President and OAU chairman Gnassingbe Eyadema, US Secretary of State Madeline Albright and US President Clinton's envoy, Anthony Lake, attended the signing, according to agency reports. Annan, Salim, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and an EU representative, Rino Serri, also signed the agreement, as witnesses, the Algerian television report said. The second secretary of the Eritrean Embassy in Nairobi, Thomas Tewelde, told IRIN: "We are very positive about it [the agreement], and expect it will gradually take hold." The counsellor at the Ethiopian Embassy in Nairobi, Mengistu Ayalew, was equally optimistic. "We are fully committed to the peace agreement. This time round, the Eritrean leadership will be obliged to abide the agreement. This agreement has international acceptance, attention and support," he told IRIN. However, both parties remain affected by residual mistrust. In an interview with Eritrean television on Monday, monitored by the BBC, Eritrean Foreign Minister Ali Sayyid Abdallah said his countrymen should avoid being complacent, pointing out that the Ethiopian administration was untrustworthy and had in the past evaded its commitment to "agreements it signed before the ink was dry". Ethiopian Prime Minster Meles Zenawi has made it very clear that he will not normalise relations with Eritrea so long as the current regime is in place. Speaking on State television last Friday, Meles said that, at the request of the Ethiopian government, the agreement did not provide for a normalisation of relations. What the agreement does provide for are the establishment of a border demarcation commission, release of all prisoners, compensation and an inquiry to establish the causes of the conflict. Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir was quoted by Sudanese television on Tuesday as hailing the agreement. He said the agreement "answered the hopes and aspirations of the two peoples, the peoples of the region and of the continent to realise peace and stability, without which development could not be achieved". SOMALIA: Faction leader expresses support for government One of the Mogadishu main faction leaders, Husayn Haji Bod, on Monday night signed an agreement with Interim President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan. Sources in the president's office told IRIN that Bod had pledged support for the government. The president had asked Bod to spearhead the efforts to bring in the faction leaders who were still opposed to the new government, the source added. In a telephone interview with IRIN on Wednesday, Bod told IRIN that he had not accepted any post in government and did not expect to be offered one. Asked why he had now decided to support the government, Bod said: "I did it because of the condition of the Somali people and for the good of all Somalis." Asked if he believed that the other faction leaders might also extend their support to the government, he replied: "I hope so." Bod added: "I went to the president with dynamic feelings of peace and real commitment. I would like for us to broaden it and bring about an overall reconciliation for all Somalis.". He said Mogadishu was now a very happy place and that people had welcomed his move. "This confirmed to me that people want peace, and we should not be seen as being against peace," he said. Bod said it would take real courage and a spirit of compromise on the part of all sides to arrive at a full reconciliation. Meanwhile, government forces have driven through Mogadishu in a show of force. A business source told IRIN that the forces, travelling in 50 'technicals' (pick-ups mounted with heavy weapons) moved out of south Mogadishu and drove to north Mogadishu, traversing areas reportedly controlled by some of the faction leaders. They were not challenged and there were no incidents, according to the source. SOMALIA: Juba floods damage crops In their monthly report, the Food Security Assessment Unit and the Famine Early Warning System (FSAU/FEWS) say floods in the Lower Juba area of southern Somalia have severely damaged standing crops. The report says there will be "food security and nutritional problems in the riverine areas". The floods have submerged at least one village (Arare) and damaged many others, according to the report. The most affected areas are on the west bank of the Juba river, near the towns of Jilib and Jamaame, the report stated. The report also notes that the Somali shilling depreciated against all major currencies in October. The Somali shilling lost 14 percent of its value against the US dollar from its value in September - from shs 9,900 to shs 11,300. The shilling lost another 10 percent of its value in October and depreciated even further in November. The report attributed the currency's decline to the injection of huge amounts of newly printed bank notes into the markets, especially in Mogadishu. The FSAU/FEWS report indicates that, with the exception of a few areas, prices of locally grown crops are low, while prices of imports are high. This is in part due the effects of the livestock ban. According to the report, however, livestock prices are falling only gradually, and in the southern regions (Gedo, Lower Juba, Middle Juba, and to a lesser extent Bay and Bakool) livestock prices are actually rising. The report attributes this to the high demand for meat during the holiday season. In Somaliland, the total area harvested this year was 23,700 ha, which yielded 14,000 mt of cereals, 83 percent of which was sorghum and 17 percent maize. According to the report, this year's harvest was about nine percent higher than in 1998 (12,800 mt), but 36 percent lower than in 1999 (21,820 mt) according to the report. The report attributes the decline in this year's harvest as compared to 1999 to poor rainfall and the high cost of hiring tractors at this crucial period. SUDAN: Presidential and parliamentary elections The General Electoral Commission [GEC] chairman, Abd al-Mun'im al-Zayn al-Nahhas, has said that the preparations to hold presidential and parliamentary elections are complete in all the country's states. He also announced that the election campaigns had ended at 7 p.m. (local time) on Tuesday, according to a report by Sudanese television. Nahhas went on to say that the elections would commence on Wednesday, as scheduled, and continue for 10 days, involving 10 million voters in 270 constituencies, the report said, quoting him as saying "special guarantees had been put in place to ensure that the polls were free and fair". The report also quoted him as telling a delegation of election observers from the Arab League that "international observers had the freedom of movement to confirm that the polls were free and fair". The BBC on Wednesday reported that the elections had commenced on schedule that day. SUDAN: OPEC investment agreement approved The Council of Ministers on Monday approved an agreement encouraging and protecting investment between the government of Sudan the OPEC Fund for International Development. Reporting the development on Tuesday, the Sudanese News Agency, SUNA, said that Minister of Finance and National Economy Dr Muhammad Khayr al-Zubayr had presented the agreement to the cabinet during a meeting was chaired by President Umar al-Bashir. "The agreement, which will be renewed every 10 years, tends to stabilise investment through the optimum use of economic resources," the report noted. SUDAN: Junior minister in protest resignation The minister of state at the Ministry of Roads and Communications, Taban Deng Gai, told a press conference in Nairobi on Tuesday that he had resigned his post. A copy of his letter of resignation addressed to President Umar al-Bashir dated Saturday, which was received by IRIN on Wednesday, gave reasons for his decision. The letter said that the government had "reneged from its commitment to the right of self-determination for the people of South Sudan". The letter went on to accuse the government of "lack of seriousness" regarding peace and reconciliation with all Sudanese political forces, because all it was interested in was "to buy time for its military option" and "exploiting the revenue from oil to fund its military machine". [ENDS] [IRIN-CEA HOA: Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin-cea@ocha.unon.org ] [This item is delivered in the "africa-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires written IRIN permission.] Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2000 Subscriber: zdwf-@t-online.de Keyword: IRIN-CEA