HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 351 for 11-17
November 2006
17 Nov 2006 15:26:40 GMT Source: IRIN
NAIROBI, 17 November (IRIN) - CONTENTS:ERITREA: Reporters 'may have died in detention'
ETHIOPIA: Stagnant water hampering aid efforts in
flood-hit areas
SOMALIA: One killed in demonstration over khat supplies
SOMALIA: Floods displace thousands more in Hiiraan region
SOMALIA: Govt rejects outcome of speaker's talks with Islamic courtsSUDAN: Government 'accepts' UN troops in Darfur
SUDAN: More support for Darfur starts with Africa, top UN peacekeeper says
SUDAN: African Union to probe Darfur massacreAlso see: Jungle boost for
peace process at
[http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56411 and ERITREA: Reporters 'may have died in detention'Three Eritrean reporters who have been in detention in a remote northeastern
jail for five years are believed to have died in unclear circumstances, a global media freedom watchdog reported.Reporters Without Borders, which has written to the Eritrean government seeking an
explanation, said on Tuesday that the three were being at a place called Eiraeiro. "Dozens of political prisoners have disappeared into jails run by the armed forces," it added. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56389]ETHIOPIA: Stagnant water hampering aid efforts in flood-hit areasWater levels are receding in southeast Ethiopia but humanitarian efforts to help
thousands of people displaced by floods are being hindered by stagnant water, amid fears of increased risk of water-borne diseases.About 68 people died and thousands fled their homes in the Somali
region after the Wabe Shebelle river burst its banks in early November, washing away livestock and damaging infrastructure, including bridges and roads.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56377]SOMALIA: One killed in demonstration over khat suppliesAt least one person was killed on Thursday as forces belonging to the Union of Islamic
Courts (UIC) fired shots to disperse protesters in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, hours after the UIC had burnt a consignment of khat, a popular mild narcotic, a local source said.The
demonstration was organised by khat traders - mostly women who make a living by selling the plant leaves. "They [the traders] were angry that the courts have burnt the first consignment in four days,"
the source said.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56397]SOMALIA: Floods displace thousands more in Hiiraan regionContinued flooding in southern Somalia has displaced
tens of thousands of people in the Hiiraan region, with large tracts of farmland submerged in and around Beletweyne, the region's capital, sources said on Tuesday.A journalist, Abdirahman Dini, said
rain-induced floods caused the Shabelle River to burst its banks and flood Beletweyne, 350 km northwest of the Somali capital, Mogadishu. [Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56359]SOMALIA: Govt rejects outcome of speaker's talks with Islamic courtsSomalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) has rejected an agreement
reached in the capital, Mogadishu, between the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) and a delegation of members of parliament led by the speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, a senior official told IRIN on
Monday. "The speaker had no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the TFG," Abdirahman Dinari, the TFG spokesman, said. "He did not consult with the President or the Prime Minister and whatever the
outcome the government is not bound by it."
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56336]SUDAN: Government 'accepts' UN troops in DarfurThe Sudanese government has 'agreed in
principle' to the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers in the western region of Darfur alongside African Union forces, officials said after a high-level meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis
Ababa."A hybrid operation is agreed in principle, pending clarification of the size of the force," stated a communiqué released at the end of the meeting.
[Full story at:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56407]SUDAN: More support for Darfur starts with Africa, top UN peacekeeper saysAn increased role for United Nations' peacekeepers in the troubled
Darfur region of western Sudan should be led by African diplomatic initiatives, the UN's top peacekeeping official Jean-Marie Guehenno has said.The African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Council is
scheduled to meet in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, next week to decide upon the future of some 7,000 AU troops currently in Darfur to help protect civilians from attacks by government
forces, allied militias and rebel forces.
[Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56375]SUDAN: African Union to probe Darfur massacreThe African Union is to investigate the
killing of at least 30 civilians on 11 November by hundreds of armed militiamen, who attacked a camp for internally displaced people at Sirba near Kulbus in the Sudanese state of West Darfur, a source
said.The militiamen, supported by 18 military vehicles, injured scores more, including women and children. They also burned down almost 100 houses. "The assailants were said to be on camels and
horses, and the village was razed," the AU official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56357]ah
