Saturday, January 11, 2003

President's backers win Djibouti poll
DJIBOUTI, JAN 11, 2003 (BBC)--Parties supporting President Omar Ismael Guelleh have won the first full multi-party election in Djibouti since independence.
Ethiopia's long wait for rain
ADDIS ABABA, JAN 11, 2003--We had seen him as we raced past in our Land Rover five hours earlier. He had been walking patiently behind his ox, cracking the whip above the animal's head, as he urged it on.


Friday, January 10, 2003

ETHIOPIA: UN launches volunteer scheme to aid development
ADDIS ABABA, 10 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The UN announced on Friday that it is launching a scheme aimed at using volunteers to tackle the country’s massive shortage of professionals.

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Cash shortfall could delay border demarcationADDIS ABABA, 10 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The UN’s peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea is facing a cash shortfall which may delay border demarcation, the mission said on Friday.

Thursday, January 09, 2003

Somali team to meet Kalonzo over stalemate
NAIROBI, JAN 10, 2003--Somali leaders attending peace talks in Eldoret left for Nairobi yesterday in an effort to end a stalemate blamed on the Kenyan arbitrator.

The three leaders, Mr Hussein Aideed, Mr Hassan Abshir Farah and Mr Abdul Aziz Haji, are expected to meet Foreign Affairs minister Kalonzo Musyoka over the peace process.

ERITREA-ETHIOPIA: Congressman urges world to act
NAIROBI, 9 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - US Congressman Frank Wolf has warned of a looming crisis in Ethiopia and Eritrea, stressing that both countries are desperately in need of help.
DJIBOUTI: Parliamentary elections set for Friday
NAIROBI, 9 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Djiboutian voters will go to the polls to elect members of parliament on Friday, a senior Djibouti official told IRIN.

The elections for the 65-member parliament will pit a pro-government bloc of four parties under the umbrella of the Union Presidential Majority (UMP) against an opposition bloc of four parties, the Union for Democratic Alternative, (UAD).
Somaliland's upperhouse of parliament rejects postponement of Presidential elections, describes it as uncontitutional
HARGEISA, JAN 9, 2003--The upper house of Somaliland's bicameral parliament today rejected the Electoral Commission's Decision on the postponement of Presidential elections from January 23 to March 30.

In a joint statement after an ordinary session, the House speaker Sheikh Ibrahim Sheikh Yusuf Madar and Deputy Speaker Saeed Jama Ali, said that that the extension of the elections beyond the constitutional term of the President and Vice President was tantamount to an extension of the President's term of office which was the sole right of the house of elders.
"The Commission has overstepped its authority and has no right to extend the President's term of office," they said. Read More
Rebels 'eating Pygmies' as mass slaughter continues in Congo despite peace agreementBENI, CONGO, JAN 9, 2003--The United Nations is investigating reports of cannibalism by rebels in north-eastern Congo, where the slaughter of civilians continues unabated despite peace agreements.

ETHIOPIA: Study launched into Rift Valley split
ADDIS ABABA, 9 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Africa’s largest-ever scientific study of how the continent is gradually splitting apart was unveiled on Thursday.


Many of Egypt's Muslim Women Turn to the Veil
Tue January 7, 2003 12:33 PM ET
CAIRO, JAN 9, 2003 (Reuters) - After years of wearing tight trousers and bikinis, partying and drinking alcohol, 29-year-old Maha now wears an Islamic veil and says she has never been happier.

SOMALIA: Leaders urge Kenyan president to save talks
NAIROBI, 8 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Somali political groups participating in the Eldoret peace talks have called on Kenya's new president, Mwai Kibaki, to save the talks from collapse.
Somaliland President Riyale leaves for Senegal on an official visit
HARGEISA, JAN 8, 2003--Somaliland's President Dahir Riyale Kahin left here today for Senegal, West Africa, in response to an invitation by Senegalese President Abdoulaya wade.
Kahin will brief Wade on the situation of Somalialnd and will review with him bilateral ties and other issues of mutual concern. Accompanying the President were Foreign Minister Ahmed Saeed Gees, Family Planning Minister Edna Adan Ismail and Education Minister Ahmed Yussuf Duale.

Tuesday, January 07, 2003

New Al-Qaida message urges Muslims to kill Americans and other "enemies of God"
CAIRO, JAN 7, 2--3--CAIRO, Egypt, Jan. 7 — A new letter purportedly written by senior al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged Muslims to continue a “jihad” to kill Americans and other “enemies of God,” a lawyer who received the document said Tuesday.
Where Democracy Fails, Terrorism Grows in Sub-Saharan Africa
Invisible Jihad
JAN 8, 2003--When Osama bin Laden first wanted to get America's attention, he chose to attack a part of the world this country has learned to ignore—Africa.
Anti-Mungiki Crusader Missing
NAIROBI, JAN 8, 2003--An anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) crusader who has been on the forefront in opposing the Mungiki adherents has disappeared.
Its safe for U.S. Citizens to travel to Somaliland but not Somalia
WASHINGTON, JAN 7, 2003--Somaliland has experienced a level of stability that has not been present in other parts of Somalia. However, travelers should always check current conditions in Somaliland before traveling. Persons traveling to or through this area should be aware that incidents such as armed banditry and road assaults may occur. In addition, there have been reports of general crime and rock-throwing against aid workers outside of Hargeisa. Civil unrest persists in the rest of the country. U.S. citizens should not travel to areas other than Somaliland.
Somaliland's Presidential elections to be held on March 30, 2003
HARGEISA, JAN.7, 2003--Somaliland's Electoral Commission today announced that the country's Presidential elections will be held on Sunday, 30th March 2003. The election date was postponed from January 23 after the three national parties agreed to let the Commission decide a new date.
Ethiopia to import oil from Sudan
ADDIS ABABA, 7 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Ethiopia is to import oil from Sudan which could save the country up to US $7 million per year, the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise has announced.

Local human rights office attacked in Baidoa
NAIROBI, 7 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The offices of a local human rights group in the south-central town of Baidoa have been attacked by armed militiamen, according to an official of the organisation.

SOMALIA: UN urges Somalis to respect peace commitments
NAIROBI, 7 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - With the renewal of hostilities in parts of Somalia, Maxwell Gaylard, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, has called on all parties to the Eldoret peace declaration to respect their commitments.
ETHIOPIA: Easing border controls may help pastoralists, UN says
ADDIS ABABA, 7 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The UN’s Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia has said relaxing border controls in the east may help struggling pastoralists in their fight against the drought.

Monday, January 06, 2003

Analysis: Pope's God is angry & silent
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- This week's cover of the Italian magazine l'Espresso reproduces the figure of Adam after the fall taken from Michelangelo's fresco in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and carries the headline: "God's anger."
Somali Peace Delegates Tossed From Hotels
ELDORET, KENYA,DEC 6, 2003 (AP) -- Hundreds of Somalis attending peace talks in this central Kenyan town were booted from their hotel rooms by police Monday - a move the talks' organizers say was needed to bring order to the often chaotic negotiations.

SUDAN: More work needed to achieve peace, think tank saysNAIROBI, 6 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - As the next round of talks aimed at ending 19 years of conflict in Sudan draws near, Sudan's warring parties are still reluctant to take the necessary decisions leading to conditions for peace in the country, a UK-based think tank has said.

ETHIOPIA: Interview with British Ambassador Myles Wickstead
ADDIS ABABA, 6 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - Myles Wickstead is the British Ambassador in Ethiopia. Here he tells IRIN about the UK’s willingness to increase military aid to Ethiopia, how the country could provide peacekeepers for the United Nations and why the UK government is shifting towards Direct Budget Support in Ethiopia.


SOMALIA: Peace talks resume in EldoretNAIROBI, 6 Jan 2003 (IRIN) - The Somali national reconciliation conference resumed in the Kenyan town of Eldoret on Monday after a two-week break, a source close to the talks told IRIN.