HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN-HOA Weekly Round-up 402 for 6-12 October 2007
Source: IRIN
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NAIROBI, 12 October 2007
(IRIN) - CONTENTS: SOMALIA: Ministers demand confidence vote
SOMALIA: IDPs cause overcrowding in Galgadud towns
SOMALIA: Families flee escalating violence
SUDAN: Government violated arms embargo,
says expert panel
SUDAN: Southern pull-out threatens peace deal
SUDAN: Darfur attack "targeted women and children" Also see:
ERITREA: Interview - President says border issues "must
be resolved"
at [http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74764]SOMALIA: Ministers demand confidence vote Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG) was thrown into disarray
after 22 ministers signed a letter demanding a vote of confidence in the government. "We have given the letter requesting the confidence vote to the speaker of parliament [Sheikh Aden Madobe]
this morning [11 October]," said Justice Minister Hassan Dhimbil Warsame. Twenty-two out of 30 ministers signed the letter, he said. Warsame said the ministers took the action "after it
became very clear that this government was not up to the job and has failed to deliver what the Somali people wanted". [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74741] SOMALIA: IDPs cause overcrowding in Galgadud towns An estimated 50,000 people who fled violence in Mogadishu are living in difficult conditions, with inadequate food, shelter and sanitation in two
towns in Galgadud region of central Somalia, local officials said on 10 October. The displaced are in the Galgadud regional capital, Dusa Mareb, 500km north of Mogadishu, and in the nearby town of
Guri-Eil. "Our estimate is that since the end of April, between 4,000 and 5,000 families [24,000 to 30,000 people] have arrived in Dusa Mareb," Mohamed Madobe, the district commissioner,
told IRIN. [Full report at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74732] SOMALIA: Families flee escalating violence Armed opponents of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG)
have increased their attacks on government targets in the capital, Mogadishu, killing at least four officials over the weekend, local sources said on 8 October. The attacks and the response by the
Ethiopian-backed government troops have led to more people being displaced, a local journalist, who requested anonymity, said. "They [insurgents] have intensified their attacks on government
forces and positions in the month of Ramadan," the journalist told IRIN. "At least 15 well-coordinated attacks on various government forces positions [took place]." [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74696] SUDAN: Government violated arms embargo, says expert panel Sudanese authorities and rebel groups in the western Darfur region have violated a UN
Security Council arms embargo, a panel of experts has said. According to a report compiled by the panel following investigations from September 2006 to August 2007, the government airlifted arms and
equipment into Darfur's three provincial capitals, El Fasher, Nyala and El Geneina. These included military airplanes and helicopters. It had also made numerous offensive over-flights in Darfur, and
engaged in aerial bombardments. Some of the flights involved white aircraft and in one instance a plane with "UN" markings. [Full report at:
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74742] SUDAN: Southern pull-out threatens peace deal Sara Pantuliano, a research fellow at the Humanitarian Policy Group of the ODI think-tank in
London, said the decision by Southern Sudan's former rebel group and now leading party to withdraw from the central government was a "badly needed wake-up call for the international community",
which has neglected the North-South peace process, partly because of the Darfur conflict. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) announced on 11 October that it was boycotting the
national unity government, accusing the north of violating the terms of the 2005 peace deal. However, the party ruled out an imminent return to arms. [Full report at: SUDAN: Darfur attack
"targeted women and children" The recent attack on Muhajiriya town in South Darfur, in which 45 people died and thousands fled their homes, mainly targeted women, children and the elderly,
a rebel faction said. "The government moved forces into the town two days earlier," Mohammed Bashir, spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), said from Khartoum, the capital.
"With air cover, they attacked the town, burnt down half of it and killed mainly children, women and the elderly." [Full story at: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74735] Ah/© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: <a href="http://www.IRINnews.org">http://www.IRINnews.org</a>
