NAIROBI, 2 March (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

SOMALIA-UGANDA: AU mission will not impose peace - Museveni SOMALIA: ICRC counts cost to civilians SUDAN: ICC war-crimes move 'a good first step' SUDAN: UN to boost emergency response in south HORN OF AFRICA-YEMEN: Country put on alert to combat locust outbreak ETHIOPIA-ISRAEL: Waiting Falash Mura languish in squalor

See also:

KENYA-SUDAN: Mixed feelings about going home to southern Sudan at [ http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70430]

ETHIOPIA: Peanut product to combat child malnutrition at [

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70424]

SOMALIA-UGANDA: AU mission will not impose peace - Museveni

The African Union (AU) peace mission due to be deployed in Somalia will not try to disarm armed groups in that country, but will instead train a Somali national army, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said on Thursday.

"We are not going to disarm the Somali militias because if we empower the Somali people, it will be up to them to decide whether it is necessary to disarm," Museveni said in a farewell speech. "We don't want you to interfere with the affairs of Somalia. Your work is to teach," he told the departing Ugandan soldiers, who are due to arrive in Somalia next week. [Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70468]

SOMALIA: ICRC counts cost to civilians

More than 430 people were admitted to two of Mogadishu's three hospitals with wounds sustained in the rampant violence in the city since the beginning of 2007, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said.

"In February alone, Keysaney Hospital, run by the Somali Red Crescent Society, and Medina Hospital admitted more than 200 wounded, including at least 30 women and 24 children," the ICRC said. Pascal Hundt, head of ICRC's Somali delegation, said the agency was providing medical supplies to the Keysaney and Medina hospitals to ensure the facilities had the capacity to treat war-related injuries.

Civilians in the Somali capital are frequently caught up in clashes pitting forces of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and their Ethiopian allies against insurgents loyal to the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC), whose fighters were driven out of the city in December 2006. The ICRC urged all parties to the conflict to consider the welfare of civilians. [Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70409]

SUDAN: ICC war-crimes move 'a good first step'

The International Criminal Court's decision to name war-crimes suspects in Darfur on Tuesday is a sign of progress but there is still a long way to go before justice can be delivered, analysts say.

A day after the court's decision was made public, Mariam Jooma, an analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, said that while the move was a good step, it could end up hardening attitudes against the United Nations.

"It is too early to tell, but it is important to note that Sudan is not a signatory to the ICC; neither are the international powers that want to use the ICC," Jooma said. [Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70452]

SUDAN: UN to boost emergency response in the South

The United Nations is seeking to strengthen emergency response capabilities in the south by training actors based in Unity and Lakes States, Philippe Verstraeten, head of the emergency preparedness response unit at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said.

"This is part of the transitioning of emergency responses from NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and the UN to the government of southern Sudan," Verstraeten said.

"The training will give people already involved in emergency responses standards to work with," Verstraeten said. Funding of US $ 300,000 – US $ 400,000 to train 150 people is being provided by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Common Humanitarian Fund and Oxfam. [Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70465]

HORN OF AFRICA-YEMEN: Country put on alert to combat locust outbreak

Yemen is prepared to combat a potential locust outbreak following reports of a spate in nearby Eritrea in December 2006, officials at the Yemeni Ministry of Agriculture have said.

On 23 February, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said that locust numbers continued to increase during January along the coast between Massawa in Eritrea and the Sudanese border. It also warmed that there could be a locust invasion in Yemen either at the end of February or the beginning of March.

Yemen could lose an estimated 164 billion riyals [US $840 million] if the locusts invade crops. [Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70429]

ETHIOPIA-ISRAEL: Waiting Falash Mura languish in squalor

About 16,000 Ethiopian former Jews - Falash Mura - have been waiting more than 10 years in disease-ridden camps in Ethiopia for the Israeli government to take them to Israel, NGOs say.

They live in squalid conditions in immigration compounds in the capital, Addis Ababa, in the city of Gondar in north-western Ethiopia; and in villages.

"It's basically a refugee camp without running water or toilet facilities. It's overcrowded, there's open sewage. Their diet is lacking in fruit, vegetables and dairy products. It must be stopped," Ravit Cohen, an Israeli anthropologist who recently visited Gondar, said.

The Falash Mura Jews, who are of Jewish descent, converted to Christianity after suffering persecution and being targeted by missionaries. They abandoned their homes many years ago in the hope of qualifying to immigrate to Israel under the Jewish state's 1950 Law of Return – which grants any person with at least one Jewish grandparent the right to Israeli citizenship. [Full report at http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70425]

ro/eo

IRIN news