www.eastafricaforum.net http://africa.reuters.com/country/ET/news/usnL30425231.html Ethiopia opposition calls for probe into "massacre"
Mon 30 Jun 2008Tsegaye Tadesse
ADDIS ABABA, June 30 (Reuters) - An Ethiopian opposition party called on Monday for an official probe into what it said was a massacre of 400 women and children in the west of the Horn of Africa nation.
The government, which has put the number of dead at more than 20 from the ethnic clashes in May, called the version by the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM) an exaggeration.
Fighting between different communities over scant resources and grazing is common in outlying areas of Ethiopia.
OFDM said in a statement that the incident happened in Hangar and Didesa Valley, about 600 km (373 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa.
"Between May 16 and 31, some 400 Oromo infants, children, women and men who lived in Hangar and Didesa valley were slaughtered by Gumuz citizens of Beneshangul region," the party said in a statement.
"We appeal to the Ethiopian parliament to establish a commission and investigate the causes of the ethnic conflict and the massacre of the people of Oromo."
Information Minister Berhan Hailu said the number "was an exaggeration". "The government has apprehended the perpetrators and investigating further the cause of the violence that erupted suddenly," he said, without giving an update on those killed.
"A reconciliation process is being undertaken to solve the problem faced by the displaced people."
The OFDM, which has nine seats in parliament, said the regional government had ordered a news blackout, preventing people in the area from talking about the massacre.
"Innocent people were mowed down. Pregnant women were slaughtered and their bodies strewn around. Arms and breasts were severed and men were murdered and beheaded," it said.
OFDM added that some 10,000 people were uprooted and left without shelter and appealed for urgent assistance.
Independent versions from witnesses in the region could not be immediately obtained.
The statement added that the government was "an accomplice". The government rejected the accusation.
"While the government is handling the situation promptly, the statement by OFDM is tantamount to a call for reprisal action, which did not help the situation," the information minister said.
http://www.afriquenligne.fr/news/africa-news/ethiopia-says-un-mission-as-good-as-'dead'-200806307912.html
PANA June 30, 2008Ethiopia says UN mission as good as 'dead' Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The UN peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) is as good as dead, according to the Ethiopian government.
"It is now becoming clear that UNMEE's formal existence is about to come to an end," the country's Foreign Ministry said in its weekly review of the situation in the Horn of Africa countries.
Referring to the current debate in the UN Security Council on how to bring operations of the force to an end, the ministry pointed out the serious problem relating to the preamble of the Council's draft resolution.
"Ethiopia has made it clear that any possible UN presence after the demise of UNMEE cannot be based on the same principles," said the ministry, noting that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had underlined the same stance in a letter to the Security Council president on 17 June 2008.
In the same letter, Meles emphasised the fact that Ethiopia would keep an open mind in terms of cooperating with the UN and the Security Council, with respect to a UN presence in Ethiopia in line with principles related to the maintenance of regional peace and security.
While concerned about border tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, including the latter's restrictions on the UN peace keepers, the world body has avoided making hasty decisions on the operations of UNMEE over the last two years.
For UNMEE, it has been a frustrating existence on the Eritrean side.
Now, Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki has reportedly written to the President of the Security Council stating that the Council could not count on the cooperation of Eritrea with respect to future UN engagement or UN presence in the area, following the formal termination of UNMEE.
According to Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry, the draft resolution being considered by the Council talks about delimitation and demarcation determinations of the disputed border between the two countries "in a rather confusing manner and in a way that would make it difficult to make progress."
"Ethiopia has repeatedly pointed out that appeasing Eritrea would not ensure progress," the ministry emphasised.
The UN deployed the peacekeeping mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea to monitor implementation of the agreement on cessation of hostilities that the two countries signed in June 2000 in Algiers, Algeria.
Under that agreement, the peacekeeping mission would terminate when the delimitation-demarcation process of the border has been completed.
No progress has been made on this aspect.______________ http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL30287152.html
U.N. in frank talks with Egypt on Eritrea refugees
Mon 30 Jun 2008 Cynthia JohnstonSHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - The head of the U.N. refugee agency said on Monday it was engaged in frank discussions with Egypt about the mass deportation of Eritrean asylum seekers.
Egypt deported up to 1,000 Eritrean asylum seekers in June in its largest forced returns of probable refugees in decades, despite concern by Amnesty International that they might face torture.
The asylum seekers were sent back to Eritrea despite objections by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner (UNHCR), which feared for their safety.
Hundreds more Eritreans are believed to be in Egyptian detention centres and risk deportation, rights groups say.
"I am having the opportunity to discuss these issues in a very frank and friendly atmosphere with the Egyptian government," Commissioner Antonio Guterres told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Egypt.
"We understand that countries have the right to protect their borders ... But this is not incompatible with granting protection to those that are really in need," he said.
For years, Egypt tolerated tens of thousands of African migrants in its territory, but its attitude changed in recent months after it came under pressure to halt a rising flow of Africans across its sensitive border with Israel.
Egypt has shot dead 16 African migrants at the Israeli border this year, most of them Eritreans, Ivorians and Sudanese.
"WESTERN WAIL"
Egypt's Foreign Ministry has criticised what it called a "Western wail" over the Eritrean migrants, saying Cairo wanted to balance security with respect for international obligations.
Guterres, whose agency had previously said it was unable to confirm Eritrean deportations, said he knew returns had taken place but gave no figures. He said he was due to meet Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit later.
"I believe that we will be making progress in the near future," Guterres said, adding he hoped the deportations had stopped. "Of course, the present situation is a worrying one."
Rights activists in Egypt, however, say they believe the decisions on the Eritreans came from Egypt's security apparatus, and the Foreign Ministry had little sway.
Egypt has largely denied the UNHCR access to detained Eritreans since February, although the agency saw 140 following international pressure over the returns. UNHCR has asked Egypt for information on the location and fate of 1,400 Eritreans.
Activists say the Eritreans may have been singled out because of their rising numbers and because Eritreans have surpassed Sudanese as the largest group of African migrants in Israel. Nearly all arrive via Egypt.
The Eritreans include Pentecostal Christians fleeing religious persecution and others trying to avoid military service. Many are not keen to stay in Egypt, where they face racism and economic marginalisation, activists say.
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