www.eastafricaforum.net http://www.afrol.com/articles/30252 afrol News, Norway August 12, 2008 Ethiopia's general recalled
Ethiopian government has recalled commander of its forces in Somali after failing to bring peace in troubled horn of Africa state.
Ethiopia troops backed Somali Transitional government in 2006 to oust Islamic insurgents which have occupied larger part of country, threatening to overthrow government.
Ethiopian government has ordered General Gabre Heard as well as a colonel connected to Ethiopian secret intelligence agency to return to country for failing to execute their duties.
General Heard had been accused by former deputy prime minister of Somalia, Hussein Mohamed Farah Aideed, of allowing killing and displacing of thousands of Somali civilians during national troops' confrontations with rebel groups.
The men have since been replaced by two new Ethiopian army commanders in what has been described as a discreet handing-over ceremony in capital Mogadishu.
The new deployment comes at the time when Somalia is marred by violence with Al-Shabab, a radical wing of islamists, threatening to wage attacks on government until Ethiopian troops have fully withdrawn from Somalia.
Gen Heard and the colonel were reportedly also called back because of their suspected involvement in financial scandals including blackmailing of Somali president, prime minister and various local businessmen.
Widespread violence in Somalia has hindered aid efforts; in the country, which is, facing humanitarian crisis caused by conflict, drought, and price rises in basic commodities. Some 2.6 million Somalis, representing 35 per cent of population are believed to be in dire need of humanitarian aid.
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, before turning against each other. Thousands of civilians have been killed in Somalia since 2007, caught in vicious disputes over ancient clan loyalties, religion and government.
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http://www.yobserver.com/local-news/10014752.html
Yemen Observer, Yemen August 12, 2008 Yemeni interior ministry accuses Eritrea of tortuning 42 Yemeni fishermen The Yemeni Interior Ministry accused the Eritrean authorities of torturing 42 Yemeni fishermen after capturing them on the Red Sea.
The Ministry of Interior’s Information Center reported that the Eritrean authorities captured four boats with their crews and held them for several hours.
According to this report, the Eritrean authorities then returned the 42 fishermen on one of their boats and confiscated the other three vessels.
The Yemeni Coast Guard said that the fishermen told them they were subjected to beating and ill-treatment and revealed that the seamen’s injuries were still clearly visible. The Information Center stated that Yemeni authorities are currently investigating the issue.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=79775 IRIN Aug 12, 2008 ETHIOPIA-SOMALIA: Drought, fighting worsens situation of "Ogaden refugees"
Photo: Abdullahi Salahi Salat/IRIN
Children at Bilis-did camp on the outskirts of Beletweyne town
NAIROB - Drought and recent fighting around the town of Beletweyne, in central Somalia's Hiiraan region, have aggravated the plight of at least 1,000 Ethiopian refugee families, who were already facing acute food shortages, local sources told IRIN.
Most of these refugees, living in camps for the displaced in Bilis-did and Bulo-korah (on the outskirts of Beletweyne), are Somalis from Ogaden in Ethiopia's Somali region. They fled in 1977 during the war between Ethiopia and Somalia.
"Most of us fled from Kumisar, Afdub, Rebo, Omar Don and Dhur-dher locations in Kalafe district of the Somali region of Ethiopia," Kamis Abdi Day, an elder of the two camps, told IRIN. "We were farming communities; some of us fled during the war while others arrived following the drought that hit the region."
The refugees are also known as the Rer Shabelle, meaning families who live alongside River Shabelle. Before the latest fighting in Beletweyne, they survived by doing manual work in the town and in farms surrounding the camps.
"It seems the international community forgot us when Siad Barre was overthrown," Day said.
With the recent fighting, Day said, most of the displaced were unable to earn their keep as markets were closed and movement impeded.
"We are now facing starvation and malnutrition," he said.
Day said the group used to receive international aid during the Barre administration; he was ousted in 1991.
"Things changed with Barre's removal from office; since then, we have not gotten much help; only ACPO [a local NGO] has supplied us with some food. We could not flee the latest hostility [in Beletweyne] because we are poor people and we don't know where to go."
A journalist based in Beletweyne, who requested anonymity, said the refugee situation was deteriorating.
"They have not had much to eat since fighting [between insurgents and government forces] erupted in the region," the journalist said.
Despite the presence of local partners of UN agencies, the Ethiopian refugees in Bilis-did and Bulo-korah camps were not receiving any aid, the journalist said.
The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR-Somalia, confirmed that the groups were considered "persons of concern", although they were not receiving specific assistance from UN relief agencies as refugees, aside from general assistance programmes for vulnerable communities in the area
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