In this week's report compiled by BBC Monitoring:
Libya in Somalia peace bid
Libyan radio reported on Wednesday that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi met Somali faction leader Husayn Muhammad Aydid in a bid to halt the fighting near Baidoa in south-central Somalia.
The radio said Gaddafi was "overseeing the national reconciliation in Somalia in order to achieve unity among the Somali people".
![[ image: Ethiopia is accused of backing the Rahanweyn Resistance Army]](/olmedia/365000/images/_365303_eth_soldier150.jpg) |
| Ethiopia is accused of backing the Rahanweyn Resistance Army |
Mr Aydid urged the Libyan leader to "intervene to improve the situation and relations between Somalia and the neighbouring countries," the radio said.
The Somali paper Xog-Ogaal said on Sunday there were reports that Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi had also gone to Tripoli "to attend a meeting organised by Libya to mediate between Ethiopia and Aydid".
The Libyan ambassador to Somalia, Matuq Zubaydi, who accompanied Mr Aydid to Libya, said that if efforts to mediate between Ethiopia and Mr Aydid succeeded, the next step would be to try to reconcile the various Somali faction leaders and work towards Somalia's common good, the paper reported.
Mr Aydid's forces lost control of Baidoa in fierce fighting at the weekend. A spokesman for the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) said Mr Aydid's militiamen had fled into the bush outside the town. Aydid's office accused Ethiopia of backing the RRA - a charge denied by Addis Ababa.
The Somali paper Mogadishu Times reported on Sunday that heavily-armed Ethiopian soldiers had arrived in Bardale in south-central Somalia and their commanders had held talks with the RRA. "The two sides are believed to have discussed the presence of Oromo rebel groups in the region and the recent arms shipment for Husayn Muhammad Aydid," the paper said.
More trouble on Kenya-Ethiopia border
Further unrest has been reported on the Kenyan-Ethiopian border in the past week.
Two Oromo Liberation Front "rivals" were killed and 13 others captured during an operation by Kenyan security forces in Moyale district, northern Kenya, the Kenyan paper Daily Nation said on Wednesday.
Moyale District Commissioner Stephen Kipkebut said arms and ammunition were seized in the operation in Hogga Hills.
Kenyan radio said on Tuesday that the Kenyan Government had voiced concern over the recent planting of mines along the border with Ethiopia, and had called for urgent measures by the two countries to curb the problem.
Northeastern Provincial Commissioner Maurice Makhanu said the activity was aimed at perpetuating banditry, cattle rustling and other acts of lawlessness on Kenyan territory, and had cost Kenya dear in lives and property.
Mr Makhanu was speaking during the 18th Ethiopian-Kenyan joint border administrators' meeting at Nazret, central Ethiopia. He told the Ethiopian officials that Kenya would "never host the Oromo Liberation Front movement currently engaged in armed conflict against the Ethiopian government," the radio said.
Ethiopian radio said Ethiopia's deputy police commissioner Maj Alemseged Gebreyohanes "lamented the killing of Kenyans by OLF members" . He "assured the Kenyan delegation that Ethiopia greatly needed good relations with Kenya and would endeavour to ensure their continuity," the radio said on Monday.
Ethiopia appeals for more food aid
Ethiopia has appealed for some 400,000 tonnes of emergency food aid for the next six months to feed nearly five million people hit by the failure of the short rains, Ethiopian TV reported on Monday.
A senior Ethiopian relief official, Simeon Mechale, issued the appeal at a meeting with the ambassadors of various countries and officials from international humanitarian organisations.
![[ image: Five million Ethiopians are in danger of starvation]](/olmedia/365000/images/_365303_famine150.jpg) |
| Five million Ethiopians are in danger of starvation |
A report by Ethiopia's Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Commission (DPPC) said nearly five million people needed emergency food aid, and about 400,000 tonnes of it were required between June and December.
Simeon said the EU had donated 50,000 tonnes of food aid for drought victims and the World Food Programme (WFP) had donated 36,700 tonnes, in response to Ethiopia's emergency food aid appeal in December.
But he "emphasised that the response by the international community to Ethiopia's appeal for emergency relief aid had been very slow", the TV said.
The DPPC report said the EU and WFP response had been "timely and useful", but a lot more was still expected from the international community. It said the harvest failure had been caused by drought, frost and pests, and the worst affected areas were the Amhara, Tigray and Oromiya regional states.
The Netherlands has pledged to donate 10,000 tonnes of emergency food aid.
Sudan fighting triggers refugee exodus
Factional fighting in rebel-held southern Sudan is reported to have triggered an exodus of refugees, who have been pouring into neighbouring Kenya and Uganda.
Kenyan TV on Monday reported a "massive" new influx of refugees. It quoted officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as saying about 200 displaced Sudanese nationals were entering Kenya daily, most of them women and unaccompanied children. Most of the refugees were seriously
wounded and were being admitted to a Red Cross hospital in Lokichokio, the TV said.
The rest were being transported by road to Kakuma refugee camp, which is currently host to 75,000 refugees, 40,000 of them Sudanese.
Refugees interviewed on the TV said there had been several days of bombing. The TV said the refugees had been walking for three days or more to escape the fighting.
The Ugandan paper The New Vision reported on Monday that over 1,000 Sudanese refugees "fleeing factional fighting among the Sudan People's Liberation Army" had entered Kotido district in northeastern Uganda.
The paper said about 368 refugees had arrived in Kaabong town, 100 km from the Sudan border, and another 600 were on their way with 30 head of cattle.
John Lino, a student from the town of Chukudum in southeastern Sudan, said fighting was continuing in Chukudum, where there were "burning houses, churches, schools, homes". He said property was being looted and crops destroyed.
Zanzibar leaders sign deal
Political leaders on the island of Zanzibar on Wednesday signed an agreement aimed at ending a long-running dispute over democratic rule.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku attended the ceremony involving the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party and opposition Civic United Front. The dispute arose after Zanzibar's first multi-party elections in 1995 which were widely regarded as rigged.
![[ image: ]](/olmedia/365000/images/_365303_zanzibar.gif) |
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In a speech at the ceremony, broadcast on Tanzanian radio, Chief Anyaoku said the "whole object of the agreement is about putting the past behind the parties in the higher interest of Zanzibar".
He said it meant "a new beginning in Zanzibar," and was a "victory for all the people of Zanzibar". No other community could be "more representative of what the Commonwealth stands for and works for", he said.
DR Congo allies reject Rwanda truce
The prospect of a negotiated settlement to the civil war in Democratic Republic of Congo has receded in the past week, as President Laurent Kabila's Southern African allies rejected a Rwandan ceasefire and their aircraft attacked rebel-held areas.
The leaders of Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia, meeting in Harare on Monday, described the Rwandan move as a "gimmick".
All three countries have been backing Congolese government forces attempting to quell an eastern rebellion which started last August and is supported mainly by Rwanda and Uganda.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe said he and his Angolan and Namibian counterparts had "established that the truce by Rwanda was false and deceptive", Zimbabwean radio reported.
Troops from the three countries would not, therefore, take Rwanda's announcement at face value, he said, adding that the success of the proposed Lusaka peace summit, due to be held later this month, depended on Rwanda and Uganda being "ready and serious" to talk peace.
Rwanda repeats truce offer
Rwanda said on 3 June that it would uphold its ceasefire decision despite attacks on rebel-held towns by aircraft backing President Kabila, Rwandan radio reported.
![[ image: Rwanda and Uganda are involved in the DR Congo war]](/olmedia/355000/images/_358556_congo150.jpg) |
| Rwanda and Uganda are involved in the DR Congo war |
A military spokesman warned, however, that Rwanda "could not remain unconcerned" in the face of the attacks.
The radio said that Bukavu and Uvira had been bombed on 2 June, with two people killed, and that two Zimbabwean planes bombing Simba and Manono had been brought down three days earlier.
Manono, President Kabila's home town, was captured by the rebels, Gabonese Africa No 1 radio reported on 4 June. It said Zimbabwean forces had withdrawn towards Ankoro, north of Manono, which lies in southeastern DR Congo.
![[ image: ]](/olmedia/355000/images/_358556_dr_congo_150.gif)
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