Board Of Management
Mr Jacques Lamarre, Chairman
Dr Mohan Kaul, Chief Executive
Mr Rahul Bajaj
Mr James Bolger
The Rt. Hon. The Earl Cairns
Mr Pascal Dozie
Mr Louis Farrugia
Tan Sri Dato' Mohd Hassan Marican
Mr Reginald Mengi
Mr Lakshmi Mittal
Timothy Ong Teck Mong
Mr Hugh Morgan
Mr Bryan Sanderson
Mr Cyril Ramaphosa
Mr Naseem Saigol
Forthcoming Conferences
Global Business Leaders Forum 2008 18th - 19th February, 2008 Mumbai, India
West Africa Investment Forum 2008 26th - 28th February, 2008 Abuja, Nigeria
Cameroon Investment Forum 2008 15th - 17th April, 2008 Yaoundé, Cameroon
Dr mohan speaking to diplomats
photos: Ayoub mzee
The AU’s Peace and Security Council has been meeting in Addis Ababa today [18th Jan] to consider the Report of the Chairperson of the Commission on the Situation in Somalia. In July last year, the Council voted to extend the mandate of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) for six months. It is now recommending that AMISOM’s mandate should be extended by another six months at the AU Summit to be held in Addis Ababa, at the end of this month. The Report, which covers events of the last six months, welcomes the TFG moves towards reconciliation and the insistence of Prime Minister Nur Hassan ‘Adde’ that this would be at the core of his activities. The Report notes that newly trained and equipped Somali troops deployed in Mogadishu are having a positive effect on security. Indeed there have been almost daily improvements in the security situation recently in Mogadishu, though one result is that Al-Shabaab forces have been leaving the capital and attempting to spread their activities into previously peaceful regions outside the capital. The Report also draws attention to the increase in piracy and the continuing need for humanitarian assistance. The Report details the lack of progress in strengthening AMISOM. The financial and logistical support mobilized so far falls far short of requirements. Two battalions have been pledged by Burundi. One of them is expected to arrive in Mogadishu shortly; logistical assistance for the second battalion is still being organized. Details of deployment of the contingents pledged by Ghana (350) and Nigeria (850) are still under discussion. A UN team has been holding consultations with the AU over possible support for AMISOM. The Report, which identifies the TFG as the best chance in years to move towards peace and security in Somalia, also criticizes both Somalis and the international community for their failure to take advantage of the window of opportunity opened as a result of the Ethiopian intervention in December 2006. The Report recognizes that there has been progress towards peace and reconciliation but it identifies a number of specific problems: the earlier lack of harmony within the TFG; the failure to provide full deployment of AMISOM; and the lack of support from the wider international community. It also pinpoints the lack of regional cohesion, though it does not mention Eritrea by name nor mention Eritrea’s open efforts to undermine the TFG or its flaunting of AU policy and aims although these were mentioned in the subsequent discussions. The Report recommends all these factors should be addressed urgently. It also suggests the UN arms embargo should be reviewed to help the TFG build up its security forces, and that the Security Council should take the measures it declared in Resolution 1772, (2007) against those who threaten or use force against the Transitional Government Institutions or AMISOM. Humanitarian assistance should be stepped up and the UN Security Council should urgently authorize the deployment of a UN force to take over from AMISOM. One issue that was agreed by the Council in the subsequent debate was concern over the growing proliferation of initiatives over the peace process in Somalia. It was agreed that this needed to stop. The anchor of any peace process must be the Prime Minister, and the President, of the TFG. The responsibility of others is to help.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s new government convened in Baidoa for the first time last Sunday after Parliament had approved the new cabinet appointed by Prime Minister Nur Hassan ‘Adde’. It has 18 ministers, and five deputy ministers, down from 31 ministers in the previous government, half of them from outside Parliament. The formation of a new government has been widely welcomed. Britain’s Minister for Africa, Lord Malloch-Brown, called it a positive step which would allow the Transitional Government to turn its attention to advancing the political process in Somalia. The statement said that Britain now looked forward to the rapid and full implementation of last August’s National Reconciliation Congress, leading to a Constitutional process and meaningful fully inclusive political dialogue. Prime Minister Nur Hassan made it clear immediately after his appointment that he believed in the need for reconciliation and for talks with opposition. Clan elders in Mogadishu have welcomed his statements and emphasized that they recognize his authority. The UN Special Envoy to Somalia, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said this week that there were “almost daily telephone contacts” between government and members of the opposition. He said that he believed it would be useful for preliminary discussions between small groups to discuss ways to advance reconciliation. Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the chairman of the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, set up under Eritrean auspices last year, and based in Asmara, continues to insist that he does not recognize the TFG and dismissed claims that the Prime Minister had contacted opposition members in Eritrea. Mr. Ould-Abdullah recently visited Asmara where he talked to Somali opposition leaders as well as Eritrean officials, even though he had to wait three days before he was able to meet any Somalis.
• The Government of Ethiopia has reiterated its dismissal of the controversial ‘virtual’ demarcation of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border. This idea was first announced by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission in November 2006 which said this would come into operation at the end of November last year, failing any other progress in implementing demarcation on the ground. When the Commission dissolved itself on December 1st, it left behind its ‘virtual’ demarcation, a paper demarcation with no legal force or effect, contrary to international law and practice, and in violation of the object and purpose of the Algiers Agreements, and of the mandate of the Commission itself. In a statement yesterday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman described ‘virtual’ demarcation as a legal nonsense. It is neither valid nor acceptable in international law. Border demarcation requires lines drawn on the ground and pillars posted as the mandate of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission prescribes. Ethiopia made these points clear to the Commission when it first produced the concept in November 2006. Ethiopia has repeatedly made clear its full acceptance of the Delimitation Decisions of 13 April 2002 as binding on both sides. It is equally clear that it cannot accept the Commission’s Statement of 27 November 2006 as equally binding.
The Foreign Ministry’s statement came after Eritrea said it had accepted the ‘virtual’ demarcation of the border as announced by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission at the end of November. A statement published in an Eritrean government newspaper on Wednesday says that “after five years of revolving around the basic problem, the matter has finally been resolved through a virtual demarcation of the border”. The statement said Eritrea would pursue legal measures to evict Ethiopian soldiers from territory awarded to Eritrea under the 2002 Delimitation Decisions, but that if these “do not result in the appropriate outcome then the Eritrean people have other internationally approved choices”. The statement did not specify what these might be. In a letter to the President of the Security Council on January 15, President Issayas said that “the matter has now come to conclusion. The boundary is demarcated. In the event UNMEE has now been left, after five and half years, with no option other than ‘maintaining occupation’. My Government accordingly urges the Security Council to compel the evacuation of the army and institutions of the Ethiopian regime that are occupying our sovereign territories to prevent other unnecessary developments.” Again, he did not elaborate.
In light of these implied threats, many on the Security Council believe it would be appropriate for the UN Security Council to extend the mandate of the UN Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) for a further period. UNMEE’s current mandate runs out at the end of the month. UNMEE monitors the Temporary Security Zone set up to divide the two armies at the end of the war which began in May 1998 when Eritrea invaded Ethiopia. In the last three years, UNMEE’s operations have been seriously compromised by restrictions imposed by the Eritrean government. Eritrea has similarly violated the Algiers Agreements, which ended the war in December 2000, by the continuous dispatch of substantial military forces into the demilitarized Temporary Security Zone over the last couple of years. As noted, Ethiopia has consistently made clear its full acceptance of the Delimitation Decisions of April 2002 and its complete commitment to the demarcation of the border according to international norms and practices. Demarcation, however, cannot proceed while Eritrea fails to accept its obligations and restore the full integrity of the Algiers Agreements, and refuses to hold any dialogue over the exact placement of pillars and boundary markers. Ethiopia notified Eritrea last year of the legal and political options it has, should Eritrea continue to violate the integrity of the Algiers Agreements.
Meanwhile, the Eritrean government organized a demonstration on Wednesday outside the offices of the British Prime Minister, at 10 Downing Street. Despite claims by the organizers that demonstrators were from all over the Horn, most were Eritreans, though they did include representatives of several Eritrean-supported Ethiopian opposition groups, including the Ogaden National Liberation Front and the Oromo Liberation Front, both now based in Asmara. The demonstrators demanded that the US and UK governments stop co-operating with the Government of Ethiopia, a somewhat surprising demand since Eritrea supports, arms, and finances a dozen or so opposition movements from Ethiopia, as well as others from Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti, all involved in armed struggle or terrorist activity. While demonstrators claimed they had some 600 on the demonstration, British police counted the number as just over 100. The Eritrean government now appears to be shifting a significant part of its anti-Ethiopian efforts into media activity and the organizing of similar demonstrations in Europe and the United States.
Meanwhile, Somalia’s new government convened in Baidoa for the first time last Sunday after Parliament had approved the new cabinet appointed by Prime Minister Nur Hassan ‘Adde’. It has 18 ministers, and five deputy ministers, down from 31 ministers in the previous government, half of them from outside Parliament. The formation of a new government has been widely welcomed. Britain’s Minister for Africa, Lord Malloch-Brown, called it a positive step which would allow the Transitional Government to turn its attention to advancing the political process in Somalia. The statement said that Britain now looked forward to the rapid and full implementation of last August’s National Reconciliation Congress, leading to a Constitutional process and meaningful fully inclusive political dialogue. Prime Minister Nur Hassan made it clear immediately after his appointment that he believed in the need for reconciliation and for talks with opposition. Clan elders in Mogadishu have welcomed his statements and emphasized that they recognize his authority. The UN Special Envoy to Somalia, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah said this week that there were “almost daily telephone contacts” between government and members of the opposition. He said that he believed it would be useful for preliminary discussions between small groups to discuss ways to advance reconciliation. Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed, the chairman of the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, set up under Eritrean auspices last year, and based in Asmara, continues to insist that he does not recognize the TFG and dismissed claims that the Prime Minister had contacted opposition members in Eritrea. Mr. Ould-Abdullah recently visited Asmara where he talked to Somali opposition leaders as well as Eritrean officials, even though he had to wait three days before he was able to meet any Somalis.
• The Government of Ethiopia has reiterated its dismissal of the controversial ‘virtual’ demarcation of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border. This idea was first announced by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission in November 2006 which said this would come into operation at the end of November last year, failing any other progress in implementing demarcation on the ground. When the Commission dissolved itself on December 1st, it left behind its ‘virtual’ demarcation, a paper demarcation with no legal force or effect, contrary to international law and practice, and in violation of the object and purpose of the Algiers Agreements, and of the mandate of the Commission itself. In a statement yesterday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman described ‘virtual’ demarcation as a legal nonsense. It is neither valid nor acceptable in international law. Border demarcation requires lines drawn on the ground and pillars posted as the mandate of the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission prescribes. Ethiopia made these points clear to the Commission when it first produced the concept in November 2006. Ethiopia has repeatedly made clear its full acceptance of the Delimitation Decisions of 13 April 2002 as binding on both sides. It is equally clear that it cannot accept the Commission’s Statement of 27 November 2006 as equally binding.
The Foreign Ministry’s statement came after Eritrea said it had accepted the ‘virtual’ demarcation of the border as announced by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission at the end of November. A statement published in an Eritrean government newspaper on Wednesday says that “after five years of revolving around the basic problem, the matter has finally been resolved through a virtual demarcation of the border”. The statement said Eritrea would pursue legal measures to evict Ethiopian soldiers from territory awarded to Eritrea under the 2002 Delimitation Decisions, but that if these “do not result in the appropriate outcome then the Eritrean people have other internationally approved choices”. The statement did not specify what these might be. In a letter to the President of the Security Council on January 15, President Issayas said that “the matter has now come to conclusion. The boundary is demarcated. In the event UNMEE has now been left, after five and half years, with no option other than ‘maintaining occupation’. My Government accordingly urges the Security Council to compel the evacuation of the army and institutions of the Ethiopian regime that are occupying our sovereign territories to prevent other unnecessary developments.” Again, he did not elaborate.
In light of these implied threats, many on the Security Council believe it would be appropriate for the UN Security Council to extend the mandate of the UN Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) for a further period. UNMEE’s current mandate runs out at the end of the month. UNMEE monitors the Temporary Security Zone set up to divide the two armies at the end of the war which began in May 1998 when Eritrea invaded Ethiopia. In the last three years, UNMEE’s operations have been seriously compromised by restrictions imposed by the Eritrean government. Eritrea has similarly violated the Algiers Agreements, which ended the war in December 2000, by the continuous dispatch of substantial military forces into the demilitarized Temporary Security Zone over the last couple of years. As noted, Ethiopia has consistently made clear its full acceptance of the Delimitation Decisions of April 2002 and its complete commitment to the demarcation of the border according to international norms and practices. Demarcation, however, cannot proceed while Eritrea fails to accept its obligations and restore the full integrity of the Algiers Agreements, and refuses to hold any dialogue over the exact placement of pillars and boundary markers. Ethiopia notified Eritrea last year of the legal and political options it has, should Eritrea continue to violate the integrity of the Algiers Agreements.
Meanwhile, the Eritrean government organized a demonstration on Wednesday outside the offices of the British Prime Minister, at 10 Downing Street. Despite claims by the organizers that demonstrators were from all over the Horn, most were Eritreans, though they did include representatives of several Eritrean-supported Ethiopian opposition groups, including the Ogaden National Liberation Front and the Oromo Liberation Front, both now based in Asmara. The demonstrators demanded that the US and UK governments stop co-operating with the Government of Ethiopia, a somewhat surprising demand since Eritrea supports, arms, and finances a dozen or so opposition movements from Ethiopia, as well as others from Sudan, Somalia and Djibouti, all involved in armed struggle or terrorist activity. While demonstrators claimed they had some 600 on the demonstration, British police counted the number as just over 100. The Eritrean government now appears to be shifting a significant part of its anti-Ethiopian efforts into media activity and the organizing of similar demonstrations in Europe and the United States.
AFRICANS FOR LABOUR
Suite 501, International House, 223 Regent Street, London, W1B 2QD
Email: africansforlabour@googlemail.com
Africans for Labour will host its Dinner and Dance
at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Coran Street, Bloomsbury WC1N 1HF
on Thursday 21st February 2008
from 7pm – til late
Fundraising raffle in aid of the GLA Election.
Guest of Honour: Harriet Harman QC MP
Guest of Honour: Ken Livingstone Mayor of London
and other Labour Assembly Members
Tickets £50 per person to include 3 course sit down meal, wine and dancing.
Email africansforlabour@googlemail.com for more info or Cllr Julius Nkafu on 07951 898 773 or Cllr Dora Dixon-Fyle on 07939 537 642
Send cheques payable to Africans for Labour
to Suite 501, International House, 223 Regent Street, London, W1B 2QD
Email: africansforlabour@googlemail.com
Africans for Labour will host its Dinner and Dance
at the Holiday Inn Hotel, Coran Street, Bloomsbury WC1N 1HF
on Thursday 21st February 2008
from 7pm – til late
Fundraising raffle in aid of the GLA Election.
Guest of Honour: Harriet Harman QC MP
Guest of Honour: Ken Livingstone Mayor of London
and other Labour Assembly Members
Tickets £50 per person to include 3 course sit down meal, wine and dancing.
Email africansforlabour@googlemail.com for more info or Cllr Julius Nkafu on 07951 898 773 or Cllr Dora Dixon-Fyle on 07939 537 642
Send cheques payable to Africans for Labour
to Suite 501, International House, 223 Regent Street, London, W1B 2QD
