********************************************************************
1. REBELS CLAIM ATTACK ON SUDANESE ARMY GARRISON NEAR DAM
2 Egypt calls for cooperation between Nile states
3. Ethiopia Calls For Equitable Share Of Nile Waters
4. Nile conference opens
5. Nile Basin countries to adopt 100 million dollar action plan
6. Sudan urges Egypt to oppose sanctions
7. Eleven dead, over 70 missing after ship capsizes in Eritrea
8. SUDANESE SOLDIERS KILL 35 MERCENARIES AND REBELS
--------------------------------------------------------------------
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
February 25, 1997, Tuesday, THREE STAR EDITION
Pg. 08A
HEADLINE: REBELS CLAIM ATTACK ON SUDANESE ARMY GARRISON NEAR DAM
BYLINE: AP
DATELINE: ASMARA, ERITREA
BODY: Rebels said Monday they had attacked a Sudanese army garrison near
a key dam on the Blue Nile, killing 27 soldiers.
Yassir Arman, spokesman for the National Democratic Alliance coalition
of Sudanese opposition parties, said Alliance forces also took
ammunition and weapons during Thursday's attack on the Khoralgama
garrison near Roseires Dam. They withdrew Friday, he said.
Arman, who also represents the Sudanese People's Liberation Army in
Eritrea, said the attack was intended to disrupt the Sudanse
government's military build-up in the area following a January rebel
offensive.
The rebels seek to oust Sudanese President Lt. Gen. Omar el-Bashir's
government. Eritrea and Ethiopia support their goals but deny aiding
them.
LOAD-DATE: February 26, 1997
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters
February 25, 1997
HEADLINE: Egypt calls for cooperation between Nile states
BYLINE: By Tsegaye Tadesse
DATELINE: ADDIS ABABA, Feb 25
BODY: Egypt on Tuesday appealed to 10 Nile basin countries to promote
development projects which would bolster cooperation among the nations
linked together by the world's longest river.
"Regional and sub-regional projects beneficial for the Nile basin
countries without causing appreciable harm to each other could be the
first step for regional cooperation and confidence- building measures,"
said an Egyptian policy paper presented at a four-day annual conference
on the use of the Nile river waters.
The Egyptian paper listed past projects between Nile basin states as the
Owen Falls hydro-electric dam built in 1949 in bilateral cooperation
between Uganda and Egupt. Others included the High Aswan Dam built
following the 1959 Sudan-Egypt accord to store excess Nile water and the
Jonglei Canal in Sudan.
A regional databank should be established to update available statistics
in national databanks of the different Nile basin states, the Egyptian
paper said.
The conference, first held in 1993 and set to run until 2002, opened on
Monday. It is attended by government representatives from Egypt,
Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and
Zaire.
Up to 250 million people depend on water from the Nile's four main
systems and competition for the water feeds disputes involving Sudan,
Egypt and Ethiopia.
The Egyptian paper did not touch on calls by Ethiopia for equitable
share of Nile water "based on universally acceptable principles of
international law."
Instead, Cairo said its share of Nile waters was insufficient for its
demands.
"Egypt's share of the river Nile is insufficient to its current
demand," the paper added.
Ethiopia's Minister of Water Resources Shiferaw Jarso told delegates on
Monday that failure to divide up Nile water fairly could lead to
conflict and competition.
"Unless the countries of the Nile coordinate their efforts in the
optimum utilisation of their shared water resources... they are bound to
enter into competitive and often conflicting uses," Shiferaw said.
Egypt and Sudan agreed in 1959 to divide the right to use the Nile
waters between themselves which Shiferaw said was an unfair utilisation
of Nile water by the two downstream riparian states at the expense of
neighbours upstream.
In January Sudanese opposition forces of the National Democratic
Alliance seized much of Sudan's Blue Nile province in a push towards the
Roseires Dam which serves Khartoum.
Sudan accused Ethiopia last year of sponsoring attacks by Sudanese
opposition forces as part of a plot to dam the Blue Nile in Ethiopia,
thus depriving Egypt and Sudan of water. Ethiopia denied the charge.
Around 27 Ethiopian and international experts as well as delegates are
due to present proposals to the conference.
The 4,160-mile (6,700-km) long Nile river drains into the Mediterranean.
Its head waters are above Lake Victoria and Lake Albert and the Nile
basin area is estimated at three million square kilometres.
LOAD-DATE: February 26, 1997
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Africa News Service, Inc.
Africa News
February 24, 1997
HEADLINE: Africa-at-Large; Ethiopia Calls For Equitable Share Of Nile
Waters
BYLINE: Ghion Hagos, PANA Staff Correspondent, Panafrican News Agency
BODY: ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PANA) - A five-day conference on the Nile
River basin opened Monday in Addis Ababa at which the 10 riparian states
are expected to spell out their positions on the use on the resources of
the River Nile and hopefully forge closer cooperation.
The 5th Nile 2002 conference has brought together at least 250
government representatives and researchers from the 10 countries.
Also taking part are researchers on the Nile from Africa and elsewhere
in the world, representatives of international organizations such as the
World Bank, UNDP, the European Union and donor countries.
Opening the conference, Ethiopia's minister for water resources,
Shiferaw Jarso, said since Ethiopia contributed 86 percent of the Nile's
waters the country had the right to its equitable share.
"In the exercise of its sovereign right to the utilization of its
waters, Ethiopia reserves the right to make use of the Blue Nile
waters," he said.
However in so doing, he said, Ethiopia has no intention of causing "
appreciable or significant harm to other riparian states."
The 10 riparian states are Burundi, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire. With a total population of
250 million, they have an area of about three million square kilometers,
which is equivalent to about one third of the African continent.
These countries have been holding annual consultations since 1993. These
meetings are aimed at the utilization of the Nile waters.
Position papers by governments are presented at these annual meetings as
well as technical and scientific papers within the region and from
abroad. The formal gatherings are expected to end, by the year 2002,
with an agreement on "basis of cooperation" for the utilization of the
Nile by all, in line with the United Nations international protocol on
cross-border rivers. This is now at the drafting stage, according to
the organizers of the conference.
Under a bilateral treaty of 1959, Egypt and Sudan decided to share the
total 84 billion cubic meters of the Nile waters, excluding other
countries. Egypt was allotted 55.5 billion cubic meters of water, with
18.5 billion cubic meters going to Sudan, and the remaining 10 billion
cubic meters left unexploited.
The Nile 2002 conference had been held in Egypt (1993), Sudan (1994),
Tanzania (1995) and Uganda (1996).
LOAD-DATE: February 26, 1997
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Agence France Presse
February 24, 1997 24:15 GMT
HEADLINE: Nile conference opens
DATELINE: ADDIS ABABA, Feb 24
BODY: A conference on the Nile River opened in Addis Ababa on Monday
with Ethiopian Water Resources Minister Shiferaw Jarso saying his
country reserved its sovereign right to use the Nile's water but was
prepared to engage in "fruitful discussions" with other riparian states.
This fifth Nile 2002 conference opened in the Ethiopian capital two days
after a riparian ministerial technical committee adopted an action plan
in Cairo designed to attract 100 million dollars in grants to develop 22
projects over five to seven years.
Shiferaw said that while Ethiopia had the right to an equitable share of
the Nile's water, "it has no intention of causing appreciable harm to
other riparian states."
The conference, which will end on Friday, is being attended by Ethiopia,
Burundi, Egypt, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and
Zaire.
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 1997
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Agence France Presse
February 22, 1997 22:12 GMT
HEADLINE: Nile Basin countries to adopt 100 million dollar action plan
DATELINE: CAIRO, Feb 22
BODY: Officials from Nile River basin countries on Saturday adopted an
action plan to safeguard their water resources, hoping the project will
help to attract 100 million dollars for Nile water projects.
The decision was made at a ministerial meeting in Cairo of TeccoNile --
which groups Egypt, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire -- and
which was also attended by observer countries Burundi, Ethiopia and
Kenya. Eritrea, which also shares the Nile, was absent.
The organisation has been meeting in Cairo since Thursday, discussing 22
projects worth 100 million dollars to make optimum use of the Nile, the
source of which begins in Ethiopia and flows 6,671-kilometers (4,135
miles) north to the Mediterranean.
"This action plan will allow for the creation of a legal and institu-
tionalised cooperation framework between the countries of the basin,"
said Ali Shadi of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
-- a major donor to TeccoNile.
He said details of the action plan, which has been drawn up over two
years, would be made public in six months after the governments of the
region had examined it and given any recommendations.
Shadi said the Cairo conference had decided which of the 22 TeccoNile
projects should be given priority, and how the projects could be
financed both from the countries themselves and from donors.
"The financing of international agencies is fundamental along with the
expertise available in foreign countries but not in the countries of the
basin," said Shadi.
Faced with economic or ethnic problems, the 10 African nations which
share the Nile are also threatened with droughts or floods depending on
the whim of the river.
The 10 countries have a total population of around 250 million which is
expected to grow by three percent each year and more than double by
2025, according to official estimates.
At the conference Egypt and Uganda also exchanged information about ways
to halt the spread of water lilies which are threatening the Owen power
plan in Uganda.
Egypt alone spends more than seven million dollars each year to clear
the Nile of water lilies which obstruct irrigation and navigation,
according to a report commissioned by the government here in 1993.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Agence France Presse
February 24, 1997 24:11 GMT
HEADLINE: Sudan urges Egypt to oppose sanctions
DATELINE: (CORRECTED VERSION, specifying that Ismail is deputy FM)
BODY: KHARTOUM, Feb 24 (AFP) - Sudan's military junta has urged
neighbouring Egypt to oppose UN Security Council sanctions against
Khartoum, accused of sponsoring terrorism, press reports said on Monday.
"We hope that Egypt will adopt a position rejecting any sanctions on
Sudan, observing bilateral, Arab and African security interests and
opposing disintegration of Sudan," Deputy Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman
Ismail said in an interivew with the Sudan news agency.
Sudan has been under diplomatic sanctions since last May for refusing to
extradite three suspects in an unsuccessful bid to assassinate Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa in 1995. Khartoum says the three
Islamic radicals are not on its territory.
The Security Council is currently considering banning international
flights by Sudan Airways, but last November postponed a decision as
several countries, including Russia, are concerned about the embargo's
impact on the maintenance of Sudan Airways planes and humanitarian
operations in southern Sudan.
Egypt has been lobbying council members furiously to implement a
permanent embargo.
Former close relations between Sudan and Egypt deteriorated sharply
after General Omar el-Beshir seized power in a June 1989 coup, which was
backed by Islamic fundamentalists.
Ismail believes that "with its regional and international influence and
its direct link with the issue, Egypt can have a considerable bearing on
a UN security council resolution," reports said Monday.
The minister reiterated that his government abided by the principle of
dialogue for resolving disputes with foreign countries.
Commenting on a reported statement by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi that his country is not inclined to go to war with Sudan, Ismail
said Khartoum "has always advocated dialogue with neighbouring countries
for maintaining security and stability in the region."
"Sudan, in principle, does not reject any call for a peaceful settle-
ments to disputes, provided that such a call should not be a mere
manoeuvre or truce," Ismail noted.
He said his country would pursue contacts with the Organization of
African Unity (OAU) about "the acts of aggression (against Sudan) by the
Tigrean (Ethiopian) minority."
Sudan accuses the Ethiopian government, installed after dictator
Mengistu Haile Mariam was ousted in 1991 by Tigre rebels and their
allies, of actively supporting rebels in the east of the country. It
also charges that Eritrea is helping the guerrillas.
Ismail added that his government would ask the OAU secretary general
either to submit the issue to the OAU committee for resolving conflicts
or to undertake shuttle diplomacy between the two sides to end the
alleged aggression.
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 1997
------------------------------------------------------------------
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
February 24, 1997, Monday, BC Cycle 10:53 Central European Time
HEADLINE: Eleven dead, over 70 missing after ship capsizes in Eritrea
BODY: Nairobi - Eleven people were confirmed dead Monday and more than
70 were still missing nearly a week after a ship capsized off the Red
Sea coast of Eritrea, state radio reported.
The vessel, which took on at least 50 more passengers than it was
designed to, sank last Tuesday in the Gulf of Zula near the Dahlak
islands a half hour after setting off for Saudi Arabia. Officials said
the overcrowded conditions on the craft most likely caused the accident.
Would-be immigrants seeking to enter Saudi Arabia illegally have
repeatedly set off for that country from Eritrea on overcrowded
vessels. Last June, 72 people drowned off the coast when a similarly
overtcrowded ship capsized and sank.
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 1997
%
Guardian Newspapers Limited
The Guardian
February 24, 1997
Pg. 8
HEADLINE: NEWS IN BRIEF: ERITREAN BOAT SINKS IN RED SEA
BODY: A BOAT carrying 95 people sank off Eritrea and most people
aboard were presumed dead, Eritrean radio said yesterday. The radio,
monitored by the BBC, said six people survived and 18 had been
identified as Eritreans. The boat was en route for Saudi Arabia just
across the Red Sea when it sank on Tuesday.
A local government source said the boat was carrying 50 more people than
it should have and that the vessel was planning to go to Saudi Arabia
"illegally".
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 1997
%
United Press International February 24, 1997, Monday, BC cycle
February 24, 1997, Monday, BC cycle
HEADLINE: Saudi Arabia dead or missing
DATELINE: LONDON, Feb. 24
BODY: Eritrea said Monday that at least 11 people were killed and 70
missing from a ship bound for Saudi Arabia that capsized off Eritrea's
Red Sea coast, the German news agency DPA said. Quoting Eritrean state
radio, the agency said the vessel was carrying 50 more passengers than
its safe capacity when it capsized Tuesday in the Gulf of Zula, near the
Dahlak islands, just a half-hour after leaving for Saudi Arabia. The
size and type of the ship, its harbor destination and other details were
not known. In June, 72 people drowned off the coast when a similarly
overcrowded vessel capsized, said the agency, whose report was monitored
in London.
LOAD-DATE: February 25, 1997
%
The Xinhua News Agency.
FEBRUARY 24, 1997, MONDAY
HEADLINE: boat sinks with 95 aboard off eritrea
DATELINE: addis ababa, february 24; ITEM NO: 0224281
BODY: a boat with 95 on board sank off eritrea and most of them are
presumed dead, a report reaching here from asmara, capital of eritrea
said today. the report quoted eritrea radio as saying that only six
people have survived. the eritrea radio said the boat sank shortly
after setting out for saudi arabia.
a government official quoted by the radio as saying that the boat was
carrying 50 more people than it should have done and that the vessel was
planning to go to saudi arabia ''illegally''. the search for bodies is
underway but the chances of finding more survivors are small, the radio
noted.
LOAD-DATE: February 25, 1997
-----------------------------------------------------------------
THE ORLANDO SENTINEL
February 23, 1997 Sunday, METRO
Pg. A18
HEADLINE: SUDANESE SOLDIERS KILL 35 MERCENARIES AND REBELS
DATELINE: KHARTOUM
BODY: The Sudanese army and militias have killed more than 35 Ethiopian
mercenaries and Sudanese rebels in the east of the country and are now
besieging the remainder of the force, a government newspaper said
Saturday. Sudan has accused Ethiopia and Eritrea of supporting the
month-old rebel offensive. Both countries deny involvement in the
conflict, and the rebels say they alone are waging the offensive.
LOAD-DATE: February 23, 1997
********************************************************************
Sirak < smascio@ipass.net >
** To UNSUBSCRIBE from dehai, send mail to: majordomo@primenet.com **
** with the following text in the body of your mail: **
** unsubscribe dehai your-email-address **