TENSION INCREASES BETWEEN SOMALIA and ETHIOPIA

[BBC, December 23, 2006] The Islamist militia that controls much of southern Somalia has said the world must help it combat Ethiopia, which it has accused of invading the country. Islamist leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys said the international community must help it fight what he described as Ethiopian interference. The Islamists' defence chief meanwhile urged Muslims worldwide to join a "holy war" against Ethiopia. Ethiopia denies its forces have taken part in recent heavy fighting. Ethiopia said the Islamists' call for foreign volunteers proved the group had links to extremists. Addis Abbaba has not formally acknowledged sending troops to back Somalia's transitional government in the town of Baidoa. It has however demanded that the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) militia stop its offensive there. The Somali government has said its own fighters - rather than Ethiopian soldiers - have been fending off an advance by the Islamist militia. Dozens of people have died and analysts fear the fighting could escalate into full-scale war. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the escalation of conflict would "have disastrous consequences for civilians." Islamist defence chief Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad "Inda'ade" -- who is regarded as a hardliner -- urged foreign Muslims to join the "holy war" against Ethiopia. "Our country is open to Muslims worldwide. Let them fight in Somalia," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying. The UIC controls the capital, Mogadishu, and has advanced towards the Ethiopian-backed transitional government's base in Baidoa. Clashes have been reported in Idale and Dinsoor, south-west of Baidoa, and Daynunay, east of the town. At least 200 wounded fighters have managed to reach local hospitals, our analyst says. BBC regional analyst David Bamford says that if the claims by both sides about hundreds of dead are even partly true, it shows that the fighting has been the most serious in the country since the fall of Mogadishu to the UIC six months ago. Ethiopia -- which has a large Christian population -- and Somalia have a history of troubled relations, and the Islamists have long called for a holy war against Ethiopian troops in Baidoa. On Thursday a leader of the Union of Islamic Courts said they were in a state of war with Ethiopia. Ethiopia denies its forces are battling the advancing Islamist militias, but admits to having some military trainers in Somalia. A BBC correspondent earlier reported seeing a huge convoy of Ethiopian military armour near Baidoa. The UN estimates that at least 8,000 Ethiopian troops may be in the country, while rival Eritrea is said to have deployed some 2,000 troops in support of the Islamic group. However, Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki denied his country had troops deployed in Somalia. "The Somali problem lies now in the Ethiopian interference first and foremost," he told the Al-Jazeera television channel.

LIBYA STANDS FIRM ON DEATH SENTENCE FOR FOREIGN MEDICOS [BBC, December 19, 2006] Libya has rejected criticism over death sentences passed on a group of foreign medics for infecting children with HIV. The group, who deny the charges, have been in jail since 1999. Libya says that it will not bow to international pressure over death sentences passed on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor. The group were sentenced by a court in Tripoli for knowingly infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. The sentences have drawn international criticism, while academic bodies have argued that the guilty verdicts run counter to scientific evidence. But Libya's foreign minister said it was now up to Libya's Supreme Court. "Libya will never deal with such pressure from any side -- from America, from Europe, from anywhere," Abdurrahman Shalgham said. "No-one can intervene in our justice - no-one. Even our leader, Colonel Gaddafi, can't intervene. That should be quite clear." The group, all of whom deny the charges, were sentenced to death in 2004, but the Supreme Court quashed the ruling after protests over the fairness of the trial. Defence lawyers said the medics would file an appeal against the new verdict with the Supreme Court within 60 days. The medics have been in detention since 1999, during which time 52 of the 426 infected children have died of Aids. The decision was handed down by a court in the capital, Tripoli. Bulgarian officials quickly condemned the verdicts. A statement released jointly by Bulgarian President Georgy Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev called the court case "compromised." "We urge the Libyan authorities to intervene at once, speedily review this ruling, overturn the absurd sentences and release the Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor," they said. Bulgaria's parliamentary speaker, Georgi Pirinski, said that the sentencing was "an attempt to cover up the real culprits and the real reasons for the Aids outbreak." EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini expressed his shock at the verdict, while the White House said it was "disappointed." A spokesman for the UN human rights office said that there were "some very serious concerns about the fairness of the trial." But parents of the infected children welcomed the news. "Justice has been done. We are happy," Subhy Abdullah, whose daughter Mona, 7, died from Aids contracted at the hospital, told Reuters news agency. "They should be executed quickly." 'Outbreak predated medics' The medics have protested their innocence throughout, retracting confessions that they said were obtained under torture and arguing that they are being made scapegoats for unhygienic hospitals. The defence team told the court that the HIV virus was present in the hospital, in the town of Benghazi, before the nurses began working there in 1998. Medical experts including the French co-discoverer of the HIV virus had testified on their behalf. Oxford University in the UK said the verdict ran counter to findings by scientists from its Zoology Department. A research team had concluded that "the subtype of HIV involved began infecting patients long before March 1998, the date the prosecution claims the crime began," a statement from the university said. Libya has asked for 10m euros (£6.7m) compensation to be paid to each of the families of victims, suggesting the death sentences could be commuted in return. But Bulgaria has rejected the proposal, saying any payment would be seen as an admission of guilt. SEVEN YEARS IN CUSTODY 1999: Nineteen Bulgarian medical workers arrested at Benghazi hospital after outbreak of HIV/Aids among children. 2000: Five Bulgarian women nurses and Bulgarian male doctor go on trial along with a Palestinian doctor. 2004-05: Libya convicts and sentences the five nurses and Palestinian to death; retrial subsequently ordered. 2006: The nurses and Palestinian doctor are convicted and sentenced to death again.

GIRLS AGED 12 - 18 WORK AS CASUAL PROSTITUTES IN KENYAN RESORTS [BBC, December 19, 2006] Up to 30% of girls in some Kenyan resorts are involved in the sex industry, according to a UN report. The UN children's fund Unicef, which looked at resorts along Kenya's coast, found that 15,000 girls aged 12 to 18 were engaged in casual sex for money. Another 2,000-3,000 girls and boys were involved in full-time prostitution, said the study -- carried out jointly with the Kenyan government. European men represented half of all their clients, the report said. The 15,000 girls are said to live in the resort areas districts of Mombasa, Kilifi, Malindi and Kwale. Poverty is the reason, Unicef says: many families see the sex industry as the only way of putting food on the table. "Clearly, what is going on here is unacceptable. Unicef feels that it's time for zero tolerance... especially of sexual violence against children," a spokesman said. "Kenya should be seen as a no-go zone for sexual exploitation of children." Italian, German and Swiss nationals are the most common clients of child sex workers among tourists -- at 18%, 14% and 12% respectively. Kenyan men are the largest single group of clients, comprising 38% of the total. A "staggering" 75% of people involved in tourism thought it was acceptable for girls to exchange sex for cash, and 60% said the same for boys, the study showed. Many were also implicated directly in the exploitation of children. "Child sex workers are often compelled to deliver sexual services to Kenyans -- beach boys, bar staff, waiters, and others -- in order to access tourists. During the low tourist season, the local market for child sex workers keeps the system going," the report said.

BATTLE BETWEEN ETHIOPIA AND SOMALIA HEATS UP

[Los Angeles Times, December 27, 2006] ETHIOPIA'S attacks against Islamic forces in Somalia may have delivered a short-term military victory, but analysts warn that a longer offensive could present the US ally with some of the same challenges facing American forces in Iraq. Air strikes against the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and other towns on Sunday, Monday and yesterday demonstrated Ethiopia's military superiority over the Islamic forces that seized most of southern Somalia during the northern summer. But Ethiopia would be hard-pressed to dispatch enough troops to capture and occupy Islamic-held areas of Somalia. "I don't understand what Ethiopia's objective is," said David Shinn, a former US ambassador to Ethiopia and now political science professor at George Washington University. "I can't imagine their objective is to occupy and hold Somalia. It was a very limited victory." Most experts agree that Ethiopia's battle-tested army, with as many as 150,000 fighters, could easily beat Somalia's rag-tag Islamic troops, believed to number fewer than 10,000. But Islamists say they would compensate for their lack of numbers and sophisticated weaponry by pursing guerilla tactics, including suicide attacks, like those US and allied troops face in Iraq. "The Ethiopians could get bogged down into a hopeless, long-term guerilla campaign with enormous supply lines," Dr Shinn said. "I don't see how they could 'defeat' the Islamists in the long run." The attacks since Sunday marked the first time Ethiopia has publicly acknowledged taking direct military action against Somalia's Islamists. Ethiopian officials said they acted to pre-empt threats by Islamic forces to stage a "holy war" against them. Ethiopia is also moving to protect Somalia's weak transitional government, which has been battling Islamists for control. Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991. Anger over the Ethiopian air strikes reverberated through Mogadishu on Monday. Radio stations played nationalist songs, recalling the history of tensions between Ethiopia and Somalia, which last went to war in 1977. Youths rioted in several Somali cities, urging all adult males to join the Islamic forces. The Ethiopian strikes have helped unify the Islamic Courts Union, an alliance of religious leaders formed this year to defeat US-backed warlords. In recent months some cracks were beginning to appear inside the alliance over how rigorously to implement Islamic law. But US and Ethiopian officials said extremists had seized control of the Islamic Courts, which they said had links to terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda. "I used to think that the Islamic Courts Union were just another interest group, but now I recognise that they are standing up for the country and religion," said Muse Ali Omar, a banana vendor in Mogadishu. "Ethiopia is my enemy; I will not sell bananas any more. I will take my gun and go for jihad." Reuters reported that Ethiopian troops were yesterday advancing on Mogadishu, claiming they could seize it within 24-48 hours, according to Somalia's envoy to Ethiopia, Abdikarin Farah. Ethiopian troops were 70 kilometres outside the Somali capital, he said. But an Islamist spokesman warned any attempt to seize Mogadishu would end in disaster for Ethiopia. "It will be their destruction and doomsday," Abdi Kafi said.

Uganda To Provide Free Education To Poor Secondary Students

[BBC, January 5, 2007] Uganda will provide universal free education to poor secondary school students beginning next month, education ministry officials have said. But the education minister insists that the program -- the first in East Africa -- will only be accorded to high performing students. Uganda is receiving donor support to implement the free education project. President Yoweri Museveni pledged to help needy high school students during his re-election campaign last year. Many students have been dropping out of secondary school because of the high cost of school fees. Education experts in the capital, Kampala, say the demand for secondary schools has been high since the government introduced free primary education in 1997, but government facilities are limited. Only 40% of the 350,000 primary school graduates in the country are absorbed into secondary schools each year. An estimated 100,000 students are expected to be enrolled into the program that begins in February. Education Minister Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire says only those with good marks will be considered. "Only students with aggregate four to 32 will be enrolled for the free education at secondary schools," said Ms Bitamazire. Aggrey Kibenge, the spokesman at the education ministry, explained the government will pay the tuition fees for poor but deserving students for the entire lower secondary school level education. A selection of private schools across Uganda will also be included in this initiative to widen its reach. The Japanese government will provide teaching expertise while the African Development Bank will give a grant to fund the construction of schooling facilities.