At least nine die in Eritrea jail (Reuters)

NAIROBI (Reuters) - At least nine political inmates have died in a secret Eritrean prison where they are routinely tortured using plastic whips, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Wednesday.

The media rights groups said an anonymous source detailed how detainees, including four journalists, were kept day and night under lights. Some were manacled and tortured, it said.

"The prison camp known as Eiraeiro is a disgrace for Eritrea and Africa," RSF said.

Asmara routinely denies criticism from foreign-based rights groups, accusing them of acting on behalf of some world powers.

Information Minister Ali Abdu says the government will not respond to "each stupid comment" by groups such as RSF.

The press freedom organisation called the prison on Eritrea's eastern coastline an "African gulag" and "daily hell."

It said the prisoners' heads were shaved every two months and they were allowed only 20 minutes per week to bathe.

Late last year, RSF called Eritrea the worst nation in the world for press freedom.

Lacking independent media and often accused of harassing journalists, Eritrea is consistently ranked among the world's top violators of press freedom by rights groups.

(Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: Reuters

DMLEK claims inflicting damage on Eritrean army (Walta)

Mekelle, January 29, 2008 (WIC) - Democratic Movement for the Liberation of the Eritrean Kunama (DMLEK) said it has consolidated its attack on the Eritrean government.

According to a press release it sent to WIC, the movement has inflicted damages on the regime.

DMLEK said it destroyed the agriculture office of the government in Binbilina town of Gash Barka Zone along with goods stored in a warehouse last week.

In this same operation it burnt out a military water truck and a tanker in Barentu town, the statement added.

According to the statement, 800 Eritreans caught while fleeing to the Sudan were arrested and jailed in a military garrison in Nakfa. Of those 16 managed to escape and entered the Sudan over the weekend, it stated.

The movement which pointed out the fleeing of more than 26,800 Eritreans to the Sudan finally urged the public and the army of Eritrea to stand up against the dictatorial regime.

Walta Information Center

AU unveils Road Map for peace in Somalia (Walta)

Addis Ababa, January 24, 2008 (WIC) - The African Union's top security official has presented Somalia's leaders a four-point plan for creating stability in the country, according to VOA.

During a four-hour visit to Mogadishu yesterday, AU Peace and Security Commissioner Said Djinnit said Somalia is becoming Africa's biggest security challenge and described his stopover as a symbolic show of support for Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein.

Djinnit said he outlined to Hussain a proposal to initiate a road map that would be developed by Somali leaders in partnership with the international community.

Its four components would include strengthening the nation's political process through reconciliation, greater international involvement in peacekeeping operations, creating a safe environment for humanitarian aid deliveries, and building the capacity of federal government institutions to face the immense challenges ahead.

The commissioner expressed frustration at what he called the lack of international support for efforts to bring a stable peace to Somalia. He told reporters his eventual goal, and biggest concern, is persuading the U.N Security Council to re-establish the peacekeeping mission it abandoned in the face of uncontrolled violence 13 years ago.

"It is the issue at the heart of our concerns," said Said Djinnit. " We believe Somalia has been abandoned for so long, and the Security Council remains the principal body in charge of the maintenance of international peace and security, and Somalia is becoming the biggest challenge for security in Africa. And therefore the Security Council cannot but assume its responsibility vis a vis Somalia."

Djinnit chided the Security Council for its recent statement saying it was "reiterating its commitment to considering the possibility of deploying" a Somalia peacekeeping operation.

"If you look to ideal situation where peace is prevailing before deploying a peacekeeping operation, you might not get that ideal situation," he said. "So we are therefore calling for flexibility on the part of the United Nations in considering the situation in Somalia and in deciding as early as possible on the deployment of the peacekeeping operation to come and take over from the African Union."

The African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, has an authorized strength of 8,000. But nearly a year after it was formed, less than one-quarter of the troops are in place.

Ethiopian troops are backing Somali's military in its campaign against Islamic insurgents, VOA stated.

But Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has repeatedly said he wants those troops replaced by a strong international force. Yet with Somalia among the world's most violent and gun-infested countries, and the United Nations balking at sending a peacekeeping mission, Prime Minister Hussein told reporters it is premature to set a date when Ethiopian troops could withdraw.

" To set a time maybe today it's not so easy, but you can see the efforts of the African Union, you can see the efforts of AMISOM [African Mission in Somalia] from time to time increasing their troops, and this will definitely set a way for us to discuss when and how the Ethiopian troops will be reduced," said Hussein. "So what we will try to do is have a very well-elaborated exit strategy."

Somalia's parliament chose Prime Minister Hussein last November to replace his predecessor Ali Mohamed Gedi.

Source: Walta Information Center

White Nile to Ink Oil Exploration Deal with Ethiopia (Fortune)

White Nile Ltd., a British company quoted by Alternative Investment Market (AIM), will be signing an oil exploration agreement with the Ethiopian government next Tuesday, January 15, 2008, officials at the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MoME) disclosed to Fortune. White Nile’s founder and Chairman, Philippe H. Edmonds, is expected to arrive in Addis Abeba, in order to sign the exploration agreement with Alemayehu Tegenu, minister of Mines and Energy, at the Sheraton Addis.

The deal will grant White Nile exploration rights over a 29,000Km area in Southern Omo and Borena - Southern Rift Basin - in Oromia and Southern regional states. The Council of Ministers has approved the concession request a few weeks ago.

This company will be the sixth firm to enter into oil exploration activities in Ethiopia: The most prominent among them is the Malaysian Petronas that is undertaking exploration activities in Gambella and Ogaden areas after signing an agreement in 2003.

Two years later, a company licensed in The Netherlands, Pexco, was granted a permit to explore for oil in the Ogaden. In 2005, a Hong Kong registered company, South-West Energy, owned by Teodros Ashenafi, signed a similar deal to get involved in the Afar Regional State. Another company conducting exploration in the same region is the United States (US) registered Afar Exploration, granted a license in 2006. The Swedish Lundia Petroleum AB, a company that is active in Sudan and Somaliland, was granted a licence in 2007 to explore for oil in the Ogaden area.

“We look forward to see White Nile conduct as significant exploration activities as all these other companies,” Minister Alemayehu told Fortune.

White Nile is very familiar to the area where it wants to conduct exploration now. It has conducted geological and geophysical surveys on 70,000sqkm area of the Southern Rift Basin for two years, after it entered into a join study agreement with the Ministry in July 2005. Its findings of deep basins, potentially containing sedimentary sections similar to that of the Muglad and Melut basins of Southern Sudan, is reportedly behind its decision to enter into an exploration agreement with the Ethiopian government.

In the new agreement expected to be signed next Tuesday, White Nile will be granted exploration rights for four years. However, depending on the progress it makes, the company’s licence could be renewed for an additional four years, according to Abiy Hunegnaw, director of the Petroleum Department at the Ministry. Following the disclosure of its prospective deal with the Ethiopian government, White Nile’s shares were trading 14pc higher than its 45.5p (8.5 Br) on the London Stock Exchange.

Nevertheless, the Nairobi based company has been a poor performer at the stock exchange last year, according to The Financial Times. Its shares dropped by 70pc in 2007, according to the newspaper, and suffered a loss of 1.4 million pounds (26 million Br). The company has failed to secure an oilfield in South Sudan known as “Block Ba”, claimed by TOTAL of France.

Sudanese state company, Nile Petroleum Corporation Ltd. Controls 44.67pc of its shares.

By ISSAYAS MEKURIA

FORTUNE STAFF WRITER

Umbrella of Eritrean opposition parties attracts two more groups (Walta)

Addis Ababa, January 22, 2008 (WIC) - The Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA), an umbrella of 11 Eritrean opposition organizations, has reportedly admitted two more opposition groups.

According to Awate.com, the two groups are the Eritrean People’s Movement, which is led by Adhanom Gebremariam and the Islamic Congress Party led by Hassen Salman (Abul Bera’a).

The EDA has re-stated its policy that membership is open to any Eritrean organization which has already held a congress and has a recognized leadership, the website added.

Meanwhile, the Eritrean Democratic Party (EDP) said in a press release issued on its website that the party chairman, Mesfin Hagos, met with US Assistant Secretary of State Jandaye Frazier and Deputy Assistant Secretary Jeff Krilla on January 14, 2008, Awate.com said.

Source: Walta Information Center