Nine Turkish
activists died in May last year when the Israeli
navy stormed the MV Mavi Marmara, which was leading a flotilla of vessels to
Gaza.
According to findings of a UN Commission headed by Geoffrey Palmer, a former
New Zealand prime minister, leaked in Turkey and Israel, the military
operation was "premature" and the deaths "unacceptable".
However, in what Israel is already hailing as a vindication, Israel is only
asked to express regret and not to apologise. Turkey is also criticised for
not doing enough to stop the flotilla and for its links with IHH, an
Islamist group which helped organise it.
The report also concludes that the blockade of Gaza is not illegal and that
Israel is justified in stopping vessels even outside its territorial waters.
When he set up the commission of inquiry last year, Ban Ki-moon, the UN
secretary general, expressed the hope that the panel would help to prevent
similar incidents in the future, and would also contribute to improving the
strained relations between Israel and Turkey.
Turkey withdrew its ambassador to Israel following the flotilla incident, but
there are clear indications that with the region in turmoil, both sides are
now keen to get relations back on track. Israel has lost a key ally in the
Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, while Turkey's attempts to build
relationships with Syria and Libya have collapsed.
Last month Ankara withdrew support for this year's Gaza flotilla, prompting
the Mavi Marmara, the flagship vessel, to pull out. A few days later Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip
Erdogan a letter congratulating him on his election victory.
The UN findings were due to be released on Thursday, but may be delayed after
last ditch efforts by senior Israeli and Turkish officials to reach an
acceptable compromise failed to achieve a breakthrough.
The main sticking point remains Israel's refusal to apologise over the death
of the 9 activists.
Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's hardline foreign minister, said there was no
reason for Israel to apologise.
"An apology is not a compromise - it is a humiliation and an abandonment
of IDF soldiers," he said. "We regret the loss of life of people
from any nation. There are things we can discuss with Turkey and things we
cannot."
Israel has agreed to pay compensation to the families of the victims,
indirectly via a Turkish government fund, and to issue a statement
expressing the regret over the loss of life. Israel also seeks guarantees
from Ankara that there will be no further claims against the soldiers who
participated in the naval raid.
Speaking during a visit to Bucharest on Wednesday Prime Minister Netanyahu
said efforts to mend ties with Turkey were continuing. "We are not the
ones who led to a deterioration of the ties. We are interested and open to
finding ways to improve the relations," he said.
East Africa drought: Women rush past soldiers to reach a Mogadishu food centre. The food shortage is affecting nearly half the population. Photograph: Stuart Price/AFP Photo/AU-UN IST
The US has pledged an additional $28m in aid for people affected by the drought and food crisis in Somalia, but stressed the money would not be used to provide assistance in areas under the control of the rebel group al-Shabaab.
The two regions declared to be in a state of famine in Somalia are Bakool and Lower Shabelle in the south of the country. Both are believed to be in the hands of al-Shabaab, which is affiliated to al-Qaida and is on the US list of terrorist organisations.
Around 3.7 million people – almost half of the Somali population - are now facing severe food shortages, 2.8 million of whom are in the south. The UN says that up to 12 million people are now in need of emergency assistance as a result of failed harvests, drought, rising food prices and conflict in east Africa.
The US has spent more than $431m in emergency assistance in the area this year.
In a press briefing in London on Wednesday, Donald Steinberg, deputy administrator of USAid, the US agency for international development, made it clear that America would need assurances from the UN and the World Food Programme that al-Shabaab would not restrict the delivery of US-funded aid before authorising its delivery to rebel-held regions.
"We are committed to saving lives in Somalia and we are already working in any area not controlled by al-Shabaab," said Steinberg. "Unfortunately, about 60% of people affected are in al-Shabaab territories. We've instructed Unicef and WFP that they can use our assistance in any part not under al-Shabaab control. As soon as UN and WFP declare that al-Shabaab is not going to be taxing assistance or hindering assistance using the local population as hostages and can prove unfettered access we are prepared to go ahead with assistance through any agency."
Last week, al-Shabaab said it would now allow foreign aid agencies into territories it controlled. The move has been welcomed by aid agencies, but the UN wants further guarantees that the aid will get to the people most in need.
Around $5m of the additonal $28m in US aid is expected to be spent on relief for Somali refugees arriving daily at Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya. The rest will be spent on food aid and other basic services.
Steinberg said the US was pressing the president of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki, to disclose information on the impact of the drought in his country.
He said weather patterns and the affect of the drought on neighbouring states, such as Dijbouti, where 120,000 people are believed to be in need of assistance, would suggest Eritrea is experiencing similar problems, but there was too little information to offer anything other than a "skewed picture" of the situation. "We have called on the president to allow the international community, as well as humanitarian organisations, to fully monitor what is going on and open up to life saving assistance if necessary," said Steinberg.
Around 7.5 million people in Ethiopia were now able to ride the worst of the drought because of the agricultural cash for work programmes that had been introduced in the country to enable people to become more food secure, added Steinberg. However, he conceded that 4.5 million people were still in need of humanitarian assistance and the government would need to address long-term food security concerns brought about by changing weather patterns.
"It's not just every 10 years we are experiencing drought. We have a situation where rains fail every other year and so this is the climactic effect we are seeing. It's going to have a dramatic affect on the way of life in Ethiopia. Pastoralist communities will be increasingly under pressure. The government and its people are going to have to respond effectively."
Last month, a third refugee camp was opened in Dolo Ado in Ethiopia to accommodate Somali refugees, which, as of 30 June, numbered more than 54,000. The total number of refugees in Ethiopia is believed to be more than 135,000.
Women and children queue to receive food at a distribution centre in Mogadishu. Photograph: Ho/Reuters
The African Union's decision to postpone a pledging conference for east Africa has been described as a "serious blow" to relief efforts.
Save the Children said on Friday the decision would hinder efforts to help millions of children suffering in the region.
The AU had been due to meet on Monday to discuss members' financial response to the crisis that is now affecting more than 12 million people in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. But in a statement on Thursday the AU said the meeting had been re-scheduled for 25 August.
The statement gave no specific reasons why the conference has been delayed, but it is understood the postponement would allow members more time to mobilise resources.
Erastus Mwencha, the deputy chairman of the African Union commission, reportedly said some member countries felt they hadn't been given enough notice of the conference. "There is no point of us rushing into a conference only again to come up again regretting [sic]," he was reported as saying. "Many African countries wanted to delay because they felt it was too short notice for them to be able to do something meaningful. We need some time for planning, and I think that request is well-founded."
Last month, the AU announced it was to give $300,000 to the UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, to assist Somalis living in camps in Somalia and in neighbouring countries.
The Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya reported an anonymous AU commissioner as saying the organisation was facing serious financial problems as a result of the uprisings in north Africa. Five countries, including Egypt and Libya, contribute around 75% of AU's budget. Libya has suspended its contributions.
This week, the UN declared that three further regions of Somalia were in a state of famine and expected it to spread across the south of the country over the next six weeks.
The UN said more than $1bn in aid was still needed to address the crisis. Tens of thousands of people had already died in Somalia, which, after failed rains and two decades of conflict, is at the epicentre of the crisis. Humanitarian relief efforts in the south of Somalia and the capital, Mogadishu, are being hampered by al-Shabaab, the Islamist group that is refusing access to international aid agencies.
On Friday, Andris Piebalgs, EU commissioner for development, pledged an extra €175m ($248m) in development assistance for Somaliland, Puntland and central Somalia, which are more stable.
Rachel Palmer, working for Save the Children at Dadaab refugee camp complex in northern Kenya, where thousands of Somalis are arriving daily, said: "Children are dying from starvation every day, yet world leaders are failing to make good on their promises. Young children are arriving at our feeding centres in shocking conditions – they haven't eaten or drunk anything for days.
"Yet we can pull them back from the brink. We can save their lives – but there are many more we need to reach. The British public and government have been overwhelming in their generosity, now governments around the world have to turn words into action or more children will die."
In a statement, Scandinavian organisers said "hostile divers" had cut the propeller shaft of the "Juliano," a ship shared by Swedish, Norwegian and Greek activists. They said the damage can be repaired and that it will not affect plans to sail for the Palestinian territory toward the end of the week.
Even so, the 10-ship flotilla has already been delayed, beset by administrative problems with Greek port authorities that activists blame on Israeli diplomatic pressure. Greece's financial crisis raised the prospect of further complications, with protesters blockading the port of Piraeus as part of a 48-hour general strike that began on Tuesday.
"We have increased alert on all the ships. We are having a 24/7 vigil," said Dimitris Plionis, a flotilla representative. He speculated that the alleged sabotage was carried out by "highly trained" individuals, possibly with a military or intelligence background, though he was not specific about the possible culprits.
Norwegian delegation leader Torstein Dahle said in a statement that the incident shows "someone is willing to go to great lengths to stop the flotilla from sailing."
Flotilla organisers said the "Juliano" had been taken out of the water and was in Perama, on the outskirts of Piraeus port near Athens.
Israel warns it will stop any attempt to break the sea blockade of Gaza, saying its measures prevent weapons from reaching Iran-backed Hamas militants who violently seized control in 2007. Last year, nine activists on a Turkish aid vessel died in a botched Israeli raid on a similar flotilla, with each side accusing the other of starting the violence.
Citing intelligence reports, Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovich warned that the new flotilla is carrying sulphuric acid for use against Israeli soldiers if they try to board the boats. She said the navy has trained for the past year to deal with various scenarios and has developed "soft power tactics" to cope with flotilla passengers without engaging in physical contact with them.
"Boarding on the ships will be the last resort for us. We are planning to ask the flotilla not to head toward the Gaza port," she said. Leibovich emphasised the Israeli soldiers' right to defend themselves from any attack.
Dror Feiler, one of the flotilla organisers, said between 300 and 400 activists hoped to set sail by the end of the month as planned, despite the snags they have encountered. He said participants were peaceful and he accused the Israeli military of spreading rumours that activists were arming themselves with chemicals and wanted to harm Israeli soldiers.
"If they have any knowledge of such substances or such persons, please inform me because I will take it away from the ships," he said. "I am more interested than they are" in doing so, because that would give the military a pretext to attack the flotilla, he said.
An international uproar ensued after last year's flotilla raid, and Israel eased restrictions on cargo crossing into Gaza by land. This month, Egypt reopened its Rafah passenger crossing with Gaza after maintaining its own blockade of the territory of 1.5 million people.
Flotilla leaders describe Israel's blockade as a human rights violation and dismiss calls to use Israeli-approved channels for distribution of medicine and other aid. Greece is the base of their operation, but they have previously not disclosed the exact location of their boats because of security concerns and fear that publicity would attract diplomatic pressure to scrap their mission.
Adam Qvist, the spokesman for the three-man Danish delegation in the flotilla, said a Canadian-flagged boat that includes activists from Denmark, Canada, Germany, Belgium and Australia was not in the same harbour as the vessel that was allegedly sabotaged.
"We are working to avoid sabotage by, for instance, not revealing anything about the ship or saying where it is anchored in Greece," Qvist said. "We have to be on our guard all the time."
- 1955: The beginning of a separatist rebellion in the mainly Christian and animist south against domination by the Arab-Muslim north.
- January 1, 1956: Sudan, Africa's biggest country, becomes independent from Britain, and also from its northern neighbour Egypt.
- 1972: Accords signed in Addis Ababa between Khartoum and the southern rebels bring an end to 17 years of war, giving the south autonomous status.
- 1983: President Gaafar al-Nimeiry's decision to end the autonomous status and enforce sharia, or Islamic law, sparks a new rebellion in the south after 11 years of peace. Dissident colonel John Garang founds the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
- 1989: Omar al-Bashir takes power in an Islamist coup and cracks down again on the southern rebellion.
- 1995: The northern opposition unites with the southern guerrillas to battle the regime.
2005
- January 9: The two sides sign a US-brokered ceasefire agreement, providing for a six-year period of autonomy for the south followed by a referendum. The war killed more than two million people.
- July 9: Bashir sworn in as president, Garang as vice-president.
- July 30: Garang killed in a helicopter crash. Replaced by Salva Kiir.
- September 20: National unity government announced after weeks of bitter wrangling.
- October 22: Kiir forms an autonomous government for south Sudan.
2007
- December 27: South Sudanese former rebels rejoin the national government, two months after walking out because of disputes over the implementation of the peace deal.
2008
- May: Fighting breaks out in the flashpoint oil-rich Abyei region, threatening the peace process. Dozens are killed and more than 50,000 displaced.
2009
- July 22: The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague reduces Abyei's borders, leaving its main oilfields in the north. The referendum is planned in the south for January 2011.
- December 29: Adoption of the referendum law. Tribal violence which has killed 2,500 over the year leads to fears of a civil war in the region.
2010
- April 11-15: Kiir becomes the south's first elected president following the first multiparty elections in Sudan since 1986.
- July 11: Khartoum and Juba start negotiations on key post-referendum issues, namely security, citizenship, the economy and respect for international treaties.
- September 24: The Khartoum government says it will accept the result of the vote after world leaders, meeting at the United Nations, call for the southern referendum to go ahead peacefully and on time.
- October: Kiir offers an amnesty to rebel fighters and seeks to reconcile with his leading political adversary, former foreign minister Lam Akol. Since January around 900 people have been killed in violence in the south, according to the United Nations.
- November 15-December 8: Voters register for the referendum.
- December 13: The United States says there is a recognition that a referendum in Abyei will not take place on January 9 as planned, but urges the parties to continue working for a solution to the disputed border region.
