NANYUKI, Kenya, July 25 (AFP) - Top military and government
representatives
from a dozen eastern African states on Tuesday began three days of talks
here
aimed at improving coordinated responses to natural disasters and
humanitarian
crises.
   Dubbed Golden Spear, the event is co-hosted by Kenyan President Daniel
arap
Moi and the United States military and brings together officials from
Burundi,
the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Rwanda, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and the US.
   "It is significant that this event is taking place at a time when the
region is suffering from a severe drought which threatens the lives of
millions of our people and the economies of the region," Moi said in his
opening address.
   "It is estimated that up to 16 million people in the Horn of Africa are
in
urgent need of food and drugs related assistance," he added, noting that
"Kenya has not had a drought of this magnitude in living memory."
   That other countries in the region are also suffering "makes it
imperative
for us to address the question of humanitarian assistance in a more
comprehensive and integrated manner," Moi said.
   The Kenyan president also pointed out that many of the region's
"calamities
arise from human conflicts and intolerance. Conflicts like those in the
Sudan,
Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi, and the general destabilisation in the Great
Lakes region have generated massive refugee populations and internal
displacement of persons whose survival is largely dependent upon
humanitarian
assistance."
   Golden Spear brings together delegates from several states which are at
war
with each other.
   An armed rebellion in the DRC, for example, is backed by soldiers from
Rwanda and Uganda. And while the latter two countries are supposedly allies
in
that conflict, they have fought each other in the DRC on numerous
occasions,
most recently last month in the northeastern town of Kisangani.
   While Eritrea and Ethiopia signed a ceasefire in June to halt a war that
broke out in 1998, and which has had grave humanitarian consequences, they
have yet to agree to a conclusive peace accord.
   Moi urged that "this symposium must come forward with practical warning
and
response mechanisms for addressing the difficulties" caused by natural and
man-made disasters.
   "In addition, the region should endeavour to develop formidable
structures
and mechanisms to cope with these emergencies... It is important for us to
strengthen internal mechanisms to assist each other through effective
coordination and mobilisation of our internal resources," said Moi, who
stressed the importance of "self-sufficiency and self-reliance."
   Officials from Britian and France, former colonial powers of several of
the
participating states, are attending the sypmposium as observers.
   afm/lto/jlr

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