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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------