Weekly anb04138.txt #8

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 13-04-2000      PART #8/8

* Zimbabwe. Catholic Bishops take a firm stand  -  11 April: Zimbabwe's Catholic
Bishops have taken a firm stand over what is presently happening in their
country. They say: "People of every social standing have been injured and even
killed during the invasion of the farms (...) and President Robert Mugabe seems
to have adopted an attitude of indifference with regard to the country's future
stability and the people he was elected to serve".   (MISNA, Rome, 11 April 2000)

* Zimbabwe. Expropriations  -  Le 6 avril, le Parlement zimbabween a adopte une
loi qui, apres signature du president Mugabe, permettra d'exproprier les fermiers
blancs sans les dedommager. Une decision qualifiee d'"historique" par les membres
du parti au pouvoir, le ZANU-PF. Cependant, bon nombre de Zimbabweens, surtout
dans les villes, n'y voient qu'une manoeuvre du president Mugabe pour reconquerir
les voix qu'il avait perdues lors de sa defaite au referendum sur une nouvelle
constitution. La population ne croit pas que quelques riches fermiers et la
Grande-Bretagne soient responsables du marasme economique actuel du Zimbabwe.
D'ailleurs, des fermes deja expropriees n'auraient pas ete attribuees a des Noirs
pauvres, mais a des proches de M. Mugabe. Par ailleurs, les Etats-Unis, qui se
sont dits favorables a une reforme agraire "rationnelle, soutenable et
equitable", ont annonce la suspension de leur aide au developpement a Harare. -
Le 10 avril, les ministres des Affaires etrangeres de l'Union europeenne ont
adresse un avertissement au president Mugabe, lui demandant de retablir l'ordre
dans son pays. Pendant ce temps au Zimbabwe, la situation des fermiers blancs
devient de plus en plus alarmante. Le 10 avril, le syndicat agricole est retourne
devant les tribunaux pour forcer le police a expulser les squatters, mais cette
demarche parait aussi desesperee que symbolique. Les incidents se multiplient.
Et ces derniers jours, plusieurs fermiers ont ete contraints de signer des
documents ou ils cedent une partie de leurs terrains, ou se sont refugies en
ville. - Le 11 avril, le Parlement du Zimbabwe s'est reuni pour la derniere fois
avant les elections legislatives. Il a ete dissous a minuit, a l'issue de 5 ans
de legislature. Des elections doivent avoir lieu dans les quatre mois au plus
tard, et le president Mugabe a declare qu'elles se tiendraient en mai. La
commission electorale, chargee du redecoupage des circonscriptions, estime
toutefois avoir besoin d'au moins trois mois pour remplir sa mission. Le mandat
du chef de l'Etat se termine en 2002.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 12 avril
2000)

* Zimbabwe. Into troubled waters  -  10 April: Robin Cook, the British Foreign
Secretary, steps up pressure on Zimbabwe, saying its multi-million pound aid
package from the European Union will be at risk if elections do not go ahead next
month as promised. The warning comes as Zimbabwe's Attorney-General, Patrick
Chinamasa, told a High Court judge that there will be a "bloody confrontation"
if police attempted forcibly to remove the squatters from white-owned farms. He
also said that the occupation of white-owned farms was part of the unfinished
business of the armed struggle. "The liberation war did not bring what they
(guerrilla war veterans) fought for. A political decision has been made to go
back and fight again". Mr Cook is among several EU foreign ministers who raised
the prospect of suspension of aid. Mr Mugabe has been given a last chance to show
good faith by holding elections before Europe moves to impose sanctions. Racial
intimidation is spreading beyond white-owned farms to the country's Asian
business community. A pamphlet has been circulating in Bulawayo, proclaiming "The
Indians will be next". 11 April: Parliament is dissolved because it has come to
the end of its five-year term. A senior Zimbabwean official has said it will take
at least until July to draw up new constituency boundaries. The law allows Mr
Mugabe to delay the elections by up to four months after the dissolution of
parliament. The white commercial farmers are heading for a new showdown with
President Mugabe over their refusal to bring the vital tobacco crop to auction.
Its sale would ease the country's desperate shortage of hard currency. The armed
forces insist they will stay impartial. 12 April: The High Court is due to decide
whether the police should step in to stop the continuing occupation of the farms.
The police claim they do not have enough officers to tackle the squatters, saying
60,000 war veterans are involved.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 12 April 2000)

* Zimbabwe. A man in the middle  -  The idea, currently under discussion in
Whitehall, of inviting a neutral figure to mediate the dispute between Britain
and Zimbabwe, should be pursued as a matter of urgency. Robin Cook, the British
Foreign Secretary, told the Commons on 11 April that the government was hoping
"to find someone who can connect with President Mugabe and speak to him with
respect and authority". One such person may be Nigeria's President Olusegun
Obasanjo, who has established impressive democratic credentials since ending 15
years of military rule last year. Mr Obasanjo helped organise the foreign
secretary's meeting with Mr Mugabe at the recent EU-Africa summit in Cairo. Other
regional figures are also being considered for the role. From the British
perspective, third-party mediation could help achieve Mr Cook's three, EU-backed
demands: free, internationally monitored elections; an end to the farm
occupations; and respect for the law, especially the rights of government
opponents. Mr Mugabe promised Mr Cook in Cairo that elections would be held next
month -- but despite dissolving parliament, he has not so far set a date. The
farm occupations are escalating amid increasing violence. And the Zanu-PF
government has refused to enforce the law to protect farmers and demonstrators
while taking arbitrary new powers to seize land without compensation. With the
situation deteriorating, Mr Cook knows he has an obligation to do more. But with
bilateral relations at an all-time low, he needs help. An independent mediator
would, in theory, be able to offer Mr Mugabe a good deal in return for sticking
to the democratic path. New British and US funding for a properly managed land
reform programme is available. There is the prospect of renewed assistance from
the IMF and World Bank, which broke with Zimbabwe last year. Emergency bilateral
or multilateral loans might also be forthcoming, to alleviate the immediate fuel
and power crisis and stave off a bank collapse which is likely if this year's
vital tobacco crop does not reach market. But all this would have to be
contingent on Mr Mugabe first meeting Britain's three demands.   (The Guardian,
UK, 13 April 2000)

Weekly News anb0413 -  END of PART 8/8

THE END

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