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Weekly anb04112.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-04-2001      PART #2/6
* Centrafrique. Nouveau gouvernement - Le nouveau Premier ministre centrafricain, Martin Ziguélé, nommé le dimanche 1er avril par le président Ange-Félix Patassé, a annoncé la composition de son gouvernement. Resserré autour du mouvement de libération du peuple centrafricain, au pouvoir, ce gouvernement compte uniquement des personnalités indépendantes qui avaient soutenu M. Patassé lors de sa réélection en 1999. (Le Figaro, France, 7 avril 2001)
* Congo-Brazza. L'opposition et le dialogue national - L'opposition congolaise, regroupée au sein du principal mouvement des exilés, le Front patriotique pour le renouveau et la réconciliation nationale (FPRRN), après avoir boycotté la première phase du "dialogue national", a décidé de participer, le 11 avril, dans la capitale congolaise, à la seconde phase du processus, dont l'objectif est de sceller la "réconciliation nationale" après trois guerres civiles. Une délégation du FPRRN, basé à Paris, était attendue à Brazzaville pour lundi soir, 9 avril. Sur les ondes de Radio France internationale, M. Kolélas a déclaré avoir reçu du président centrafricain Omar Bongo toutes les garanties de sécurité. Ce dernier a toutefois affirmé n'avoir jamais donné de telles garanties et que si M. Kolélas devait se rendre à Brazzaville, il le ferait à ses "propres risques et périls". (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 9 avril 2001)
* Congo-Brazza. Zones économiques prioritaires - Le gouvernement congolais envisage de mettre en place des zones économiques prioritaires (ZEP) en vue de stimuler le développement national par des pôles spécialisés, a indiqué le 10 avril à Brazzaville une source proche de la présidence. Une commission chargée d'étudier la création de ces zones vient d'être créée. Ces zones seront créées principalement à Pointe-Noire (la capitale économique), Brazzaville et Ouesso (centre des richesses forestières et minières). Le gouvernement a prévu d'alléger les charges fiscales et de faciliter les procédures administratives pour les entreprises qui investiront dans les ZEP. (PANA, Sénégal, 10 avril 2001)
* Congo (RDC). Vers des élections? - Le 5 avril, arrivé en Allemagne, le président congolais Joseph Kabila a déclaré qu'il espérait former son nouveau gouvernement d'ici une semaine. Il compte aussi organiser dès que possible des élections libres en RDC afin d'y consacrer le retour à la démocratie. Le président a souligné qu'il n'y avait pas eu de véritables élections dans son pays depuis 40 ans et qu'il était grand temps que la démocratie retrouve ses droits dans l'ancien Zaïre. (Reuters, 5 avril 2001)
* Congo (RDC) Kabila fosters new drive to end war - Joseph Kabila, Congo's new president, arrived in Germany on 5 April to promote diplomatic efforts to end a two-year civil war that has sucked in the armies of six neighbouring states and devastated an already fragile economy. Just hours before, Mr Kabila, had dismissed his entire cabinet. The president, who came to power in January after the assassination of his father in circumstances that remain unclear, said the old administration had been too closely associated with the late president and was ineffectual. Speaking in Berlin, he said: "We lost the president in an assassination three months ago... the government he was leading is considered to have been not operational." Congolese officials say a new team is likely to be appointed within a week, although the president made no commitment to include opposition forces. "Do you want me to include 450 political parties into government? It is impossible, it would be chaos," he said. Mr Kabila pledged an audit of state-owned companies, regional administrations and government ministries, saying donors had offered to support the process. "We have a body that will do that, but we also have contacts with the IMF and World Bank, who will give us technical assistance." Western governments have been anxious to show support for the new president, encouraging his efforts to revive a peace process that had flagged under his father. His meetings on 5 April with Gerhard Schroder, the German chancellor, and Joschka Fischer, the foreign minister, follow similarly high-profile trips to Brussels, Paris, Washington and London. "It is high time the region as a whole benefits from peace and is not involved in stupid wars," said Mr Kabila. (Financial Times, UK, 6 April 2001)
* Congo (RDC). Rebels pledge to pull back - 7 April: One of the main rebel groups in Congo RDC has agreed to pull back its forces from front line positions. The rebel group, the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC), made the announcement after senior government ministers met representatives of all the warring parties in Lusaka, Zambia. Until the meeting, the rebel group's leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba, had refused to withdraw his troops from positions in the northern province of Equateur, arguing the UN personnel must be deployed first. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 7 April 2001)
* Congo (RDC). Désengagements - Le 6 avril, les ministres de la Défense et des Affaires étrangères des pays belligérants se sont réunis à Lusaka pour parler du retrait de toutes les forces étrangères de la RD-Congo. Les ministres, réunis au sein du Comité politique chargé de superviser l'application des accords de Lusaka (1999), devaient également parler du désarmement des groupes armés en RDC, a déclaré Stan Mudenge, le ministre zimbabwéen des Affaires étrangères. Les ministres vont recevoir les rapports de différentes délégations sur le processus de désengagement censé avoir pris fin le 29 mars et étudieront les prochaines phases du processus de paix. A l'issue de leur rencontre, les ministres ont demandé à l'Onu d'autoriser immédiatement le déploiement sur le terrain des 5.537 observateurs prévus. -D'autre part, le 7 avril, Jean-Pierre Bemba, leader du Front de libération du Congo (FLC), a annoncé qu'il acceptait de désengager ses troupes du front du nord-ouest du pays, sans toutefois préciser de date. Le FLC, soutenu par l'Ouganda, est le seul belligérant à ne pas avoir, selon la Monuc, commencé à appliquer l'accord de désengagement des troupes de 15 km de la ligne de front. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 9 avril 2001)
* Congo (RDC). Witness to Kabila shooting, held in prison - The only known witness to the assassination of President Laurent-Désiré Kabila is being held in solitary confinement in a Kinshasa jail and is receiving food only every other day, according to diplomats and sources in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Emile Mota, the late president's economics adviser, was briefing Mr Kabila on 16 January when an assassin shot Congo's leader at point-blank range. A week later, a terrified Mr Mota gave The Independent an exclusive account of events. It is understood that Mr Mota, 44, a doctor in mining economics, was arrested on 14 March as part of a security sweep including several other men who were close to Mr Kabila. The country is now being led by his son, Joseph Kabila. According to sources in Zimbabwe, which is an ally of Kinshasa in the war against rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda Mr Mota is being held in Block 1, Cell 5 of the notorious Makala prison in the capital. Another source, which contacted The Independent, from Congo said: "He is being held under the pretext that he is the only witness. During his only contact with the outside, he expressed that his case be known to "The Independent. Congo RDC's ambassador to Zimbabwe, Kikaya Bin Karubi, said Mr Mota was being held to facilitate investigations into Mr Kabila's murder. (The Independent, UK, 9 April 2001)
* Congo (RDC)/Zimbabwe. Energie électrique - La RDC va incessamment exporter 700 Mw supplémentaires d'énergie électrique vers le Zimbabwe, au départ du grand barrage congolais d'Inga, selon un protocole signé entre les deux pays le 3 avril. Cet accord permettra au Zimbabwe de résorber tant soit peu son déficit énergétique estimé entre 800 et 1.000 Mw et, à terme, de porter à 800 Mw les fournitures qu'il reçoit d'Inga, contre 100 Mw actuellement, pour une valeur de $US 800.000. Pour concrétiser l'accord, les compagnies d'électricité des deux pays ont été conviées à améliorer leurs lignes. On rappelle que la RDC détient 35% du potentiel de production annuelle africaine en hydroélectricité et occupe la première place en Afrique où elle alimente déjà son voisin immédiat, le Congo Brazzaville. Cependant, 3% seulement de ce potentiel sont actuellement exploités. (PANA, Sénégal, 9 avril 2001)
* Congo (RDC)/USA. US involvement in Congo RDC - Recently, Congresswoman McKinney of Georgia, USA, wrote to President Bush, following a hearing in the House, on US involvement in Congo RDC. This is the first part of the letter: "I am writing to express my great concern that public comments and policy statements in recent years by your new appointee for Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Walter H. Kansteiner III, could be a harbinger of a nightmarish US foreign policy for the resolution of the tragic war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I hope that this is not the case and I respectfully request your immediate and most forceful assurances that these statements do not reflect your view on the resolution of the current crises in Congo. As you no doubt know Mr. President, the United Nations Security Council has found that the international crisis in the Great Lakes region has been brought about by the illegal invasion of eastern Congo by the armed forces of Rwanda and Uganda, who are the real powers behind various armed Congolese rebel groups. The United Nations has resolved that all parties to the conflict should cease fighting and that Rwanda and Uganda should unilaterally withdraw from the Congo. Mr. Kansteiner's first statement regarding this crisis in Democratic Republic of Congo which causes me concern was a written view in an Eastern Zaire Issue Brief (10/15/96) for The Forum for International Policy. In this issue he posited an idea for the resolution of the war in Congo that he himself characterized as "radical." Mr. Kansteiner wrote: "A more radical approach would be to divide territory between the two primary ethnic groups. Creating homogeneous ethnic lands would probably necessitate redrawing international boundaries and would require massive 'voluntary' relocation efforts, shifting Tutsis to a newly created Tutsi state and likewise for Hutus." (...) (The full text of the letter can be obtained from ANB-BIA). (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 9 April 2001)
* Côte d'Ivoire. Fermeture des cités universitaires - Le 6 avril, le gouvernement ivoirien a décidé de fermer toutes les résidences universitaires d'Abidjan, après la mort d'un étudiant tailladé à la machette. Les étudiants avaient déjà commencé à quitter les lieux. Des affrontements entre étudiants rivaux, le 4 avril, avaient fait un mort et plusieurs blessés graves. Il existe une division au sein de la Fédération estudiantine et scolaire de Côte d'Ivoire (FESCI), deux personnes se proclamant secrétaire général. Leurs partisans ne cessent de s'affronter à la machette. (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 6 avril 2001)
* Erythrée. Rapatriement - Le Comité international de la Croix-Rouge a rapatrié 226 civils érythréens résidant en Ethiopie, a-t-on appris le 10 avril de source officielle à Addis Abeba. La plupart d'entre eux vivaient à Addis Abeba et ont demandé au CICR d'organiser leur voyage en collaboration avec les autorités éthiopiennes. Il s'agit du quatrième rapatriement organisé par le CICR. 1.572 Erythréens sont déjà retournés dans leur pays, rappelle-t-on. (PANA, Sénégal, 10 avril 2001)
* Eritrea/Ethiopia. UN optimism over Horn peace - The United Nations is close to establishing the buffer zone between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Both countries had agreed the principle of creating a buffer in February but disagreements over its exact borders held back the redeployment of troops.The UN representative, Ambassador Legwaila Joseph Legwaila, announced on 9 April that "we are talking in terms of days" before a buffer zone is finally created. Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace treaty to end their two-and-a-half year war in December but progress towards its implementation has been slow. (BBC News, UK, 9 April 2001)
* Ethiopia. Naming the war dead - Ethiopia has begun the painstakingly emotional task of releasing the names of tens of thousands of young men who died during the two-and-a-half year border war with Eritrea. Throughout the country, the Ministry of Defence is notifying the families of the dead soldiers, who are considered to be Ethiopia's national heroes. It has been a long and agonizing wait for the families who watched their sons, fathers and brothers go off to the frontline almost three years ago. The war ended in December last year and a peace process is currently underway. In accordance with Ethiopian tradition, elders and community leaders have been knocking on doors in the early hours of the morning. In the capital, the 28 local district councils known as "woredas" began the painful task of informing families of the dead at the weekend. The government says that the death of these young men is treated with utmost importance as they lost their lives defending their country and their people. Community elders are assigned to inform the families and carry with them letters of condolences from the ministry of defence, and from the local and regional authorities. Many of the young men that fought in the war were the only breadwinners in the family. (BBC News, UK, 5 April 2001) 

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