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Weekly anb05034.txt #5

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 03-05-2001      PART #4/5
* Rwanda/Kenya. Evêque anglican tranféré au TPIR - Un évêque anglican rwandais, Samuel Musabimana, recherché par le Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda (TPIR) pour sa participation présumée au génocide de 1994, a été arrêté le 26 avril à Nairobi. Une enquête a révélé qu'en 2000 l'ancien évêque était entré en Afrique du Sud avec un faux passeport. Arrêté en août, il avait été expulsé vers le Kenya. Il vient d'être transféré au TPIR à Arusha en Tanzanie. Pendant le génocide, il était évêque de l'Eglise anglicane au diocèse de Shyogwe, au sud-ouest de Kigali. - Le 2 mai, lors de sa comparution initiale devant le TPIR, M. Musabimana a plaidé non coupable. Il a en outre déclaré qu'il avait été arrêté illégalement. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 2 mai 2001)
* Rwanda. Police admit former minister missing - Police in Rwanda say they are investigating the disappearance of the former interior minister, Theobald Rwaka, after relatives and human rights groups expressed concern for his safety. Mr Rwaka was a Hutu member of the country's Tutsi-led government, but was sacked in March without an official reason being given. Correspondents say that before his dismissal, he was the subject of media attacks; he was accused of plotting with Rwandan Interahamwe fighters based in neighbouring Congo against the Rwandan government. He denied the allegations. He's believed to have fallen out with the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front over media criticism of the state of the country's prisons which were the responsibility of his ministry. (BBC News, UK, 2 May 2001)
* Rwanda/Belgium. The Brussels trial - 26 April: Yvette Umugwaneza, who lived with the Karenzi family, and the only survivor of the April 1994 massacre of that family, gives her testimony in court. Rwanda's Justice Minister has welcomed the trial in Belgium but has queried whether the jury really has a grasp of the 1994 genocide. 2 May: Beginning of the third week of the trial and generally-speaking there has been a positive attitude during the proceedings. The jury in particular is noted as being particularly attentive and have asked a number of pertinent questions to help the members understand better the background to the events which took place so far away. Evidence has frequently been accompanied by a great deal of emotion. Today, a former Rwandan government minister being tried on charges related to the 1994 massacre of 5,000 people in Rwanda denies that he had ordered a Tutsi family of eight killed to get a lake view from his villa. Alphonse Higaniro, on trial in Belgium along with three other Rwandans accused of helping Hutu radicals kill ethnic Tutsis and Hutu moderates, says his villa already had a view of Lake Kivu near Gisenyi, a town in the central African country. "I don't understand the reasoning," says Higaniro, testifying for the first time in the landmark trial. Higaniro says the accusation does not make sense because the family living in the villa only rented it. "I don't know how I was to have done it, given that he was not the owner of the place," he says. Higaniro, 52, transport minister under President Juvenal Habyarimana, whose death in a plane crash set off the genocide in April 1994, is alleged to have ordered the killing of a medical assistant, his wife and six children who were living in the villa. Three of the children managed to escape, while a fourth remains severely disabled from injuries suffered at the hands of machete-wielding Hutus. Higaniro, who was appointed by the government to run a match factory after being removed from the transport ministry, also denies charges that he knowingly let militiamen use the factory as a base for their activities in the southern town of Butare. "I have no knowledge of it," he says, explaining that he was not in Butare when the massacres began. Higaniro also denied charges that he helped incite the country's Hutu majority to kill the Tutsi minority during the Rwandan civil war. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 3 May 2001)
* Sahara occidental. Prisonniers de guerre - Le 26 avril, le Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu a demandé au Maroc et au Front Polisario de libérer immédiatement environ 1.500 prisonniers de guerre toujours détenus par les deux camps. Après un exposé sur les derniers événements au Sahara occidental, les membres du Conseil ont estimé que la question des prisonniers de guerre n'était pas liée aux considérations politiques et qu'elle devait être résolue de toute urgence. Le 14 décembre dernier, le Front Polisario avait libéré 201 prisonniers; plus de la moitié d'entre eux étaient emprisonnés depuis plus de 20 ans. - Le 28 avril, le Conseil de sécurité a prolongé de deux mois le mandat de la Mission de l'Onu. Il a également appelé le Maroc et le Polisario a trouver une solution politique. (AP, 27-28 avril 2001)
* Sénégal. Développement rural - Le Fonds africain de développement (FAD) a approuvé un prêt de développement rural de 9 millions de dollars visant à l'amélioration de la production agricole et des revenus des habitants du Bassin Anambe, à Kolda, dans le sud du Sénégal. L'objectif est de réduire la pauvreté et de renforcer la sécurité alimentaire. Le prêt servira notamment au financement de plans fermiers, d'un programme de formation et d'alphabétisation, et de la mise en place d'un système de crédit décentralisé. Le FAD est la filiale de la Banque africaine de développement offrant de petits prêts et essentiellement axée sur la réduction de la pauvreté. (IRIN, Abidjan, 27 avril 2001)
* Sénégal. Elections - Le dimanche 29 avril, quelque 2,8 millions de Sénégalais se sont rendus aux urnes pour élire 120 députés. Pour le président libéral Abdoulaye Wade, qui a dissous l'Assemblée le 15 février et dont le parti emmène une coalition "Sopi" ("changement" en wolof), l'enjeu est de mettre fin à la domination du Parti socialiste, qui contrôle la Chambre depuis 1960. Le vote a été perturbé par deux attaques, attribuées aux indépendantistes, en Casamance, où un soldat a été tué le samedi. - 30 avril. Selon des tendances non officielles disponibles, la coalition "Sopi", qui regroupe une quarantaine de petites formations autour du parti du président Wade, obtiendrait entre 45 et 53% des suffrages. Le Parti socialiste n'arriverait qu'en 3e position, derrière l'Alliance des forces du progrès (AFP) de l'ancien Premier ministre Moustapha Niasse. Les craintes exprimées par l'opposition sur le danger d'un retour à un parti-Etat, comme sous l'ancien régime socialiste du président Diouf, n'ont donc pas convaincu. Le taux de participation a atteint 66%. - 2 mai. Il semble bien que le président Wade sorte grand vainqueur des élections. Selon des résultats toujours partiels publiés par les commissions départementales de recensement, sa coalition "Sopi" est créditée de 90 sièges sur les 120 que compte la nouvelle Assemblée nationale. L'AFP en obtiendrait 11, et le PS 10. "Le président Wade a donc toutes les cartes en main", écrit un journal dakarois. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 2 mai 2001)
* Senegal. Parliamentary elections - 29 April: Voters cast ballots in legislative elections that will decide whether President Abdoulaye Wade can gain control of the West African nation's opposition-dominated parliament. Wade's Senegal Democratic Party is hoping to gain a majority in the 120-seat National Assembly, which has traditionally been dominated by the Socialist Party. Wade ended 40 years of Socialist Party rule last year by winning the presidency. His main competition from among 24 other candidates comes from the Alliance of Progressive Forces of Moustapha Niasse. Voting began calmly across most of the country Sunday morning, but one soldier was killed and several others injured in an attack by suspected rebels, radio reports said. 2 May: President Wade now has an overwhelming majority in parliament. A multiparty coalition headed by the Senegalese Democratic Party has crushed its rivals. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 2 May 2001)
* Sierra Leone. Peace talks in Abuja - The Sierra Leonean government and rebels are holding talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja to reinforce a ceasefire and other steps to end their decade-long conflict. Other organisations at the meeting are the United Nations representatives from the Organisation of African Unity and the West African regional body ECOWAS. Although the ceasefire, agreed in November, is currently holding, and the United Nations has deployed troops in parts of the country, the rebels still control diamond-rich regions. A leader of the Revolutionary United Front delegation at the talks, Omrie Golley, said he hopes they will make substantial progress. (BBC News, UK, 2 May 2001)
* Somalia. A chequered year - Somalia's interim government marked the first anniversary of the Somali Peace Conference with a big show of support in the capital Mogadishu. But the government has had difficulty in asserting its authority in Somalia and has so far failed to bring most of the country's faction leaders under its wing. However, this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the 2 May celebrations. More than 50,000 people took part, including thousands of children from schools in the capital. Nearly 1,000 newly-recruited military men in jungle uniforms marched before government officials and delegations from Djibouti and Libya, while dancers and singers performed traditional songs. The delegations from Djibouti, led by the religious affairs minister Mr Mogeh Dirir, and six Libyan experts seemed to have been pleased with the support the new government is enjoying among the general public. Somali President Abdulkassim Salat Hassan made a long speech thanking the government and the people of Djibouti for their help in setting up the interim government. He said that it was impossible to solve the problems of a war-rotten country in just one meeting, "and it was unfortunate", he said, "that some leaders from governments in the region had boycotted the reconciliation conference". (BBC News, UK, 2 May 2001)
* South Africa. Top ANC men deny "plot" - 26 April: Three of South Africa's most prominent black businessmen -- Cyril Ramaphosa, Tokyo Sexwale and Matthews Phosa -- have rejected allegations they were conspiring to remove South African President Thabo Mbeki. "I deny allegations of being involved in a plot to challenge the presidency of the ANC," Mr Ramaphosa said in a statement. South African security minister Steve Tshwete said in a television interview that he was concerned that there was a deliberate misinformation campaign against Mr Mbeki that could put him in physical danger. Mr Phosa was reported in the local press as dismissing talk of a plot as "rubbish. The allegations are not worthy of any comment... They accuse us of horrendous things and that is a provocation. I am not going to jump around as if I am guilty," he said. All three are no longer directly involved in politics but they are still members of the ruling African National Congress. Security minister Steve Tshwete did not specify exactly what the men are thought to have done but it is known that they have had presidential aspirations in the past. The same day, President Mbeki and the ANC embark of a damage-limitation exercise. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 April 2001)
* South Africa. AIDS affects road transport sector - South Africa's road transport sector is one of the worst hit by the country's HIV/AIDS epidemic, with half the truck drivers surveyed by the Medical Research Council infected with the virus. A report, published by the council on 2 May, said about 56 per cent of truck drivers who visited roadside sex workers in the KwaZulu Natal province were HIV positive. By contrast, HIV infection in the mining industry is estimated at 25 per cent. The sexual habits of truck drivers are blamed for helping to spread HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa and for the spread of the virus among rural communities. The report coincided with a survey by the South African Institute of Race Relations that said South Africa faced negative population growth within 10 years, mainly as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. By the end of last year, about 6m South Africans were estimated to have HIV infection out of a total population of 44m. The Actuarial Society of South Africa has estimated that population growth in South Africa was 1.9 per cent in 2000 and would drop to 0 per cent by 2011. KwaZulu Natal, the country's most populous province, has the highest HIV infection rate in South Africa, with one in three adults infected. At one truck stop, in Newcastle, an industrial town midway between Johannesburg and Durban, as many as 95 per cent of the truck drivers surveyed had HIV. The study shows that 34 per cent of truck drivers always stopped for sex during their journeys and 29 per cent never used condoms. (Financial Times, UK, 3 May 2001)
* Sudan. Hijackers face trial - The Sudanese authorities have detained the hijackers of an Ethiopian aircraft, saying they will stand trial under international law. The five hijackers, believed to be armed, were granted asylum after they released, unharmed, all passengers and crew on the plane which they forced to fly to Khartoum on 26 April. Sudanese Information Minister Ghazi Salah al-Din said: "We convinced the hijackers that the best offer they can get is fair treatment according to international law and not to be turned over to Ethiopia. That's all we offered them." The motive for the hijack remains unclear. The plane, which belongs to the Ethiopian Air Force, landed in the Sudanese capital at 1820 local time (1520 GMT) after being seized on an internal flight. Ghazi Salah al-Din Sudanese information minister Sudanese officials had face-to-face talks with one of the hijackers, following which all the hostages, believed to number about 50 people, were released and the group surrendered. Mr Salah al-Din told the BBC that Khartoum had remained in close contact with Ethiopia throughout, which had supported its handling of the drama. He said the hijackers had originally demanded to be flown on to a third country and had also asked for visas to both Britain and the United States. But he said the Sudanese negotiators had eventually persuaded them to settle for remaining in Sudan. (BBC News, UK. 27 April 2001)
* Soudan/Ethiopie. Avion détourné - Le 26 avril, un avion militaire éthiopien transportant 56 personnes, des militaires et leurs familles, a été détourné sur la capitale soudanaise, Khartoum. Le lendemain, le gouvernement soudanais a réussi à dénouer pacifiquement cette affaire, mais refusait d'extrader les pirates de l'air, cinq élèves officiers, réclamés par Addis Abeba. Le ministre soudanais de l'Information a annoncé que les pirates avaient accepté de libérer les otages contre la garantie de ne pas être extradés. Ils seront jugés au Soudan. Ce détournement s'est produit quelques jours après des affrontements entre jeunes et policiers qui ont fait au moins 41 morts la semaine dernière à Addis Abeba. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 28 avril 2001) 

Weekly News - anb0503.txt - End of part 4/5