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Weekly anb05104.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 10-05-2001      PART #4/7
* Ethiopia. Italy accused over weapons - Ethiopia has accused Italy of refusing to disclose the location of chemical weapons left in the country after it was occupied by Italian fascist forces under Mussolini in 1935. A government statement said persistent attempts to get Italy to comply with its international obligations had failed. The department responsible for implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention estimates that the Italians brought about 80,000 tons of chemicals into Ethiopia. It is unclear how much remains on Ethiopian territory. A large amount of ammunition was discovered last week in Tigray state while digging the foundations for a school. (BBC News, UK, 3 May 3001)
* Ethiopie. Le Parlement examine les griefs des étudiants - Le 3 mai, le Parlement fédéral éthiopien a commencé à examiner la pétition présentant les griefs des étudiants de l'université d'Addis Abeba, pour tenter de résoudre la crise actuelle qui les oppose au gouvernement. Ces plaintes sont liées aux troubles du 17 et 18 avril qui ont secoué l'université (31 personnes auraient été tuées et 143 blessées). Les étudiants ont boycotté les cours depuis le 10 avril; ils revendiquaient plus de liberté académique, la liberté d'expression et de réunion, ainsi que le droit de former des syndicats. Dans leur pétition, les étudiants déclarent qu'ils poursuivront leur boycott. Par ailleurs, les autorités universitaires ont appelé à la création d'un comité ad hoc regroupant enseignants et étudiants, en vue de trouver des moyens d'atténuer la crise. (PANA, Sénégal, 3 mai 2001)
* Ethiopia. Academics arrested - The crackdown on those believed to be responsible for last month's riots has continued, with the arrest of two of Ethiopia's leading academics. Professor Mesfin Wolde Mariam and Dr Berhanu Nega were arrested by the federal police on the morning of 8 May are now being held under heavy police guard in the capital's state prison. In recent weeks, they have been accused by the government of instigating the student protests which resulted in the deaths of more than 30 people and damage worth millions of dollars. They have however constantly rejected the allegations. (BBC News, UK, 8 May 2001)
* Ethiopie/Erythrée. Les religieux et la paix - Des responsables religieux éthiopiens et érythréens prévoient de visiter les localités frontalières à leurs deux pays et de se rencontrer dans ces villes stratégiques en vue de promouvoir la paix et la compréhension entre eux. La décision a été prise la semaine dernière au terme d'une réunion de deux jours à Nairobi, par des leaders chrétiens et musulmans, soucieux de mettre fin au conflit qui a opposé leurs deux pays durant plus de deux ans. Des dignitaires religieux visiteront, du 19 au 21 mai, la ville frontalière de Senate en Erythrée et celle de Zalambessa en Ethiopie, pour une première évaluation du processus de paix. Ils organiseront aussi une série de réunions dans les deux pays afin de "promouvoir l'amitié et la compréhension". (PANA, Sénégal, 9 mai 2001)
* Ghana. 100 die in football stampede - A stampede at a football match in Accra, Ghana, killed at least 100 people (Ed.'s note: some sources say 120), state television reported on 9 May. Hospital officials reportedly estimated the death toll at 100. The match, in Accra's main football stadium, was played between arch-rivals Hearts of Oak and Kumasi Asante Kotoko. Fights between rival fans broke out towards the end of the game, and police responded with tear gas. The stampede followed. The fatalities come less than one month after a stampede at a South African league match in Johannesburg on April 11 left 43 people dead. On April 30, seven football fans were killed and 51 injured in a riot and stampede in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ghana's last football disaster occurred in 1978 when a wall collapsed, leaving 35 people injured and 15 dead. President Kufuor has called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the tragedy. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 10 May 2001)
* Ghana. 120 morts dans un stade - Des bagarres entre supporters rivaux, suivies d'une vigoureuse intervention de la police et d'un mouvement de panique, ont fait 120 morts et de nombreux blessés dans un stade d'Accra où s'affrontaient le mercredi soir, 9 mai, deux clubs de football, les Hearts of Oak et Kumasi Asante Kotoko. "Certaines victimes sont mortes asphyxiées, mais la plupart semblent avoir été mortellement piétinées", a-t-on déclaré à l'hôpital militaire de la capitale. Selon les radios, le mouvement de panique, durant lequel de nombreuses personnes ont été piétinées, s'est produit lorsque la police est intervenue à coups de grenades lacrymogènes pour faire cesser les troubles qui avaient éclatés à moins d'un quart d'heure de la fin de la partie, lorsque l'équipe de la capitale venait de marquer deux buts coup sur coup. Les partisans de Kumasi ont alors cassé des sièges pour bombarder le terrain, et les policiers sont intervenus en tirant des grenades lacrymogènes vers les tribunes, qui abritent 50.000 places. Une enquête sera ouverte. (Reuters, 10 mai 2001)
* Guinea-Bissau. Detainees released after six months - Reports from Guinea-Bissau say the authorities have begun releasing some of the military personnel detained last November in connection with an alleged coup plot. Sixteen soldiers were released at the weekend and more were expected to be freed on 8 May. About one-hundred-and-fifty people, including seven generals, have been held in detention for six months without any charges being brought. A report by parliament on 3 May called for the suspension of legal proceedings against three MPs being held and the speeding up of procedures against the soldiers. (BBC News, UK, 8 May 2001)
* Guinée Bissau. Démobilisation des anciens combattants - Le 8 mai, un programme de démobilisation et de réinsertion économique et sociale des anciens combattants a été lancé à Bissau en présence du corps diplomatique et de représentants de l'Onu. Le programme en est à sa phase expérimentale, a indiqué le secrétaire d'Etat aux Anciens combattants, M. Cabral. Le processus concernera d'abord 500 soldats volontaires. Chaque démobilisé recevra 100.000 FCFA et des projets seront créés pour eux. Selon le représentant du secrétaire général de l'Onu, la stabilité de Bissau devra impérativement passer par le règlement du problème des militaires. Les institutions de Bretton Woods ont débloqué 25 millions de dollars pour ce programme. (PANA, Sénégal, 9 mai 2001)
* Kenya. Church angered by State inertia - "The government has failed", says a Church. The Presbyterian Church of East Africa's General Assembly, said Kenyans had lost confidence in the government, particularly because it appeared to have lost control of the economy. In a wide-ranging criticism of the State, the Church urged Kenyans to vote in, at next year's General Election, a new government sensitive to their plight. (Daily Nation, Kenya, 1 May 2001)
* Kenya/Somalia. Somalis ordered to leave Kenya - Kenya has ordered 10,000 Somali refugees who've been living in the north-eastern border area that they must move. A local official in the town of Mandera Jamlek Mbaruga told the refugees they had a week either to go home to Somalia or move into existing camps in Kenya. The refugees fled into Kenya after fighting broke out amongst rival factions in a border town Buulohaawo a month ago. They have so far refused to return home, saying they needed security guarantees. Some are also unwilling to move into camps because of experiences at camps elsewhere. Correspondents say the presence of the Somalis in Mandera has placed a burden on the town's infrastructure. (BBC News, UK, 10 May 2001)
* Liberia. Liberian timber profits finance regional conflict - Recent Global Witness investigations have found that two individuals involved in the illicit arms and diamond trade to Sierra Leone, also hold high-ranking positions within the Liberian government body assigned to oversee Liberia's million dollar timber industry. The link between the Liberian timber industry and the war in Sierra Leonean is now plain to see. The United Nations Security Council must urgently reconsider the imposition of a total embargo on Liberian timber exports and immediately implement the diamond embargo. Gus Kouwenhoven, identified by the UN Expert Panel Report as "responsible for the logistic aspects of many of the arms deals," is on the board of directors of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), the Liberian government regulatory body assigned to monitor forest practices and exports. Talal El-Ndine, identified by the Expert Panel Report as the individual who personally pays "Liberians fighting in Sierra Leone alongside the RUF, and those bringing diamonds out of Sierra Leone," is also on the board of directors of the FDA. These ties show that it is now probable that profits accrued from the export and sale of Liberian timber are being used to train and arm the notoriously brutal Sierra Leonean rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). These practices can continue because millions of dollars are being made through the international marketing of valuable Liberian timber. The FDA bi-annual report, covering the period from January to June 2000, showed that China imported 46.4% (worth an estimated 13 million USD) of total Liberian timber exports while France imported 17.9%(3) (worth an estimated 7 million USD). These dramatic figures shed light as to the possible reasons why both countries were the principal objectors to timber sanctions being placed on Liberia in March 2001. (Global Witness, 4 May 2001)
* Libéria. Des femmes contre la guerre - Le 6 mai, le chef de l'Etat libérien Charles Taylor a appelé les pays africains et l'OUA à lui apporter leur soutien face aux sanctions imposées par le Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu contre son pays. (Les sanctions votées en mars entrent en vigueur le 7 mai. Ces mesures, dont un embargo sur les armes et les diamants, sanctionnent le soutien de Monrovia aux rebelles de la Sierra Leone). -Par ailleurs, le 5 mai, plusieurs centaines de Libériennes ont manifesté dans les rues de la capitale Monrovia pour dénoncer les combats et réclamer des pressions internationales contre les assaillants rebelles. Les manifestantes ont dénoncé les attaques rebelles dans la région de Lofa (nord), d'où quelque 60.000 personnes ont été déplacées par les combats qui se sont intensifiés ces dernières semaines. Elles ont remis une pétition demandant à l'Onu, à l'OUA, à la CEDEAO, à l'Union européenne, aux Etats-Unis et à la Grande-Bretagne d'intervenir et de "libérer le Libéria du fléau de la guerre". (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 7 mai 2001)
* Liberia. Sanctions take effect - 7 May: United Nations sanctions against Liberia are coming into effect -- an attempt by the international community to quell the conflict in neighbouring Sierra Leone. The sanctions are being put in place because of Liberia's apparent failure to sever ties with Sierra Leone's rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The movement has been accused of killing, raping and mutilating civilians over the last decade. Diamond exports from Liberia will be banned, in an effort to halt the smuggling of gems from rebel-held areas in Sierra Leone. Foreign travel by senior Liberian officials will also be restricted. Britain and the United States believe the Liberian President, Charles Taylor, has been running guns to the rebels in exchange for so-called "blood diamonds" from the rich Sierra Leonean diamond fields. UN officials said the sanctions were designed to hit the president and his government ministers, rather than ordinary Liberians. The decision was based on a report last week from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He said information indicated Liberia had not yet cut ties with the rebels, closed their bank accounts or expelled their leaders as the UN Security Council demanded. But some West African nations, the very countries which will have to implement the sanctions, are opposed to them. They think the measures could put Mr Taylor's back to the wall and cause a nationalist backlash in Liberia, which he could exploit. The Liberian Government has accused London of backing Liberian rebels. In a statement, the government says some of the arms and ammunition given by Britain to the Sierra Leone national army are now being supplied to rebels fighting in northern Liberia. The British army strenuously denies any involvement in the Liberian war, but the BBC's West African correspondent, Mark Doyle, says it is quite possible in this chaotic region, that some British weapons have reached the Liberian rebels. 8 May: The government has restricted foreign diplomats from travelling outside Monrovia and has advised them going out at night after 8.30 p.m. (BBC News, UK, 7-8 May 2001)
* Maghreb. Création d'une banque commune - L'Algérie, la Libye, la Mauritanie, le Maroc et la Tunisie vont fonder une banque commune dotée d'un capital de 500 millions de dollars, dont l'objectif sera d'encourager les investissements et les échanges commerciaux dans tout le Maghreb. L'Union du Maghreb arabe (Uma) a annoncé que la Banque du Maghreb pour l'investissement et le commerce extérieur (BMICE) sera basée à Tunis. L'Uma, fondée en 1989 dans le but de créer à terme un marché commun des pays d'Afrique du Nord, n'a toutefois pas précisé quand cet établissement serait opérationnel. (Reuters, 4 mai 2001) 

Weekly News anb0510.txt - #4/7