Weekly anb08307.txt #8

[anb-bia <anb-bia at village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-08-2001      PART #7/8

* Soudan. Appel des évêques catholiques et épiscopaliens  -  Réunis à 
Nairobi du 12 au 17 août, les évêques catholiques et épiscopaliens du 
Soudan ont adressé un message au gouvernement de Khartoum et aux mouvements 
rebelles, rapporte l'agence missionnaire CISA dans sa dépêche du 21 août. 
Il s'agit là d'une première rencontre de ce genre dans l'histoire de 
l'Eglise au Soudan. Les prélats proposent trois solutions pour le retour de 
la paix au Soudan: l'affirmation de la diversité dans l'identité nationale, 
le partage du pouvoir à travers la gouvernance "participative" et le 
partage des richesses par la distribution équitable des ressources. Pour 
les évêques, il ne suffit pas d'arrêter la guerre, il faut également 
examiner les causes profondes des conflits, afin de permettre à tous les 
Soudanais de jouir pleinement de leurs droits à la dignité.   (DIA, 
Kinshasa, 27 août 2001)

* Soudan. Durcissement contre opposants ougandais  -  Le Soudan a décidé de 
prendre une position ferme contre l'Armée de la résistance du Seigneur 
(LRA, rebelles ougandais), l'accusant d'avoir attaqué ses troupes dans le 
sud du pays. Le ministre des Affaires étrangères a déclaré que l'armée 
soudanaise s'opposerait à toute opération militaire que la LRA voudrait 
mener à l'intérieur du territoire soudanais. Selon la presse ougandaise, la 
LRA a attaqué des troupes soudanaises dans le sud, le 19 juillet, tuant 
cinq soldats. Récemment à Kampala, des négociations ont eu lieu entre les 
gouvernements soudanais et ougandais concernant la présence de la LRA au 
Soudan. Le président soudanais el-Béchir a déclaré qu'il retirait son appui 
au groupe. Il a demandé au gouvernement ougandais de faire de même en 
coupant tout lien avec l'Armée du mouvement de libération du Sud-Soudan 
(SPLA).   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 27 août 2001)

* Sudan. Student agitation  -  22 August: Two students were killed and 16 
critically injured in clashes last week at the University of Gezira (around 
180km south of Khartoum, Sudan). According to the NGO, Sudanese Victims of 
Torture Group, the unrest broke out during a debate organised by young 
activists of the Arab Nassrist Social Party (ANSP). The gathering was 
broken up by militants of the Student National Congress (NC). They entered 
the campus marching and chanting their call to Jihad (holy war), provoking 
a reaction from the students of the ANSP and other opposition parties which 
attempted to force the militants off campus. Police and security agents 
also arrived on the scene. When a girl was hit by a police car the 
situation degenerated. The names of the two dead youths are Yahia el 
Hussein and Mutasim Mohamed el Hassan. They were shot to death, though it 
is still uncertain whether by NC militants or by the police. 28 August: 
Riot police in Sudan have used teargas and batons to break up a 
demonstration by thousands of students in Khartoum who were protesting 
against the doubling of bus fares. Witnesses said some of the demonstrators 
threw stones at buses. The Sudanese Government doubled fares for students 
on 25 August after complaints from the mainly privately-owned bus 
companies. The firms said they were losing money because they had to grant 
students half-price tickets.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 August 2001)

* Soudan. Villages bombardés  -  Les bombardements aériens des forces 
armées de Khartoum ont repris dans le sud du Soudan. Le diocèse de Torit a 
rapporté qu'un Antonov a survolé à haute altitude les villages de Ngaluma, 
Ikotos et Hiyala (Equatoria orientale) en larguant un grand nombre de 
bombes. Le raid a eu lieu dimanche matin pendant que les habitants étaient 
rassemblés dans les églises pour la messe. L'Eglise locale a sévèrement 
condamné ces incursions. Ces bombardements se répètent. A partir du 22 
juillet, les Antonov ont visé pendant trois jours consécutifs Magwi, 
Ikotos, Hiyala, Parajok et Ngaluma, tuant 5 personnes et blessant 8 autres. 
De nombreuses personnes ont pris la fuite et ont rejoint les rangs des 
déplacés.   (Misna, Italie, 28 août 2001)

* Swaziland. Coal mine saved  -  The authorities in Swaziland say they have 
reached an agreement with a South African firm to re-open the country's 
only operational coal mine. The Mololmo mine, in south-east Swaziland, was 
closed down last month after an explosion killed four people and injured 
twenty others. The mine's 600 workers will all be re-employed by the new 
company, Extract, from South Africa.   (BBC News, UK, 24 August 2001)

* Chad/Senegal. Amnesty urges Habre extradition  -  Amnesty International 
has called on the Senegalese Government to hand over the former leader of 
Chad, Hissene Habre, so that he can be put on trial for crimes of torture. 
Mr Habre has spent the last decade in Senegal after being overthrown by the 
current Chadian President Idriss Deby in 1990. Torture victims and human 
rights organisations have campaigned for Mr Habre to be put on trial in 
Senegal. But the Senegalese legal authorities say they cannot judge him. 
Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade said he wants Mr Habre to leave the 
country, but has not said when this should happen. Amnesty International 
has just held its international council meeting in Dakar and received a 
strong tribute from Mr Wade for its human rights work over the past 40 
years.   (BBC News, 26 August 2001)

* Tanzania. Press attacks state silence on mining sector's 
problems  -  President Benjamin Mkapa's administration has come under 
scathing press attacks for its handling of conflicts plaguing the country's 
burgeoning mining sector. Leading dailies say that Tanzania's entire mining 
sector development, as undertaken by the Mkapa government, has been 
embroiled in controversies, conflicts, secrecy, intrigues and outright 
repression of the citizens it is meant to benefit. The newspapers single 
out the boiling conflict between foreign mining companies and the local 
artisanal miners in areas endowed with gold and Tanzanite deposits. Of 
particular reference is the unending conflict at the Mererani 
Tanzanite-mining site in northern Tanzania between the indigenous 
small-scale miners and a giant South African firm, AFGEM.   (PANA, Senegal, 
17 August 2001)

* Tanzania. Islamists charged with violence  -  The authorities in Tanzania 
have charged 41 people with rioting, illegal assembly and violence 
following a religious protest. The group of Muslims went on a banned 
demonstration to protest over the arrest of a man who was jailed for 
blasphemy against Christians. They pleaded not guilty and were remanded in 
custody for a hearing next month. Several Islamic groups had called for the 
release of a man who walked through the streets of Morogoro west of 
Dar-es-Salam, shouting: "Jesus is not God." His sentence was revoked after 
an appeal at the High Court.   (BBC News, UK, 28 August 2001)

* Tunisia. Protest against appointment  -  Human rights activists have 
protested against Tunisia's appointment of a controversial general as the 
organiser of the forthcoming Mediterranean Games. General Habib Ammar is 
alleged to have had connections with a group known as the Special Services, 
which routinely tortured suspected opponents of the late President Habib 
Bourguiba during the nineteen-eighties. The BBC North Africa correspondent 
says Tunisia is hoping that its role as host of the games will show the 
country in a positive light, at a time when its leaders are coming under 
criticism for human rights abuses. He says this makes it all the more 
strange that they should choose a man with a controversial past to head the 
organising committee. In Geneva, the World Organisation against Torture has 
issued a statement describing General Ammar's appointment as an insult to 
victims of torture. The games open in Tunis on the second of September and 
are expected to attract hundreds of athletes.   (BBC News, UK, 26 August 2001)

* Uganda. African leaders lend an ear to lofty dialogue  -  In a continent 
where protocol is paramount and suspicion of the private sector remains 
strong, nine African heads of state this week rolled up their sleeves under 
an air-conditioned tent by Lake Victoria and chatted with unusual candour 
to 700 representatives of the business community, civil services and the 
media. Repeating slogans such as "win-win-win" and "prosper thy neighbour", 
the fifth annual "Smart Partnership" forum debated good governance, how to 
attract investment and how to enhance trade. Joachim Chissano, the 
Mozambique leader, mixed seamlessly with flower farmers, civil servants and 
reporters --and listened to their views. On the face of it, therefore, the 
Commonwealth-born network was a potent sign of the slowly changing approach 
of Africa's leaders: of private-public co-operation and cross-cultural 
dialogue. With the 2001 meeting, near Kampala in Uganda, the best-attended 
yet, Smart is emerging as an unusually effective place to push forward 
one's message, and a grouping to be watched closely. But as it closed, many 
were left wondering to what degree the dialogue's lofty ideals were 
fulfilled. Despite its theme -- enhancing foreign direct investment -- 
there were, with the exception of a large Malaysian delegation, notably few 
non-African business or political figures. Most journalists were left 
outside. Despite promises to open themselves to the media (on one evening 
there was a direct exchange of views with correspondents) the heads of 
government in one speech after another harangued the press for 
irresponsible reporting. Other agendas were clearly at play. Taking centre 
stage -- and the only non-African leader -- was Malaysia's prime minister 
Mahathir Mohamad, who spoke gushingly of his desire to help Africa learn 
from his success. Forty years ago Malaysia was, after all, poorer than many 
of the attending states. But his keynote speech revealed other motives. He 
launched a blistering attack on the World Trade Organisation and called on 
his African colleagues to support his campaign against what he saw as the 
west's perversion of free trade. The audience was rapt, and African leaders 
queued to attack the $300bn that industrialised countries spend annually on 
agricultural subsidies as both hypocritical and an obstacle to third world 
development. Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president and host who has 
recently adopted unfair trade as a theme, took up the gauntlet with gusto, 
complaining that Africa had been the recipient of abusive globalisation 
since slavery. Mr Chissano called for developing countries to be given 
their "rightful place in the trade network"; Tanzania's Benjamin Mkapa said 
there was a strong case for further domestic protection.   (Financial 
Times, UK, 24 August 2001)

* Uganda. Besigye surfaces  -  Kizza Besigye, the opposition leader, who 
had been reported missing by his family more than a week ago, has 
re-appeared in the USA. On the Voice of America, he says he had left Uganda 
because he felt in danger from President Museveni's government. The issue 
of his disappearance has been headlines in Uganda's press. Dr Besigye is a 
former ally of President Museveni but stood against him in the March 
presidential elections. He says he wishes to remain politically active but 
has not said when and if he is returning to Uganda.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 
28 August 2001)

* Ouganda. Besigye a fui aux Etats-Unis  -  L'opposant ougandais Kizza 
Besigye, porté disparu par sa famille il y a dix jours, a annoncé le 28 
août avoir fui aux Etats-Unis, craignant que le gouvernement ne s'en prenne 
à lui. "Je me sentais en danger", a-t-il déclaré à la radio Voix de 
l'Amérique. Ancien haut responsable dans le gouvernement Museveni, avant de 
tomber en disgrâce, il était arrivé deuxième de l'élection présidentielle 
de mars dernier, marquée par de nombreuses violences et des actes 
d'intimidation. M. Besigye a par ailleurs précisé qu'il comptait rester 
actif politiquement à l'intérieur ou à l'extérieur de l'Ouganda.   (La 
Libre Belgique, 29 août 2001)

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