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Weekly anb09274.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 27-09-2001  PART #4/7
* Congo (RDC). Paying the price for war - A United Nations team is investigating how parties involved in civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo have plundered the country's natural resources. The UN panel, which arrived in the capital Kinshasa on 24 September, plans to update a report published in April which argued that economic pillaging has fuelled the involvement of some nations in the conflict. Rwanda and Uganda were singled out for criticism. Both nations were critical of the report, as was Britain, as all felt the report was one-sided and lenient on the involvement of Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia. The chairman of the UN panel, Mahmoud Kassem, said there was further work to be done in examining links between the conflict and exploitation of the region's resources. He also felt that there were new developments, some positive, which needed to be included in a new version. The updated report is scheduled for release in October. (BBC News, UK, 26 September 2001)
* Congo (RDC)/Rwanda. Rencontre Kabila-Kagame - Le 26 septembre, les présidents Kabila du Congo et Kagame du Rwanda se sont rencontrés à Blantyre (Malawi) en présence du président Muluzi du Malawi, au sujet de la mise en oeuvre des accords de paix de Lusaka et notamment le retrait des troupes étrangères. A l'issue de la réunion, aucun communiqué n'a été publié, mais le président Muluzi a qualifié les discussions de "succès". Il a révélé qu'une commission ministérielle serait mise sur pied pour assurer le suivi des questions abordées. -D'autre part, le mouvement rebelle congolais RCD-Goma a menacé de reprendre les armes pour reprendre la ville de Fizi (Sud-Kivu) conquise le 7 septembre par des combattants hutu rwandais et burundais et des soldats de Kinshasa. Selon le RCD, c'est l'armée congolaise qui a fourni aux rebelles hutu les embarcations rapides qu'ils utilisent pour traverser le lac Tanganyika (entre le Congo et le Burundi). (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 27 septembre 2001)
* Côte d'Ivoire. Cocoa farmers protected - Côte d'Ivoire has adopted new proposals to ensure a minimum price for cocoa farmers. The West African country's commodity marketing body has voted in a new export system which includes quotas for cocoa in order to protect against over-supply. At a meeting in the political capital Yamoussoukro, the Coffee and Cocoa Bourse (BCC) agreed the principal of minimum prices for farmers for the coming season. The West African country is the world's largest cocoa producer --accounting for 40% of world supply. It is also Africa's largest coffee producer. Farmers have welcomed the decision to guarantee them minimum revenues for their cocoa following plummeting world prices for the country's main export. Henri Amouzou, head of the National Association of Coffee-Cocoa Producers, said the move showed President Laurent Gbagbo's wish "to give farmers back their dignity". Cocoa prices were previously stabilised by a complex system in which most of the Côte d'Ivoire crop was sold before it was actually harvested. But that system was abandoned in 1999 to fulfil conditions for a loan from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The current BCC was created in July, with the express intention of guaranteeing farmers a price for their coffee. Farmers hold two-thirds of the body's seats, with the remainder going to exporters. But there is also concern that a quota system could be open to abuse and big exporters have opposed it. (BBC News, UK, 24 September 2001)
* Eritrea. Details about officials' arrests - 20 September: The Eritrean government has given more details of the role of former members of the ruling Peoples Front for Democracy Party who have been arrested over the past two-days. The official party website said the group held meetings in the United States aimed at recruiting members to join a secret opposition group. They were also said to have discussed plans for the creation of secret cells to infiltrate various organisations in the country including the Eritrean defence forces. The meetings also aimed to organise various initiatives to isolate the Eritrean government. About eleven former members of the ruling party have so far been arrested for allegedly plotting against the government. -- Amnesty International fears the recent arrests indicates growing repressing of non-violent dissent by the government. 21 September: Human Rights Watch calls on the Eritrean Government to immediately free recently detained political dissidents, allow the return of university students to their classes, and lift the ban it decreed on 19 September on privately-owned newspapers. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 September 2001)
* Erythrée. Nouvelles arrestations d'opposants - Quatre anciens hauts responsables érythréens ont été arrêtés à Asmara, ce qui porte à au moins onze le nombre d'opposants interpellés par les autorités depuis le 18 septembre. Le sort d'un ancien ministre de la Défense, Mesfin Hagos, également signataire d'une lettre ouverte critiquant le président Issaias Afeworki n'était pas connu avec certitude. Au total, quinze dignitaires du régime, tous membres du comité central du parti unique au pouvoir, avaient lancé une dissidence en mai en critiquant ouvertement une dérive autocratique du président Afeworki. Deux d'entre eux se trouvent à l'étranger. - Le 21 septembre, le gouvernement a accusé les onze réformateurs arrêtés d'avoir commis des "crimes contre la sécurité et la souveraineté de la nation", assurant que leur interpellation n'avait "rien à voir" avec leurs critiques du président Afeworki. Le porte-parole n'a pas précisé s'ils avaient été inculpés, assurant que les informations seraient rendues publiques en temps utile. -25 septembre. Neuf journalistes ont été arrêtés en moins d'une semaine, alors que les autorités ont fermé tous les journaux privés, a-t-on appris de source diplomatique. Des élections présidentielles, législatives et municipales sont prévues en décembre. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 26 septembre 2001)
* Eritrea-Ethiopia. UN worried by truce - The United Nations Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) has expressed growing concern about the situation in the buffer zone between the two countries. UNMEE says that both Ethiopia and Eritrea have not kept to the requirements stated in the ceasefire agreement signed by both countries. The UN says that (among other things), the movement of their peacekeepers is being restricted by the Eritreans, and the Ethiopians have not provided all their minefield maps. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 23 September 2001)
* Ethiopia. Government activity - Destroying expired pesticides: The Ministry of Agriculture is in the process of collecting expired pesticides from rural areas for disposal. The pesticides will be shipped to Finland for incineration, since Ethiopia does not have the facilities. The Ministry hopes to collect 1,500mt of pesticide, and has budgeted accordingly. The Minister says the project will get under way once clearance is received from countries that the shipment will have to cross. New industrial policy: The Minister for Trade and Industry is planning a new industrial policy designed to promote industrial development in the country. The government has identified industrial development as one of the highest priorities in its current five-year economic plan. Tackling HIV/AIDS in schools: The Ministry of Education has allocated about US $1.3 million towards controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS in schools. The money will come from the World Bank fund against the disease and be used to finance a three-year programme. The fund will be used to purchase and distribute appropriate literature in the schools, as well as for training teachers and administrators. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 September 2001)
* Grands Lacs. Aide juridique belge - La Belgique a approuvé une allocation de $1,7 million pour aider à l'amélioration du système judiciaire au Burundi, au Congo-RDC et au Rwanda, a indiqué le 22 septembre le secrétaire d'Etat belge à la Coopération, M. Boutmans. Le programme pour 2001 est administré par l'ONG Avocats sans frontières (ASF). L'organisation a signé un accord avec la justice du Burundi pour former des avocats et des auxiliaires juridiques; l'accord prévoit aussi une aide juridique aux femmes détenues et aux enfants. La RDC recevra une aide pour une bibliothèque juridique à l'université de Kinshasa; en outre, ASF fournira une assistance juridique à la société civile et aidera le pays à harmoniser les lois coutumières et nationales avec les traités internationaux. Au Rwanda, ASF a contribué au renforcement du régime de droit, a souligné M. Boutmans. (IRIN, Nairobi, 24 septembre 2001)
* Guinea. Flood misery in Guinea - Heavy rains in Guinea have left at least five people dead and 30,000 homeless in the worst floods for many years. Citizens in the western regions of Kankan, Mandiana and Kouroussa have lost almost all their property in the rains which not stopped for the past seven days. Official reports said that hundreds of mud houses have literally been washed away. Guinean President General Lansana Conte, leading relief assistance, has ordered an SOS mission to the area, comprising aid workers and emergency relief said to be worth about 55 million Guinean francs ($28,000). Weather officials in the capital Conakry said these floods are the worst Guinea has seen in many years, and the material damage it has left in its wake is inestimable. The affected regions are usually the first to see the start of the rainy season but this year, the rains were late in arriving. Rice fields, roads and bridges have been completely inundated, and vehicular traffic to the area has been curtailed by the flooding. Huge areas of countries such as Chad, Niger and Mali have also recently been hit by heavy rains. (BBC News, UK, 21 September 2001)
* Guinée. Inondations et choléra - Des dizaines de milliers de personnes ont été affectées par les plus graves inondations en dix ans dans la région de Kankan, à l'est de la Guinée, a indiqué le 21 septembre le Bureau de coordination des affaires humanitaires de l'Onu (OCHA). Les inondations sont survenues après que le fleuve Niger et ses affluents eurent débordé. Elles ont affecté quelque 70.000 personnes, dont 40.000 ont été déplacées. De nombreuses régions sont toujours inaccessibles. - D'autre part, dans plusieurs villages près de Nzerekore, au sud-est de la Guinée, douze personnes au moins sont mortes du choléra durant les six semaines écoulées. 151 cas de choléra ont été enregistrés, surtout des enfants de 3 à 10 ans, mais le chiffre réel est probablement supérieur. L'épidémie, provoquée par l'utilisation d'une eau contaminée dans des puits traditionnels, semble être maîtrisée. (IRIN, Abidjan, 21 septembre 2001)
* Kenya. Needing a transition government - The Chairman of the Kenya Constitutional Review Commission, Prof Yash Pal Ghai, has proposed that Kenya should have a transition government made up of an appointed commission retired judges to run the affairs of the country during the next general elections. Ghai said that such a system has worked well for the last eight years in Bangladesh. Prof Ghai's sentiments echo those already expressed by some radical opposition Members of Parliament and non-governmental organizations. The ruling party Kanu, which argues that Kenya is not making a shift from military rule to warrant a transition government, however, has repeatedly dismissed the idea. Prof. Ghai says that the idea should be debated thoroughly by all Kenyans since such a government could inspire confidence among Kenyans and ensure that the elections are free and fair. He added that Kenyans should also consider reviewing the constitutions to create a supreme court that would help achieve the independence of the judiciary. (Thomas Omondi, Kenya, 11 September 2001)
* Kenya. Opposition party welcomes changes in KANU - Kenya's opposition National Development Party (NDP), led by Raila Odinga, has said that the changes announced by the ruling KANU party were welcome and crucial to the planned merger between the two parties. In what was being seen by observers to be the final stage for the proposed merger with the opposition National Development Party (NDP), the governing KANU party on 18 September, announced a major restructuring within its hierarchy. Party Secretary General Joseph Kamotho announced the creation of a new post of third national vice chairman -- the post most likely to be reserved for Raila once the merger between the two parties is complete. Kamotho further announced the creation of eight other positions within KANU, although he failed to name who are to fill the slots. (PANA, Senegal 20 September 2001)
* Kenya/Tanzanie. Le Kilimandjaro en danger - La Fondation des Nations unies et le PNUD vont lancer conjointement une opération de sauvetage du site naturel du mont Kilimandjaro qui, dominant la Tanzanie et le Kenya, abrite 1.800 espères de plantes et 35 sortes de mammifères. La beauté des lieux encourage le tourisme tandis que la richesse des sols favorise l'agriculture. Toutefois, l'érosion et la fonte des neiges, la surexploitation des terres et de l'eau, les dégradations commises par les visiteurs mettent en danger le fragile écosystème du Kilimandjaro et, par conséquent, les sources de revenus de la population locale estimée à près d'un million de personnes. Le projet des Nations unies prévoit l'arrêt de la déforestation, la prévention des feux et... l'éducation des touristes. (J.A./L'intelligent, France, 18-24 septembre 2001) 

Weekly anb0927.txt - end of #4/7