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Weekly anb10184.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 18-10-2001      PART #4/7
* Eritrea. Defending political crackdown - The Eritrean Government has defended a crackdown on dissidents which shows no signs of abating with the detention of at least three more prominent Eritreans in the past few days. Eritrean government spokesman Yemane Gebremeskel said that those arrested had been involved in illegal activities which had endangered the country. Eleven former ministers, eight journalists and at least four business people have been arrested in the past month. Mr Yemane said that the dissidents had gone beyond the law, but would not give any specifics nor details of the charges they might face. He said other dissidents, who had gone to live abroad, were free to return to Eritrea, but warned that if they were guilty of illegal activities they would have to face the law. He also denied that dissidents in the country were being muzzled by the government. The latest arrests include Idriss Abaire, the director-general of the Ministry of Labour who was arrested on 5 October according to sources close to Mr Idriss. (BBC News, UK, 10 October 2001)
* Erythrée. Employés d'ambassade arrêtés - Deux employés de l'ambassade des Etats-Unis à Asmara ont été arrêtés le 11 octobre, a-t-on appris de sources diplomatiques. Les autorités locales n'auraient pas encore fourni d'explications sur l'arrestation de ces deux personnes de nationalité érythréenne, qui travaillaient au service politico-économique de l'ambassade. Selon l'agence italienne Ansa, cette opération "semble être une continuation des mesures répressives entreprises par le gouvernement érythréen" qui a récemment interpellé des dissidents politiques et muselé des journaux indépendants. (Misna, Italie, 17 octobre 2001)
* Ethiopie. Le président gravement malade - Le nouveau président éthiopien, Girma Woldegiorgis, 77 ans, élu il y a seulement cinq jours, est gravement malade. Selon des sources hospitalières, il souffre d'une hypertension artérielle. Soigné d'abord dans un hôpital militaire à Addis Abeba, il a été évacué en Arabie Saoudite, ont confirmé des sources le 14 octobre. (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 15 octobre 2001) 

* Gambie. Election présidentielle
Le président gambien Yahya Jammeh, candidat à sa propre succession à la présidentielle du jeudi 18 octobre, affrontera quatre candidats dont un sérieux prétendant, Ousainou Darboe. Darboe, leader du Parti démocrate uni (UDP), mise surtout sur une coalition de trois partis pour arriver au changement, comme ce fut le cas au Sénégal voisin. Le scrutin pourrait être suivi d'un deuxième tour dans les quinze jours, au cas où aucun des candidats n'aurait franchi la barre des 50%. L'OUA a envoyé une équipe d'observateurs. Hormis quelques petites échauffourées, la campagne électorale se déroule dans un calme relatif. Toutefois, le dimanche 14 octobre, plusieurs personnes ont été blessées dans des accrochages entre supporters rivaux. Le lundi soir, les forces de l'ordre ont tiré en l'air pour éviter des affrontements. Le 16 octobre, la campagne s'est achevée dans la violence, avec deux morts lors d'un rassemblement de l'opposition. Ousainou Darboe a lancé un appel à ses compatriotes, leur demandant de renoncer à toute violence au cours de l'élection. Les opérations de vote ont débuté dans le calme tôt jeudi matin à Banjul et sa banlieue avec, dans certains endroits, plusieurs dizaines de minutes de retard. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 18 octobre 2001)
* The Gambia. Presidential elections - 15 October: A four-member ECOWAS delegation is due to arrive in The Gambia mid-week to monitor the 18 October presidential election. The monitors are members of ECOWAS' Council of Elders, which is part of the 15-member organisations's conflict prevention and resolution mechanism. Political parties are winding up their electioneering ahead of the election. Five political parties are fielding candidates in the poll. President Jammeh is seeking re-election on the ticket of the ruling Alliance of Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC). 16 October: There have been clashes between security forces and opposition supporters ahead of the elections. 18 October: Presidential elections. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 18 October 2001)
* Ghana. Véhicules controversés - Une enveloppe de 4 millions de dollars, destinée à l'achat de véhicules au profit des 200 parlementaires du Ghana, est au centre d'une confrontation entre les députés et la jeune administration du président Kufuor, qui a déclaré que les députés ne peuvent pas disposer de cet argent. Selon le Graphic, un journal d'Etat, le gouvernement a repoussé une décision du ministre des Finances visant à prêter 20.000 dollars à chaque député pour l'achat d'un véhicule. Un communiqué a confirmé l'annulation de cette décision par le président Kufuor. La priorité du président est d'obtenir des véhicules pour la police. (PANA, Sénégal, 11 octobre 2001)
* Ghana. MPs drive president to anger - Ghana's President John Kufuor is said to be "furious" over a decision by MPs to give themselves $20,000 loans to buy new cars. But President Kufuor is not alone. Many people who called into the countless phone-in programmes on Accra's dozen or so FM radio stations on 10 October, also condemned the MPs for being concerned only about their comfort. And their anger is directed to both the governing NPP and the three opposition parties in parliament because the deal has multi-party backing. According to the arrangements, payment for the cars would be made directly from the MPs salaries from month to month. The deductions have been pegged at around 1.2 million cedis, which leaves the MPs with no more than 100,000 cedis (about $15) for the rest of the month. No matter how tight-fisted Ghana's MPs may be, even if they worked at night as magicians, they still could not possibly make 100,000 cedis last them for more than a few days. As a result, people are concerned that the arrangement could lead to what one senior official describes as "corruption borne out of need, but not of greed". But the MPs say everyone is jumping to unwarranted conclusions. One point, according to deputy majority chief whip George Kyei-Mensa, is that some MPs have not signed up to take the loan because either they cannot afford the monthly repayments, or that they already have cars they are perfectly happy with. Those who take the money must have other sources of income to enable them keep up with the repayment schedule. Another point, and this was articulated by Doe Adjaho who comes from the opposition NDC, is that under the constitution, parliament, the judiciary and the executive all have equal power. And yet, whereas ministers, judges and even senior civil servants get cars free from the state, MPs are paying for theirs. The MPs believe they should be getting commendation, not condemnation. (BBC News, UK, 11 October 2001)
* Guinée. Référendum constitutionnel - Un référendum constitutionnel, qui modifierait la durée du mandat présidentiel et permettrait au président actuel, Lansana Conté, de briguer un troisième mandat, a été fixé au 11 novembre, ont annoncé les médias le 11 octobre. La décision, prise la veille à l'issue d'une réunion du conseil des ministres, intervient une semaine après l'annonce par M. Conté qu'il était favorable à une telle révision. Les partis de l'opposition et le président de l'Assemblée nationale s'étaient prononcés contre cette révision. L'opposition veut mobiliser les Guinéens à voter contre l'amendement proposé. Le mandat de M. Conté expire en 2003. (IRIN, Abidjan, 11 octobre 2001)
* Guinea. Referendum on third term - The government of Guinea says it wants to hold a referendum to decide whether the constitution should be changed to allow President Lansana Conte to extend his term of office. State-run Radio Conakry said the government had proposed holding the referendum on 11 November. Amending the Guinean constitution would pave the way for President Conte -- a former military ruler of the country -- to stand again when his second term as an elected president expires in 2003. Guinean opposition groups have been campaigning against any attempt to extend Mr Conte's mandate. (BBC News, UK, 11 October 2001)
* Kenya. Les exportations de thé plongent - Les exportations kényanes de thé, première source traditionnelle de devises du pays, aujourd'hui concurrencée par l'horticulture, souffrent de la défection de l'Afghanistan, troisième client du pays, qui a pratiquement stoppé ses achats depuis le 11 septembre, selon les professionnels. L'Afghanistan achète pour au moins 30 millions de dollars de thé par an au Kenya. (Le Figaro, France, 12 octobre 2001)
* Kenya. UN concerned over police treatment of street children - The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has said it is concerned over the incidence of police brutality against Kenyan children living and working on the streets. In its "Final Conclusions and Recommendations" on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Kenya, the Committee said there was inadequate enforcement of existing legislation to ensure the "physical and mental integrity" of all children was respected. The Committee added that "greater efforts should be made to prevent all forms torture, inhuman or degrading treatment by police forces". The Committee strongly recommended that all appropriate measures be taken to fully implement the provisions of the Convention. As one of the 191 signatories, Kenya is obliged to submit a report to the Committee, a component of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on progress on the Convention's implementation. (IRIN, 15 October 2001)
* Kenya. Sending more Missionaries abroad - In a colorful ceremony held at the Consolata Shrine, 12 new Kenyan missionaries were sent out to the world to evangelize. The African agency CISA reported that two nuns, two religious brothers and eight priests received a mandate to leave their country to proclaim the Gospel. The celebration was presided over by the newly ordained Bishop Virgilio Pante of Maralal and marked the conclusion of the centenary celebrations of the foundation of the Consolata Missionaries. The Nairobi celebration gathered the four Consolata bishops -- Ambrose Ravasi of Marsabit, Peter Kihara of Murangia, Auxiliary Anthony Ireri of Nairobi, and Virgilio Pante of Maralal. It also included the ordination of Consolata Missionary Father Joseph Otieno, of Nairobi's Kahawa West parish. There are more than 250 Kenyan missionaries around the world. More than 70 of them are Consolata priests, brothers and nuns. Two of the new missionaries are going to Korea. They are among the first African missionaries sent to Asia. (Zenit, Italy, 17 October 2001)
* Liberia. Starting to rebuild - Residents returning to this much-fought-over town and surrounding villages have begun cleaning up the debris of war to make the area inhabitable once again. Zorzor, situated on the border with Guinea, has been attacked seven times by Liberian rebels since 1999. "To clean the town is not the problem, the problem is the lack of shelter for the thousands of people still residing in the bush," said town chief Paul Howard. He heads the clean-up exercise, which is done every Saturday. Gun-toting militiamen fighting alongside regular Liberian soldiers maintain a huge presence in the town since driving dissident forces away in April. Liberian Defence officials have accompanied members of the United Nations Panel of Experts on Liberia to Lofa County to see the effects of the fighting. Youth leader Sumo Gayflor said fighting has stopped but many people are still too afraid to come to town. Changing hands between government and rebel troops has reduced Zorzor to rubble. Buildings are levelled to the ground, vandalised or pock-marked with bullet-holes. One lady selling oranges in the open said that when she returned from hiding, she could not recognise the spot where her home once existed and is now living in her fields. Zubah Johnson, a 75-year-old father of six, represents the elders on the committee to clean the town. He said that food has never been a problem in Lofa County "but because of war we abandoned all our farms and ran for our lives. We can venture into the bushes and return with at least roots to eat, but medication is out. If any sickness grabs you, you just have to bear it." (BBC News, UK, 9 October 2001 

Weekly anb1018.txt - End of #4/7