Weekly anb11223.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 22-11-2001      PART #3/6

* Congo (RDC). Foreign armies perpetuating warfare  -  Despite UN warnings, 
foreign armies are perpetuating warfare in the Congo so they can continue 
plundering the country's gold, diamonds, timber, cobalt and other 
resources, a UN panel reported on 19 November. The initial motivation for 
Rwanda and Uganda to intervene in the central African nation was to secure 
its borders while Zimbabwean troops came at the request of the government. 
But over time the lure of natural resources became "the primary motive" for 
staying in many areas of the country and perpetuating warfare, the expert 
panel said. "This holds true for both government allies as well as rebel 
supporters," it said in a 38-page report. The Congo's civil war, which is 
gradually subsiding, saw Rwanda and Uganda supporting rebel groups trying 
to topple the Kinshasa government, which was propped up by troops from 
Zimbabwe as well as Angola and Namibia. The main parties have generally 
honoured a cease-fire since last April, but warfare continues among a 
variety of armed groups. The panel said Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe as well 
as the government apparently tolerated some of these conflicts as an excuse 
to maintain their armies and exploit resources. The five-member panel was 
established by the UN Security Council to investigate the relationship 
between the war and natural resources. It submitted its first report in 
April, criticized by some council members as being disjointed. The panel, 
with some changes in personnel, on 19 November produced a more organized, 
documented report, which came to similar conclusions about the heavy 
involvement of Rwanda and Uganda in carrying off the country's riches. But 
it also elaborated on the role of Zimbabwe, the mainstay of government 
support, saying its joint ventures with Kinshasa appear to benefit 
Zimbabwean army and government officials as well as some Congolese rather 
than the general population in either country. The panel recommended a 
moratorium on the Congo's coltan, diamond, gold, coper, cobalt, timber and 
coffee originating from areas where foreign troops are present as well as 
regions under control of the rebels. It said all concessions and contracts 
signed by the government of the late Laurent Kabila should be reviewed 
under UN Security Council supervision.   (CNN, USA, 20 November 2001)

* Congo (RDC). Efforts to stabilise the situation  -  20 November: A 
delegation from the European Union led by Belgian Foreign minister Louis 
Michel, leaves Brussels, today, for a tour of six African countries 
involved in the Congolese conflict. Apart from Michel, the delegation 
includes Javier Solana who is EU senior representative for common foreign 
and security policy, EU foreign relations commissioner Chris Patten, and 
Spanish foreign minister Josep Pique. The delegation will from 20 to 26 
November visit Congo RDC, Angola, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. In 
Congo RDC, the delegation will visit Kinshasa, Gbadolite, Goma and Kamina 
where it will assess the disarming of Rwandan fighters currently under the 
surveillance of the UN Observer Mission in Congo (MONUC). -- President 
Joseph Kabila has signed a decree extending for six months the deadline for 
registering their political parties with the interior ministry. According 
to sources close to the ministry, that extension is an illustration of the 
regime's desire to put all political parties on an equal footing, given the 
opposition parties' traditional reluctance to submit to that regulation. 
The parties object to the new regulation on the pretext that they 
registered during the late President Mobutu Sese Seko's regime. Registered 
during the failed democratic process in 1990, the opposition parties, led 
by the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) of Etienne 
Tshisekedi, believe that their official recognition was covered by the law 
of 18 July 1990. Meanwhile, the interior ministry has revealed that only 
247 out of the 443 political parties registered with the various regimes 
have been given notice to resume their activities. -- The Congo RDC Congo 
government has denounced and condemned the 16 November tragic acts that 
occurred in Wembo- Nyama (eastern Kasai) where a joint force of the 
Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) and the Congolese Liberation Movement 
(MLC) killed four people and injured 17 others. The killings, the 
government said, were contrary to a resolution of the UN Security Council 
relating to disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, relocation and the 
reintegration of armed groups in the Democratic Republic of 
Congo.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 November 2001)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Médiations dans la crise  -  Le 20 novembre, Mme Diabaté, 
la secrétaire générale du Rassemblement des républicains (le parti 
d'Alassane Ouattara), a exprimé la disponibilité de son parti pour la 
réconciliation nationale en Côte d'Ivoire. Elle a fait cette déclaration à 
Dakar, où elle avait été reçue par le président Wade, qui conduirait une 
médiation entre les protagonistes de la crise ivoirienne. D'autre part, le 
21 novembre, l'ancien président ivoirien, le général Robert Gueï, à l'issue 
d'un entretien avec le président togolais Eyadéma, a annoncé qu'il pourrait 
participer au forum national de réconciliation en cours.   (D'après PANA, 
Sénégal, 20-21 novembre 2001)

* Côte d'Ivoire. RDR on the offensive  -  20 November: An Ivorian 
opposition politician, Henriette Dagri Diabate, has given a positive 
assessment of the ongoing national reconciliation forum that opened 9 
October in Cote d'Ivoire. "On the whole, we have seen the forum move 
towards reconciliation. We can say that there were highlights. Halfway, we 
cannot despair of the meeting", Diabate, secretary general of the Rally for 
Republicans (RDR) says. The forum is aimed to resolve the political and 
social crisis that developed in Côte d'Ivoire since the 24 December 1999 
military overthrow of President Henri Konan Bedie. "Our demands are 
addressed to the government authorities for things to be done as simply as 
possible," she says, noting that chairman Seydou Elimane Diarra of the 
forum, with whom her party has no qualms, is making concrete efforts for 
reconciliation. 21 November: The RDR announces it will take to the streets 
again with demands that its leader be rehabilitated.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 
22 November 2001)

* Egypt. EU aid called for  -  Egypt has asked the European Union to help 
overcome its short term liquidity problems as its economy becomes a 
casualty of the war against terrorism. In a grim presentation of the impact 
on the Egyptian economy of the September 11 attacks, Atef Ebeid, the prime 
minister, told top officials from the EU at the weekend that the country 
was expected to lose up to $2.5bn in revenues this year. The EU delegation 
was led by Romano Prodi, the Commission president, Javier Solana, the EU's 
top foreign policy chief, and Guy Verhofstadt, prime minister of Belgium 
which holds the EU's rotating presidency. The group was on a packed 
three-day visit to the region. The main aim was to shore up support for the 
Mitchell Commission report, which set out a coherent path leading to an 
eventual resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The 
report was fully endorsed by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, and 
Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, but has still to be implemented. 
Ahmed Maher, the Egyptian foreign minister, said it was "total nonsense" by 
Mr Sharon to insist on seven days of non-violence as a condition for 
putting in place a ceasefire. "We just can't condition the peace process on 
a veto by the Israelis," he said. During talks with Mr Ebeid, Mr Maher and 
President Hosni Mubarak, EU officials were briefed about Egypt's economic 
problems. Egypt has now short-term liquidity problems, making it difficult 
to buy basic commodities such as wheat, grain, sugar and vegetable oil. It 
has asked the EU to provide some of these commodities. It has also asked 
the EU to speed up the disbursal of some E615m ($549m). This sum was 
earmarked by Brussels for helping to modernise the Egyptian 
economy.   (Financial Times, UK, 19 November 2001)

* Guinée. Plébiscite contesté  -  Selon les résultats officiels, 98,36% des 
Guinéens ont répondu "oui" au référendum du 11 novembre, supprimant la 
limitation du nombre de mandats présidentiels. Plus de 87% des électeurs 
auraient participé au scrutin, ce que conteste vivement l'opposition qui 
avait appelé au boycottage. Cet amendement de la Constitution ouvre la	voie 
à une "présidence à vie" pour Lansana Conté.   (Libération, France, 16 
novembre 2001)

* Kenya. Ethnic dispute flares up  -  Tribal clashes sparked by a land 
dispute in southern Kenya have left 14 people dead and 13 seriously 
injured, according to the police. Violence erupted on 18 November in the 
Tana River district when armed cattle herders of the Orma community 
attacked Pokomo tribespeople, who are mainly farmers. Police spokesman 
Peter Kimanthi said among the dead, eight were from the Pokomo tribe and 
six were Orma herdsmen. Almost 200 people fled their homes to escape the 
fighting and were hiding in a local church in Tarasaa. More than 50 heavily 
armed police officers were sent to the district to restore calm. The 
situation was reportedly brought under control, and police were searching 
for those responsible, but there have as yet been no arrests.   (BBC News, 
UK, 19 November 2001)

* Kenya. Violences à Tana  -  Le bilan des heurts survenus les 18 et 19 
novembre dans le district du fleuve Tana (centre-est du Kenya) fait état 
d'au moins 14 morts. Selon la presse locale, des "bandis armés" ont rasé 
plusieurs villages. Les blessés seraient nombreux. Les auteurs de 
l'agression appartiendraient au groupe ethnique Pokomo, des agriculteurs. 
Depuis le début de l'année, des querelles au sujet de pâturages et de 
points d'eau ont été la source de nombreuses explosions de violence dans 
cette zone.   (D'après Misna, Italie, 21 novembre 2001)

* Kenya. Kenyatta's son in cabinet  -  Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi has 
awarded a cabinet seat to the son of founding president Jomo Kenyatta. 
Uhuru Kenyatta was named local government minister in a cabinet reshuffle 
amid intensifying political manoeuvring ahead of next year's elections. In 
the other significant cabinet change, Chris Okemo was replaced in the 
Treasury by Chris Obure from Foreign Affairs. Correspondents see the move 
as an attempt by President Moi to get a more diplomatic minister to front 
negotiations with the World Bank and IMF in a bid to convince them to 
release funds that they have been withholding for the past 10 years. Mr 
Kenyatta, 40, is widely viewed as one of the so-called "Young Turks" vying 
for leadership of Moi's ruling Kenya African National Union (Kanu) party. 
Observers say President Moi is aiming to rejuvenate Kanu before he is 
obliged to step down and make way for polls by the end of 2002.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 21 November 2001)

* Libya. Gaddafi suggests a committee of "wise men"  -  President Gaddafi 
has suggested a committee of "wise men" from around the world -- he 
recommended Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev -- to help 
and guide the United Nations. He has conveyed his suggestions to Kofi Annan 
and has expressed hope that "the committee starts its work soon, because of 
the world's troubled circumstances".   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 20 November 2001)

* Libye. Le beau-frère de Kadhafi en résidence surveillée  -  Le n.2 du 
service des renseignements libyen, Abdallah Senoussi, qui est également le 
beau-frère de Mouammar Kadhafi, a été placé récemment en "résidence 
surveillée, ainsi que plusieurs responsables du service des renseignements 
libyen", a affirmé le 20 novembre le quotidien arabe Al-Hayat édité à 
Londres. M. Senoussi avait été condamné par contumace, ainsi que cinq 
agents secrets et diplomates libyens, à la réclusion criminelle à 
perpétuité par la Cour d'assises de Paris en mars 1999 pour implication 
dans l'attentat contre le DC-10 d'UTA qui avait fait 170 morts en 1989. 
Al-Hayat n'explique pas les raisons de cette mesure, mais affirme que 
"cette décision coïncide avec une amorce de coopération dans la lutte 
antiterroriste entre la Libye et les Etats-Unis".   (La Libre Belgique, 21 
novembre 2001)

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