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Weekly anb01243.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 24-01-2002      PART #3/7
* Côte d'Ivoire. The big four meet - 22 January: A much talked about meeting between the dominant figures in Ivorian politics has taken place in Yamoussoukro. President Laurent Gbagbo met with former prime minister Alassane Ouattara, former military ruler General Robert Guei and deposed President Henri Konan Bedie. Each were reported to have four advisers sitting behind them. There was no agenda to the talks and the issues which have proved so divisive in recent Ivorian politics are unlikely to be resolved. 23 January: The talks go into a second day. No statement has been made so far. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 23 January 2002)
* Côte d'Ivoire. Sommet des 4 grands - Le sommet de deux jours entre les quatre "frères ennemis" de la politique ivoirienne s'est achevé le 23 janvier sans annonce concrète mais sur fond de congratulations. Pendant deux jours, le président Gbagbo, le général Gueï, l'ancien président Bédié et l'ancien Premier ministre Ouattara se sont retrouvés dans la capitale Yamoussokro pour mettre à plat les problèmes qui minent la Côte d'Ivoire depuis deux ans. Ils ont laissé entendre que des "voies de solution" avaient été trouvées pour apaiser les tensions, mais se sont gardés de s'engager plus avant. (Libération, France, 24 janvier 2002)
* Egypt. Clerics from 3 faiths confer over Mideast crisis - 20 January: Senior Jewish, Muslim and Christian clerics have opened talks in Alexandria, on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. The representatives are meeting to try to come to a common declaration about how to end Palestinian-Israeli violence. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 January 2002)
* Egypt. France to import Egyptian gas - Egypt has made another push into the European gas market with a 20-year deal to sell liquefied natural gas to France. The contract with state-owned Gas de France amounts to about 10% of France's annual gas consumption. Gaz de France has signed a provisional deal with four firms -- including the UK's BG Group -- under which they will build and operate a $900m natural gas liquefaction plant at Idku, near Alexandria. "This is a big step forward for Egypt and good diversification of gas supply for Europe," said Robin Baker, head of the oil and gas division at French bank Societe Generale. The other three firms taking part in the Idku venture are Edison International of Italy, Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding. (BBC News, UK, 21 January 2002)
* Eritrea/Ethiopia. Move to prevent Horn war reigniting - 17 January: The United Nations is sending a mission to Ethiopia and Eritrea to try to prevent a forthcoming ruling on their long-running border dispute leading to a resumption of hostilities. An international commission is expected to give a final ruling next month on demarcating the disputed border line, which led to an armed conflict lasting for nearly two years. "It's a tense and important moment in the peace process and we need to make sure this goes right", a UN envoy said. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 17 January 2002)
* Ethiopia. Government urges measures to avoid flood damage - The Ethiopian government has called for an early warning system to help avoid catastrophic floods that claim hundreds of lives each year. Mesfin Tegene, the deputy minister of water resources says: "An area similar to the size of the Netherlands is severely damaged each year. This is of great concern to the Ethiopian government.As far as water resources are concerned this is one of the most important issues that Ethiopia must address. This is a very costly problem. The main reason for an early warning system is to protect the lives of people. The second is to protect this area as many investors in the country are currently settling there." He said the flooding mainly occurs in the Awash basin --which starts around 100 kilometres west of the capital Addis Ababa and stretches all the way to Djibouti. The damage is mainly in the Afar region of Ethiopia and to the communities who live along the banks of the river. The flooding -- which usually happens between June and August -- also causes immeasurable damage to agricultural land and infrastructure as well as leaving hundreds homeless. (IRIN, 16 January 2002)
* Ethiopia. Massive animal census to be launched - One of the world's largest animal surveys will be launched in Ethiopia next month. For the first time ever, all the animals in the country are to be counted as part of a massive census by the Ethiopian Central Statistics Authority (CSA). More than 15,000 people are to take part in the survey that is expected to last 10 days. In that time, statistical experts are to travel to all parts of the country, using aeroplanes to get to even the remotest parts to record animal numbers. Livestock is a vital component of the Ethiopian economy, with hides and skins second only to coffee in terms of exports contributing tens of millions of dollars to the country. Girma Tadesse, the head of Natural Resource and Agricultural Statistics Department at the CSA said the census was vital for the future development of the country. (IRIN, 17 January 2002)
* Ethiopie/Erythrée. Frontière tracée par l'Onu - Le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies a donné son feu vert à une mission de délimitation de la frontière entre l'Ethiopie et l'Erythrée, conformément à l'accord de paix signé par les deux pays en 2000, mettant fin à trois ans de guerre particulièrement meurtrière. Le tracé fixé par la commission sera "définitif" et engagera les deux parties. (Le Figaro, France, 18 janvier 2002)
* The Gambia. Poor turnout in polls - 17 January: Some Gambians have been going to the polls, today, in parliamentary elections but the main opposition party is boycotting them. The boycott by Ousainou Darboe's United Democratic Party paves the way for a landslide victory for President Jammeh's party. The ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction is running unopposed in 33 constituencies. Mr Darboe has accused the government of fraud. 18 January: President Yahya Jammeh has predictably sealed his hold on power with a landslide victory in parliamentary polls boycotted by much of the opposition. The president's ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction took 45 of the 49 parliamentary seats. Voter turnout for the elections was much lower than for last October's presidential elections, which President Jammeh won comfortably. Mr Darboe pulled out of the parliamentary elections, accusing the government of rigging the vote by transferring massive numbers of voters between electoral lists of different constituencies. The opposition also accuse the Mr Jammeh of fixing the presidential elections. President Jammeh, 36, first seized power in a military coup in 1994, and has made it clear he favours one-party rule. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 19 January 2002)
* Gambie. Elections législatives - Le parti APRC (Alliance pour la réorientation poltique et la Constitution) du président El Hadj Yahya Jammeh a confirmé sa majorité aux élections législatives qui se sont déroulées le 17 janvier en Gambie. L'APRC a remporté 45 des 49 sièges de l'Assemblée nationale. La plupart des partis d'opposition avaient boycotté le scrutin. Le début de la prochaine législature est prévu pour le 25 janvier. Le président Jammeh, arrivé au pouvoir en 1994 suite à un coup d'Etat, a été confirmé à la tête du pays en octobre dernier, grâce à des élections présidentielles contestées. (Misna, Italie, 19 janvier 2002)
* Great Lakes. British and French Foreign Ministers in the Great Lakes region - 22 January: "The volcano disaster could help bring an end to its three-year war", UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said. Arriving in the capital Kinshasa for a long-planned peace mission, Mr Straw said the humanitarian crisis following the eruption highlighted the need for co-operation and an end to the fighting. Mr Straw and his French counterpart, Hubert Vedrine, have adjusted their agenda to include the issue of getting emergency aid to the victims of the Nyiragongo volcano. During their visit they are considering a trip to the worst affected town of Goma and surrounding areas, where the homes of hundreds of thousands were destroyed. From Kinshasa, the two foreign ministers have moved on to Rwanda. Following the visits to Congo and Rwanda, both ministers admitted they had made no progress in attempts to break the deadlock in Congo's civil war. They are now moving on to Burundi. 23 January: The Foreign Ministers have been visiting Uganda on the last stage of their joint mission. Despite a series of frank discussions with leaders in the region, there is little sign that the mission has achieved any breakthrough. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 23 January 2002)
* Grands Lacs. Voyage conjoint de Védrine et Straw - 21 janvier. Du 21 au 23 janvier, indique La Libre Belgique, les ministres français et britannique des Affaires étrangères, Hubert Védrine et Jack Straw, se rendront conjointement dans la région des Grands Lacs, passant au Congo, au Rwanda, au Burundi et en Ouganda. Les deux ministres aimeraient convaincre les pays de la région d'appliquer intégralement l'Accord de Lusaka, signé en 1999 mais suspendu depuis, et de trouver le moyen de neutraliser les rebelles hutu hostiles au gouvernement de Kigali, afin d'ôter toute justification à la présence de troupes rwandaises au Congo. Les deux pays sont d'accord sur les principes d'un règlement de la crise des Grands Lacs: respect de l'intégrité territoriale du Congo, déploiement d'une force de l'Onu, retrait des forces étrangères, démobilisation des factions et, à terme, conférence internationale. La principale nuance entre Paris et Londres porte sur la superficie de la zone tampon démilitarisée à établir le long de la frontière orientale du Congo. Une nuance d'importance puisque le maintien d'une zone trop vaste renforcerait le partage de fait du Congo. - 24 janvier. Après la tournée des deux ministres qui s'est achevée hier, les observateurs parlent d'un bilan plutôt décevant. Aucun des protagonistes qu'ils ont rencontrés n'a fait d'ouverture. Les blocages ont persisté, surtout au Rwanda. Cependant, le rapprochement des politiques africaines de Londres et de Paris pourrait avoir une influence positive sur la situation en Afrique centrale, où les antagonismes entre les deux pays ont parfois été désastreux dans le passé. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 24 janvier 2002)
* Kenya. Amélioration des relations extérieures - Le nouvel ambassadeur de la Grande-Bretagne au Kenya, Sir Edward Clay, a promis d'insuffler un nouveau souffle aux relations, restées longtemps assez tièdes, entre Londres et Nairobi. Ces relations s'étaient dégradées depuis que les Britanniques avaient commencé à insister pour que le Kenya procède à des réformes économiques et politiques. Le pays est privé d'aide depuis onze ans. Mais selon la presse locale du 19 janvier, M. Clay a affirmé que le gouvernement britannique est déterminé à apporter son assistance aux projets communautaires au Kenya afin d'améliorer la vie des populations. - D'autre part, le 17 juin, lors de sa visite au pays, le ministre français délégué à la Coopération, Charles Josselin, a qualifié le Kenya de partenaire privilégié de la coopération française avec les pays de l'Afrique de l'Est. M. Josselin a indiqué que la France souhaite renforcer sa présence en Afrique de l'Est en utilisant le Kenya comme porte d'entrée, dans le cadre de sa nouvelle politique africaine qui englobe tout le continent. Les deux pays ont signé deux conventions dans lesquelles la France va débloquer 2,5 milliards de shillings kényans. (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 18-20 janvier 2002)
* Kenya. Bribery drives up the cost of living - Two-thirds of interactions with Kenya's public institutions involve paying a bribe, or costly consequences for declining to do so, according to Transparency International, the Berlin-based corruption watchdog. Monthly bribery payments are equivalent to a 31 per cent increase in the cost of living for ordinary households, Transparency International said in a report published on 18 January. The report, the Kenya Urban Bribery Index, is the first attempt in Africa to quantify the extent of bribery in a country that is synonymous with systematic graft -- and a case study for international donors' efforts to tie aid flows to improved governance. While the findings, based on interviews with 1,200 Kenyan urban dwellers, contain few surprises to people who face daily requests for kitu kidogo, or "something small", the group hopes the study provides a solid statistical basis for anti-corruption campaigners to decide where to focus their efforts. "The research of corruption is in its infancy and a lot of the discourse has been based on perceptions," said David Ndii, who conducted the research. One important conclusion, he said, was that the cost of rampant petty corruption was "many times bigger" than that of top-level scams, although it was also clear that organisations such as the Kenya police had institutionalised low-level graft, with senior policemen getting a share of shakedowns. (Financial Times, UK, 21 January 2002) 

Weely news - anb0124.txt - #3/7