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Weekly anb01313.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-01-2002      PART #3/7
* Ethiopia/Scotland. Sacred artefact returning home - A delegation of religious leaders from Ethiopia has travelled to Edinburgh to collect a sacred carving which was unearthed in a church cupboard. The holy wooden tabot, or tablet, is thought to be more than 400 years old. It is believed that it was taken from Ethiopia by British soldiers trying to free hostages from the home of Emperor Theodore the Second in 1868. Some 200 mules and 15 elephants were loaded with plunder after victorious British forces stormed the mountain fortress at Maqdala. The treasure -- which included solid gold crowns -- was bought up by many respected UK institutions, including the British Museum. The tabot was brought to the Princes Street church in Edinburgh by a soldier returning from the campaign. It was discovered by the Rev John McLuckie in a battered leather box while he was looking for a communion set in a cupboard at St John's last October. Mr McLuckie recognised the carved piece of wood as he had worked in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and he recognised its religious significance. The tabot -- a 6 inch square carved with an Ethiopian inscription -- represents the ark of the covenant and is sacred to Ethiopia's Orthodox Christians. (BBC News, UK, 27 January 2002)
* Gabon. Nouveau gouvernement - Le 25 janvier, le gouvernement gabonais a présenté sa démission au président Bongo, qui l'a acceptée, ouvrant la porte à la formation d'un "gouvernement d'ouverture" dans lequel devrait entrer le parti d'un opposant historique, Paul Mba Abessole. Cette démission intervient à la suite de la proclamation définitive des résultats des législatives de décembre dernier, remportées haut la main par le Parti démocratique gabonais du président Bongo. Le "Rassemblement national des bûcherons/Rassemblement pour le Gabon" du député-maire de Libreville, Paul Mba Abessole, est devenu le premier parti d'opposition, avec seulement huit élus. Ce parti est dominé par l'ethnie Fang, majoritaire, et fer de lance de l'opposition radicale gabonaise au début des années 90. Par ailleurs, le gouvernement gabonais, excédé par une grève illimitée des enseignants du supérieur, dont il affirme avoir satisfait les revendications, a ordonné, le 25 janvier, la fermeture et l'évacuation des deux pôles universitaires du Gabon. - Le 27 janvier, la composition du nouveau gouvernement a été annoncée par le Premier ministre Jean-François Ntoutoume Emane. Des opposants de longue date y ont fait leur entrée, mais les ministères-clés demeurent aux mains des proches du chef de l'Etat. Paul Mba Abessole a été nommé ministre d'Etat pour les droits de l'homme. Le nouveau gouvernement mettra l'accent sur la lutte contre la pauvreté et la corruption, et pour la réinsertion sociale. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 janvier 2002)
* Kenya. Réfugiés victimes du HCR - Le bureau des enquêtes internes des Nations unies vient de révéler un invraisemblable scandale qui éclabousse le Haut Commissariat aux réfugiés (HCR). A Nairobi, un réseau criminel de 70 personnes, dont des employés locaux du HCR, a extorqué des millions de dollars à des réfugiés. Lorsque, après des années, leurs agissements commencèrent à être connus, les malfaiteurs se livrèrent à des menaces physiques, préparèrent un attentat à la bombe et même le rapt d'une jeune fille d'un administrateur de haut rang du HCR pour réduire au silence tous ceux qui pourraient parler. Des employés du HCR s'arrangeaient pour fournir les signatures nécessaires à tous ceux qui avaient les moyens de payer, au détriment d'autres dossiers, en vue de recommander leur réinstallation en Australie, au Canada et aux Etats-Unis. (Libération, France, 28 janvier 2002)
* Liberia. Keeping a lid on unrest - Military unrest in northern Liberia is having a disastrous impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people who have been made homeless. The unrest involves claims and military counterclaims from the government and a shadowy rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy. But its impact on ordinary people is severe. Rebels accused by the Liberian Government of being backed by neighbouring Guinea claim to be active in northern Liberia, and the government has sent military reinforcements there to deal with them. But many of the rebel claims are unverifiable and the situation is also confused by a variety of pro-Liberian government militias in the region, some of which are reported to have clashed among themselves. Some 10,0000 refugees from the recent months of military unrest in north-western Liberia now live in makeshift camps around the village of Sawmill, about 100 km north of the capital, Monrovia. "But these 10,000 people are only a small proportion of the internally displaced", said Marie Noel Rodrigues of aid agency MSF. "There are also those who have come to swell the population of Monrovia and other groups of displaced in the north-east." Meanwhile, the Liberian government has said that the United Nations sanctions imposed on it because of its involvement with rebels in the Sierra Leonean war, should be lifted. The sanction most keenly felt by the government is a travel ban on government ministers and senior officials. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 25 January 2002)
* Liberia. Combats et réfugiés - L'armée régulière a repris le contrôle de Sawmill, un petit centre à 80 km au nord de la capitale Monrovia, selon des sources indépendantes. Les rebelles du LURD (Libériens unis pour la réconciliation et la démocratie) ont été contraints au retrait. "Le village est complètement désert et en grande partie détruit", rapporte un témoin oculaire. L'armée avance plus au nord et des combats sont signalés dans le village de Bopolu. En attendant, la situation d'urgence reste grave aux portes de Monrovia, où des personnes déplacées continuent à s'amasser. Près de 20.000 personnes y campent dans des conditions très précaires. Mais les militaires leur barrent la route pour empêcher l'afflux massif des réfugiés en ville. "Ce comportement est inquiétant", a commenté un leader de la société civile. (Misna, Italie, 30 janvier 2002)
* Liberia. Refugees flee shooting - 27 January: Thousands of refugees are on the move towards the Liberian capital, Monrovia, following an outbreak of shooting near the camp where they had been staying. A senior aid worker said the movement of internally displaced Liberians from Sawmill, about 100 kilometres north of Monrovia, had panicked part of the local population. Some 20,000 destitute people had gathered at a road junction about 50 km north of the capital, according to Marie Noelle Rodrigues, a representative of the aid agency, Medecins Sans Frontieres. It is not clear who was responsible for the shooting near Sawmill.The refugees living there had fled earlier fighting in the far north of Liberia. For weeks the refugees in camps around the village of Sawmill have been saying they did not feel safe because of outbreaks of shooting in the forests around them. But the government of Liberia, reluctant to see a wave of panicking people enter the capital, said they could not leave the Sawmill camps. On the night of 26 January, according to aid workers, there was more shooting near Sawmill and thousands of people simply fled southwards with or without permission from the government. The Liberian Government blames dissidents for the fighting and a rebel movement claims it is gaining ground. There may be some dissident activity, but well informed observers in Monrovia are sceptical about the rebel claims and say parts of the government army are prone to indiscipline and looting as well. 28 January: The Liberian army has erected barricades outside the capital, Monrovia, to prevent the thousands of refugees from entering the city. 29 January: Government troops have retaken sawmill from rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) forces. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 January 2002)
* Libya/USA. Positive talks - Libya and the United States say they have held talks to mend relations between the two countries. The move comes after years of hostility between the two nations over what the Americans have termed Libya's sponsorship of terrorism. Relations hit a low in 1986 when the US launched air attacks against the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after the bombing of a Berlin disco in which two American servicemen died. Two years later, in an event that Washington holds Libya responsible for, Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky above Scotland with the loss of 270 lives, most of them Americans. Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassouna Chaouch said on 24 January that the recent talks between the two countries had taken place at "several levels". He said: "Both Libya and the United States have a common willingness to rebuild their relations and help further security and peace in the world. It seems that the new US administration has shed the past negative policies." (BBC News, UK, 24 January 2002)
* Libya. Lockerbie: A sour pill for Libya - 24 January: 2nd day of the appeal -- The Lockerbie appeal has heard that the trial judges who convicted Abdelbaset ali Mohamed al-Megrahi of the bombing of the Pan Am plane, misunderstood and misinterpreted crucial evidence. The claim was made by the lead lawyer representing the accused. Lawyers for the accused are attempting to overturn the verdict and are focusing on legal precedents to support their case that there has been a miscarriage of justice. 28 January: The official Libyan media is paying only cursory attention to the Lockerbie appeal currently being heard at Camp Zeist. At best reports on the appeal come fourth on the news bulletins. Considering how outspoken he has been in the past about Lockerbie, Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's current silence is startling. This could be because the regime is not confident of a favourable outcome in the appeal against the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Libya is hoping to draw the whole Lockerbie affair to a close. Tripoli is reported to have offered to pay billions of dollars in compensation to the families of the victims of the bombing, in return for closure on the issue. United States and British officials, reported to be negotiating a settlement with representatives of the Libyan regime, are said to be pressing Libya for a settlement before the appeal is concluded. Whichever way the appeal goes, Libya stands to lose financially and politically, or both. Like the government, most Libyans just want to see the Lockerbie affair concluded. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 29 January 2002) 

Weekly anb0131.txt - Part 3/7