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correct anb02146.txt #8

Une regrettable erreur nous a fait envoyer le fichier #6 du 7 février (0607) au de cleui du 14 février (0214). 
Ci-dessous le ficher correct.
Veuillez nous excuser....
By mistake we sent you yesterday the file 02076 (file anb02146.txt, of 07 Feb 2002) instead of the 02146 (of 14 Feb 2002). 
Here below is the right one.
Please accept our apology...
Paolo





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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 14-02-2002      PART #6/8
* Rwanda. Father Seromba in Arusha - Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, Nuncio in Rwanda, voiced "admiration and satisfaction" at the news that Fr Athanase Seromba has presented himself spontaneously to the International Court for Rwanda which is set up in Arusha (Tanzania). Fr Athanase has been charged of complicity in the massacre of at least 2,000 people in Nyange parish in Kibuye prefecture, during the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people were killed in clashes between Hutu and Tutsi. "This was an act of responsibility and courage. It will give him an opportunity to respond to the serious charges brought against him". Mgr. Pennacchio also said he trusted that the "authorities would heed Fr Seromba's request for a speedy trial. "This is important in view of what is most urgent in Rwanda today: reconciliation", the Nuncio explained. Since 1997 Fr Seromba has been a guest of the diocese of Florence, at San Mauro parish. Fierce criticism of Fr Seromba by Rwandan press led international procurator Carla del Ponte to demand the priest's extradition. In a letter to the Archbishop of Florence, Fr Seromba said he had decided to go to Arusha to answer the accusations in person. Fr Seromba is not the only Rwandan clergyman to be accused of genocide. Archbishop Augustin Misago, of Gikongoro was arrested, imprisoned, tried and found innocent. In prison in Rwanda at the moment facing genocide charges there are 5 priests, 2 nuns and one seminarian. Four priests have been tried and found not guilty. In June 2001 two nuns were tried and found guilty by a court in Belgium. (Editor's update: 8 February -- Father Seromba appeared before the tribunal and denies the charges made against him). (Fides, Vatican City, 7 February 2002)
* Rwanda/Uganda. Discuss defusing tension - Ugandan Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi is in Kigali for talks with his Rwandan counterpart, Emanuel Habyarimana. Correspondents say the two men will discuss how to defuse the growing tension between their countries. Relations between the former allies have soured in the past two years following clashes between their troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they were deployed to support two rival rebel groups. (BBC News, UK, 10 February 2002)
* Sahara occidental. Permis pétroliers critiqués - Les deux compagnies pétrolières internationales (TotalFinaElf et Keer-McGee) qui, en octobre, ont obtenu du Maroc des permis d'exploration-production au large des côtes du Sahara occidental, vont y regarder à deux fois avant de se lancer dans des travaux de prospection. A la demande du Conseil de sécurité, lui-même sollicité par le Front Polisario, le conseil juridique de l'Onu, Hans Corell, a en effet estimé en début de semaine que si les permis octroyés ne sont pas "illégaux en soi", des travaux d'exploration-production qui ne se feraient pas dans "l'intérêt" ou selon les "voeux" du peuple du Sahara occidental "violeraient les principes de la loi internationale" en la matière. Ce jugement mitigé rend peu probable la mise en oeuvre de travaux dans la mesure où il est quasiment impossible de prouver que les populations locales, dont l'évaluation pose des problèmes politiques, bénéficieront des retombées en cas de découverte. (Le Monde, France, 8 février 2002)
* Sénégal. Visite de Tony Blair - Le 9 février, le Premier ministre britannique Tony Blair était de passage à Dakar, dernière étape d'une tournée de quatre jours qui l'a conduit au Nigeria, au Ghana et en Sierra Leone. S'exprimant en français, il s'est déclaré "étonné" d'être le premier Premier ministre britannique à effectuer une visite officielle en Afrique francophone. "Il faut changer nos méthodes. Il faut travailler ensemble, Français et Britanniques, parce que nous avons maintenant les mêmes intérêts", a-t-il lancé. Les premiers à se réjouir de cette nouvelle "entente cordiale" sont les Africains. M. Blair en Afrique et M. Chirac à Paris se sont faits les défenseurs du "Nouveau partenariat pour le développement en Afrique" (Nepad), une initiative africaine qui tend à éviter toute marginalisation du continent. (La Croix, France, 11 février 2002)
* Sierra Leone. Refugee poll concession - Voter registration ahead of May's general elections in Sierra Leone, has been extended for three days until 10 February. Election officials say it is to overcome what they called organisational problems in getting the process up and running. A scheme has also been announced to ensure thousands of Sierra Leoneans who fled the civil war will also be able to vote. Sierra Leone electoral commissioner, Walter Nicol, said that refugees returning to Sierra Leone before mid-April will still be able to register if they show their UNHCR card as proof of identity. It follows an aborted plan to let refugees register and vote in host countries, such as Guinea and Liberia. Mr Nicol said that the two nations rejected the request, claiming that the whole electoral process may invite violence. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 8 February 2002)
* Sierra Leone. Les besoins sont énormes - Le 8 février, une délégation de donateurs de douze pays a achevé une mission d'une semaine en Sierra Leone en déclarant que, bien que la paix soit rétablie, les problèmes et les besoins auxquels le pays est confronté sont "énormes". Un représentant des Pays-Bas a indiqué qu'il a été "choqué" par l'ampleur de la dévastation et par les besoins humanitaires énormes dans les régions visitées par l'équipe, ajoutant que la communauté internationale allait continuer à appuyer la Sierra Leone. Alan Doss, représentant du secrétaire général de l'Onu, a informé que la réponse des donateurs était extrêmement positive. L'objectif de la visite, a expliqué M. Doss, ne consistait pas à prendre des engagements financiers, mais à discuter avec le gouvernement au sujet des perspectives et des priorités en vue de la réinsertion et du redressement. (IRIN, Abidjan, 11 février 2002)
* Sierra Leone. Refugees go home - The first batch of Sierra Leonean refugees has returned home from Liberia under a United Nations voluntary repatriation programme which started on 13 February. About 300 refugees crossed the border, one month after Sierra Leone declared an end to its brutal 10-year civil war. UNHCR said groups of 300 to 400 refugees would be repatriated from now on alternate days. There are about 70,000 Sierra Leonean refugees still left in Liberia, where fighting between the government and rebels has recently escalated near the capital Monrovia. Many Sierra Leoneans now feel insecure in Liberia and are anxious to leave. Thousands of Sierra Leoneans, as well as some Liberians, have already fled across the border because of the surge in fighting the in Liberian town of Klay. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 14 February 2002)
* Somalie. Attaque de la radio gouvernementale - Le lundi soir, 11 février, une vingtaine de miliciens équipés de fusils d'assaut et de lance-roquettes ont attaqué les locaux de la radio gouvernementale, poussant la "Voix de la République somalienne" à cesser d'émettre. Cette radio était le seul vecteur de communication avec les habitants de la capitale pour le fragile gouvernement de transition du président Salad Hassan. Il s'agit du deuxième coup dur pour le gouvernement cette semaine, après que trois chefs de faction ont menacé de lui retirer leur soutien. Mise sur pied en 2000, cette équipe transitoire n'a que peu d'influence hors de Mogadiscio, et elle a contre elle nombre de seigneurs de guerre somaliens soutenus par le grand voisin éthiopien. (AP, 12 février 2002)
* Somalia. Eight killed in fighting - Eight people were killed in fighting between rival militias armed with truck-mounted heavy machine guns in southern Somalia on 12 February, witnesses said. Witnesses said fighters from both sides were killed in the 90-minute clash in the Bardhere district of Gedo region 400 km west of Mogadishu. Gunmen used more than 20 of the battle wagons known as technicals in the encounter. The fighting pitted a faction friendly with neighbouring Ethiopia known as the Somali Restoration and Reconciliation Council (SRRC) against the Juba Valley Alliance, aligned to Somalia's fledgling transitional national government (TNG). The SRRC is an Ethiopian-backed coalition of warlords united mainly by their opposition to the TNG, chaotic Somalia's first attempt at a central administration in a decade. The SRRC accuses the TNG, formed in 2000 and largely funded by Gulf Arab states, of harbouring armed Islamic militants linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda group. The TNG denies this and says it would welcome visits by US military investigation teams to assess the SRRC's allegations. Residents said about 60 families had fled the area to try to escape the fighting. (CNN, USA, 13 February 2002)
* Somalia. Seeking help to fight terror - In a report circulated on 13 February, the government said the United Nations has two choices: watch the country slide back into anarchy and chaos or lend active support to the government in its struggle against terrorism. President Abdiqasim Salad Hassan's transitional government is Somalia's first central authority since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. In the following years, faction leaders fought with each other, turning the nation of 7 million into battling fiefdoms protected by heavily armed militias. Abdiqasim and his government are struggling financially and have little influence outside the capital, and clan-based factions still rule much of the Horn of Africa nation. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 February 2002)
* South Africa. Mandela "clean" of cancer - Former South African President Nelson Mandela has said he has been successfully treated for prostate cancer. Mr Mandela, 83, announced last July that he had prostate cancer and underwent seven weeks of radiotherapy. But he has told an audience in Cape Town that doctors had given him the all-clear. Speaking at a ceremony to present the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights, he said he was delighted at the news. "As a result of the treatment, the doctors took a blood sample and said "your blood is clean of the cancer"". AFP quoted him as saying. In 1985, while in prison, Mr Mandela was hospitalised for prostate surgery and had some tumours removed. They proved to be benign. He then returned to jail, where he remained until his release in February 1990, a pivotal moment in South Africa's history. Now retired from active politics, he still maintains a punishing travel schedule, often to collect achievement awards. Mr Mandela remains a fit and generally healthy man, but is starting to appear more frail. Four years ago, the Nobel peace prize winner married Graca Machel, the widow of the former president of Mozambique. He told his Cape Town audience it had been a pity she was not in the country when doctors gave him the good news. "Because had she been here I would have said: "Darling, let's go and dance"," he said. (BBC News, UK, 7 February 2001)
* South Africa. Tutu spreads Olympic message - The Olympics attracts all manner of personalities from across the world. But one face I was not expecting to see braving the freezing temperatures in Salt Lake City was Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The former Nobel Peace prize winner is in town to give an address at the 2002 Reebok Human Rights awards -- but will also be spreading the Olympic spirit at the same time. The Archbishop says: "I'm excited to be here -- it's exhilarating. But I'll definitely be wrapping up very warm". The famous grin swept across the Archbishop's face when I asked him which events particularly caught his eye. "I'm quite keen to see the ice dancing," he quipped. "But as for trying any sports out, noooo, I'm way too old." Perhaps, but for a 70-year-old, Tutu is still bright as a button. And the man who was for so long the face of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa is only too aware how sport can help fight human rights abuses around the world. "Sport helped trigger a great deal of change in our country, and we learned how it was possible to use sport in a positive way to bring about change. The Olympics are the perfect chance to celebrate diversity because there are so many nationalities here. It is so good to see human beings testing their abilities, competing in a way that is not lethal, and enjoying themselves. At the end, athletes will congratulate one another whether they have won or lost, and that sort of fellowship must be cherished. We will witness so many extraordinary things at this extravaganza, so while there is still a great deal of evil around the world, it will be nice to enjoy the good as well." (BBC News, UK, 8 February 2002)
* South Africa. Mbeki resolute on AIDS stance - President Thabo Mbeki has used his annual state of the nation address to call for the moral regeneration of South Africa to combat the scourges of AIDS, crime and poverty. But he has once again dashed hopes that he will change the government's heavily criticised policy on anti-retroviral drugs. Mr Mbeki said the key to fighting AIDS was public awareness and prevention and he again tied the struggle with the campaign against poverty and malnutrition. In his speech marking the new session of parliament in Cape Town, the president also refrained from any criticism of President Robert Mugabe in neighbouring Zimbabwe. The address is likely to disappoint a growing number of South Africans who have urged him to get tough on Zimbabwe and to change his policies on AIDS. The president said he was committed to an intensified fight against AIDS, but defended his policy of not making anti-retroviral drugs available to HIV-positive pregnant women in state hospitals. (BBC News, UK, 8 February 2002) 

Weekly anb0214.txt - #6/8