Weekly anb02214.txt #7



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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 21-02-2002      PART #4/7

* Libya. Court rejects HIV plot charges - A court in Libya has said there is no evidence of a plot to undermine state security in the case of seven foreign medical workers accused of infecting children with HIV. The People's Court in Tripoli, which deals with matters of state security, has referred the case to an ordinary criminal court. The Palestinian doctor and six Bulgarian medical workers on trial have been in detention for three years. The decision makes their case less fraught, but they still face charges carrying the death sentence. Bulgarian public opinion had been alarmed when the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, spoke about a possible conspiracy by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad or the American CIA. But in the hearing on 17 February at the People's Court, attended by foreign diplomats, the Libyan judge said the only incontestable fact so far was that a number of children had died. The Bulgarian foreign minister had visited Tripoli at the end of last year to discuss the case with Colonel Gaddafi and his son, Seif al-Islam. The defendants, who all deny the charges, have been moved out of prison and placed under house arrest. Some of them say they were forced to make confessions under torture. (BBC News, UK, 17 February 2002)

* Libya. Meeting Gaddafi's son and heir - Dressed in jeans and appearing confident, Colonel Gaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam, gave short and precise answers to the journalists questioning him. It was a thoroughly modern performance, in sharp contrast to the flowing robes and rambling language preferred by his father. Our group had been specially flown to the town of Sirte on an elegant presidential plane in order to interview him. In one of the vast marble halls in the building where the Libyan General People's Congress meets, Seif al-Islam sat underneath a portrait of his father. We may have been surrounded by symbols of the Libyan state, fashioned according to Colonel Gaddafi's ideas, but Seif al-Islam insisted that his agenda is separate from that of the government. "I run a non-governmental organisation, I have my own agenda, I have my own mission, they have their own mission. Sometimes we agree and sometimes not," he said. The leader's second son heads the Gaddafi Foundation, a charity which tries to project a new and positive image of Libya. The foundation has been involved in attempts to get Western hostages released in both the Philippines and Afghanistan. More recently it has been trying to fly out of Afghanistan Arab families caught up in the turmoil there. Seif al-Islam's intervention has also secured vastly improved detention conditions for Bulgarian medical workers accused of infecting Libyan children with the virus which causes Aids. All this is giving him a high profile in a country where the leader overshadows everyone. Does it mean Seif al-Islam is being groomed for the succession? No, he insists, that would be inconsistent with Libya's progressive system. (BBC News, UK, 20 February 2002)

* Madagascar. Political uncertainties - 14 February: A blockade on a major transport route in Madagascar has cut off the capital city, threatening to starve Antananarivo of petrol within a matter of days. Hundreds of lorries waiting to bring goods and fuel into the city are lined up either side of a major river crossing in a protest that is part of the ongoing political crisis in the country. The blockade comes as the opposition candidate in the island's disputed election, Marc Ravalomanana, said he was ready to negotiate with President Didier Ratsiraka. Speaking after an initial meeting with the president, Mr Ravalomanana said the two men had agreed on teams to help with the negotiations. He said he was prepared to discuss a compromise and build a consensus government. But Mr Ravalomanana said demonstrations would go on until it was established who had won December's elections. Madagascar's capital has been rocked by huge daily protests and a general strike over Mr Ravalomanana's claim that he won the poll outright and that authorities rigged the results in order to hold a second round. For a week trucks loaded with supplies for Antananarivo have continued to stack up. 15 February 2002: Representatives of Madagascar's President Didier Ratsiraka and his main election rival Marc Ravalomanana are due to meet again, today. The talks were set to resume after what reports called a difficult first round of discussions to try to resolve a political crisis rooted in allegations of vote-rigging. 17 February; Negotiators are locked in talks, in an effort to resolve the political crisis and the general strike which are crippling the country. Five representatives from each side have been meeting every day since 14 February in an attempt to solve the dispute over the first round of elections, widely accused of being fraudulent, and to decide how to hold a second ballot to legally select a new president. The opposition hopeful, Marc Ravalomanana, who called the general strike and has huge support in Antananarivo, has set a deadline of 18 February for the committee to come to an agreement before he will "act". In his address to the people on 15 February, he asked for their continuing support. 18 February: More than 100,000 people take to the streets of Antananarivo. Marc Ravalomanana tells his supporters there is very little progress in the negotiations to resolve the political crisis. 19 February: The second round of Madagascar's presidential elections, scheduled for 24 February, has been postponed until 24 March. Both President Didier Ratsiraka and opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana have agreed that the run-off should be put back, according to a statement read out by an official from the Organisation of African Unity. OAU Assistant Secretary General Said Djinnit also announced that talks between the two sides would resume in the next few days, after no progress had been made in a series of meetings to date. 20 February: Marc Ravalomanana declares he will seize power in the country. He makes the threat while speaking to tens of thousands of people in Antananarivo. He says he is abandoning negotiations over a 2nd round of voting and there will be an inauguration ceremony at a stadium in the capital on 22 February. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 February 2002)

* Madagascar. Coup de force? - 14 février. Trois missions internationales de haut niveau s'activent actuellement à Madagascar afin de dénouer la crise électorale. Après la médiation de l'OUA conduite avec succès par Amara Essy, la Commission de l'océan Indien (COI) et les Nations unies ont repris conjointement le relais. Aux termes des consultations du 13 février, il ressort que le principe d'un report du second tour est acquis. Le président Ratsiraka est aussi d'accord pour la présence d'observateurs pour ce second tour. Parmi les points qui restent en suspens, fi-gure la demande de M. Ravalomanana sur la révision de la décision de la Haute Cour constitutionnelle concernant les résultats du premier tour. De plus, l'opposition demande la création d'un gouvernement de transition. - Les jours suivants, les représentants des deux protagonistes se sont rencontrés plusieurs fois par jour, ensemble avec le secrétaire général adjoint de l'OUA M. Saïd Djinnit, qui joue le rôle de facilitateur. Les discussions visent à "trouver des solutions consensuelles sur les questions en suspens", notamment une nouvelle date pour le second tour et les conditions d'un scrutin transparent et fiable. Pendant ce temps, les manifestations se poursuivent; le 18 février, au cinquième jour des négociations et alors que la grève générale entrait dans sa 4e semaine, des centaines de milliers de personnes étaient à nouveau rassemblées dans le centre de la capitale. Le 19 février, les négociations se sont achevées sans accord global; seul le report du second tour a été entériné. Et le 20 février, Ravalomanana annonçait qu'il "prendrait le pouvoir", le surlendemain, donnant rendez-vous à ses partisans au stade municipal de Mahamasina, lieu symbolique où les nouveaux présidents vont traditionnellement se faire acclamer par la foule. Coup de bluff ou volonté réelle? Malgré son apparente détermination, M. Ravalomanana sait qu'il n'a aucune chance d'être reconnu par la communauté internationale et les bailleurs de fonds sans second tour. Jeudi 21, le gouvernement malgache a condamné le projet de Ravalomanana de prendre le pouvoir en violation de la constitution et en rompant les négociations. Il a averti qu'il n'accepterait pas de coup de force. De son côté, le ministre de la Défense Marcel Ranjeva a assuré que la réponse de l'armée serait "graduée et adaptée" si les manifestants tentaient de s'emparer de bâtiments publics. Il a affirmé que l'armée était neutre et légaliste et que sa mission était de "s'interposer en cas de heurts entre les citoyens". (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 21 février 2002)

* Madagascar. On craint le pire... - Après l'échec des négociations et des médiations de plusieurs organisations internationale, l'OUA et l'ONU entre autres, ainsi que des parlementaires francophones, Ravalomanana Marc, sous la pression de ses partisans, a décidé d'instaurer un gouvernement insurrectionnel. Il va se faire introniser le vendredi 22 février. Les principaux bailleurs de fonds de Madagascar et les grands Etats occidentaux partenaires de la Grande Ile lui ont déja fait savoir qu'ils n'accepteront pas un gouvernement insurrectionnel. Mais Ravalomanana est acculé par ses partisans. D'autant qu'il a épuisé tous les voies légales pour sortir la crise. En grève générale depuis le 28 janvier dernier, la situation dans la capitale devient de plus en plus intenable. Les grands axes routiers menant à la capitale sont barrés par les partisans de Didier Ratsiraka, son principal rival. Une pénurie de carburants se profile déja à Antananarivo et tout le monde craint le pire actuellement. On attend la riposte de Ratsiraka. (L. Ratsiazo/ANB-BIA, Madagascar, 21 février 2002)

* Malawi. Famine situation - In view of the on-going famine situation in Malawi (cf. ANB-BIA 's Weekly News, 14 February), the Association of Men Religious of Malawi (AMRIM), and the Association of Religious Institutes of Women in Malawi (ARIMA) have issued an appeal to the Episcopal Conference of Malawi and to Christian Churches. The two Associations say that: "We are in an emergency situation. Many people are surviving on selling off their livestock and these are being sold off cheaper than usual. The government must ensure that the maize imported is the cheapest on the market and reaches the remotest villages in the countryside." A similar appeal has been launched by priests of Lilongwe Diocese to the Nation and the International Community. They say: "In some of our parishes, elderly people who haven't left their villages for a long time, now struggle to get to our churches and sit down saying they have come to die". (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 16 February 2002)

* Malawi. Famine: appel des religieux - La famine qui afflige le Malawi doit être déclarée "catastrophe nationale" par le gouvernement, ont demandé les religieux du diocèse de Lilongwe dans un dramatique appel. Ils y décrivent les dimensions de ce qui a tout d'un immense désastre. Faire une estimation du nombre de personnes qui sont en train de mourir de faim dans les zones rurales est pour le moment impossible, indiquent les religieux. Ils demandent en particulier au gouvernement de baisser le prix du maïs (qui n'est plus disponible qu'en petite quantité), d'instaurer des contrôles sévères sur les coûts et de reconstituer les réserves nationales. Selon un rapport de la FAO, les récoltes de maïs au Malawi ont diminué d'un tiers par rapport à l'an dernier, essentiellement à cause des précipitations excessives et des inondations qui ont touché la région. 650.000 personnes sont concernées, surtout dans le sud du pays. Environ 200.000 tonnes devraient être importées pour couvrir les besoins les plus urgents. (D'après Misna, Italie, 16-20 février 2002)

* Maurice. Démission du président Cassam Uteem - Le 15 février, le président de l'île Maurice, Cassam Uteem, a démissionné de toutes ses fonctions, suite à son refus de promulguer une loi sur la prévention du terrorisme. M. Uteem avait proposé dix amendements à cette loi antiterroriste, mais l'Assemblée nationale les avait tous rejetés. Il avait notamment réclamé que le soutien moral à une cause terroriste ne soit pas pénalisé, donnant l'exemple de la Palestine. Estimant que le texte "bafoue les droits fondamentaux des citoyens mauriciens", le président Uteem a préféré démissionner. -Le 17 février, le vice-président de la République, M. Angidi Chettiar, devenu président par intérim, a également démissionné pour les mêmes raisons. Aux termes de la Constitution, l'intérim sera maintenant assuré par le plus haut magistrat, M. Arriranga Pillay. Le gouvernement a convoqué pour lundi 25 février l'Assemblée nationale pour une séance exceptionnelle, destinée à élire les nouveaux président et vice-président du pays. (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 15-18 février 2002)

* Mauritius. President resigns - 15 February: The president of Mauritius, Cassam Uteem, has resigned in protest at a controversial anti-terrorism bill which the government wants signed into law. Mr Uteem, whose post is largely honourary, has been locked in a power struggle with parliament over the law, which, among other things, allows the police to hold suspects for longer periods without charging them. The Mauritian opposition says the law erodes the rights of suspects. Mr Uteem refused to sign the bill earlier this week, forcing parliament to debate the issue again at a specially convened session on 14 February. Mr Uteem has now left to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Mr Uteem took office in July 1992. He was expected to be replaced in June 2002. Mauritius is politically stable and popular with tourists. It has a population of 1.3 million. Just over half are Hindu, with the next largest groups being Creole and Muslim. 18 February: The new President of Mauritius, Angidi Chettiar, has resigned in protest at the anti-terrorism bill, leaving the country without a head of state for the second time in three days. Mr Chettiar announced that like his predecessor, he was not prepared to approve the bill. Reports from Mauritius say Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth will now try and select a new President who is less closely aligned with the political opposition. Under the Constitution, the President, whose post is largely ceremonial, is obliged to either sign the bill into law or leave office. 19 February: The interim President, Supreme Court Chief Justice Arianga Pillay, has signed the anti-terrorism bill into law. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 19 February 2002)

* Morocco. Steep rise in poverty - The number of Moroccans living below the poverty line of about one dollar a day has risen from 4.2 million in 1998 to 5.5 million, or 18 percent of the population, a minister said on 15 February. Abbas El Fassi, Employment, Training and Social Development Minister, told a conference the rise stemmed mainly from three years of drought which had hit the agriculture-reliant economy and hampered economic growth. In remarks carried by the official MAP news agency, El Fassi said it was also due to a rise in crude oil prices and "an educational system inherited by the current government which does not link training to employment." The latest official figures put the unemployment rate in Morocco at 13 percent of the 10.5-million workforce. The government, which took power in 1998, led for the first time by the Socialists Union of Popular Forces (USFP), had set the eradication of poverty and corruption among its priorities. Government critics say efforts so far have been fruitless. (CNN, USA, 15 February 2002)

* Rwanda. Le nombre de victimes du génocide - Un rapport gouvernemental, qui n'est pas encore officiel, établit à 1.074.017 personnes, soit un septième de la population rwandaise, le nombre de victimes du génocide rwandais. Et 93,7% d'entre elles appartiennent à la minorité tutsi, selon un exemplaire du rappport obtenu par Associated Press. Ce rapport ne doit pas être publié avant d'avoir reçu l'approbation du gouvernement, a précisé le ministre des Collectivités rurales et des Affaires sociales, le 14 février. Fruit de deux ans de recherches d'experts du ministère, le rapport part de l'année 1990 pour recenser les victimes du génocide, plutôt que de la période des trois mois du printemps 1994 au cours de laquelle la majorité des massacres eut lieu. Après ces 100 jours, entre avril et juillet 1994, les associations humanitaires avaient estimé qu'entre 500.000 et 800.000 personnes avaient été tuées. (AP, USA, 14 février 2002)

Weekly anb0221.txt - #4/7