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Weekly anb03274.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 27-03-2002      PART #4/6
* Madagascar. Paralysie - 21 mars. A l'issue d'un conseil de ministres, le président autoproclamé Marc Ravalomanana a destitué les six gouverneurs des "provinces autonomes" et a nommé à leur place des "présidents de délégation spéciale". Au même moment, le président sortant Didier Ratsiraka a décidé de reporter la date du second tour au 28 avril 2002, au lieu du 25 mars. Pendant ce temps, la vie économique malgache s'enlise toujours plus dans le marasme. Les barrages au port de Toamasina empêchent depuis plus d'un mois l'approvisionnement de la capitale. Etant donné que deux différents gouverneurs ont été nommés à la Banque centrale, les banques étrangères ne savent plus quelle signature prendre en compte. Le marché interbancaire de devises est paralysé. L'activité des entreprises dans la zone franche d'Antananarivo est également gravement touchée. - 22 mars. M. Ravalomanana a appelé à cesser la grève générale qui paralysait à sa demande la vie administrative et économique de la capitale depuis près de deux mois. Par ailleurs, selon des sources diplomatiques, une rencontre au sommet entre les deux protagonistes de la crise politique, Ratsiraka et Ravalomanana, pourrait avoir lieu en France ou à l'île Maurice. Cette perspective, annoncée par des proches des deux candidats, a relancé l'espoir d'une sortie de la crise. Selon un diplomate étranger, les chances d'une telle rencontre sont "sérieuses". Mais Ravalomanana fait de la levée des barrages, qui font le blocus d'Antananarivo, la condition de cette rencontre avec son rival Ratsiraka, qui à son tour exige d'abord la dissolution du gouvernement de Ravalomanana. - 25 mars. Les fonctionnaires malgaches ont massivement repris le travail ce lundi à Antananarivo, mais l'activité a de la peine à redémarrer, particulièrement à cause de la pénurie de carburant dans la capitale. Bon nombre doivent rejoindre leurs lieux de travail à pied. - 26 mars. Une session extraordinaire de l'Assemblée nationale malgache s'est ouverte le mardi matin, sur convocation de M. Ravalomanana, en présence d'environ un tiers des députés (54 sur 150). A l'origine, un vote de confiance pour le gouvernement de M. Sylla (Premier ministre de Ravalomanana) devait avoir lieu lors de cette session, mais il a été finalement abandonné en raison de "menaces" contre les députés du parti de M. Ratsiraka. M. Sylla a présenté son programme, axé sur la lutte contre la corruption et le libéralisme pour redresser "en cinq ans" l'économie du pays. D'autre part, à Fianarantsoa (600 km au sud de la capitale) trois partisans de Ravalomanana ont été tués lors d'affrontements entre manifestants et forces de l'ordre. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 27 mars 2002)
* Malawi. Catholic Bishops' Easter call - "We send you joyful Easter greetings for the resurrection of our Lord, but we appeal to Christians and all Malawians to share their fish and bread with those who have less or nothing". This is the call coming from an Easter Letter issued by the Catholic Bishops of Malawi entitled: "Rejoicing and Vigilantly living in Hope". While expressing gratitude for the Centenary Celebrations last year, and sending joyful Easter greetings for the resurrection of the Lord, the Bishops voice concern for "the impact on family and social life of the maize-shortage crisis, of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, violence, repeated police brutality and partiality, armed robbery and corruption". The Prelates call on the government to shoulder its responsibilities and overcome the present food crisis. They say "the nation expects the relevant government bodies to have sound policies on strategy for reserving grain, the authorization for the sale of maize and on the pricing of such essential commodities as maize. Families must exercise foresight and learn to plan and reserve enough maize for food consumption and seed". In their message, the Bishops thank the organizations which are helping the country in this crisis. They thank Pope John Paul in particular for his token donation of US $ 15,000, and they trust that Caritas Internationalis, which they have contacted, will "respond in a significant way". (Fides, Vatican City, 26 March 2002)
* Mali. War criminals stretch Mali's hospitality - Although Mali lies a full 3,000 kilometres from the Great Lakes region, it, too, is among the countries affected by the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Last year six Rwandans were sent there to serve prison sentences, after they were convicted of crimes again humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Mali had originally agreed to take only five prisoners, but accepted the unexpected sixth arrival. At the central prison in Mali's capital, Bamako, all six are now housed in special facilities prepared with UN financial aid. But they are proving burdensome guests, particularly as most are thought to be HIV positive. The prison is to be found in one of Bamako's most squalid neighbourhoods -- a brown, grimy building on a rutted, dusty road. The 3,300 Malian inmates are crammed into concrete chambers, 20 men per cell. They have to pay for their own keep by producing crafts or metal work. The Malian state, which can hardly look after its non-criminal population, has no budget for feeding or Malian prisoners or giving them medical treatment. At meal-times family members throng the prison to deliver bowls of food to their relatives locked up inside. The convicts serving out their sentences for their role in the Rwandan genocide have turned out to be an expense Mali can hardly afford. "Of the six prisoners, four are ill," said the prison director, Mamourou Doumbia. "One of them is seriously ill -- he has to be taken out all the time for medical consultations and we have one vehicle, but it's very old." The prison authorities feel that the UN and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, should have informed the Malian government that the convicts were sick and made arrangements to cover those costs. (BBC News, UK, 21 March 2002)
* Maroc. Le mariage du roi - Le 21 mars, lors d'une discrète cérémonie au palais royal de Rabat, le roi Mohammed VI, 38 ans, a scellé son mariage devant les adouls (notaires religieux) avec Salma Bennani, une informaticienne de 24 ans. Ils fêteront officiellement leur union lors de cérémonies qui dureront trois jours à partir du 12 avril à Marrakech, en présence de plusieurs centaines de personnalités, dont des chefs d'Etat, invitées "à titre privé". En annonçant publiquement son mariage, et en acceptant la diffusion de photos officielles de son couple, le roi rompt avec la coutume de totale discrétion entourant la vie privée des monarques chérifiens. De cette union devrait naître le futur héritier de Mohammed VI. En absence de descendant mâle du souverain, la succession du trône revient pour l'heure à son frère cadet, le prince Moulay Rachid. (D'après Le Figaro, France, 22 mars 2002)
* Morocco. King of Morocco weds - King Mohammed VI of Morocco has married a 24-year-old computer engineer in a break with tradition that is seen as a step towards modernising the country. It is the first time in Morocco that a royal wedding has been publicised, with the bride named and her photographs appearing in the media. Salma Bennani, the daughter of a university professor, is expected to have a high profile and to encourage women to take a more prominent role in public life. The marriage is being presented by the royal palace as a sign of its new, open and modern outlook. The private ceremony, held in Rabat's royal palace on 21 March, is to be followed by three days of public festivities in the southern city of Marrakesh next month, parts of which will be televised. A palace statement issued by the official MAP news agency said: "The royal palace was delighted by the conclusion of the wedding of King Mohammed to the chaste pearl, Lalla (Lady) Salma, in conformity with divine teachings and the Prophet's tradition." The king's new bride will not take the title of queen but will be known as royal highness. The main celebration will take place in Marrakesh in three weeks' time. (BBC News, UK, 22 March 2002)
* Niger/UE. Coopération - La Commission européenne et le Niger ont signé, le 26 mars à Niamey, un nouveau programme de coopération d'un montant de 227 milliards de FCFA, au titre du 9ème Fonds européen de développement (FED) couvrant la période 2002-2007. Les fonds sont destinés à la réalisation d'objectifs prioritaires dans le domaine de la sécurité alimentaire, le transport, l'appui macro-économique et la bonne gouvernance. (PANA, Sénégal, 26 mars 2002)
* Nigeria. La charia anticonstitutionnelle - Le 21 mars, le gouvernement fédéral du Nigeria a déclaré contraire à la Constitution la loi islamique appliquée dans douze Etats du nord du pays. Cette déclaration, lourde d'implications politiques, devrait entraîner un malaise dans le nord, où l'application de la charia a provoqué des tensions au sein de la minorité chrétienne. Le ministre de la Justice a lancé un appel en direction de ces Etats afin qu'ils modifient leur législation. Cette lettre constitue la première condamnation sans équivoque par le gouvernement du président Obasanjo de l'application de la loi islamique depuis que celle-ci a été instaurée au début 2000. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 22 mars 2002)
* Nigeria. Forex trading ban for 16 banks - On 22 March, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it was barring 16 banks from foreign currency dealing for a year, prompting fresh concern for the health of Nigeria's financial sector. CBN officials said this followed an investigation into a total of 21 banks, of which 16 so far have been found to be involved in parallel market deals, which contravened regulations. Bankers confirmed that Diamond Bank and FSB International, both top tier Nigerian banks, were among those penalised. NBM bank, an affiliate of the Banque Belgolaise was also sanctioned. Bankers warned on 22 March that the CBN's drive to end a practice carried out by all but a handful of Nigeria's 90-odd banks risked provoking a chaotic run on the banks. They added that in its sanctions the CBN had failed to distinguish between "round tripping", a criminal offence involving the fraudulent exploitation of gaps between parallel and official exchange rates, and "free funds" dealing where hard currency is sourced from outside the CBN. There are already concerns about the solvency of some of the smaller institutions and the level of exposure of First Bank, Nigeria's biggest bank, to the expanding telecoms market. (Financial Times, UK, 23 March 2002)
* Nigeria. Obasanjo condemns lecturers strike - President Olusegun Obasanjo, has criticised a week-long strike of university teachers. According to local press reports, Mr Obasanjo said the work stoppages had brought the universities to a situation of near-paralysis and were damaging the reputation of the degrees they awarded. Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities called the nationwide strike in protest at the dismissal of several colleagues over a pay strike last year. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 24 March 2002)
* Nigeria. Safiya Husaini acquittée - Le 25 mars, Safiya Husaini, la Nigériane qui risquait d'être lapidée après avoir été condamnée pour adultère, a finalement été acquittée par la cour d'appel islamique de l'Etat de Sokoto, après une formidable campagne internationale. La cour d'appel a décrété que le cas ne pouvait pas être jugé en vertu de la charia, parce que les faits se sont produits avant l'entrée en vigueur de la loi islamique dans l'Etat de Sokoto. Mais le soulagement de ceux qui s'étaient mobilisés pour défendre Safiya, risque d'être de courte durée. Le même jour, on apprenait que le tribunal de Bakori, dans l'Etat de Katsina (nord du pays), avait condamné à mort, le 22 mars, une autre jeune femme, Amina Lawal, 35 ans, qui a avoué avoir eu un enfant alors qu'elle était déjà divorcée. Elle a trente jours pour faire appel, et les autorités nigérianes se préparent à faire face à une nouvelle vague de protestations. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 26 mars 2002)
* Nigeria. Sharia punishments - 21 March: The federal government of Nigeria has declared that the strict implementation of Sharia law is illegal under the country's constitution. "A Muslim should not be subjected to a punishment more severe than would be imposed on other Nigerians for the same offence," Justice Minister Godwin Agabi has written in a letter to northern states. The letter, which signals an important shift in government policy, makes no reference to any specific case. But it comes as Nigeria is gripped by the trial of a woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning by an Islamic court. She is due to hear the outcome of her appeal next week. Mr Agabi's letter, quoted in several Nigerian newspapers, says that any court "which imposes discriminatory punishment is deliberately flouting the constitution. The stability, unity and integrity of the nation are threatened by such action," the minister said. Meanwhile, the governor of a northern Nigerian state which enforces Sharia law has defended Islamic punishments after they were criticised by the federal government. In an interview with the BBC, Governor Ahmed Sani of Zamfara said no non-Muslim had the right to determine Sharia's legitimacy. He said that the punishments -- which included stoning, amputation and flogging -- were legal under the constitution and his administration had no plans to change its justice system. 25 March: A Nigerian appeal court gives its judgement in the case of Safiya Husaini, a Muslim woman convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. Safiya Husaini is the first woman to have been convicted of this crime under a strict Islamic legal system introduced in Nigeria's majority-Muslim northern states two years ago. The Sharia court upholds Safiya's appeal after the court said the original ruling was unsound. But as the verdict is announced, it emerges that a second woman has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. A Sharia court at Bakori in Katsina State, has sentenced Amina Lawal to die after she confessed to having a child while divorced. 26 March: The Government is coming under increasing international pressure to amend the extreme Sharia laws in some northern Muslim areas. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 26 March 2002)
* Rwanda. Genocide suspects arrested - A former Rwandan priest has been arrested in Yaounde by the Cameroonian authorities on a warrant from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Hormisdas Nsengimana, 47, is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and crimes against humanity in relation to the mass killing of Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 1994. He is alleged to have played a leading role in the killing of Tutsis in Butare province. The arrest came as a former defence investigator at the tribunal was transferred to the tribunal's jail in Arusha, Tanzania, following a flight from Belgium. Joseph Nzabirinda, a former youth organiser in Butare province, was arrested last December in Belgium on a tribunal warrant. The arrival of Mr Nzabirinda brings the number of detainees at the tribunal to 55. He is the second investigator arrested in connection with the genocide. The tribunal's spokesman, Kingsley Moghalu said that Mr Nzabirinda, 44, will appear before the court in the near future to face the charges and also for allegedly conspiring with Joseph Kanyabashi, former mayor of Ngoma, to kill Tutsis in south-western Rwanda. Mr Nzabirinda, who was also known as Birito, had worked in the defence team of another genocide suspect, Sylvain Nsabimana, the former governor of Butare. However, Mr Nzabirinda's contract was terminated last November when he allegedly presented fake documents. (BBC News, UK, 21 March 2002) 

Weekly anb0327.txt - end of #4/6