Weekly anb06136.txt #7

[anb-bia <anb-bia at village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 13-06-2002      PART #6/7

* Mozambique. Italy cancels Mozambique's foreign debt  -  Italy has 
cancelled all the debt owed to it by Mozambique -- a total of $524m. An 
agreement on the debt cancellation was signed in Rome at a ceremony 
attended by Mozambique's president, Alberto Chissano, and the Italian prime 
minister, Silvio Berlusconi. President Chissano is in Rome for the United 
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation summit.   (BBC News, UK, 12 June 
2002)

* Mozambique. L'Italie efface la dette  -  L'Italie a décidé de passer 
l'éponge sur la dette du Mozambique, estimée à 524 millions de dollars. 
L'accord a été signé à Rome à l'occasion de la participation du président 
mozambicain Alberto Chissano au sommet de la FAO. D'abord, l'Italie avait 
l'intention d'effacer cette dette en deux temps, mais a ensuite décidé de 
résoudre la question en une fois. Le président Chissano a exprimé sa 
profonde gratitude.   (Misna, Italie, 12 juin 2002)

* Namibia. Food for Goma  -  The Namibian government has donated food worth 
US $100,000 to Congo RDC for distribution in the eastern city of Goma, 
where many thousands of residents were displaced by lava flows from Mt 
Nyiragongo volcano in January. 60 mt of relief food, comprising 24 mt of 
dried fish and 36 mt of canned beef, had been airlifted from Karibib and 
the Namibian capital, Windhoek, to Kinshasa. From there it would be flown 
to the eastern area controlled by the Rwandan-backed rebel Congolese Rally 
for Democracy (RCD-Goma), in conformity with an agreement between Kinshasa 
and RCD-Goma on easing the delivery of humanitarian aid from government-to 
rebel-held areas.   (IRIN, 7 June 2002)

* Namibia. Twelve die in trawler accident  -  8 June: At least 12 fishermen 
have drowned after a trawler sank off the coast of southern Namibia. Nine 
of the 28 fishermen on board were rescued but another seven people are 
still missing, a marine rescue official said. The accident happened early 
this morning, about 30 nautical miles west of the town of Luderitz. "The 
fishing vessel sank in 24 minutes in very rough seas and high swells," said 
Pieter Moller of the Cape Town-based Maritime Rescue Co-ordinating Centre. 
He said the boat started to sink after a rope caught in the propeller, 
which then detached causing water to flood into the engine room. Four 
fishing vessels are still in the vicinity, searching for survivors of the 
sunken vessel, named the Meob Bay. As yet there are no details of the names 
or nationalities of the missing or deceased men.   (BBC News, UK, 8 June 2002)

* Rwanda. Loi sur les médias  -  Au terme de trois années de débats 
houleux, le Parlement rwandais a donné le feu vert à une loi qui, si elle 
est approuvée par la Cour suprême et le président Kagamé, devrait entraîner 
une plus grande liberté de la presse au Rwanda. La nouvelle loi 
autoriserait l'ouverture de stations de radio et télévision et d'agences de 
presse privées locales. Le projet de loi prévoit également la création d'un 
conseil de médias composé de fonctionnaires du gouvernement et de 
représentants de médias privés. Le projet de loi pourrait être adopté dans 
les quatre semaines à venir. Une des grandes surprises du projet est la 
suppression de trois articles controversés qui auraient permis 
d'administrer de longues peines de prison et la peine capitale aux 
personnes reconnues coupables d'inciter à commettre le génocide. Une telle 
législation doit faire partie intégrante d'un ensemble de lois sur le 
génocide qui ne concerne pas uniquement les journalistes, a estimé le chef 
de l'Association des journalistes rwandais.   (IRIN, Nairobi, 5 juin 2002)

* Rwanda. Number of prisoners of conscience increases  -  On 7 June, 
Amnesty International called on the government of Rwanda to immediately and 
unconditionally release 20 men and women detained in recent months 
seemingly for their entirely non-violent and legitimate connection with 
imprisoned former President and opposition politician, Pasteur Bizimungu. 
Amnesty International also called for the unconditional release of 
prisoners of conscience Pasteur Bizimungu and his political ally Charles 
Ntakirutinka.   (Amnesty International, 7 June 2002)

* Rwanda. Les militants de Bizimungu  -  Le 7 juin, Amnesty International 
(AI) a exhorté le gouvernement rwandais à remettre en liberté 20 personnes 
arrêtées récemment "semble-t-il, pour leur relation totalement non violente 
et légitime" avec l'ex-président Pasteur Bizimungu, actuellement 
emprisonné. AI estime que ces prévenus sont des prisonniers d'opinion, 
détenus uniquement pour leurs affiliations pacifiques - présumées ou 
réelles - dans le milieu de la politique, a expliqué l'association. Elle a, 
par ailleurs, demandé la libération de l'allié politique de M. Bizimungu, 
Charles Ntakirutinka. Parmi les détenus figurent des fermiers, des 
comptables, des fonctionnaires et des commerçants qui, d'après Amnesty, 
sont soupçonnés d'être des membres du parti interdit de M. Bizimungu. AI 
craint que les autorités ne maltraitent les détenus et ne les contraignent 
à faire des dépositions compromettant Bizimungu ou ses alliés politiques. 
MM. Bizimungu et Ntakirutinka ont été arrêtés en avril dernier, après avoir 
tenté en mai 2001 de lancer un nouveau parti, Ubuyanja.   (IRIN, Nairobi, 
10 juin 2002)

* Rwanda. Gacaca trials to begin soon  -  The long-awaited trials to be 
conducted by Gacaca courts -- an adapted form of Rwandan traditional 
participatory justice -- are to begin on 18 June, to deal with the 
perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. The Government says that the purpose of 
the Gacaca judicial process is to expedite the trials of those accused of 
crimes, to "reveal the truth about the genocide; to put an end to the 
culture of impunity in Rwanda; and to reconcile the Rwandan people and 
strengthen ties between them".   (IRIN, 11 June 2002)

* Rwanda. Capturer les génocidaires  -  Les Etats-Unis ont annoncé une 
campagne énergique et ciblée visant à arrêter les responsables du génocide 
rwandais. Des récompenses allant jusqu'à cinq millions de dollars seront 
offertes pour toute information menant à l'arrestation d'un suspect. Cette 
campagne débutera au Kenya, mais devrait s'orienter par la suite vers le 
Congo-Kinshasa, où l'on soupçonne de nombreux génocidaires d'avoir trouvé 
refuge. Toute personne arrêtée sera déférée au Tribunal pénal international 
pour le Rwanda pour y être jugée. "Ces individus continuent à jour un rôle 
destructeur et alimentent la guerre qui affecte la région des Grands Lacs 
depuis plus de cinq ans", a estimé un responsable américain.   (La Libre 
Belgique, 13 juin 2002)

* Sahara occidental. Pour une solution pacifique  -  Le président du Front 
Polisario, Mohamed Abdelaziz, a exprimé la volonté de son mouvement de 
trouver un règlement pacifique à la question sahraouie qui l'oppose au 
Maroc, rapporte le 7 juin l'Agence de presse libyenne (JANA), citant des 
sources officielles à Tripoli. M. Abdelaziz a fait part de cette volonté, 
en réponse aux démarches de la Libye. La Libye a reçu le point de vue de 
toutes les parties concernées par le problème sahraoui qui ont toutes 
"réaffirmé leur volonté de parvenir à un règlement pacifique de la crise et 
d'éviter toute escalade par un recours à la force". JANA ajoute que le 
colonel Khadafi poursuit ses efforts et ses concertations avec toutes les 
parties.   (PANA, Sénégal, 7 juin 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Re-building a nation  -  On 5 June, two government offices 
were reopened in the eastern district of Kono The offices were rebuilt by 
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Commission 
for Social Action. On 7 June, it was reported that several hundred homes 
destroyed in the civil war are being rebuilt in the northwestern Kambia 
district in a joint initiative between the UNDP and the 
government.   (ANB-BIA, 8 June 2002)

* South Africa. "AIDS is stabilising"  -  On 10 June, the South African 
government countered studies suggesting that the country's HIV/Aids 
infection rate was ballooning by releasing findings that reflected a 
stabilisation in the spread of the disease. The health minister, Manto 
Tshabalala-Msimang, said the rate of prevalence of HIV/Aids among pregnant 
women was slowing. A national HIV and syphilis prevalence study showed 
that, of about 17,000 pregnant women, 24.8 per cent tested HIV positive at 
the end of last year. In the previous year, 24.5 per cent of the women had 
tested positive. South Africa has one of the highest HIV/Aids infection 
rates in the world with about 11 per cent of its 40m population infected 
with the disease. An estimated 25 per cent of the economically-active 
population is infected. The study found that about 4.74m South Africans had 
HIV/Aids -- a marginal increase on the previous year's figure of 4.7m 
people.   (Financial Times, UK, 11 June 2002)

* Afrique du Sud. Décès de Peter Mokaba  -  Peter Mokaba, un des dirigeants 
radicaux du Congrès national africain (ANC), très populaire chez les jeunes 
des townships, est décédé le 9 juin à l'âge de 44 ans des suites d'une 
"pneumonie aiguë". Proche de Winnie Mandela, il avait dirigé l'organisation 
de la jeunesse de l'ANC au début des années 1990. Dans un communiqué, l'ANC 
et le président Thabo Mbeki ont salué sa mémoire.   (Le Figaro, France, 11 
juin 2002)

* Sudan. Rebels capture key town  -  Sudanese rebels said they had seized a 
key garrison town in a surprise attack on government forces on 9 June, 
describing it as their biggest battlefield triumph in two years. The Sudan 
People's Liberation Movement (SPLA/SPLM) said it had captured Kapoeta and 
seized tanks, artillery and heavy machineguns. "This is our biggest 
military victory for the past two years," Nairobi-based SPLA spokesman 
Samson Kwaje said. "The element of surprise helped, they tried to put up 
resistance but it was too late." Kwaje said the capture of Kapoeta, which 
he described as one of three main government garrisons in the south, 
effectively handed the SPLA control of Sudan's southern border zone. Aid 
workers said access to the area was restricted, making it impossible to 
verify the rebels' claim. "The town has changed hands several times in the 
past few years," said a humanitarian source who declined to be named. "It's 
a very tense situation, where government garrisons are surrounded by SPLA 
forces," he said.   (CNN, USA, 10 June 2002)

* Soudan. Prise de Kapoeta  -  Les rebelles du SPLA (Armée de libération du 
peuple soudanais) ont revendiqué la prise de la ville stratégique de 
Kapoeta, affirmant qu'il s'agissait de la victoire la plus significative 
des deux dernières années. L'effet de surprise a dérouté les forces 
gouvernementales, qui n'ont pas pu organiser une défense adéquate, a 
déclaré le porte-parole des rebelles. Kapoeta (à près de 80 km de la 
frontière kényane) était considérée imprenable, car entourée de champs 
parsemés de mines antipersonnel et antichars et à cause de la présence de 
nombreuses garnisons de l'armée régulière dans la zone.   (Misna, Italie, 
10 juin 2002)

* Sudan. Sudanese rebels jubilant after another hollow victory  -  The 
veteran rebel Dr John Garang was in jubilant mood. His troops had just 
captured Kapoeta, a heavily guarded garrison town inside Sudan's southern 
border with Kenya. Seated under a tree, he flipped an identity card on to 
the table. It belonged to another man in uniform -- the government 
commander whose bloated remains lay rotting by the town's dirt runway. 
oThis was a great defeat, a massive victory," said the well-spoken, 
grey-bearded leader. The capture of Kapoeta on 10 June will not win the war 
for Dr Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Nevertheless, it 
represents a small but strategic victory in Africa's longest-running war, a 
seemingly intractable conflict aggravated this year by a deadly oil rush 
that Canadian, Chinese and British companies have joined. Driven by the 
promise of millions of pounds, government troops in helicopter gunships 
have attacked civilian villages to clear oil-producing areas. In one 
incident, a gunship crew attacked families queuing for UN food handouts. 
Last Sunday, the SPLA responded by taking Kapoeta, a town it lost 10 years 
ago. Rotting corpses still littered the ring of trenches around the town. 
Some were decapitated; others had been stripped to their underwear. 
Although the war is often portrayed as a fight between northern Arabs and 
southern Africans, many of the fallen government troops were dark-skinned 
-- possibly southerners conscripted or drawn by the lure of a wage. 
Vultures wheeled overhead as rebel troops rested on captured artillery. 
There were few civilians -- they had fled hours earlier, after a government 
Antonov plane scattered bombs over the town. There were no casualties. The 
Catholic church was in ruins, its blackened walls covered in a scrawl of 
Arabic lettering. By the altar, neatly uniformed rebels were preparing 
large vats of a porridge-like food. One rebel held a tin of donated cooking 
oil. The American government, whose flag was on the tin, presumably 
intended it for a hungry civilian, but skimming and the manipulation of aid 
have also become part of this war. Dr Garang offered little hope for peace 
talks. Sudan is blessed -- or perhaps blighted -- with four separate peace 
initiatives, variously sponsored by Kenya, Egypt and Libya, Eritrea and 
America. In addition, Dr Garang says he has a "three-pronged approach"of 
his own, which combines fighting with talking. "It is a very complex 
situation," he acknowledged.   (Declan Walsh, The Independent, UK, 13 June 
2002)

Weekly News - anb06136.txt - #6/7