Weekly anb07114.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-07-2002      PART #4/6

* Ethiopia. Ethiopia claims Oromo rebels crushed  -  5 July: The Ethiopian 
army says that it has "completely annihilated" forces loyal to the armed 
separatist movement, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The OLF is not 
occupying or controlling any area in Ethiopia. Major General Bacha Debele, 
Army Commander of the Forces in the West, says that the clashes between the 
Ethiopian army and the OLF are finally over. The clashes began almost two 
months ago when the OLF launched a major offensive in western Ethiopia, and 
have been sporadically erupting since then. The OLF evolved from a 
political party into an armed movement nine years ago, claiming that the 
rights of the Oromo people -- who make up almost 40% of Ethiopia's 65 
million -- were not being respected. The OLF are now fighting Prime 
Minister Meles Zenawi's government for the independence of the Oromo region 
from the rest of Ethiopia.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 5 July 2002)

* Guinée. Résultats des législatives  -  Selon les résultats provisoires 
publiés le 8 juillet par le ministère de l'Administration territoriale, à 
l'issue des élections législatives du 30 juin, le parti au pouvoir, le 
Parti de l'unité et du progrès (PUP), a remporté 47 des 76 sièges de la 
liste proportionnelle et les 38 de la liste uninominale. Seules cinq des 
douze formations en lice ont obtenu des sièges sur la liste 
proportionnelle. Rappelons que la majorité des 46 partis politiques 
guinéens ont refusé de prendre part à ces élections.   (PANA, Sénégal, 8 
juillet 2002)

* Kenya. Hit by malaria epidemic  -  8 July: Hospitals in Kenya's Rift 
Valley and Nyanza provinces are on emergency alert as the death toll from a 
malaria epidemic tops 200. The outbreak of highland malaria has affected 
thousands of people in western areas of the country, according to the 
acting provincial medical health officer, John Kibusio, speaking in Nakuru, 
today. The government has responded by announcing that treatment for the 
disease will be given free at state-run hospitals. Highland malaria is 
defined by scientists as malaria that occurs at the high altitude limit for 
the disease.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 8 July 2002)

* Lesotho. Dam cash scandal  -  On 5 July, a damning account of the way the 
giant British engineering firm Balfour Beatty paid bribes into a Swiss bank 
account to get construction contracts emerged, with the release of the full 
judgment of an African court which has been investigating corruption 
surrounding a dam project in Lesotho. The possibility that Balfour Beatty, 
along with French, German and Canadian firms, may be blacklisted by 
international bodies came closer yesterday as a result of the Lesotho 
judge's findings. Some companies are already being prosecuted in Lesotho 
for their part in the affair, following a two year trial and the jailing of 
the local chief executive of the dams project for taking more than £3m in 
bribes. The World Bank, which last year claimed there was "insufficient 
evidence" to blacklist the firms, will be forced to look at the issue 
again. The 200 page judgment by Judge Brendon Cullinan details how the 
consortium to which Balfour Beatty belonged transferred £123,310 in 
sterling into a Zurich bank account in three payments. The money went into 
an account controlled by Max Cohen, a French agent, who was found to have 
been the channel for an array of bribes to Masupha Sole, chief executive of 
the dams project. The account was in the name of UDC, a Panama company. 
Panama companies are allowed secret ownership and are a traditional vehicle 
for corrupt payments, as have also been Swiss banks, with their tradition 
until recently of impenetrable secrecy. In finding that Balfour Beatty and 
the other companies had deliberately entered into a corrupt agreement, the 
judge stressed that they must have known the payments to Swiss banks 
involved bribery.   (The Guardian, UK, 6 July 2002)

* Liberia. Region under threat from fighting  -  4 July: Fighting between 
government and rebel forces in Liberia could destabilise the whole region, 
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned. Mr Annan said that 
25,000 people had fled to neighbouring Sierra Leone since fighting 
intensified last month. He urged President Charles Taylor's forces and the 
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) rebels to let aid 
agencies have access to the thousands of people in need of help. The rebels 
have been fighting the government for three years, but have recently 
stepped up their attacks, and fighting has been reported in five of the 
country's 15 counties. Mr Annan also urged donor countries to provide the 
resources necessary to respond to the needs of refugees and displaced 
people affected by the fighting. The UN has decided to move its offices in 
the capital, Liberia, close to the US embassy. Mr Annan's statement 
coincides with remarks made by a UN envoy, Adolfo Zinser, who said on 3 
July that Liberia needed the help of the international community to secure 
a ceasefire and a political settlement in the conflict. Mr Zinser also said 
that West African countries should make possession of weapons by civilians 
an offence.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 4 July 2002)

* Liberia. Talks in Burkina Faso  -  8 July: With war and a refugee exodus 
building, Liberia's rebels joined civil and political leaders for the first 
time, today, in talks on Liberia's future. President Charles Taylor shunned 
the Burkina Faso session with rebels and political and civil leaders, 
spending the day instead touring a recent battle zone. "The rebels are not 
going to win this war," Taylor declared at Klay Junction outside Liberia's 
capital, wearing the military uniform of a five-star general rather than 
his usual business suit. The opening of the four-day session in Burkina 
Faso comes as the United Nations announced that fighting had now chased 
more than 100,000 civilians to camps within Liberia. Nearly 50,000 others 
have fled to refugee camps in neighbouring Guinea, Ivory Coast and Sierra 
Leone since the start of the year. Tens of thousands more are believed to 
be hiding in Liberia's bush, bringing the total number of people displaced 
by the fighting to 200,000, UN authorities said. The talks drew the 
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement. 
The band, waging a three-year campaign to drive out Taylor's government, is 
made up mainly of warlords who lost to Taylor in Liberia's bloody civil war 
in the 1990s. Rebels this year are waging their deepest push toward 
Liberia's capital, coming in May to within a few minutes' drive of 
Monrovia.   (CNN, USA 8 July 2002)

* Liberia. Pourparlers à Ouagadougou  -  Alors que la guerre et l'exode de 
réfugiés s'intensifient, les rebelles libériens se sont joints pour la 
première fois, le 8 juillet, à des responsables civils et politiques pour 
des discussions sur l'avenir de leur pays. Le mouvement rebelle des 
Libériens unis pour la réconciliation et la démocratie (LURD), soutenu par 
la Guinée et composé d'anciennes factions ayant perdu la guerre civile de 
1989-1996, a choisi de participer aux discussion de Ouagadougou en 
compagnie de délégués de quinze partis politiques, groupes humanitaires, 
religieux, civils ou estudiantins. Les organisateurs de la réunion espèrent 
fonder un groupe coordonné qui chapeauterait des négociations de paix. Mais 
le gouvernement a pratiqué la politique de la chaise vide. - Le 9 juillet, 
on signalait de violents combats sur trois fronts au Liberia. Selon 
certaines sources, les forces gouvernementales auraient repris la ville de 
Tubmanburg (Ndlr: cette nouvelle a été ensuite infirmée). Les Nations unies 
estiment que, depuis le début de l'année, les combats ont déplacé quelque 
200.000 personnes.   (AP, 8-9 juillet 2002)

* Liberia. US condemns Liberian detentions  -  9 July: The United States 
has condemned the Liberian government's treatment of a newspaper editor and 
two other men it has detained. Hassan Bility, editor of the opposition 
newspaper Analyst, is accused of collaborating in a plot to kill President 
Charles Taylor. He and two other unnamed men have been held incommunicado 
since their arrest. The Liberian government acknowledged their detention on 
23 June. It accuses them of being part of the Liberians United for 
Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) movement. The Lurd rebels have said 
they have nothing to do with Mr Bility, according to Reuters. US State 
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said: "We condemn the government of 
Liberia's failure to follow the rule of law and urge it to comply with a 
Liberian court order to present these individuals publicly."   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 9 July 2002)

* Madagascar. Ratsiraka quits  -  5 July: Madagascar's former leader Didier 
Ratsiraka has left the country for the Seychelles following a seven-month 
power-struggle with his rival, Marc Ravalomanana. Mr Ratsiraka left with 
around 20 people, including his wife, daughter and two brothers and 
diplomats says he is going into exile. The plane took off from the eastern 
port city of Tamatave, where Mr Ratsiraka had set up his rival government 
to president-elect Mr Ravalomanana. A second plane, containing ex-ministers 
of Mr Ratsiraka's, is also preparing to leave, sources at the airport said. 
Earlier this week another of Mr Ratsiraka's strongholds, the northern 
province of Diego Suarez, fell to Mr Ravalomanana's troops. This left him 
in control of only one province -- his political heartland of Tamatave. 
However correspondents say that Mr Ravalomanana's troops are now advancing 
towards the region. Last month, Mr Ratsiraka made a trip to France, also 
prompting speculation that he was going into exile, however he subsequently 
returned. Following elections in December last year, neither man accepted 
defeat and the Indian Ocean island nation was divided with two capitals and 
two governments. The USA, Australia, Japan and now France have all 
recognised Ravalomanana. Following a recount in May, Mr Ravalomanana was 
sworn in as president but Mr Ratsiraka still refused to step down. 8 July: 
Yesterday, Mr Ratsiraka and members of his family and political colleagues 
arrived in Paris after a stopover in The Seychelles. he says he could 
return to Madagascar if new elections are called.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 8 
July 2002)

* Madagascar. Ratsiraka s'en va  -  4 juillet. Les troupes du président 
Ravalomanana ont reçu un accueil triomphal dans le port stratégique 
d'Antsiranana (extrême nord), l'un des deux derniers bastions de son rival 
Ratsiraka, dont elles ont pris le contrôle. L'armée de Ravalomanana 
contrôle désormais la plupart des régions, hormis la province orientale de 
Toamasina, sur laquelle une offensive est en cours. - 5 juillet. Le jeudi 
matin, l'ex-président Didier Ratsiraka a fui Toamasina, dernier bastion 
encore contrôlé par ses proches, et est arrivé par avion aux Seychelles 
avec les siens. Diverses personnalités, proches de Ratsiraka, ont également 
pris la fuite; certains sont arrivés à Maurice, d'autres à La Réunion. 
Depuis la veille au soir, l'armée ralliée à Ravalomanana faisait route vers 
Toamasina. Après sept mois de gâchis, le président élu devra reconstruire 
un pays en ruine. - 7 juillet. Les premiers soldats de Ravalomanana sont 
arrivés à Toamasina, déclaré "ville ouverte" par les autorités militaires 
et civiles de ce grand port. Par ailleurs, après une escale de deux jours 
aux Seychelles, M. Ratsiraka est arrivé en France, où il dispose de deux 
propriétés, pour ce qui semble être un exil définitif. Mais l'OUA n'a 
toujours pas reconnu la légitimité du président Ravalomanana. Au sommet de 
Durban, qui verra la naissance de l'Union africaine, le siège de Madagascar 
restera vide. - 8 juillet. La France a indiqué qu'elle attendait de M. 
Ratsiraka une "attitude de réserve". Celui-ci cependant ne jette pas 
l'éponge et a déclaré que "si la démocratie est rétablie (à Madagascar) et 
si nous préparons de nouvelles élections, alors je rentrerai". 
Ravalomanana, pour sa part, a annoncé la création d'une commission 
d'enquête sur les crimes et les délits commis sous le régime de son 
prédécesseur. Par ailleurs, l'Allemagne a reconnu M. Ravalomanana comme 
président de Madagascar, et la Grande-Bretagne a promis de soutenir les 
efforts de son gouvernement de réconciliation nationale. Une réunion des 
Amis de Madagascar devrait se tenir à Paris le 26 juillet, pour se pencher 
sur le redressement économique du pays. - 9 juillet. A Durban (Afrique du 
Sud), au terme d'un débat mouvementé, la nouvelle Union africaine a décidé 
de ne pas reconnaître le président Ravalomanana estimant qu'il s'est emparé 
du pouvoir de manière inconstitutionnelle, et a demandé de nouvelles 
élections.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 10 juillet 2002)

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