Weekly anb08295.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 29-08-2002      PART #5/7

* Mali. Vaccination contre le tétanos  -  L'Unicef lutte contre le tétanos 
qui tue 200.000 nouveau-nés et 30.000 mères chaque année dans le monde. 
C'est au Mali, où le taux de couverture vaccinale est très bas pour un taux 
de fécondité extrêmement élevé, que l'Unicef a choisi de lancer sa campagne 
mondiale d'élimination du tétanos maternel et néonatal. Dans un premier 
temps, l'opération a ciblé 118.000 femmes âgées de 14 à 45 ans, dont la 
plupart vivent dans des villages reculés du cercle de Bla, à l'est de 
Bamako, ou celui de Bougouni, plus au sud. L'objectif est de vacciner 
500.000 Maliennes d'ici à 2005. Eradiqué dans les pays industrialisés dès 
les années 1950, le tétanos néonatal est toujours l'une des causes majeures 
de mortalité parmi les nouveau-nés des pays pauvres.   (La Croix, France, 
26 août 2002)

* Maroc. Offensive intégriste  -  Les autorités ont lancé une offensive 
contre les ventes de cassettes et de livres intégristes dans les lieux 
publics, ont affirmé plusieurs journaux marocains le 22 août. Rabat n'a pas 
confirmé, mais le ministère de l'Intérieur aurait adressé une circulaire à 
tous les gouverneurs pour faire interdire les marchands islamistes 
ambulants "à proximité des mosquées et ailleurs". Cette décision aurait été 
prise quelques jours après l'arrestation, début août, de trente islamistes 
soupçonnés de meurtres et membres des mouvements radicaux de Salafiya 
Djihadia (Combat salafiste) et Takfir Wal Hidjra (ex-Communication et 
Retraite). Elle survient aussi cinq semaines avant le scrutin législatif du 
27 septembre que le roi Mohammed VI a souhaité, le 21 août, 
"transparent".   (Le Monde, France, 23 août 2002)

* Namibia. Nujome: "Namibia may soon decide to follow Zimbabwe's 
example"  -  "Even Namibia may soon decide to follow the example of 
Zimbabwe and launch a land reform which foresees the expropriation and 
redistribution of white farms". This was the declaration made by Namibian 
President Sam Nujoma at a congress meeting of the ruling party, the 
South-West African People's Organisation (SWAPO). Addressing the nearly 600 
delegates gathered in Windhoeck, Nujoma explained that the current 
situation with 70% of the nation's arable land in the hands of white 
farm-owners, while black farmers battle daily against famine, is 
intolerable. The Namibian Head of State also warned the white farmers not 
to "hike" the prices of the lands in view of a possible state acquisition 
campaign. Nujoma concluded that if the government should not its achieve 
desired results in the land redistribution project, it may then decide to 
expropriate some farms.   (MISNA, Italy, 24 August 2002)

* Namibia. Surprise reshuffle in Namibia  -  President Sam Nujoma of 
Namibia has announced a cabinet reshuffle which demotes the prime minister. 
Hage Geingob is being replaced by Foreign Affairs Minister Theo-Ben 
Gurirab. Mr Geingob has been offered the post of local government and 
housing minister. The demotion of close political allies comes after 
President Nujoma publicly warned party members of the danger of 
factionalism at a recent ruling party congress and is bound to raise 
questions about his stated intention to step down at the next election in 
2004. Local journalist Brigitte Weidlich says that anything is possible and 
that Mr Guirab may also be being groomed as Mr Nujoma's successor. The 
Namibian constitution was changed three years ago to allow Mr Nujoma -- who 
is the country's founding president since 1990 -- to stand for president 
for a third term. In other significant changes, President Nujoma gives 
himself responsibility for the information and broadcasting portfolio and 
current Trade Minister Hidipo Hamutenya will take over the foreign affairs 
portfolio. At the just ended Swapo party conference, Mr Nujoma announced 
plans to confiscate 192 farms "belonging to foreign absentee 
landlords".   (BBC News, UK, 27 August 2002)

* Namibie. Menace d'expropriation  -  Le 27 août, la presse namibienne a 
rapporté que le gouvernement menacerait d'exproprier 192 fermiers blancs de 
leurs terres, qui couvrent 12 millions d'hectares. Le président Sam Nujoma 
aurait justifié cette menace par la sous-utilisation des terres, ainsi que 
par l'absentéisme des fermiers sur leurs exploitations.   (Le Figaro, 
France, 28 août 2002)

* Niger. IMF praises reforms  -  Niger has had "commendable success" in 
carrying out reforms aimed at reducing poverty, the International Monetary 
Fund (IMF) has said. Under a three-year IMF scheme approved in December 
2000, Niger was offered access to up to $78m in loans at concessionary 
interest rates. In return, the government was expected to meet certain 
conditions on economic reform and performance. In its latest review of the 
arrangement, the IMF said Niger's performance in 2001 had been "broadly 
satisfactory" and it was approving disbursement of $11m of the sum 
previously agreed.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 August 2002)

* Nigeria. Kaduna: accord chrétiens-musulmans  -  Un accord pour garantir 
une cohabitation pacifique entre chrétiens et musulmans a été souscrit par 
les chefs religieux des deux communautés dans l'Etat de Kaduna (nord), qui 
a été le théâtre de trois graves vagues de violences interreligieuses, 
soldées par plus de 2.000 morts. Les épisodes les plus graves ont eu lieu 
en 2000, suite à la proposition d'adoption de la charia, introduite à 
partir de 2001. Les chefs religieux musulmans et chrétiens, a déclaré 
l'archevêque de Kaduna, "ont signé un document dans lequel ils s'engagent à 
faire tout ce qui est en leur pouvoir pour garantir des relations 
pacifiques entre les deux communautés. Cet accord est le résultat d'un 
dialogue entre les Eglises catholique, anglicane, méthodiste et protestante 
et les leaders musulmans". Dans l'Etat de Kaduna, a ajouté l'archevêque, la 
charia n'est appliquée que par les musulmans, tandis que les chrétiens sont 
jugés devant des tribunaux traditionnels. Mais un risque est lié au 
prochain rendez-vous électoral, prévu pour le début de l'année 
2003.   (Misna, Italie, 23 août 2002)

* Nigeria. Christians and Muslims reach an accord in Kaduna  -  An 
agreement to guarantee peaceful cohabitation between Christians and Muslims 
was signed by the religious leaders of the two communities in the Northern 
Nigerian State of Kaduna, where three violent religious clashes (1987, 1992 
and 2000) claimed over two thousand lives. The most serious episodes of the 
inter-religious conflict occurred in February and May 2000 after the 
introduction of the Sharia (Islamic law), then effectively applied in 2001. 
Archbishop Peter Yariyok Jatau said the Christian and Muslim 
representatives have signed a document, pledging to do everything in their 
power to guarantee peaceful cohabitation between the communities. This 
accord is the result of a series of dialogues between representatives of 
the Catholic, Anglicans, Methodists and other Protestant Churches with 
Muslim leaders.   (MISNA, Italy, 23 August 2002)

* Nigeria. Probe into airline sell-off  -  Nigerian lawmakers are to 
investigate allegations that the Ministry of Aviation agreed to sell almost 
half of Nigeria Airways, the troubled state-owned airline, without 
consulting the agency in charge of the nation's privatisation programme. 
Idris Ibrahim Kuta, chairman of the senate committee on aviation, said the 
ministry needed to explain why it had decided to give ownership of 49 per 
cent of the airline to Airwing Aerospace, a British company specialising in 
aircraft sales. The dispute is a blow to attempts by the civilian 
government of President Olusegun Obasanjo to portray Nigeria as a 
transparent and investor-friendly environment in which to do business. "It 
was a surprise," said Mr Kuta. "When you are privatising, or doing whatever 
the minister is doing, we believe opportunities should be open to other 
companies to submit their proposals." Mr Kuta said his committee would be 
asking Kema Chikwe, the aviation minister, to explain her actions after the 
senate returns from its summer recess this week.   (Financial Times, UK, 26 
August 2002)

* Nigeria. Fin de la crise institutionnelle?  -  A quelques heures de 
l'expiration de l'ultimatum décrété par la Chambre basse du Parlement, le 
président Obasanjo a déclaré que la crise politique ayant poussé les 
parlementaires à demander sa démission était terminée. Le 13 août, 90 
membres de la Chambre basse avaient accusé le président de corruption et 
d'incompétence dans l'exercice de ses fonctions, et présenté une motion 
officielle demandant à Obasanjo de renoncer à son mandat. Pour éviter un 
conflit institutionnel, 36 gouverneurs du pays sont intervenus ces derniers 
jours. D'intenses négociations auraient aussi eu lieu entre le président et 
les parlementaires. Le 27 août, le groupe parlementaire du PDP, le parti au 
pouvoir, a cependant remis au lendemain sa réponse à la requête relative au 
retrait de la menace de destitution. Ils ont mis sur pied une commission de 
sept membres pour dresser une liste des présumées violations de la 
Constitution commises par le président. Ils ont aussi donné un ultimatum de 
10 jours à leur parti pour faire admettre au président qu'il s'est rendu 
coupable de ces violations.   ( ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 28 août 2002)

* Nigeria. Impeachment -- Yes or no?  -  From the Financial Times -- 26 
August: "Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo has provided a theatrical 
response to a threat by the lower house of parliament to impeach him if he 
fails to resign by 27 August. His office has accused the House of 
Representatives of corruption and described the impeachment threat as 
"vexatious, malicious, mischievous, uncalled for, unconstitutional and 
therefore rejected outright as it was done in bad faith". The president's 
office said: "The work of governing this country would have been easier and 
we would have made more progress if the House...seriously and painstakingly 
[devoted] itself to the task of law-making rather than money making whether 
by fair or foul means." Such colourful language and grave accusations 
highlight the turbulent nature of governance in Africa's largest oil 
producer more than three years after Mr Obasanjo's election ended more than 
15 years of army dictatorship. Mr Obasanjo, who has toured the world 
promising to cut down corruption and rebuild institutions crippled by the 
military, is standing for re-election next year amid criticism domestically 
and internationally over the pace of reforms. "It seems such a pattern," 
says one foreign diplomat based in Nigeria. "People sound convincing and 
say they want to do something, but nothing much happens." The political 
instability comes at a delicate time for Mr Obasanjo, who is trying to 
become the first civilian leader since 1960 to be re-elected without 
suffering a military takeover. Nigeria, the world's sixth-largest oil 
exporter, has attracted increasing interest this year from the US and is 
seen as a potential bulwark against a disruption to oil supplies from the 
Middle East". From the BBC -- 26 August: "President Olusegun Obasanjo 
signals that the political crisis brought about by a threat to impeach him 
is over. He goes on national television to thank Nigerians for their 
maturity in helping the country surmount recent problems. Correspondents 
say intense negotiations behind closed doors forestalled the impeachment 
attempt. They say the threat is expected to be lifted at a meeting of the 
lower house on 27 August." From CNN -- 28 August: "President Obasanjo faces 
the prospect of impeachment after the Senate votes to investigate 
allegations that he broke government spending laws. But the President 
appears to have won some breathing space, as lawyers from the House of 
Representatives failed to carry out a threat to start impeachment 
proceedings by 27 August if the President did not resign".   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 28 August 2002)

* Nigeria. Un homme condamné à la lapidation  -  Le 27 août, un Nigérian de 
54 ans a été condamné à mort par lapidation pour le viol d'une fillette de 
9 ans. Après celle d'Amina Nawal, accusée d'adultère, c'est la troisième 
condamnation par lapidation au Nigeria. Selon le gouvernement fédéral, la 
charia est contraire à la Constitution.   (Libération, France, 28 août 2002)

* Nigeria. Debt payments suspended  -  28 August: Nigeria has said it can 
no longer afford to service its foreign debts because of plunging oil 
revenues and the failure of some of its privatisation plans. Consequently, 
the country has suspended payments on its debts, said Central Bank governor 
Joseph Sanusi. Last month Nigeria -- one of the world's largest 
oil-producing nations -- held foreign exchange reserves of only slightly 
more than $8bn, down about a fifth since December. Mr Sanusi said he had 
decided to halt all debt repayments rather than to eat further into the 
reserves. Most of Nigeria's debt is owed to foreign governments, members of 
the Paris Club of official creditors. Earlier this year, Nigeria parted 
company with the International Monetary Fund about how best to achieve a 
turn-around in its economic fortunes. Officials said Nigeria's inability to 
recover money which a previous regime had stolen was making matters worse. 
Nigeria has been asking official creditors for substantial debt relief, but 
apart from a modest amount of debt rescheduling, has not had much success. 
This is because it has failed to demonstrate the required track record of 
sound economic management, our correspondent says. However, explaining its 
decision later in the day, the government says it might struggle to pay 
loan interest due to trade creditors and international bond investors later 
this year but denies it has suspended all repayments of its foreign 
debt.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 August 2002)

* Nigeria. Suspension de paiement?  -  Le 28 août, le gouvernement nigérian 
a démenti avoir suspendu le paiement de sa dette extérieure, affirmant 
qu'il essaierait d'honorer la moitié de ses obligations. Le gouverneur de 
la banque centrale avait annoncé que le Nigeria avait suspendu le paiement 
de sa dette en raison de la chute de ses réserves en devises passées de 
10,27 milliards de dollars en décembre 2001 à 8,29 milliards en juillet 
2002. "Le service de la dette arrivé à échéance totalise 3,3 milliards de 
dollars, alors que nous n'avons que 1,5 milliard de disponibilités", a 
précisé le ministre nigérian de l'Information, Jerry Gana.   (Libération, 
France, 29 août 2002)

Weekly anb0829.txt - #5/7