Weekly anb10107.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 10-10-2002  PART #7/7

* Tchad. Attaque de la rébellion - La rébellion armée du Tibesti (extrême 
nord du Tchad) a repris les hostilités contre le régime de N'Djamena. Le 3 
octobre, un commando du MDJT (Mouvement pour la justice et la démocratie au 
Tchad) a attaqué l'aéroport stratégique de Faya (750 km au nord-est de 
N'Djamena), détruisant deux hélicoptères militaires et un petit avion 
d'attaque au sol. C'est la première opération des rebelles dans cette 
région, dont les actions se situent au Tibesti. Il s'agirait d'un raid 
audacieux mais limité: un seul véhicule aurait mené l'assaut. Il a eu lieu 
un peu plus d'une semaine après le décès du président fondateur du MDJT, 
Youssouf Togoïmi. Son successeur, Hassan Mardégué, pourrait avoir voulu 
signer sa prise de fonction. Selon les rebelles, l'attaque aurait fait 20 
morts dans les rangs des forces gouvernementales, qui parlaient elles-mêmes 
de deux soldats tués. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 octobre 2002)

* Chad. Controversy over skull - Controversy has arisen over the nature of 
a skull and jaw fragments discovered in the Djurab Desret of northern Chad 
by a team led by Professor Brunet og Poitiers University, France, who said 
at the time of discovery that it had been the culmination of 25 years' 
searching. Professor Brunet, backed by independent scientists, claimed that 
the skull and jaw fragments provided enough evidence to show that they 
belonged to the earliest hominid ever discovered. Today, another group of 
scientists, two based in France, two in the USA, present a point-by-point 
demolition of Professor Brunet's case, arguing that there is no evidence to 
suggest that "Toumai" (the name given to the remains) was a hominid. "We 
believe Toumai was an ape", they conclude. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 October 2002)


* Uganda. 100,000 ordered to move closer to camps - 3 October: Civilians in 
the north of the country have been ordered by the army to leave their homes 
and move closer to camps protected by the military. Army spokesman Shaban 
Bantariza said that up to 100,000 people in three districts were affected. 
He said the move was being made to prevent civilians getting caught in the 
crossfire between rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the 
military. The Ugandan army is trying to wipe out the LRA, which has been 
fighting the government of President Yoweri Museveni for 15 years. Major 
Bantariza said that rebels hid in villagers' huts when they were pursued by 
the army, and civilians should therefore move closer to areas the rebels 
could not reach. Civilians in the districts of Gulu, Pader and Kitgum have 
been given 48 hours to move into towns under the army's control, or camps 
set up for the hundreds of thousands of people already displaced by the 
fighting, AP news agency reported. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 3 October 2002)

* Tunisie. Construction d'autoroute - Le 7 octobre, la Banque européenne 
d'investissement (BEI) a accordé à la Tunisie un prêt de 120 millions 
d'euros pour le financement de l'extension d'une autoroute reliant Tunis à 
Sfax, deuxième ville du pays, à 260 km de la capitale. Le prêt, dont la 
durée de remboursement s'étale sur 20 ans avec 5 ans de grâce, est destiné 
à la construction de deux tronçons longs de 98 km, le premier reliant 
Msaken à El Jem, et le deuxième allant d'El Jem à Sfax. Le coût total du 
projet, dont le démarrage est prévu en 2003 et l'achèvement en 2007, est 
estimé à environ 315 millions d'euros. La BEI y contribue à hauteur de 39%. 
(AP, 7 octobre 2002)

* Ouganda. "Camps protégés" - Des milliers de civils du nord de l'Ouganda 
ont été sommés d'abandonner, dans un délai de 48 heures, leurs habitations 
pour regagner des "camps protégés" par les forces armées ougandaises. 
L'ultimatum concernerait quelque 100.000 personnes des districts de Gulu, 
Pader et Kitgum, qui subissent depuis des années les attaques de la LRA 
(Armée de résistance du Seigneur). Le porte-parole de l'armée a déclaré à 
la BBC que la décision ne vise qu'à épargner la population civile piégée 
dans les combats. L'armée mène une vaste offensive pour éradiquer la 
guérilla. - Par ailleurs, au terme d'une rencontre entre le président 
Museveni et une délégation des leaders des communautés religieuses des 
districts acholi, le chef de l'Etat aurait donné son accord pour créer une 
zone protégée afin de favoriser le dialogue. Dans cette zone, les religieux 
pourront rencontrer les rebelles avec des garanties pour leur sécurité, du 
moins de la part du gouvernement. La zone sera également accessible aux 
convois humanitaires. Le président a invité les religieux à poursuivre leur 
oeuvre de médiation pour trouver une solution pacifique à la guerre en 
cours. (Misna, Italie, 3-4 octobre 2002)

* Uganda. Junk choppers to be returned to Belarus - 7 October: The 
helicopter gunships whose acquisition five years ago continues to rock the 
Government, have been dismantled, loaded into containers for re-shipment 
back to Belarus, a former Soviet Union republic. The two Mi-24 helicopters, 
whose controversial purchase in 1997 is reported to have caused government 
a direct loss of US $6.5m, are being returned for overhaul. An informed 
source says: "The Government made a decision recently to fly the 
helicopters back to Belarus for refurbishment. This will involve fully 
overhauling them. The Director of the Airforce, Brig. Joshua Masaba, 
recently led a team to meet officials of the Belarussian government 
corporation (BY) to discuss the terms of the overhaul". Masaba declined to 
comment. But other sources said there was still disagreement over who 
should foot the cost of flying the choppers back to Belarus and paying for 
the overhaul. Some sources said the suppliers, Consolidated Sales 
Corporation (CSC), had agreed to foot the costs of the overhaul. But it was 
still unclear how much the exercise would cost. (New Vision, Uganda, 7 
October 2002)

* Ouganda. Résultats du recensement - Le 5 octobre, l'institut national de 
statistiques a diffusé les résultats définitifs du recensement 2002. Depuis 
1991, date du dernier recensement, la population a augmenté de 7,9 millions 
de personnes. La croissance annuelle a été de 3,3%. 27% de la population 
habitent au centre du pays, 25% à l'est et 26% à l'ouest. Le district de 
Kampala, la capitale, est le plus peuplé avec 1,2 million de personnes; 
suivi de Mabarara avec 1,1 million. L'augmentation de la population est 
très significative, tenant compte de la diffusion du sida et de la guerre 
dans le nord du pays. (Misna, Italie, 7 octobre 2002)

* Zambia. Women slam GM policy - Zambia's government has come under fire 
over the food crisis, the worst in 10 years, with some 2.5 million people 
in urgent need of food aid. Opposition politicians and women's groups have 
criticised its decision to reject offers of genetically modified grain, and 
say that people are now starving to death. The government has reacted 
angrily, saying their critics are merely making political capital out of 
the situation. At the weekend, an opposition politician reported that three 
people in his Moomba constituency, in the drought-stricken south of the 
country, had died because they did not have enough to eat. On 3 October, 
the women's movement joined the fray with a strongly-worded statement 
condemning the government's reaction to Zambia's food crisis. An umbrella 
organisation of women's groups, the NGOCC, appealed to the government to 
stop its political squabbles and get on with the job of feeding people 
before more lives are lost. "The government should quickly provide the 
needed relief food rather than refuting reports of starving people and 
threatening to arrest members of parliament who demand food for their 
areas," the group said in a statement. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 4 October 2002)

* Zambie. Soutien au kwacha - Les négociants zambiens sont aux abois. A 
partir du 7 octobre, le dollar américain va cesser d'être la monnaie 
utilisée dans les transactions quotidiennes. Le gouvernement vient de 
déclarer que toute transaction effectuée localement en monnaie américaine 
serait considérée comme illégale et sanctionnée par une amende et même 
d'une peine de prison. Le gouvernement qui essaie de soutenir le kwacha, la 
monnaie nationale, fait face à une forte inflation et à un déficit 
budgétaire. Les économistes reconnaissent que le kwacha est aujourd'hui 
insolvable et que sa dévaluation face au dollar ne tarderait pas. Pour le 
ministre des Finances, la stabilisation du kwacha ne pourra s'effectuer que 
par le contrôle du taux de change. (Al Ahram Hebdo, Egypte, 2-8 octobre 2002)

* Zambie. Il dénonce la famine: arrêté - La police zambienne a arrêté un 
député d'opposition qui avait révélé que trois personnes étaient mortes de 
faim dans sa circonscription, a annoncé le 9 octobre son avocat. Après de 
longs interrogatoires, il a été remis en liberté mais maintient ses 
déclarations sur la famine dans sa circonscription. (La Croix, France, 10 
octobre 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Elephant collision derails train - 6 October: A passenger train 
derailed in Zimbabwe after it hit an elephant near Hwange in the west of 
the country. At least 22 people were injured and taken to hospital. The 
train was on its way to Bulawayo from the resort town of Victoria Falls. 
The accident occurred on the edge of Hwange national park --one of 
Zimbabwe's major tourist attractions, known for its abundance of wildlife. 
There is no details on the condition of the elephant. (BBC News, UK, 7 
October 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Dissidents banned from church - 6 October: A court has approved 
a petition by the Anglican bishop of Harare to ban a group of Christians 
from church after they protested his outspoken support of President Robert 
Mugabe, the group's lawyer said on 5 October. Nineteen church wardens, 
officials and choir members disrupted Bishop Nolbert Kunonga's sermons last 
month to protest their political content and praise of Mugabe. The ban 
takes effect tomorrow. Kunonga, head of the Anglican Church in Harare, has 
divided Christians for his outspoken support of Mugabe's push to seize 
white-owned farmland and distribute it to landless blacks. The interim 
order banned them from worshipping at the main Anglican Cathedral in 
downtown Harare and from visiting church-owned buildings and activities 
until further notice. In court documents dated Sept. 25, Kunonga accused 
the 19 church officials of disrupting services, with choir members refusing 
to provide choral music and on one occasion leading the congregation into 
"uncontrollably" singing hymns to stop the service. He also alleged some 
church wardens failed to follow routine administrative and financial 
procedures and were intent on subverting the authority of the bishop's 
office. Mtetwa said the bishop's application and the court order were 
unusual because under diocese rules, trustees needed to agree before any 
legal action is taken. Disputes in the church are normally considered first 
by the church chancellor and two registrars, all three of them lawyers. 
Kunonga was elected bishop last year, amid accusations he used his 
influence with the ruling party to secure the post. He was also accused of 
firing priests who opposed his nomination. (CNN, USA, 6 October 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Gas stations run dry again - 6 October: The government said a 
fuel shortage that has led worried drivers in Harare to endure long lines 
to buy up gasoline could be blamed on fuel hoarding by private 
distributors. Private oil industry executives said panic buying may have 
been triggered by rumours that a new oil deal with Libya had run into 
trouble. A report on new fuel shortages by a team of government 
investigators is scheduled for release on 7 October, the state-owned Sunday 
Mail newspaper reported. The government report said private distributors 
were hoarding fuel, leading to panic buying that has caused gas stations to 
run dry, the newspaper said. In the report, the Energy Ministry said the 
main Harare depot of the state National Oil Company had sufficient reserves 
to meet the capital's fuel needs. The National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, the 
fuel procurement monopoly, said last month it was trying to raise US $9 
million to pay outstanding freight and pumping charges for a consignment of 
Libyan gas berthed at the Mozambique port of Beira, causing delays in 
delivery. Its silence on whether delivery of regular supplies could be paid 
for by the economically devastated southern African country has fanned 
rumours of worsening shortages. Zimbabwe signed a new oil deal with Libya 
on September 11 to supply US $30 million worth of gas a month for the next 
year. (CNN, USA, 6 October 2002)

Weekly anb1010.txt - #7/7 -  THE END


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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie 
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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