Weekly anb10176.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 17-10-2002  PART #6/7

* Sao Tome e Principe. US-backed oil boom - The new prime minister of Sao 
Tome and Principe, a small island-state off the West African coast, has 
pinned her economic hopes on future oil riches and a US naval base. Prime 
Minister Maria das Neves told Portuguese newspaper Expresso that she hopes 
to clean up the finances of what is one of the world's poorest countries 
and restore its international reputation. She supports continuing austere 
budget measures, "even if it causes pain and is unpopular", to adhere to 
the World Bank's debt forgiveness programme. Ms das Neves is from the 
Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe, the largest party in 
the parliament, and leads a "national unity" government. The former 
Portuguese colony is made up of two islands in the Gulf of Guinea, has a 
population of roughly 165,000 and large unexploited oil reserves. Future 
oil revenues will not be included in current budget because contracts are 
still being negotiated. The prime minister has promised to "guarantee 
available resources are allocated for sustainable development and improving 
the living conditions of most of the population, which lives in absolute 
poverty". (BBC News, UK, 14 October 2002)

* Senegal. More woes for Casamance - 11 October: The sinking of the Joola 
ferry last month is the latest in a number of misfortunes to hit Senegal's 
troubled southern Casamance region. Many of the more than 1,000 people who 
died were from Casamance as the ferry was the region's main link to the 
capital, Dakar. The tragedy came just ahead of the end of school holidays, 
and many of those who died were the best and brightest of Casamance's 
students and schoolchildren. Some are already talking about a "lost 
generation". Casamance is the most fertile part of Senegal but has been 
plagued by a low-level guerrilla war for the last 20 years. The Movement of 
Democratic Casamance Forces (MFDC), led by charismatic Catholic priest 
Father Diamacoune-Senghor, wants independence for the region. While 
casualty figures are relatively low for an independence war -- maybe a few 
thousand people have been killed in two decades -- the tragedy is that what 
should be a rich region remains mired in poverty. Tens of thousands have 
had to flee their homes and abandon their fields. (BBC News, UK, 11 October 
2002)

* Sénégal. Funérailles nationales - Le 11 octobre, le Sénégal a rendu 
hommage aux quelque mille victimes du naufrage du navire Joola, la pire 
catastrophe jamais vécue par le pays, lors de funérailles nationales 
présidées à Dakar, au bord de l'océan, par le chef d'Etat, Abdoulaye Wade. 
-- Le 14 octobre, le président Wade a relevé de ses fonctions le chef 
d'état-major de la marine nationale, le colonel Ousseynou Kombo, dans le 
cadre des sanctions prises après le naufrage. Il a promis d'autres 
sanctions au fur et à mesure de l'avancée de l'enquête en cours. (ANB-BIA, 
de sources diverses, 14 octobre 2002)

* Senegal. Aftermath of ferry tragedy - 11 October: A remembrance ceremony 
is held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to pay tribute to almost 1,000 
people who died in Africa's worst-ever maritime disaster. Senegalese 
President Abdoulaye Wade leads a commemoration service with prayers said by 
leaders of various religious denominations for the victims of the Joola 
ferry tragedy. The vessel capsized off the coast of The Gambia with an 
official count of 1,034 people on board. There were only 64 survivors. 
Wreaths of flowers were laid at the site near Dakar's port, where the 
government is planning to build a memorial. The ceremony was attended by 
relatives of the victims, ministers and diplomats. 15 October: President 
Abdoulaye Wade, has dismissed the head of the navy in response to last 
month's ferry disaster in which more than 1,000 people died. Mr Wade says 
he is sacking Colonel Ousseynou Kombo following the completion of 
investigations into the accident. The navy was responsible for managing the 
ferry which was packed to at least twice its capacity when it sank. The 
official investigation accused the crew of failing to observe proper safety 
procedures. Navy officials initially blamed bad weather for the disaster. 
(ANB-BIA, Belgium, 15 October 2002)

* Senegal. Mixing community and PCs - Telecentres seem the epitome of 
Western life, a place electro-nomads can use to maintain their ties to 
friends and family. But such communication centres are starting to appear 
in Senegal in increasing numbers and are proving just as valuable, albeit 
for different reasons. The centres are helping workers in traditional 
professions and are also providing ways for people to get to grips with new 
technologies, ideas and occupations. One centre is even helping a community 
fight off threats to evict it off land it has occupied for years by giving 
residents a chance to voice protests that would otherwise go unheard. The 
cybercafe in the Khadimou Rassoul suburb of Senegal's capital Dakar is more 
than just a place people go to use a computer. It has become a vital 
information hub for the whole community that sometimes offers a literal 
lifeline for some local residents. Many local businesses use the computers 
to store information about customers and their accounts. Some are using the 
net access to get more up to date information about their trade to help 
them do a better job. "Now we have the chance to bill people properly," 
says Ibrahim Fall, a car mechanic who runs a repair shop near the 
telecentre. "We also do a lot of training," he says"but the manuals were 
too expensive so we adapt stuff from the internet." Daba Ndaw, manager of 
the Khadimou Rassoul cybercafe, says it has the only telephone in the area 
and many people call in just to use that. When they call in they find out 
about the other things that computers and communication can do for them and 
get more involved. (BBC News, UK, 16 October 2002)

* Somalia. A hospital comes back to life - 9 October: The situation is 
improving in the troubled southern port town of Kismayo, 500km south of 
Mogadishu, with the restoration of some vital social services. The Jubba 
Valley Alliance (JVA), which controls the town, has reopened the main 
hospital. MSF-Belgium, which used to run the hospital, left three years ago 
as several factions fought for the control of the town. "When MSF left, the 
hospital accommodated more than 200 patients suffering mainly from gunshot 
wounds as a result of gun-battle," Abdurahman Haji Ahmed Waldireh, a JVA 
spokesman, said. The JVA has managed to reopen the main hospital of the 
town with the little money it has been collecting as tax from the port, the 
airport and the main market. The hospital now has 25 health workers 
including a new director, while the other 25 members of staff are policemen 
working full time for the security of the hospital. (BBC News, UK, 9 
October 2002)

* Somalie. Pourparlers de paix - Plusieurs centaines de délégués venus de 
Somalie se sont réunis le 15 octobre à Eldoret, au centre du Kenya, pour 
des pourparlers de paix destinés à mettre un terme à plus d'une décennie de 
violences et de chaos dans leur pays. Ces discussions doivent leur 
permettre d'aborder de vastes sujets, comme l'établissement d'un 
gouvernement représentatif et la construction d'une économie en friches. Il 
s'agit de la 14e rencontre de cette nature depuis le renversement de 
Mohamed Siad Barre en 1991. Après avoir menacé de ne pas assister aux 
pourparlers, en raison d'un désaccord au sujet de leur nombre de délégués, 
de nombreux chefs de guerre influents prendront finalement part aux 
discussions. Le secrétaire général de l'Onu a salué l'ouverture de la 
conférence et appelé tous les partis et les leaders somaliens à coopérer 
pour mettre fin à une décennie de conflits et de souffrances dans le pays. 
(AP, 16 octobre 2002)

* Somalia. Reconciliation talks - 15 October: Today, the various sides in 
the Somali conflict open reconciliation talks in the Kenyan town of 
Eldoret, in a bid to establish an all-inclusive new interim administration 
that will govern the country until democratic elections can be held. 
However, the Rahanweyn Resistance Army (RRA) faction of Shaykh Aden Madobe 
and Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade, whose forces are in control of the 
southwestern town of Baidoa, will not attend the Eldoret peace conference 
unless they are given all the delegates assigned to the RRA. Ali Margus, a 
close ally of Shaykh Adan Madobe, says: "There is only one RRA and we 
represent it. We will not accept two RRA lists. Margus said the 
Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) technical committee had 
allotted the RRA 28 seats in the conference, and divided those up into two, 
"giving us 14 and the RRA Chairman, Col Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud 14". 
Opening the talks, Kenya's President Moi urges delegates to make them the 
last. 16 October: Four Somali faction leaders have changed their minds and 
announced that they will attend the peace talks in Kenya. The four, who 
control parts of the capital, Mogadishu, say they will travel to Eldoret 
later this week. If the four -- Mohamed Qanyare Afrah, Osman Ali Atto, 
Mowlid Ma'ani and Omar Finish -- do travel to Kenya, it will become the 
biggest Somali peace conference for a decade. In Eldoret, European Union 
diplomats have told journalists that sanctions were being considered 
against anyone seen as an obstacle to peace. These are reported to include 
travel restrictions, charges of war crimes and the freezing of bank 
accounts. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 October 2002)

* South Africa. South Africans to get AIDS drugs from the state - The South 
African government announced yesterday that it will investigate ways of 
providing the anti-retroviral drugs that keep people with HIV/AIDS alive 
through its public health system: a dramatic reversal of policy. An 
estimated 4.7 million people are HIV positive in South Africa but until now 
campaigners have fought in vain to persuade the government to begin 
treatment for them, despite the severe economic and social consequences of 
the deaths of so many parents, teachers and wage earners. Until relatively 
recently President Thabo Mbeki was publicly opposed to the provision of 
AIDS drugs in South Africa, arguing that they were dangerously toxic and 
questioning whether HIV or poverty was the true cause of AIDS. But the 
government now insists that it accepts the link with HIV. In April the 
cabinet said that it endorsed the use of anti-retroviral drugs, although 
they were too expensive to buy and the health infrastructure to let them be 
used did not exist. The announcement on 10 October, after a cabinet meeting 
on the night of 9 October, said the government wanted to tackle those 
problems. It said the cabinet was "actively engaged in addressing these 
challenges, in order to create the conditions that would make it feasible 
and effective to use anti-retrovirals in the public health sector". (The 
Guardian, UK, 11 October 2002)

* Sudan. US Congress passes Sudan sanctions bill - 11 October: The United 
States Congress passes a bill which could lead to sanctions against Sudan, 
if it fails to make progress in ending its 19-year civil war or is found to 
be obstructing humanitarian efforts. The bill accuses the Sudanese 
Government of using what it describes as low-intensity ethnic cleansing 
against various groups such as the Dinka, Nuer and Nuba peoples. It 
requires President George W Bush to decide every six months if Sudan is 
negotiating with its rebels in good faith. The sanctions might involve the 
White House downgrading diplomatic relations with Sudan, opposing new 
international loans or backing a United Nations sponsored arms embargo. 
(BBC News, UK, 11 October 2002)

* Soudan. Plainte contre l'Erythrée - Le Soudan a décidé de porter plainte 
pour "agression" contre l'Erythrée devant le Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu, 
a annoncé l'ambassade soudanaise à Paris le 11 octobre. Khartoum reproche 
en outre au régime d'Asmara d'apporter un soutien actif aux rebelles du 
SPLA. Khartoum a fait prisonniers des soldats érythréens qui combattaient 
dans l'est du pays, a déclaré le 13 octobre l'ambassadeur du Soudan en 
Egypte, Ahmad Abdel Halim. "C'est une preuve de la participation de 
l'Erythrée à l'agression contre notre pays" et de son soutien à la 
rébellion sudiste, a ajouté l'ambassadeur, à l'issue d'une rencontre avec 
le chef de la diplomatie égyptienne, Ahmed Maher. ( ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 14 octobre 2002)

* Sudan. Peace talks - 14 October: Sudanese government officials and rebels 
are due to renew their peace talks in an effort to cease hostilities and 
end the two-decade civil war. Lt. Gen. Lazaro Sumbeiywo (Kenya) says the 
talks in Machakos, 50 kms southeast of Nairobi, are unlikely to result in a 
formal peace deal because of continuing disagreement between the government 
and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). But he says a 
temporary ceasefire to end fighting in the south -- a government condition 
for renewing the full talks -- is expected to be worked out. 15 October: At 
first, the government and the rebels fail to reach agreement on the terms 
of a temporary ceasefire agreement, to be signed before the official 
resumption of peace talks. The bone of contention concerns the eastern 
front, along the Eritrean border, which the government delegation is keen 
to see excluded from the agreement. Later on, the Government and rebels 
agree to observe a truce while their peace talks continue in Machakos. The 
agreement covers all areas of Sudan. Both sides have come under intense 
international pressure to sign their first truce after 19 years of civil 
war. 16 October: Peace talks in Machakos have resumed. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 
16 October 2002)

* Soudan. Négociations - Le 14 octobre, les négociations entre le 
gouvernement soudanais et les rebelles du SPLA, interrompues le 2 
septembre, ont repris à Machakos sous l'égide de l'IGAD (Autorité 
intergouvernementale pour le développement de l'Afrique de l'Est). Mais la 
signature d'un cessez-le-feu, qui devait inaugurer la nouvelle tournée de 
tractations, risquait de ne pas se réaliser. Les représentants du 
gouvernement de Khartoum ont mis des conditions qui ont provoqué le 
raidissement des rebelles. D'après Khartoum, la trêve ne doit concerner que 
le Sud-Soudan, en excluant notamment la région sur la frontière avec 
l'Erythrée, théâtre de combats depuis la semaine dernière. - 15 octobre. 
Malgré cela, les deux parties ont signé un accord de cessez-le-feu 
temporaire pendant les pourparlers, a annoncé un représentant de la 
rébellion. Cette trêve doit entrer en vigueur le 17 octobre, alors que les 
pourparlers doivent reprendre le 16. Ces nouvelles négociations devraient 
durer cinq semaines et visent à mettre fin à une guerre de près de vingt 
ans. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 16 octobre 2002)

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