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Weekly anb01099.txt #9

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 09-01-2003      PART #9/9
* Tanzanie/Rwanda. Rapatriement de réfugiés - Le rapatriement volontaire des réfugiés rwandais des camps du nord-est de la Tanzanie est terminé, alors qu'il reste environ 150 réfugiés rwandais dans le pays, selon Ivana Unluova, la porte-parole du HCR. Le nombre de réfugiés rapatriés en 2002 s'est élevé à 23.474, dont près de 19.000 sont revenus dans leurs foyers durant les mois de novembre et décembre. Cet effort de rapatriement s'est terminé le 27 décembre, quand 3.200 réfugiés sont retournés au Rwanda, selon Mme Unluova. L'opération a ainsi pu être achevée avant la date limite du 31 décembre, tel que convenu le 13 décembre lors d'une rencontre tripartite entre le HCR et les gouvernements du Rwanda et de la Tanzanie. (Ndlr.: Des sources locales mettent en doute le terme "volontaire" de ce rapatriement). (IRIN, Nairobi, 3 janvier 2003)
* Tanzania/Rwanda. Voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees from Tanzania complete - The voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees from camps in northwestern Tanzania has been completed, with only about 150 remaining in the country, according to Ivana Unluova, the spokeswoman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She says that the total number of refugees repatriated in 2002 had been 23,474, of whom almost 19,000 had gone home in November and December. Only around 100 refugees remained in the refugee camps in Tanzania at the beginning of 2003, and another 50 in various prisons in Kagera Region. The repatriation effort had ended on 27 December when about 3,200 refugees returned to Rwanda, Unluova says They were taken to a reception centre in Nyakarambi, southeastern Rwanda, and later transported to their places of origin. The operation was thus completed before the deadline of 31 December, as agreed on 13 December at a tripartite meeting between the UNHCR and the governments of Rwanda and Tanzania. A further meeting to discuss the remaining caseload is due to be held at the end of January, Unluova added. (IRIN, Kenya, 3 January 2003)
* Tchad. Pourparlers inter-tchadiens - Des pourparlers entre le gouvernement tchadien et l'Alliance nationale de la résistance (ANR, rébellion armée) ont débuté le dimanche 5 janvier à Libreville et pourraient se prolonger jusqu'au mardi ou mercredi. L'organisation d'une enquête internationale sur les exactions commises contre les populations de l'est du Tchad par les forces loyalistes et d'une table ronde impliquant toutes les composantes de la vie politique et sociale du Tchad constituent les principaux points de blocage. Les deux parties sont par contre d'accord pour une amnistie générale de tous les rebelles tchadiens et leurs leaders, ainsi que leur réintégration dans l'armée nationale. Les pourparlers se poursuivent dans un hôtel de la capitale gabonaise, dans le but de parvenir à un accord qui devrait décréter un cessez-le-feu sur le terrain. (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 7 janvier 2003)
* Togo. Présidence à vie - Le 30 décembre, le Parlement togolais a décidé de permettre au général-président Gnassingbè Eyadéma de briguer autant de mandats qu'il le voudra. A l'unanimité, les députés ont abrogé l'article 59 de la Constitution, qui limitait le nombre des mandats présidentiels à deux quinquennats successifs. Ils ont estimé que la limitation des mandats portait "atteinte à la liberté du peuple de choisir librement son président". L'opposition, qui n'est pas représentée au Parlement, a appelé le peuple togolais à se mobiliser contre ce coup de force du président. (Le Monde, France, 1er janvier 2003)
* Tunisie. 3 islamistes condamnés - Le 2 janvier, trois islamistes présumés ont été condamnés par le tribunal de première instance de Gafsa (centre) chacun à 13 mois de prison ferme pour "appartenance à une organisation illégale et collecte de fonds sans autorisation". L'organisation en question est le mouvement islamique tunisien interdit "Ennahdha", dont plusieurs dirigeants ont été condamnés à de lourdes peines depuis 1992. Neuf personnes étaient jugées au cours de ce procès, dont six ont bénéficié d'un non-lieu. (AP, 2 janvier 2003)
* Western Sahara. Baker to visit Western Sahara - The UN envoy for Western Sahara, James Baker III, is to go on a three-day visit to Western Sahara and neighbouring countries to revive UN efforts to solve the conflict surrounding the former Spanish colony. Baker is expected to hold talks from 14 to 17 January with officials in Morocco, Algeria, Western Sahara and Mauritania, and leaders of the Polisario Front. The UN said in a press release on Monday that Baker would present and lobby in favour of a UN proposal for a political solution to the conflict as requested by Security Council Resolution 1429 of 30 July 2002. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 8 January 2003)
* Zambia. Debt burden "intolerable" - 2 January: Zambia may have find an extra $100m to service its foreign debt this year, putting an "intolerable" burden on the country's economy, according to the country's president. "The debt is what is going to undermine our development efforts, the debt burden is now intolerable," President Levy Mwanawasa warned in his New Year's address. Zambia is saddled with $6bn of external debt. The warning comes after the International Monetary Fund said Zambia will not receive about $1bn in debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative if it does not follow an agreed privatisation programme. Most of Zambia's 11 million people live on less than $1 a day, and about a quarter face famine because of a regional food shortage. "Each year we have to find an excess of $200m just to service the debt. This year the figure may exceed $300m, something has to be done," Mr Mwanawasa said. He has warned that Zambia might suspend privatisation programmes, saying they cause hefty job losses while bringing few benefits to rural areas. Under HIPC, the sell-off of the state Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco), along with power utility Zesco and telecoms firm Zamtel, are key to qualifying for the debt relief. Anti-poverty campaigners have suggested that HIPC countries suspend all debt servicing and payments, and use the money instead to feed their populations and provide health care. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 2 January 2003)
* Zambia. Opposition creating Zambian food crisis - 3 January: A government minister has accused political opponents of hoarding stocks of staple crops in famine-hit Zambia. Acting Home Affairs Minister Ludwig Sondashi says two unnamed parties are trying to force up prices, engineer shortages and cause unrest in a bid to topple the government. The allegations have been dismissed by opposition parties. They say the government wants to use them as scapegoats to shift the blame for the food crisis. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 3 January 2003)
* Zambia. Mwanawasa to speed up graft probe - President Levy Mwanawasa complained on 6 January that a probe into corruption in his country was proceeding too slowly and said he plans to announce measures soon to speed up the investigation. Mwanawasa, who took power from former president Frederick Chiluba after controversial elections in 2001, said he was concerned that an anti-corruption task force he appointed last year was taking a long time to bring suspects to trial. The president has billed his crackdown, the most visible move against corruption since Zambia's independence from Britain in 1964, as key to maintaining public confidence in the government. "It is unfortunate that investigations are moving slowly. Property has been seized (by the task force) but now we are told they are still investigating," Mwanawasa said on the sidelines of a meeting with labour leaders. "We do not need further evidence for people who have expensive mansions. You just need to take them to court, show the value of the property seized against their income and the onus will be on the owners to prove how they acquired it." The investigation, launched last March, appears focused on Chiluba's 10 years in office. At least four members of Chiluba's administration -- two former ministers, a former security chief and the former president's press and public affairs secretary -- have been charged with corruption. Parliament in July lifted Chiluba's immunity after Mwanawasa told lawmakers that the former president was directly or indirectly behind a series of "questionable" deals. (CNN, USA, 7 January 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Food riots - 4 January: Thirty-four people have been arrested as police used tear-gas to break up a riot at a grain depot in Zimbabwe's second largest city, Bulawayo, state media reports. A report in the state-run Bulawayo Chronicle newspaper says those arrested had been protesting over what they said was the unfair distribution of food. The state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation reported that residents had accused grain board officials of corruptly supplying maize to unscrupulous millers, who then sold it on at exorbitant prices. Correspondents say that millions of people in Zimbabwe are threatened by famine as the result of the continuing drought and the disruption caused by government's seizure of white-owned farms. A report in the UK's Daily Telegraph says that President Mugabe's war veterans were responsible for the food riots. The paper says that the riot in Bulawayo began when Jabulani Sibanda, the provincial chairman of Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF whipped up his supporters to march on the Grain Marketing Board to complain at the way grain was being allocated only to chosen millers. 5 January: Four police officers have been injured in a dormitory town near Harare, when youths attack people queuing for food. About 200 people were queuing up for mealie-meal, when a group of youths attacked the police who were controlling the crowd. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 January 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Emeutes de la faim - L'aggravation des pénuries alimentaires au Zimbabwe suscite ces derniers jours des manifestations de plus en plus violentes qui pourraient se terminer par une confrontation générale entre le régime de Mugabe et la population. Plus de la moitié des 12 millions de Zimbabwéens sont en effet menacés par la famine. La semaine dernière, devant un dépôt de l'organisme d'Etat chargé de la commercialisation des céréales à Bulawayo, la deuxième ville du pays, des centaines de manifestants ont protesté contre la distribution injuste du maïs: 39 ont été arrêtés et présentés, le 6 janvier, devant la justice. L'aide alimentaire n'est en effet bien souvent délivrée que contre la présentation d'une carte de membre du parti au pouvoir, la ZANU-PF. Le 5 janvier, quatre policiers chargés de maintenir l'ordre dans une file d'attente qui s'était formée devant un magasin vendant de la farine de maïs, la nourriture de base, ont été blessés à Chitungwiza, principale commune de la capitale Harare. (Libération, France, 7 janvier 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Mugabe loyalists to run opposition strongholds - Unelected governors will be installed to run two cities in Zimbabwe where anti-government protests have intensified in the past week, the government said on 6 January. President Robert Mugabe was immediately accused of trying to usurp mayors from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Harare, the capital, and Bulawayo. The move was announced on 6 January in the state-owned Herald newspaper, which quoted the local government minister, Ignatius Chombo. Mr Chombo denied that the new governors would take on the role of the mayors, but local observers disagreed. "The Mugabe government has already made it impossible for the two mayors to do their jobs properly and it is putting in place officials who will tell the mayors what to do," said John Makumbe, chairman of Transparency International Zimbabwe. "Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, are control freaks and they are trying to take back any power or responsibility the opposition has won." Bulawayo and Harare have experienced food riots in the past week. People are unhappy with food shortages, inflation at 175% and unemployment at more than 60%. "The battle lines have been drawn," said Mr Makumbe, who is also a lecturer in political science at the University of Zimbabwe. However it was not clear when Mr Mugabe would appoint the new governors. (ANB-BIA's update: On 8 January, opposition supporters planned to march in Harare in support of Mayor Elias Mudzuri. The police banned the march and arrested those who turned up). (The Guardian, UK, 7 January 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Cricket boycott calls grow - 3 January: Politicians in Australia and New Zealand have called on international cricket chiefs to move World Cup matches away from Zimbabwe. The new demands by the governments to the International Cricket Council add to pressure for a boycott to protest against the regime of President Robert Mugabe. Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that Australian Prime Minister John Howard is heading a lobbying effort for national cricket boards to ask World Cup organisers to reschedule games. Mugabe supporters accuse Australia and Britain of wanting to keep cricket "white". But individual country organisations, including the England and Wales Cricket Board, could face fines and point penalties if they fail to fulfil fixtures in the competition next month. Australia and Britain have asked their teams to consider not playing in Zimbabwe -- where Mr Mugabe's government is accused of human rights abuses against political opponents. 5 January: Peter Hain, the British cabinet minister who rose to fame by campaigning against sporting links with South Africa during its apartheid years, has urged international cricket authorities not to stage matches in Zimbabwe. 9 January: Senior English cricket officials are to meet British ministers, today, to discuss British Government objections to their planned World Cup match in Zimbabwe. If there is a boycott, the team will forfeit two points in the World Cup and are also likly to face a £1 million pound fine imposed by the International Cricket Council for not fulfilling the fixture in Harare. On top of that, there is the possibility Zimbabwe will retaliate by pulling out of a tour of England scheduled for later this year, causing the loss of millions of pounds in income. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 January 2003) 

Weekly anb0109.txt - #9/9 - 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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