Weekly anb03064.txt #7



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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 06-03-2003      PART #4/7

* Egypte. Verdict léger pour la tuerie d'Al-Kocheh - Le 27 février, la cour criminelle de Sohag, dans le sud de l'Egypte, a condamné deux personnes à des peines de quinze et trois ans de prison pour l'assassinat de 20 chrétiens et un musulman en 2000, et a acquitté les 93 autres accusés. Lors des troubles interconfessionnels d'Al-Kocheh, qui avaient éclaté en janvier 2000 à la suite d'un simple différend entre deux commerçants, la minorité copte (chrétiens) avait été prise pour cible pendant plusieurs jours par des émeutiers musulmans. Un premier verdict, en février 2001, avait provoqué un tollé chez les chrétiens qui le jugeaient trop clément. Il avait été annulé par la Cour de cassation. (Libération, France, 28 février 2003)

* Egypt. Call for Coptic Christians' human rights - Rifaat Said, a member of the Egyptian Parliament from a small liberal party, has for years called for a restoration of constitutional rights, a more open electoral system and greater freedoms for the country's Coptic Christians. He spent 14 years in prison under Gamal Abdel Nasser for uttering the word "democracy." He now lives under armed guard, having criticized Islamic extremists. When President George W. Bush argues that the overthrow of Saddam Hussein could spread the seeds of democracy across the Arab world, Said scoffs, naming autocratic Arab countries the United States has long supported as strategic allies, including Egypt. "Why do they continue to support Saudi Arabia?" Said said in his office in the centre of Cairo. "Why do they support the prince of Qatar? Why did they support Saddam Hussein in the past? Why do they believe that democracy will create a paradise in Egypt?" Even those who might benefit most from democracy in Egypt -- people like Said or Essam Erian, whose political organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, is officially banned -- argued that the imposition of democracy by force in Iraq would be viewed as American repression, not liberation. "By destroying Iraq," said Erian, a pathologist who has spent six years in prison under Egypt's emergency laws, "you are opening the door not to democracy, but to hell." (International Herald Tribune, USA, 1 March 2003)

* Egypte. Manifestation pro-irakienne - Le 27 février au Caire, plus de 100.000 Egyptiens ont manifesté leur soutien à l'Irak et aux Palestiniens à l'appel d'un collectif regroupant les partis d'opposition légale et les syndicats officiels. Le rassemblement s'est tenu au stade du Caire avec la bénédiction des autorités, visant à calmer les esprits "en ouvrant légèrement une valve de décompression". Elle avait aussi pour objectif de démontrer à Washington le risque encouru par le régime du président Moubarak en cas de décision unilatérale américaine à déclencher les hostilités contre l'Irak. (D'après Le Monde, France, 1er mars 2003)

* Egypt. Arab League meets in Egypt - 28 February: Arab governments reject a plea by the US for them to press Saddam Hussein to go into exile. Colin Powell, US secretary of state, urges Arab rulers meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh to issue a strong statement demanding that Iraq complies with UN disarmament requirements or suggest that it might be in Mr Hussein's best interest to step down to avoid a war. The hope that the Iraqi leader could be persuaded to go into exile hangs heavily over the meeting intended to forge a common Arab position against war on Iraq. Yet leaders can ill afford to tackle the subject in an official Arab League forum. As Ahmad Maher, the Egyptian foreign minister, says, the League has no business changing leaders. Naji Sabri, the Iraqi foreign minister, says it is President George W. Bush who should step down to avoid a war that the world opposed. 1 March: The United Arab Emirates make a dramatic intervention at the Arab summit on Iraq, suggesting publicly in a letter that Arabs adopt an initiative calling on the Iraqi leadership to step down. The letter was sent to the summit by the ailing Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, president of a confederation of seven wealthy Gulf states. It forces the highly controversial issue of Saddam Hussein's exile onto the discussions between heads of states a day after Arab League officials insisted that it would not be included on the agenda. However, the proposal does not form part of the meeting's final declaration which "totally rejected any attack on Iraq". Most Arabic press hail the outcome of the Arab League Summit. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 1 March 2003)

* Egypt. Fire hits Alexandria library - 2 March: A fire breaks out in Egypt's newly-opened Alexandria library, and 29 people are rushed to local hospitals suffering from smoke inhalation. The fire is blamed on a short circuit. The extent of damage at Bibliotheca Alexandrina has yet to be determined, but the fire appears to be restricted to fourth-floor administrative offices. Sixteen fire engines rushed to the scene and put out the blaze in about 45 minutes. Fifteen ambulances were seen outside the evacuated library. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 2 March 2003)

* Egypte. Incendie à la bibliothèque d'Alexandrie - Le 2 mars, un incendie s'est déclaré à la nouvelle bibliothèque d'Alexandrie, inaugurée en octobre dernier sur le site du célèbre joyau de l'Antiquité, disparu il y a 16 siècles. L'incendie, déclenché par un court-circuit, a été circonscrit au bout d'une heure. Au moins 35 personnes ont été intoxiquées par les émanations de la fumée, deux autres ont souffert de brûlures graves. Le système d'alarme a fonctionné et le bâtiment a été évacué avant que la fumée se répande à travers le système de climatisation. Le feu s'est déclenché au 4ème étage abritant les bureaux de l'administration. La section comprenant les livres et les documents historiques n'a pas été atteinte par le feu. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 3 mars 2003)

* Egypt. Egypt requests aid as currency slides - 3 March: Egypt's prime minister Atef Obeid is to meet World Bank officials to ask for a $1.5bn loan to prop up the pound. The government floated the pound in January, a move which effectively devalued the pound, to increase its foreign currency reserves. But despite falling 20% in value since the float, Egypt is still experiencing shortages of foreign currencies. Economists expect some of the World Bank money would be used to add liquidity into the banking system and underwrite the pound. While the pound is officially trading at a rate of 5.57 to $1, the black market exchange rate is about 6.75 pounds to $1, and has reportedly touched 7 to $1 recently. Egypt originally requested the loan after the tourism revenues slumped in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Talks were postponed after the tourist industry and foreign currency revenues picked up again. Any World Bank loan will be tied to further free-market reforms. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 3 March 2003)

* Egypt. Egyptian rights group yearns for break with emergency law - On 3 March, a local human rights group lamented that "a whole generation of Egyptians has been brought up in an exceptional judicial environment that grants law-enforcement officials very broad and powers of arrest". Launching the body's 5th Annual Report on Detention and Detainees in Egypt Mohamed Zarei, head of the Human Rights Centre for Assistance to Prisoners (HRCAP) said nothing justifies the renewal of the Emergency Law -- not even the war the US is about to wage against Iraq." He was reacting to the recent renewal in Parliament for another three years, of a 22-year old Emergency Law that restricts basic rights and gives large prerogatives to security forces to crackdown on dissent. (PANA, Senegal, 3 March 2003)

* The Gambia. Foreigner tax imposed - 25 February: The introduction of a new "foreigners tax" in The Gambia has led to many foreigners fleeing the country. Every foreigner resident in The Gambia now has to pay 1,000 dalasi ($40) every year for an "Alien Certificate". Sources close to the government say the new tax is necessary because out of 1.5 million people living in The Gambia, about 700,000 are foreign nationals and their numbers are increasing. They also say the new tax will help the authorities improve social services for the entire population. One senior government official who backed the new tax said it is unfair to tax Gambians alone, while many expatriate workers are accumulating large sums of money at the expense of Gambian tax payers. The issue is so controversial that the cabinet is reportedly split over the tax. Since the introduction of this new alien tax many foreigners mostly from Guinea, Senegal and Sierra Leone have left the country. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 25 February 2003)

* Guinea. Presidency of the UN Security Council - 1 March: The west African state of Guinea comes under an unfamiliar spotlight, today, as it assumes the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council. The former French colony is taking over the presidency for one month, the period that all members of the council serve. But by chance it will be a month in which crunch decisions could be taken on Iraq, and activities around the horseshoe-shaped table of the Security Council will be under unprecedented scrutiny. ANB-BIA, Belgium, 1 March 2003)

* Kenya. Bank scandal spreads - 27 February: The collapse of a bank with close links to the previous Kenyan regime is causing a widening political storm. Euro Bank, a small but ambitious Nairobi bank, was liquidated last week after admitting being insolvent. Now, the management of the bank have been detained by the police for questioning, and politicians are starting to point to government members and other officials who were involved in the scandal. The country's attorney general and the heads of the central bank and revenue authority have all been urged to resign, and members of parliament claim more allegations will come out over the next few weeks. President Mwai Kibaki, who led the opposition National Rainbow Coalition to power in December, has promised to rid Kenya of corruption. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 27 February 2003)

* Kenya. Flower firms blossom - Kenya's horticultural industry is attracting major foreign investment again following the election of a new government, a leading export body has said. "We're looking at between $200m to $300m coming in the next eight to 10 months," said Hasmit Shah, chairman of the Association of Fresh Produce Exporters (AFPE). Growing fresh vegetables, fruit and flowers for export to European supermarkets is one of Kenya's biggest industries and a major earner of foreign exchange. (BBC News, UK, 28 February 2003)

* Kenya/Tanzanie/USA. Nouvelles ambassades - Les Etats-Unis ont ouvert leur nouvelle ambassade à Nairobi, au Kenya. Ils font de même, le 4 mars, en Tanzanie. Le 7 août 1998, les deux bâtiments avaient été détruits dans un attentat attribué à Al-Qaïda. 229 personnes y avaient perdu la vie. (De Standaard, Belgique, 4 mars 2003)

* Kenya. Inheriting wives - When a Kenyan woman loses her husband, she also frequently loses her home, her land, her cows and all her other household property. What the widow gains, whether she likes it or not, is a new husband, frequently her brother-in-law. Human Rights Watch issued a report on 4 March condemning the traditional African practice of wife inheritance, in which a widow is transferred to a male relative of her deceased husband. Typically the new husband takes control of the property with or without the consent of the widow. The custom, common throughout Kenya, extends far and wide in sub-Saharan Africa. Traditionally, elders say, the practice ensured that the extended family would take care of widows. But critics maintain that it strips women of their property rights and exposes them to sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS. "Wife inheritance is often portrayed as an act of generosity in that the widow will have a man to "look after" her and confer the legitimacy of being in a male-headed household," the report said. "But men clearly benefit not just from their inherited wife's labour and childbearing potential but also from the property the deceased husband leaves behind." The report called on the government of President Mwai Kibaki, which has pledged better treatment of women, to overhaul the legal system so that women have the same rights to property as men. The report recommends that judges and police officers undergo training on the issue and that a legal aid system be set up to assist destitute victims. (New York Times, USA, 5 March 2003)

* Kenya. Mombasa's port is bursting at the seams - Kenya's principal port of Mombasa is falling behind its competitors because outdated equipment is causing delays to shipments, the port's managing director has told the BBC. The Port of Mombasa needs to invest about $28.8m to modernise its container terminal, Brown Ondego, managing director of Kenya Ports Authority has told the BBC. The congestion means that goods arriving in Durban, in South Africa, may reach destinations in Kenya's neighbouring state of Uganda faster than those shipped through Mombasa, he said. "That is an embarrassment,"said Mr Ondego. "The only competition that we should be talking about truly is Dar es Salaam," in neighbouring Tanzania, he added. Mombasa's container terminal is doing brisk business but is being stretched beyond its capacity. It is handling about 300,000 containers a year, though it only has capacity for 250,000. Dar-es-Salaam, which is also on the Indian Ocean, can cater for 230,000 containers annually. Both ports are dwarfed by Durban, which handles more than one million containers a year. The port of Mombasa plans to find the bulk of the $28.8m it needs for new equipment from its profits. However, Mr Ondego said he was "hoping that we will be allowed to do some borrowing" to speed the process. (BBC News, UK, 5 March 2003)

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