Weekly anb04034.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 03-04-2003      PART #4/7

* Côte d'Ivoire. Rébellion et gouvernement  -  30 mars. Les forces de la 
CEDEAO, l'Ecoforce, ont remplacé officiellement, ce week-end, au camp de 
Zambakro, près de Yamoussoukro, les soldats français sur la ligne de 
cessez-le-feu. L'Ecoforce va se déployer progressivement sur les différents 
secteurs de la ligne, longue de 400 km. Toutefois, les 1.500 soldats 
français resteront en second plan pour un appui logistique et un appui 
tactique. -- 31 mars. Le Premier ministre Seydou Diarra s'est entretenu 
avec les ministres du Mouvement patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI) et 
d'autres responsables de la rébellion au sujet de leur participation au 
gouvernement. Les "forces nouvelles", qui regroupent le MPCI et les deux 
autres mouvements rebelles, disposent de 9 portefeuilles dans le 
gouvernement. Mais les ministres rebelles, invoquant notamment des raisons 
de sécurité, ont boudé les réunions du Conseil des ministres et ne sont 
toujours pas entrés en fonction. -- 1er avril. Au cours de pourparlers à 
Accra, au Ghana, les rebelles ivoiriens ont fait savoir qu'ils 
participeraient à la prochaine réunion du gouvernement d'union nationale, 
mais ils ont averti qu'ils cesseraient d'y siéger si leurs revendications 
en suspens n'étaient pas satisfaites. -- 2 avril. Le secrétaire général de 
l'Onu, Kofi Annan, a recommandé au Conseil de sécurité l'envoi d'une 
mission de casques bleus en Côte d'Ivoire. Dans son rapport, il demande la 
création d'une Mission des Nations unies en Côte d'Ivoire (MINUCI), 
comprenant un corps militaire qui renforcerait les forces 
françaises.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 3 avril 2003)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Mercenaires  -  Quelque 1.000 mercenaires, principalement 
sud-africains, mais aussi britanniques et français, auraient été récemment 
recrutés pour "travailler" en Côte d'Ivoire. Selon le journal d'opposition 
Le Patriote, ils auraient été embauchés, via une société britannique 
d'expertise militaire, par la présidence ivoirienne. Le président Gbagbo a 
réfuté ces allégations, mais le 2 avril, le ministre britannique des 
Affaires étrangères, Jack Straw, s'est déclaré "très préoccupé" par cette 
affaire. Ces révélations risquent d'entraîner un nouveau blocage du 
processus de réconciliation. D'autre part, le 1er avril, l'ONG britannique 
Global Witness a indiqué, dans un rapport, que les deux mouvements rebelles 
qui opèrent dans l'ouest de la Côte d'Ivoire, étaient constitués "à 90%" de 
mercenaires libériens et sierra-léonais, payés par le gouvernement libérien 
de Charles Taylor.   (Libération, France, 3 avril 2003)

* Egypte. La BM pour les pauvres  -  La Banque mondiale (BM) qui, dans le 
passé, a alloué à l'Egypte 6 milliards de dollars pour des projets qui sont 
loin d'être tous arrivés à leur terme, serait-elle en train de changer de 
stratégie? Elle vient de décider d'accorder à ce pays 12 millions de 
dollars pour des projets exclusivement destinés aux pauvres. Selon les 
résultats d'une récente enquête, entre 7 et 10% des 71 millions d'Egyptiens 
vivent dans l'extrême pauvreté, c'est-à-dire avec moins d'un dollar par 
jour. Près de 40% vivent avec moins de 2 dollars. C'est en Haute-Egypte que 
l'on trouve la plus grande concentration de pauvres (60% de la population 
dans la région), contre 48% en Basse-Egypte et 34% dans les zones urbaines. 
Le gouvernement a promis de réduire de moitié la pauvreté d'ici à 2015, et 
les $12 millions de la BM devraient l'y aider.   (JAI, France, 30 mars 2003)

* Egypte. Vieilles traces de momification  -  Des archéologues égyptiens 
ont ouvert près du Caire un cercueil en bois vieux de 5.000 ans renfermant 
des ossements qui porteraient, selon eux, les plus anciennes preuves de 
momification humaine jamais découvertes en Egypte. Les os étaient 
recouverts de restes de peau et d'une résine utilisée dans le processus de 
momification. "Il s'agit de la plus vieille preuve de momification en 
Egypte", a déclaré Zahi Haouoass, expert égyptien. Les tombes découvertes 
dateraient de la 1ère dynastie égyptienne, entre 3100 et 2890 avant Jésus 
Christ.   (Reuters, 30 mars 2003)

* Egypt. Mubarak fears war may increase terrorism  -  On 31 March, Hosni 
Mubarak, the Egyptian president, warned that the US-led invasion of Iraq 
risked creating dozens of extremist Islamist leaders like Osama Bin Laden, 
the wanted Saudi militant. Speaking to officers of Egypt's third army on 31 
March, Mr Mubarak, whose regime has historically been a close US ally in 
the Arab world, echoed criticisms of the war. "I fear this war will have 
enormous consequences and lead to an increase in terrorism. When this war 
ends, there may be 100 Bin Ladens instead of just one," he said. "The war 
will have political, economic and social consequences that will be 
difficult to face," warned Mr Mubarak, whose predecessor Anwar Sadat was 
assassinated by militant Islamists in 1981. Mr Mubarak has taken to the 
airwaves almost daily since the US and Britain launched their campaign 
against Iraq, in an effort to defuse widespread anger among the Egyptian 
public. The images of the suffering of Iraqi civilians, which are being 
beamed into Egyptian homes 24 hours a day, have dangerous implications for 
Mr Mubarak's own 21-year rule. While providing limited facilities to the US 
and Britain, including over-flight rights and use of the Suez Canal, Mr 
Mubarak has in public urged an immediate end to the conflict and reiterated 
that he had warned the US administration against an invasion. He said on 31 
March that Cairo could not deny other countries the use of the Suez canal 
under the terms of a 19th century treaty unless Egypt was at war with them. 
It is not just the boost given to Islamist radicals that is concerning Mr 
Mubarak and other Arab leaders. They are also worried that the attack 
creates a precedent that might target their own autocratic governments, and 
are anxious that the US and Britain may abandon a collapsed Iraq if and 
when Saddam Hussein's regime is overthrown.   (Financial Times, UK, 31 
March 2003)

* Egypte. Le canal de Suez et la guerre  -  Le 31 mars, le président 
Moubarak a déclaré que l'Egypte ne peut empêcher les navires de guerre 
américains et britanniques de traverser le canal de Suez pour se rendre 
dans le Golfe, comme l'avait demandé l'opposition. Il a souligné que toute 
tentative de fermer le canal à la navigation internationale constituerait 
"une violation des accords internationaux". "Nous ne ferons qu'occasionner 
des troubles si nous essayons de les (les navires anglo-américains) bloquer 
car ils tenteront de passer à tout prix, avec ou sans notre consentement", 
a encore déclaré le président, à l'occasion d'une réunion organisée avec 
des officiers de l'armée égyptienne dans la ville de Suez.   (PANA, 
Sénégal, 31 mars 2003)

* Eritrea/Ethiopia. USA sending more food aid  -  Ethiopia and Eritrea, 
both reeling from severe drought, are to receive an additional 200,000 mt 
of food aid from the US. According to a statement from the US Agency for 
International Development (USAID), the US government has pledged 186,540 mt 
of food aid for Ethiopia, while Eritrea will receive some 13,500 mt of 
wheat. According to aid agencies, the harvest in Ethiopia is down by as 
much as 25 percent and Eritrea has suffered its worst crop failure in a 
decade. The USAID statement said the pledge demonstrated the government's 
commitment to the crisis in the Horn of Africa. "We are pleased to be able 
to continue to help Ethiopia and Eritrea address this dire situation," said 
USAID head Andrew Natsios. The additional food is part of a US emergency 
food assistance programme for Africa called the Bill Emerson Humanitarian 
Trust, of which the two countries are the main beneficiaries. The trust 
fund allows the US to respond to unanticipated food crises around the globe 
for humanitarian relief in developing countries.   (IRIN, Kenya, 27 March 2003)

* Eritrea/Ethiopia. Eritrean Badme ruling upheld  -  31 March: Ethiopia 
appears to have lost its final attempt to secure the disputed border 
village of Badme. The row over the village and its 5,000 residents sparked 
a two-and-a-half year bloody border war in 1998 that left thousands dead. 
Last year, the commission issued a ruling which appeared to award Badme to 
Eritrea, but Ethiopia appealed saying the Commission had promised that 
demarcations could be refined. However, ten days ago, for the first time, 
the UN Boundary Commission categorically clarified Badme as belonging to 
Eritrea, throwing out Ethiopia's evidence as "inadequate". The commission 
"cannot allow one party to insist on adjustments of parts of the boundary 
which that party finds disadvantageous", said the 11-page report. "The maps 
submitted by Ethiopia were inconsistent as to the location of Badme village 
and the evidence was nothing like what might have been expected," the 
report said. It added that even some of the maps submitted by Ethiopia 
managed to show Badme village on the Eritrean side of the straight line 
considered to be the border.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 31 March 2003)

* Ghana. Boost for ruling party  -  26 March: The governing New Patriotic 
Party in Ghana has won a crucial by-election to win control of Parliament, 
the second this month, making it easier for the government to get its 
legislation through. Kofi Ada an economist won two-thirds of the votes in 
the election in Navrongo central constituency in the troubled northern 
region of Ghana. The result of the election, contested by three other 
parties, means that the NPP has 101 seats in Parliament out of a total of 
200. The party had campaigned hard to win the election to make it easier 
for the government to pass its legislation. The by-election on 25 March was 
brought about by the death of the previous MP in a car crash. The poll 
happened almost a year after the king of the Dagomba was murdered, which 
plunged northern Ghana into chaos and scores of deaths. Some opposition 
parties have accused the ruling party of bribing voters, a claim which 
officials have dismissed as frivolous. The 25 March victory is the second 
parliamentary by-election the NPP has won this month. A third is due in two 
weeks in a southern constituency which was held by the NPP but became 
vacant after yet another MP died in a car accident.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 26 
March 2003)

* Ghana. Ship goes missing  -  A vessel carrying thousands of barrels of 
crude oil from one of Ghana's oilfields has mysteriously disappeared from 
the country's territorial waters. Officials of the state-owned Ghana 
National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) received an emergency call from the 
oil rig where the vessel had been operating, saying she was sailing away in 
an easterly direction. She left Ghanaian waters before the country's navy 
could stop her. A statement from the Information Ministry said Interpol had 
been informed, and investigations had begun to locate the vessel. The 
statement said the storage vessel, MV Asterias, carrying nearly 74,000 
barrels of crude oil, worth $2m, was last seen on 28 March moored in the 
Saltpond Oilfields, off the western coast of Ghana. The MV Asterias is 
registered in the UK, and owned by a company called Ocean and Oil. Its crew 
is Russian. Over the past three years, Ghana has stepped up its search for 
crude oil. There are international oil companies, exploring off the coast 
of the Volta Region in the east, as well as off the western shores, in 
joint-venture agreements with the GNPC.   (BBC News, UK, 2 April 2003)

* Kenya. Land-grabbing  -  2 April: An audit for the Kenyan Government has 
shown that public land, including cemeteries, fire stations and hospitals 
has been irregularly allocated to officials since 1990. Kenya's Daily 
Nation newspaper described the audit as "shocking". Minister for Lands and 
Settlement Amos Kimunya urged beneficiaries, including government officials 
and a "powerful Rift Valley MP" to return their land in exchange for 
remaining anonymous. The audit, carried out for the new government of 
President Mwai Kibaki, has found 752 pieces of public land, which have been 
irregularly allocated around the country. But the figure of 752 plots 
cannot reflect the true level of land-grabbing that has been taking place. 
Land-grabbing is very emotive in Kenya. Two weeks ago, more than 2,000 
peasant farmers invaded a commercial farm near Mombasa, saying the land was 
stolen from their ancestors by the colonial government.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 2 April 2003)

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