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Weekly anb04163.txt #5

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 16-04-2003      PART #3/5
* Congo (RDC). Accord en Ituri - Des mouvements rebelles et des combattants tribaux du nord-est de la RDC ont accepté de former une administration conjointe en vue de mettre un terme à une guerre civile longue de quatre ans et demi, ont annoncé les Nations unies le 14 avril. Les différents groupes, qui s'affrontent pour le contrôle de la province d'Ituri et ses ressources minérales, vont former une administration de large base, ouvrant la voie au retrait des troupes ougandaises, a indiqué Hamadoun Touré, porte-parole de la mission onusienne en RDC. (La Libre Belgique, 15 avril 2003)
* Congo (RDC). La transition est lancée - Le train de la réunification du Congo, de la paix, voire de la réconciliation aurait-il enfin démarré? Malgré les ratés, les échéances se succèdent: la Constitution a été promulguée le 4 avril; le président Kabila a prêté serment le 7, sans attendre la désignation officielle de ses quatre vice-présidents. Il a convoqué la réunion à Kinshasa du "comité de suivi", chargé de mettre en oeuvre les accords. La transition de 24 mois, qui devra se terminer par des élections générales, est donc officiellement lancée. Plusieurs personnalités sont arrivées à Kinshasa pour participer aux travaux du comité de suivi, comme Olivier Kamitatu et Alexis Thambwe, pour le MLC, rejoignant les représentants du gouvernement, de la société civile, des Maï-Maï. Les personnalités du RCD-Goma, qui n'ont toujours pas fait le voyage, arguant de préoccupations sécuritaires, risquent d'être marginalisées et prises de court par l'accélération de l'histoire. (Le Soir, Belgique, 15 avril 2003)
* Côte d'Ivoire. Fighting flares up again as Govt. takes shape - 10 April: Fighting has flared again in the west after government troops seized a town in a rebel-held area. Civilians are fleeing Zouan-Hounien, a strategic town 60 km from the rebel headquarters in Danane. There are fears that the shaky peace process could now be in even deeper trouble following the fresh attacks. Those fleeing the fighting around Zouan-Hounien could not give an exact death toll but said they had seen "many dead bodies in the town". The rebels of the Movement for People of the Great West (MPIGO) were not prepared for the attack and did not appear to have made any significant moves to repel the government's onslaught. The capture of Zouan-Hounien, will deprive the MPIGO rebels of a gold mine in the area which would have been used to sustain the war effort. Zouan-Hounien is also on the main tarmac road to Danane, which the rebels say was attacked by government forces with helicopter gunships on 8 April. --Rebel leaders begin a meeting in the western town of Mans to consider what action to take following the seizure of Zouan-Hounien by government forces. 14 April: Five representatives of rebel groups in Côte d'Ivoire have taken up their ministerial positions as part of a peace deal aiming at ending months of civil war. The five officials took office at a ceremony in the government-controlled main city of Abidjan. Four other rebels, including the leader of the main Patriotic Movement of Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI), Guillaume Soro, who are to become government ministers, did not show up for the official ceremony. As preparations for rebels to join the government took place, there was renewed fighting between government and rebel forces in western Côte d'Ivoire. At least two of the remaining rebel ministers still face prison sentences for deserting government forces during the rebellion which broke out last September. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 14 April 2003)
* Côte d'Ivoire. Les rebelles occupent leurs postes - 10 avril. Les localités de Koutouba, Sandegue et Sanguinani (à plus de 600 km à l'est d'Abidjan) ont été attaquées et investies par les rebelles du Mouvement patriotique de Côte d'Ivoire (MPCI), selon un porte-parole du mouvement, qui a indiqué qu'il s'agissait d'une réaction aux attaques perpétrées par les forces gouvernementales contre leurs positions dans l'ouest du pays. -- 11 avril. Le président Gbagbo a appelé "toutes les forces militaires et para-militaires à s'abstenir de tout acte de belligérance" et demandé aux ministres issus des trois mouvements rebelles de rejoindre le gouvernement. --Dimanche 13 avril. Cinq des neuf responsables rebelles devant occuper un poste dans le nouveau gouvernement, sont arrivés à Abidjan. Cinq rebelles du MPCI sont arrivés par avion en provenance de Bouaké, sous la protection des forces françaises et de la CEDEAO. -- 14 avril. On apprenait de bonne source à Bouaké, que Guillaume Soro, secrétaire général du MPCI et ministre d'Etat chargé de la Communication dans le gouvernement, se rendra demain à Abidjan pour sa prise de fonction. Il sera accompagné de trois chefs militaires, également ministres issus des rangs des Forces nouvelles. D'autre part, on signalait de nouveaux affrontements entre l'armée et les rebelles dans le village Bin-Houye, près de la frontière avec le Liberia. -- 15 avril. On apprend de sources concordantes que le président Gbagbo a signé, vendredi dernier, un décret de "délégation de pouvoirs" au Premier ministre. Le nouveau décret renforce sensiblement les prérogatives conférées à M. Diarra, comparées à celles reçues par lui le 10 mars dernier. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 15 avril 2003)
* Ethiopia. Ethiopian wins London Marathon - 13 April: Gezahegne Abera took the honours in a thrilling men's race at the London Marathon. The Ethiopian was one of five athletes in with a chance of victory as the leading group came onto The Mall five abreast. But after Abdelkader El Mouaziz and Paul Tergat fell off the pace in the sprint finish it became a three-way race for the line. And it was Abera who finished the fastest, with Italy's Stefano Baldini and Joseph Ngolepus of Kenya in second and third. "There were so many athletes around towards the end that it was complicated, but my instinct told me when to go," the 24-year-old Abera said. "I knew that (Paul) Tergat could be a threat, but I saw at the last minute that he was tired so I did not feel threatened by him, and I'm always confident that I can make a good finish." (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 13 April 2003)
* Ethiopia. Death of a princess - Thousands of Ethiopians gathered on 13 April to attend the funeral of Princess Tenagne Worq, who was the last surviving child of the nation's former emperor. After a five hour Ethiopian Orthodox Church service, Tenagne was laid to rest in the crypt of the Selassie Holy Trinity Cathedral, alongside her father Haile Selassie. Many said that Tenagne's death on April 6 in Addis Ababa marked the end of an era. "The princess was the last remaining link to the past," said British historian Richard Pankhurst, who lives in Ethiopia. "Her passing breaks the long history of Ethiopia going back to beginning of the century." Haile Selassie was emperor from 1930 until he was ousted by military officers led by Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1974. (CNN, USA, 13 April 2003)
* Ethiopie. Appel du PAM - Le 14 avril, le Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) a lancé un nouvel appel de fonds international d'un montant total de 205 millions de dollars pour venir en aide à des millions d'Ethiopiens menacés par la famine en raison d'une grave sécheresse. Selon le PAM, "11,3 millions d'Ethiopiens survivent grâce au flux continu de l'aide humanitaire internationale". (Libération, France, 15 avril 2003)
* Kenya. British Army examines rape claims - 9 April: British military police have flown to Kenya to investigate claims British troops raped and abused local women. More than 150 Masai women who live in the area around Dol Dol, near Mount Kenya, claim they were raped by soldiers mainly in the 1980s and 1990s. A team from the Special Investigations Branch of the Royal Military Police flew out to Kenya on 6 April to investigate the claims. The team, which is due to return to the UK next week, is being led by Major John Wooldridge, according to the Kenyan newspaper the Daily Nation. London-based solicitor Martyn Day is preparing to launch a civil action against the army for compensation for the women. He is also in Kenya having made a number of trips there already to collect evidence over the allegations. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 April 2003)
* Kenya. 1 Million child labourers join school - An estimated one million "child labourers" have joined school following the introduction of the free education programme, the Director African Network for Prevention and Protection Against Child Neglect (ANPPCAN) Wambui Njuguna said on 9 April. Wambui said since the implementation of free education, most of the children who were in the labour industry due to poverty had been enroled in schools. She was speaking during a conference on child labour for Inter-Ministerial and stakeholders which is set to develop a time-bound programme on how to report initiatives to forming networks. The workshop seeks to look into ways of combating domestic labour. The director, however, observed that children between the ages of 14 and 18 years were "hanging out" since the free education programme did not cater for them. Wambui urged the Government to initiate programmes which will absorb this age group. (The East African Standard, Kenya, 10 April 2003)
* Kenya. Inquest into Father Kaiser's death - At long last, the government has agreed to order an investigation into the death of Father John Anthony Kaiser, a Mill Hill Missionary, who died in mysterious circumstances two and half year ago. Father Kaiser's body was found in Naivasha, about 100 km north of Nairobi, with a bullet wound to the head, on 24 August 2000. His pick-up truck was nearby, in a ditch. Father Kaiser was a staunch crusader for the rights of his flock in Kilgoris in Ngong Diocese where he worked, and beyond. Apparently, some people were not comfortable with his presence or his activities. In November 1999, Fr Kaiser was declared a prohibited immigrant in Kenya by the country's Immigration Department, which informed him that his work permit had expired six months before. An order was issued for his deportation. But after extensive media coverage pointing out that it was a human error, and following the intercession of various personalities, the deportation order was rescinded. Earlier in February 1998, the Mill Hill priest had given his testimony before the Akiwumi Commission, which was investigating politically-instigated clashes that had rocked Kenya between 1992 and 1998. (On 12 April, MISNA also reported on the death of Father Martin Macharia Njoroge, a Kenyan priest, who was shot by armed men on 4 April, as he was travelling in the outskirts of Nairobi. The priest died on 11 April). (MISNA, Italy, 11 April 2003)
* Liberia. Aide suspendue - Le 10 avril, l'aide internationale a été suspendue dans la majeure partie du Liberia. La décision a été prise en raison des combats qui font rage entre les forces gouvernementales et les rebelles du LURD (Libériens unis pour la réconcilitaion et la démocratie). Les missions occidentales demandent la mise en place de couloirs humanitaires sécurisés, pour pouvoir venir en aide aux dizaines de milliers de réfugiés. Le LURD, qui combat le président Charles Taylor depuis 1999, a attaqué, le 9 avril, un camp de réfugiés à 10 km de la capitale Monrovia. (Libération, France, 11 avril 2003)
* Liberia. Donors suspend aid - 10 April: The United Nations, along with a number of donor countries, has suspended humanitarian aid to several areas of Liberia because of continued fighting. In a joint statement, the European Union, the United States and UN missions in Liberia said that hostilities between rebel forces and government troops had put the people of Liberia into the midst of a humanitarian crisis. The statement said that the current fighting, between the government and rebels of the Liberian United for Reconstruction and Democracy (LURDS), had caused tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and seek safety wherever they could find shelter. The three missions called on the government and warring factions in Liberia to seek a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which began when rebels launched an insurgency in 1999. They also asked that they be granted access to safe corridors so that they could provide badly needed emergency relief assistance to Liberians and Ivorian refugees. 14 April: The Defence Minister has reported fierce fighting between government troops and rebels in Paynes Town, a village in the coastal county of Sinoe. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 14 April 2003)
* Madagascar. Salaire minimum accru - Le gouvernement de Madagascar a annoncé qu"'il augmentait de 9,5% le salaire minimum obligatoire dans le privé", après une hausse de 12% de celui des fonctionnaires. Antananarivo y voit un moyen de lutte contre la corruption, un des principaux chevaux de bataille du nouveau président, Marc Ravalomanana. (La Libre Belgique, 12 avril 2003)
* Madagascar. L'opposition se structure - L'Avant-garde de la révolution malgache (AREMA), parti de l'ancien président Ratsiraka, semble se refaire une santé après les manifestations étudiantes de la semaine dernière et la colère des magistrats, relèvent à l'unanimité les observateurs, qui indiquent que l'état de grâce est définitivement révolu pour le président Ravalomanana. La semaine dernière, diverses manifestations ont été organisées, principalement à Taomasina, par des étudiants réclamant le paiement de leur bourse. Ils ont été suivis par les juges du Syndicat national de la magistrature, solidaires de leurs collègues de cette ville sanctionnés par leur ministère de tutelle. Dans un communiqué de presse publié ce week-end, l'AREMA, qui réclame topujours une amnistie générale à l'endroit des détenus politiques, a présenté des propositions à caractère économique, qui devraient faire sortir le pays de la pauvreté. Il "exige" notamment l'accès à la santé, à l'éducation et à la formation, la remise en oeuvre des grands chantiers publics, ainsi que le redémarrage de la zone franche et de redéploiement des activités d'exportation. "Nous n'acceptons plus les régimes autocrates, sectaires et despotiques, d'où qu'ils viennent", lit-on dans le communiqué. (PANA, Sénégal, 14 avril 2003) 

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