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Weekly anb0430_04.txt #5

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-04-2003      PART #4/5
* Maroc. Elections communales reportées - Les élections communales ont été reportées au mois de septembre. C'est le résultat de "tractations" entre le Premier ministre Driss Jettou et les partis politiques, ont affirmé plusieurs journaux le 24 avril. La raison: la crainte de voir le parti islamiste Justice et Développement (PJD) prendre plusieurs villes. Depuis les législatives de septembre, le PJD est la principale force d'opposition au Parlement. (La Croix, France, 25 avril 2003)
* Mauritanie. Présidentielle en novembre - Le premier tour de la prochaine élection présidentielle aura lieu le vendredi 7 novembre 2003, a annoncé la radio nationale. Selon la Constitution mauritanienne, cette élection se déroule 45 jours avant l'expiration du mandat en cours. Celui du président Taya prend fin le 22 décembre. Deux candidatures ont déjà été officiellement annoncées: celle de M. Cissé Amadou Cheikhou (de l'Alliance pour la jeunesse et la démocratie) et celle de M. Moulaye Hacen Ould Jiyid (du Parti mauritanien pour le renouveau et la construction). Le président Taya sera plus que probablement candidat à sa propre succession. (PANA, Sénégal, 28 avril 2003)
* Niger. Eight years of peace - The Republic of Niger this week celebrated eight years of peace which began on 24 April 1995 with the signing of the first of a series of agreements that ended a rebellion by Tuareg nomads in the north of the Sahelian country. The accord was signed in Niamey following mediation by Algeria, Burkina Faso and France between the state and the rebels. It was followed by an additional protocol signed in Algiers, Algeria, on 28 November 1997 and the N'Djamena Accord, initialled on 21 August 1998. They paved the way for the restoration of definitive peace and stability in the country. Subsequent efforts in this direction have included a ceremony on 25 September 2000 at Agadez, 900 km north of the capital, Niamey, at which arms collected from the rebels were burnt. The ceremony, dubbed "Flamme de la paix" (Peace Flame) was followed by at least four other arms destruction campaigns in Agadez and parts of eastern Niger which had also been affected by rebel activity. A two-year arms collection project is currently underway in Diffa, eastern Niger, located in an area where arms left over from the rebellion and trafficked from as far as north Africa have fuelled cross-border banditry. The anniversary of the 1995 agreement is now a public holiday known as the Journée de la Concorde (Harmony Day) during which events organised throughout the country constitute opportunities for the expression of Niger's cultural diversity and the mixing of cultures. (IRIN, Kenya, 25 April 2003)
* Niger. La France annule la dette - Le ministre nigérien de l'Economie et des Finances, Ali Badjo Gamatié, a annoncé ce week-end, l'annulation par la France de la dette totale du Niger d'un montant de 110 millions d'euros (environ 70 milliards de FCFA). Il a indiqué que ce geste de la France, qui va "au-delà des prescriptions du Club de Paris", aura un impact réel sur les engagements que le Niger peut prendre auprès de ses partenaires extérieurs. La dette extérieure du Niger est estimée à plus de 1.100 milliards de FCFA, rappelle-t-on. (PANA, Sénégal, 28 avril 2003)
* Nigeria. Tense after disputed polls - 24 April: Anger simmers over the declared result of a presidential election and the victor answers allegations of ballot fraud, by saying only God's actions were perfect. The political leadership in the northern half of Africa's most populous nation gives its influential support to the opposition's assertion that the 19 April vote was crudely rigged for President Olusegun Obasanjo, declared winner two days ago. "It is clear that the recent elections are flawed and deeply deficient," the Arewa Consultative Forum says in a statement released in Kaduna, capital of the mainly Muslim north. "They cannot be accepted by the people nor sustained by the beneficiaries, i.e. those in government". The Forum groups political grandees and traditional rulers from 19 of Nigeria's 36 states. President Obasanjo, on the other hand, has rejected opposition calls for a rerun of the presidential elections. -- Human Rights Watch says the Nigerian Government should act immediately to address the political violence and intimidation that occurred during the recent election. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 24 April 2003)
* Nigeria. Hostages held on oil rigs - 28 April: Negotiations are taking place to free as many as 100 foreign oil workers who are being held hostage on four separate oil rigs off the Nigerian coast. Local employees took control of the platform after some of their colleagues were sacked, but their specific demands remain unclear. The siege has been going on for more than a week but has only recently come to public attention. The nationalities of those being held has not been officially released, but it is believed there are at least 50 Britons and 20 Americans among them. The US firm operating the rigs, Transocean, is giving away few details and the first indications that any workers were being held at all only emerged following telephone conversations between the hostages and their families. This is not unusual -- the oil industry tries to keep these situations quiet for as long as possible, hoping to resolve them without too much publicity. But when approached, Transocean said it was holding discussions with the hostage-takers, and that no-one had been harmed. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 28 April 2003)
* Nigeria. Menace sur une plate-forme Shell - Des militants nigérians menacent de détruire une des plus importantes plates-formes pétrolières, stationnée au large des côtes nigérianes, a annoncé le 28 avril à Lagos la compagnie pétrolière Shell, propriétaire de cette installation. Selon Shell, "des éléments criminels" ont commencé les préparatifs pour détruire Sea Eagle, un immense navire qui collecte le brut de plusieurs puits off-shore et produit 170.000 barils de brut par jour, stationné à environ 15 km de la côte nigériane. Depuis deux mois, des violences sporadiques ont éclaté dans l'ouest du delta du Niger et perturbé la production du brut. "Nous avons pris de sévères mesures de sécurité pour anticiper" cette attaque, a déclaré le porte-parole de Shell. Une éventuelle attaque contre le Sea Eagle provoquerait une catastrophe écologique. -- Le 29 avril, 97 expatriés, dont 35 Britanniques et 21 Américains, étaient toujours retenus de force sur des plates-formes pétrolières au large du Nigeria, par des employés nigérians en grève. La veille, 34 personnes ont pu être évacuées notamment pour des raisons humanitaires. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 30 avril 2003)
* Rwanda. Décès de Mgr Perraudin - Mgr André Perraudin, archevêque émérite de Kabgayi de 1956 à 1989, est décédé le 25 avril à Sierre (Suisse), à l'âge de 89 ans. Evêque au Rwanda avant et après l'indépendance, il avait soutenu les Hutu, ce qui lui valut de nombreuses critiques après le génocide de 1994. Sa lettre pastorale du 11 février 1959, intitulée "Par dessus tout, la charité", avait fait de grandes vagues. Insistant sur la justice et le bien commun de toutes les composantes de la société rwandaise, elle fut mal interprétée par certains. Mgr Perraudin fut faussement accusé d'être l'instigateur des événements tragiques qui endeuillèrent le pays à plusieurs reprises. Il s'en défendit avec sérénité et courage dans un ouvrage qui vient de paraître aux Editions St Augustin. (Apic, Suisse, 25 avril 2003)
* Rwanda. A last farewell to Archbishop Perraudin - The funeral was held on 29 April in Switzerland of Monsignor André Perraudin, Bishop in Rwanda for nearly half a century. He was a member of the Society of African Missions (known also as White Fathers). Monsignor Perraudin died in Sierre (Canton du Valais) at the age of 88, after a life dedicated to missionary service and evangelisation in Rwanda. He had left for Africa after his ordination in 1939. In December 1955 he was named Vicar Apostolic of the diocese of Kabgayi (Rwanda). Four years later, while the nation was experiencing the so-called "Hutu cultural revolution", Monsignor Perraudin was named Archbishop of Kabgayi, a position he held until 1989. As Archbishop, he attended the 2nd Vatican Council, while Rwanda was experiencing independence from Belgium, obtained in 1962. (MISNA, Italy, 29 April 2003)
* Rwanda/Zambie. Rapatriement de réfugiés - Le 29 avril, le gouvernement zambien, en collaboration avec les bureaux locaux du Haut commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés (HCR), a rapatrié le premier groupe de réfugiés rwandais qui avaient fui leur pays au lendemain du génocide de 1994. Selon des sources du HCR, les rapatriés comprenaient neuf familles qui ont quitté Lusaka par avion. D'autres vols sont prévus. On estime à environ 5.000 le nombre de réfugiés rwandais qui se trouvent dans divers centres en Zambie. En janvier, la Zambie et le Rwanda avaient signé un accord tripartite avec le HCR pour préparer le rapatriement volontaire de ces réfugiés. (PANA, Sénégal, 29 avril 2003)
* Sao Tome e Principe/Nigeria. Bids invited for offshore oil - Nigeria and the island state of Sao Tome and Principe have invited tenders for oil exploration in offshore fields between the two nations. Both countries have invited energy companies to tender for the right to prospect for oil, or gas, in nine offshore blocks in the area known as the Joint Development Zone (JDZ). The JDZ in the Gulf of Guinea was formed after the two states failed to agree on the demarcation of their borders in 2001. The Joint Development Authority is charged with managing the development of oil wells in the zone. Sao Tome will receive 40% of the revenues generated and Nigeria -- already Africa's largest oil producer -- will get 60%. Sao Tome is one of the world's poorest countries. It does not currently produce oil and it hopes revenues from the JDZ will help turn around its economic fortunes. The oil exploration licensing process was deferred from November because of a dispute over a small area of the zone which has now been resolved. (BBC News, UK, 23 April 2003)
* Somalia. Community-based project aims to promote economic recovery - The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has launched a prototype community project in parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu which it hopes will be expanded to cover the entire city. The project, implemented by a local NGO, SAACID (Somali for "To Help"), has employed 600 local people (300 men and 300 women) and hired private sector hauliers to remove sand and garbage from the streets of Mogadishu. The scheme, launched earlier this month, is being carried out in six of the city's 16 districts for a period of three months. "The project is seen very much as a test case to determine whether it is possible to operate effectively in war-ravaged Mogadishu," said Joe Connolly, the project's chief technical adviser. He said extensive discussions were held with community, clan, business and political leaders ahead of the work, and the project has generally received widespread support. "The ILO views access to decent work as a basic human right and a critical factor in support of economic recovery, reconciliation and peace," Connolly added. (IRIN, Kenya, 25 April 2003)
* South Africa. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela - 24 April: A court is expected to consider a sentence for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of Nelson Mandela, a day after her conviction of fraud and theft. Madikizela-Mandela -- found guilty of 43 charges of fraud and 25 of theft in connection with a bank loan scandal -- faces up to 15 years in prison. "The state's evidence is overwhelming," magistrate Peet Johnson at a Pretoria court said on 21 April. Madikizela-Mandela and her financial adviser, Addy Moolman, denied fraudulently obtaining bank loans worth more than $120,000 in the name of bogus employees of the African National Congress (ANC) Women's League, of which Madikizela-Mandela is president. Madikizela-Mandela, 66, showed no reaction when the verdicts were announced. 25 April: Winnie is sentenced to five years in prison. One year of her sentence has been suspended, and under the terms of the judgement she will serve a minimum of eight months in jail with the rest taking to form of community service. She immediately appealed and was released on bail. Through her lawyer, she announces that she has resigned her positions as a Member of Parliament and her influential posts on the ANC national executive and as head of the ANC's Womens' League. Her financial adviser, Addy Moolman, is sentenced to a seven-year jail term, two of which were suspended. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 25 April 2003)
* Afrique du Sud. Winnie Mandela condamnée - Le 24 avril, Winnie Madikezela-Mandela, l'ex-épouse de l'ancien président sud-africain Nelson Mandela, a été reconnue coupable pour 43 chefs d'accusation distincts de fraude et 25 chefs d'accusation de vol, au terme d'un procès à la Cour régionale de Pretoria qui s'est étiré sur près d'un an. A 66 ans, Winnie, figure emblématique de la lutte anti-apartheid, risque en théorie quinze années de prison. Elle a été laisée en liberté sous caution. Winnie Mandela avait déjà été mise en cause par la Commission vérité et réconciliation pour le meurtre d'un adolescent dans les années 1980. - Le 25 avril, Winnie Mandela a été condamnée à cinq ans de prison, dont quatre ferme. Elle avait plaidé non coupable, tout comme son associé Addy Moolman, qui a été condamné à sept ans de prison, dont deux avec sursis. Après ce verdict, dont elle a déjà fait appel, Winnie n'a pas manifesté la moindre émotion. Elle s'est contentée d'annoncer sa démission de ses mandats de députée et de présidente de la Ligue des femmes de l'ANC. Alors que les réactions en Afrique du Sud sont diverses, l'épouse du président du Malawi, Mme Patricia Shanil Muluzi, a écrit au président Mbeki pour lui demander d'accorder la grâce présidentielle. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 25 avril 2003) 

Weekly News - anb0430.txt - #4/5