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Weekly anb0522_4.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 22-05-2003      PART #4/6
* Kenya. Menace terroriste - Un terroriste présumé, recherché par la police fédérale américaine comme un membre du réseau Al-Qaida, prépare un nouvel attentat au Kenya, a affirmé le chef de la cellule antiterroriste de la police kényane le jeudi 15 mai. Le terroriste en question serait Fazul Abdallah Mohammed (de nationalité comorienne), qui figure en quatrième position sur une liste de 13 personnes dont Oussama Ben Laden, recherchés par la police fédérale américaine FBI pour leur implication présumée dans les attentats du 7 août 1998 contre les ambassades des Etats-Unis à Nairobi et Dar es-Salaam. Tous les vols des compagnies britanniques entre la Grande-Bretagne et le Kenya ont été supendus à partir de jeudi 23h en raison de cette menace "imminente". Ces mesures seront revues "tous les jours", a précisé l'association des agents de voyage britanniques. (ANB-BIA, de souces diverses, 16 mai 2003)
* Kenya. Tourists stranded by alert - 16 May: Hundreds of stranded British tourists are trying to make arrangements to leave Kenya, after the UK Government banned all flights to and from the country. The action was taken amid fears that an al-Qaeda terrorist attack on a British plane was imminent. The last UK flight to leave Nairobi touched down at Heathrow Airport this morning, with 228 people on board. The British High Commissioner to Kenya says it is impossible to tell how long flights will be suspended between the two countries. The Kenyan Government has insisted that steps are being taken to protect those foreigners still in the country. It described the flight ban as an overreaction, saying it played into the hands of those who wanted to cause disruption. Kenya Airways is still flying between the UK and Kenya, but other Western airlines are said to be considering their position. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 May 2003)
* Kenya. Former freedom fighters angered by UK atrocities report - According to a report in the Daily Nation on 6 May, two former freedom fighters' organizations have reacted angrily to a report that investigations are under way over alleged atrocities committed against them by the former British colonialists. The War Veterans Association of Kenya and the Ex-Mau Mau War Council of Elders wants to know who ordered the statements to be made; who made them and when. "Our fear is that those who have appended their signatures might be ordinary opportunists who claim to be former Mau Mau," says the coordinator of the Ex-Mau Mau War Council, Mr. Mwangi Kaguma. The secretary of the War Veterans Association, Mr. Kabatha Muteru, and the other members of the two groups echoed Mr. Kaguma's sentiments. The members said in a statement that no one had consulted them over the matter and that they only read about it in the media on 15 May. The BBC is also reported to have said that police had started investigating claims that British officials committed murder, rape and torture in putting down the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya 50 years ago. According to the BBC TV report during its White Terror programme last year, more than 6,000 statements had been taken from survivors of the Mau Mau movement, which were claiming human rights abuses. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard has confirmed that it is undertaking an initial inquiry into allegations of British atrocities. A spokesman for the Yard told the Nation that officers seconded from the anti-terrorist branch have started what it describes as "preliminary assessments" into whether or not colonial government officials or police officers breached the Geneva Convention in the way they conducted their activities during the Mau Mau insurgency. (Thomas Omondi, ANB-BIA, Kenya, 16 May 2003)
* Liberia. Pourparlers de paix le 2 juin - Des négociations de paix entre le gouvernement libérien, les rebelles du LURD (Libériens unis pour la réconciliation et la démocratie) et le Mouvement pour la démocratie auront lieu le 2 juin au Ghana, a-t-on appris le 16 mai à Lagos de sources bien informées. La décision a été prise au cours de la 3e session du Groupe de contact international sur le Liberia, tenue le 12 mai à Bruxelles. L'ancien chef de l'Etat nigérian, le général Abdulsami Abubakar, servira de médiateur lors de ces négociations, qui devraient déboucher sur un processus de paix global avec un cessez-le-feu et des réformes électorales. Des élections présidentielle et législatives sont prévues au Liberia en octobre prochain pour mettre fin au mandat de six ans du président Taylor, mais les combats entre le gouvernement et les deux groupes rebelles ont touché plus de la moitié du pays et déraciné des centaines de milliers de civils. (PANA, Sénégal, 16 mai 2003)
* Liberia. Fleeing rebel advance - 20 May: Up to 10,000 people have escaped Liberia after the latest upsurge in fighting, the United Nations refugee agency has said. The newly-formed rebel Movement for Democracy in Liberia (Model) says it captured the south-eastern town of Harper over the weekend. Many of those fleeing were using dugout canoes to cross the Cavally River which forms the border between the two countries. UNHCR spokeswoman, Astrid van Genderen Stort, said the scene was chaotic but the agency was trying to provide basic aid for the refugees. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 20 May 2003)
* Liberia. Reprise des combats - Depuis le dimanche 18 mai, les combats ont repris à Ganta, ville située à la frontière avec la Guinée, entre le mouvement rebelle du LURD et les forces loyalistes, a-t-on appris le mardi. Selon le ministre libérien de la Défense, des troupes guinéennes, lourdement armées, y seraient impliquées. Celles-ci voudraient venger la mort de certains de leurs collègues qui se battaient aux côtés des rebelles du LURD. D'autre part, le nouveau groupe rebelle, le Mouvement pour la démocratie au Liberia, s'est emparé lundi de la ville de Harper, dans le sud-est du Liberia. Suite à ces combats, quelque 10.000 personnes ont pris la fuite et ont afflué en Côte d'Ivoire, a indiqué le HCR à Abidjan. Par ailleurs, M. Ruud Lubbers, haut commissaire de l'Onu pour les réfugiés, a affirmé à l'issue d'une visite trois jours en Guinée, que le partage du pouvoir au Liberia serait la meilleure alternative pour mettre fin à la violence dans ce pays. Mais le président libérien Charles Taylor a rejeté la proposition de formation d'un gouvernement comprenant des représentants des rebelles, faisant ainsi planer des menaces sur les pourparlers de paix prévus le 2 juin à Accra (Ghana). Toutefois, le 21 mai, l'archevêque catholique de Monrovia, Mgr Michael Francis, a annoncé qu'une rencontre entre le gouvernement et le LURD est prévue à Freetown (Sierra Leone) en prévision des pourparlers du 2 juin à Accra. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 21 mai 2003)
* Libya. Signs of opening up - 19 May: After years of isolation, Libya is showing signs of opening up - both internally and towards the international community. This year the country is hosting both the first pan-African oil conference and the UN Human Rights commission - indicators of increased international involvement in both the economic and political spheres. But internally, the signs of more openness are much more obvious in Libya's economy - there is still, for example a large amount of internal censorship. "The economy is changing in Libya - this is why I'm here [in this post]," Libya's Minister for Economics, Shukri Muhammad Ghanim, said. "We are trying to work as much as we can to enable the private sector to take its part in the economy." But then with unemployment at 30% in Libya, some reform would seem to be essential anyway - not least because some international sanctions, predominantly from the US, still remain in place. The lifting of these sanctions - which, some hope, would come as a result of the reforms - would undoubtedly be a boost. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 19 May 2003)
* Madagascar. Human bones trial ends - 19 May: People across Madagascar are reacting with horror to the news of a massive trade in human bones. A court in the east of the country has sentenced 42 people to life imprisonment for violating tombs and trying to sell human remains. The investigating police say they seized more than two tonnes of bones stolen from over 300 tombs. Entire container loads of human bones were discovered at the eastern port of Tamatave, but it is not clear what their intended destination was, nor what the bones would be used for. It seems this macabre practice has been going on for some time. The first arrests of grave robbers were made back in 1997. In all, 75 suspects were tried, including a doctor and a mayor, and 42 people were convicted. They were all from peasant communities surrounding the shores of Lac Alaotra, Madagascar's biggest lake. The traffickers apparently believed they could make a lot of money out of the sale of bones, up to $4,000 a kilo, and that there would be willing customers. Most desirable apparently were ribs, vertebra and collar-bones. No-one seems to know what they were being sold for. There have however been some suggestions that the bones might have been used for some sort of traditional medicine. Grave-robbing goes against all established norms in Madagascar, where respect for the dead is a fundamental part of the country's tradition and culture. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 19 May 2003)
* Malawi. Journalists scrutinise the media laws - Journalists in Malawi view some of the current media laws as being archaic and in need of urgent review. They are especially concerned that it is the President of the Republic who appoints board members to the broadcasting regulatory body, the Malawi Regulatory Authority (MACRA) and to the national Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). This concern was emphasised during a recent meeting of lawyers, journalists and politicians to review the Communications Act. Participants said the present arrangement was a key obstacle to the spirit of unbiased coverage. They noted that the current situation results in political interference in the Media by the party in government, censorship, unfair dismissals and intimidation of staff at the MBC. Participants said the appointments should be left to media practitioners, media houses and associations. The President should simply endorse the names as he does with judges and the ombudsman. They also recommended that the post of director-general at the MBC should be governed by a fixed term. (Frank Jomo, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 15 May 2003)
* Mali. Cotton subsidies squeeze Mali - African cotton producers are joining Brazil in their official complaint to the World Trade Organization about subsidies paid to their counterparts in the United States and Europe. In the US, for example, some 25,000 cotton producers receive almost $4bn a year in subsidies. According to the World Bank, this has had a substantial influence on the world price for cotton, which has been hovering at all-time lows in the past two years. At least 10 million small-scale cotton growers in West and Central Africa are suffering dramatically from the plummeting prices. In a good year, in the village of Konseguila, southern Mali, small-scale farmers can earn about up to a $1,000 a year by growing cotton. That is about three times the average annual income in this impoverished country in West Africa. But this is not a good year. Restaurant owner Alima Kone says the cotton crisis is slicing into the bone of an already skeletal local economy. She says people rarely come to eat at her establishment any more as they have no money. Hunger is everywhere and the next harvest is several months away. Cheik Kone, who has been growing cotton for three decades says he has never suffered like this before. He says this year he lost. He did not get back the money he put into his nine hectares of cotton - the seed, pesticides and fertiliser and that is not counting the back-breaking months of sweat and toil he and his family put into the fields they work entirely by hand. (BBC News, UK, 19 May 2003)
* Maroc. Casablanca: série d'attentats - Le vendredi soir, 16 mai, une série d'attentats à l'explosif a causé la mort "d'au moins 24 personnes et au moins une soixantaine de blessés" dans le centre-ville de Casablanca, selon le ministre de l'Intérieur. Selon des témoignages, une série de cinq explosions, commises par des "voitures piégées ou des kamikazes", a été entendue entre 21h et 21h30 locale. Le Cercle de l'alliance israélite, qui possède un cimetière juif, la "Casa Espana" et un restaurant à proximité du consulat de Belgique, distant d'une centaine de mètres du consulat américain, ont été visés par cette vague d'attentats. Le consulat belge a été fortement endommagé. "Ce sont des actes qui visent à intimider et déstabiliser une démocratie", a estimé le ministre marocain. -18 mai. Selon les autorités marocaines, le bilan se chiffre à 41 morts et une centaine de blessés. Le Maroc est sous le choc. Une dizaine de kamikazes ont trouvé la mort dans ces attentats. Trois suspects, tous de nationalité marocaine ont été arrêtés. La police multiplie les opérations d'interrogatoires et d'interpellations dans les rangs de la mouvance islamiste radicale salafistre. Parmi ces groupes figurent prioritairement Salafiya Jihadia ("le salafisme combattant") et Attakfir wal Hijra ("excommunication et retranchement"), dont les services de sécurité estiment qu'ils ont des "liens opérationnels" avec Al-Qaïda. Mais le ministre de la Communication a dit qu'il est "prématuré" d'affirmer qu'il s'agit d'Al-Qaïda. Le porte-parole de la plus importante association islamique du Maroc, Al Adl wal Ihassane ("Justice et bienfaisance"), a condamné le carnage. Le dimanche soir, près d'un millier de militants islamistes ont défilé dans le centre de Rabat pour dire "non au terrorisme". Le lundi soir, le ministre de l'Intérieur a déclaré que tous les membres du commando de 14 kamikazes, tous Marocains, dont 12 sont morts, avaient été identifiés. "L'arrestation de deux terroristes vivants nous a permis de confirmer nos présomptions sur l'existence de connexions avec le terrorisme international", a-t-il ajouté. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 19 mai 2003)
* Morocco. Two suspects held in Morocco - 20 May: Morocco has announced that the suicide attacks which killed 29 people in Casablanca on 17 May are linked to "international terrorism". Interior Minister Mustapha Sahel went on TV to say that 14 people and their "network" had been identified as playing a part in the attacks, 12 of whom were also killed in the attacks. The remaining two were under arrest, the minister said as US Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived in the city to help the investigation. Agents from Spain and France - who both lost nationals in the attacks - and Belgium, whose consulate was among the targets, have also sent intelligence experts to the country. Mr Sahel said that one suspect was arrested on the same day as the bombings while the second had been picked up on the evening of 18 May. 21 May: The authorities have moved quickly to scotch claims that the attacks have damaged Morocco's reputation for religious harmony. They insist that Moroccan Islam upholds democratic principles and that the country's Jewish community has nothing to fear. Tourist authorities say the immediate impact of the attacks on tourism is slight. few visitors were cancelling bookings, or cutting short their holidays. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 May 2003) 

Weekly News anb0522.txt - #4/6