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Weekly ANB0918_07.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 18-09-2003      PART #7/7
* Somalia. Peace talks in jeopardy following announcement of breakthrough - Delegates at the Somali peace talks taking place in Kenya adopted an interim constitution on 15 September in what has been termed "a major breakthrough". However, some political groups have come out against the agreement. According to a statement from the mediators, delegates attending the conference "this [15 September] evening adopted a Transitional Federal Charter", which will pave the way for the formation of a transitional parliament that would last four years. The statement said its members would be selected by Somali traditional leaders and politicians officially invited to the talks in Kenya by an IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Technical Committee that organised the meeting. However, the agreement was rejected by the president of the Transitional National Government (TNG), Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, who, along with a number of faction leaders, had earlier walked out of the talks but returned to Nairobi on 14 September to resume their participation in the discussions. "This is the end of this conference," Abdiqassim told IRIN. "We arrived here on 15 September in good faith but without being given an opportunity to have our voices heard, we are presented with the so-called adoption of the charter. This is unacceptable and I think whoever is behind this treachery has succeeded in scuttling the peace process. The talks have totally collapsed." (...) The IGAD-sponsored talks began in October 2002 in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, but were moved to Nairobi in February this year. The talks have been dogged by wrangles over issues such as the interim charter, the number of participants in the talks and the selection of future parliamentarians. (IRIN, Kenya, 16 September 2003)
* South Africa. Leakey puts wildife at top of tree - On 11 September, The wildlife conservationist Richard Leakey stirred up controversy at the Durban environment congress by saying conservation had to come before the rights of indigenous people. Protected nature areas were too important to be "subjugated" to people complaining of eviction from ancestral lands in the name of biodiversity, said Dr Leakey. Indigenous people deserved compensation but to let them manage the parks where they once lived risked unravelling environmental and economic gains, he said. Indigenous groups reacted with anger, saying his views were out of step with efforts to redress historical injustices borne by ethnic groups such as the Twa and San. "Leakey's taking us back to the colonial era," said Edward Porokwa, of Tanzania's Masai. About 2,500 environmentalists are at the congress, run by the IUCN-World Conservation Union. Gonzalo Oviedo, of the WCU, said Dr Leakey's words were a step backwards in the effort to balance conservation with people's rights. But Dr Leakey said that though colonisation had been a disaster, "long before people there was nature, long before people there was climate change, long before people there were mass extinctions. Of course [there] should be compensation for losing land, but these parks belong to the world". (The Guardian, UK, 12 September 2003)
* Afrique du Sud. Ecoles coraniques - De nombreuses écoles coraniques ont récemment vu le jour en Afrique du Sud. Ce phénomène répond à la demande d'étudiants étrangers qui ne peuvent plus se rendre dans des pays comme le Pakistan ou l'Inde, en raison des restrictions imposées sur les visas aux personnes désireuses d'étudier la théologie. La plupart des madrassas se trouvent au Cap, où se concentre l'essentiel de la minorité musulmane du pays (600.000 personnes), à Johannesburg et à Durban. (Le Figaro, France, 12 septembre 2003)
* Sudan. Peace talks run into trouble - 11 September: The Sudanese peace talks which have been continuing in Kenya are reported to have run into difficulties over the security arrangements to be put in place during a post-war transitional period. The big issue is whether Sudan should have one army or two. The negotiations between rebel leader John Garang and Sudan's Vice-President Ali Osman Taha, taking place in Naivasha, Kenya, are seen as critical for the survival of the peace process. 16 September: Rebels in Darfur, western Sudan, accuse the Khartoun government of violating the truce. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 September 2003)
* Soudan. Négociations de paix - Le gouvernement soudanais est satisfait des négociations qu'il mène depuis août dernier avec le Mouvement/Armée de libération du peuple soudanais (SPLA/M) dans la ville kényane de Naivasha, a indiqué le 16 septembre à Dakar son ministre des Affaires étrangères. Selon Mustapha Osman Ismaïl, "un accord pourrait même être signé dans les deux jours qui viennent", rapporte l'agence PANA. "Les questions qui constituent des points d'achoppement sont en train d'être résolues", a-t-il ajouté. -L'agence AFP signale toutefois que, selon un source proche des pourparlers, les discussions restaient toujours bloquées sur plusieurs questions. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 16 septembre 2003)
* Swaziland. Police break up pro-democracy meetings - Armed police and army patrols in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland stopped events to mark 20 years of opposition to royal rule by the main pro-democracy group, the People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) said on 14 September. "Our intention was to hold a peaceful demonstration, but any expression of political dissent is banned by the authorities," PUDEMO President Mario Masuku told Reuters. The rally was to have been held in the southern provincial capital Nhlangano this weekend, but police in riot gear stopped the crowds from assembling and mounted roadblocks to keep visitors away from the city centre. (CNN, USA, 15 September 2003)
* Tchad. Pétrole: inauguration reportée - La cérémonie officielle marquant le début de l'exploitation du pétrole tchadien a été repoussée à la mi-octobre, pour une question d'agendas des chefs d'Etat invités. Cette cérémonie marquera l'entrée du Tchad dans le cercle restreint des pays producteurs de pétrole. Le pompage du brut tchadien a débuté à la mi-juillet. La production des trois champs pétroliers du gisement de Doba atteindra des pics de 225.000 barils/jour. (La Libre Belgique, 13 septembre 2003)
* Uganda. Uganda's push for GM - President George W Bush has said Africa is losing out by not adopting GM, as his government battles with Europe over the sale of genetically modified products there. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has also made clear that he is convinced of the logic for GM food. Already, steps are underway to put a law in place. But can GM solve the problems the country's farmers face? In Uganda, there isn't even a word for gene in the local language, laughs Dr Charles Mugoya of the National Council for Science and Technology. Millions of Ugandans might have a very poor understanding of what genetically modified foods are, but --in one form or another -- it looks like GM foods are coming their way. Last month, a national committee presented a draft policy on biotechnology and bio safety to government. This was the first stage of creating a law to govern the introduction, application and commercialisation of GM products in Uganda. (BBC News, UK, 11 September 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Fermeture du Daily Mail - La police du Zimbabwe a fermé le "Daily News", le seul quotidien indépendant du pays, souvent très critique à l'égard du président Robert Mugabe. Le 12 septembre au soir, une vingtaine de policiers ont fait irruption dans les rédactions et ont ordonné au personnel de quitter les bureaux. Le directeur a été convoqué au poste central de police d'Harare et trois autres dirigeants ont été emmenés par les policiers. La Cour suprême a déclaré illégale la publication du journal. Selon l'exécutif, ni la société éditrice, ni les journalistes du quotidien n'ont été accrédités par la Commssion gouvernementale des moyens de communication, autorité qui habilite ses inscrits à mener une activité de presse. Le Daily News a toujours qualifié d'inconstitutionnelles les nouvelles normes restrictives sur la presse. (Misna, Italie, 13 septembre 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Treason trial postponed - The treason trial of Zimbabwe's key opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been postponed for six weeks, his lawyer said. Tsvangirai is accused of plotting the assassination of longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe. He denies the treason charge, which carries a possible death sentence in Zimbabwe. He was charged with treason last year, just two weeks before his unsuccessful presidential campaign against Mugabe. Tsvangirai lost the March 2003 election by a narrow margin, but independent observers said the outcome was affected by political violence and vote-rigging. He was jointly charged with treason along with Welshman Ncube, his party's third-ranking official, and Renson Gasela, a senior party member. Ncube and Gasela were acquitted in July for lack of evidence. Tsvangirai's trial, the longest in Zimbabwe's legal history, began in February. It had been scheduled to resume on 15 September after a month-long recess. His lawyer, Innocent Chagonda, said the hearing was postponed until October 27, The Associated Press reported. (Editor's update: On 16 September, police arrested more than 100 opposition supporters in central trying to hold a rally against President Mugabe. The rally was organised by the National Constitutional Assembly). (CNN, USA, 15 September 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Mugabe indésirable au Commonwealth - Le président du Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, ne sera pas autorisé à participer au sommet du Commonwealth prévu à Abuja, au Nigeria, en décembre prochain, en raison de la persistance de violations des droits de l'homme dans son pays. Celui-ci a été temporairement exclu du Commonwealth, un groupe de 54 pays principalement issus de l'ancien empire empire colonial britannique, en mars de l'année dernière. Robert Mugabe est accusé d'avoir procédé à des fraudes électorales lors du scrutin présidentiel de 2002 et de se livrer à des violations des droits de l'homme. (Le Figaro, France, 16 septembre 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Commonwealth threatened by split - On 16 September, South Africa and Australia clashed over barring Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, from a Commonwealth summit. The row threatens to split the group along racial lines. Australia's prime minister, John Howard, angered Pretoria by announcing that Mr Mugabe would not be invited to the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Nigeria in December because Zimbabwe's record on human rights had not improved. In a thinly veiled appeal for solidarity among African members, South Africa accused Mr Howard of megaphone diplomacy and called on the Commonwealth to reverse the ban. The row flared as Zimbabwe intensified a crackdown on the Daily News, the country's only independent daily newspaper and one of the regime's strongest critics. Police raided the newspaper's office in Harare and seized equipment, despite apparently having no warrant to do so. Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth's decision-making councils after the government rigged the presidential election in March last year which Mr Mugabe won. South Africa wants the 18-month-old suspension lifted in time for December's summit in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, arguing that the isolation has failed to solve Zimbabwe's economic and political problems. Mr Howard seemed to surprise the South African government when he said that Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth's secretary general, and Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had assured him that Mr Mugabe would be barred. He described the lack of progress in Zimbabwe as a "veritable tragedy", and said: "Its people are starving. Their choice of government has been denied to them. Their economy is in ruins. In these circumstances it would be a travesty if Zimbabwe were to be represented at the Abuja meeting. I welcome the decision that has been taken by Nigeria not to extend an invitation to President Mugabe." (The Guardian, UK, 17 September 2003)
* Zimbabwe. L'Inde donne du riz - Le 16 septembre, l'Inde a fait don de 50.000 tonnes de riz au Zimbabwe pour aider à nourrir des millions de personnes confrontées à la famine dans ce pays. Le Zimbabwe a demandé aux donateurs internationaux une aide alimentaire de 700.000 tnnes de vivres. Les autorités zimbabwéennes ont fait savoir que l'aide alimentaire indienne serait distribuée aux communautés les plus nécessiteuses dans les régions reculées du pays. (PANA, Sénégal, 17 septembre 2003)
* Zimbabwe. New "currency" launched - 17 September: Zimbabwe has launched a new currency -- the bearer cheque -- in an attempt to ease the country's severe economic crisis. The central bank says the cheques are only a temporary measure and will not replace the Zimbabwean dollar. There have been massive money shortages but the government has resisted calls for larger denomination banknotes. The cheque is seen by some as a way of avoiding higher denominations. The bearer cheque will be valid as legal tender until 31 January and will be dispensed from cash machines. The notes can be used to buy goods and services just like banknotes. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 17 September 2003) 


Weekly anb0918.txt - End of #7/7 -  THE END


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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie (W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature) 
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies (Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) * 
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