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Weekly ANB0918_06.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 18-09-2003      PART #6/7
* Morocco. Schools teach Berber - 15 September: The Berber language is being taught in Moroccan schools for the first time from today. The classes will be taught in just a few hundred primary schools to begin with, but the government says the aim is to have Berber classes taught in all schools and at all levels within the next 10 years. The move is a sign of increasing recognition of Moroccan Berbers, who have long complained of being denied their rights despite constituting the majority of the population. As the new academic year begins in Morocco, 317 primary schools will start giving their first-year pupils lessons in the Berber language. It is the first step in the fulfilment of a promise made nearly 10 years ago by the late King Hassan to bring Berber into the classroom. Many had doubted it would ever happen at all. Although it is estimated that at least 60% of Moroccans are ethnically Berber, or Amazigh as they are known in their own language, Morocco's constitution enshrines Arabic as the country's only official language. The fact that Berbers were the original inhabitants of North Africa before the Arab invasions of the 7th century has been seen as a potential challenge to their authority by Morocco's Arab rulers ever since. In the 20th century, there were several Berber rebellions. As a result the freedom even to choose a Berber name for a child has been banned. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 15 September 2003)
* Morocco. US joins Morocco medical exercise - US military troops are conducting joint medical training with Moroccan troops in the largest-ever exercise of its kind between the two nations. The training, which does not involve live fire, comes four months after radical Islamic suicide bombers killed 33 people in Casablanca. Instead, it consists of hospital surgeries and medical and dental care for residents of villages located hundreds of miles east of Casablanca. US and Moroccan medical troops have treated more than 3,800 Moroccans since the exercise started on September 6, US Navy spokesman Lt. Corey Barker told CNN. The mission runs until September 20. The exercise, dubbed Medflag 2003, was planned long before the May 16 Casablanca bombings, when a dozen suicide bombers killed 33 people in a series of coordinated attacks in Morocco's largest city. The bombers were also killed. (CNN, USA, 16 September 2003)
* Maroc. Communauté juive dans la peur - Le 11 septembre à Casablanca, Albert Rebbibo, un marchand juif de bois de 55 ans, a été tué de plusieurs coups de pistolet devant son magasin par deux hommes masqués. Ils l'ont tué dans le dos, froidement, avant de prendre la fuite. "Si on l'a tué, c'est parce qu'il était juif", assure sa femme. Selon le président de la communauté juive marocaine, il s'agirait bien d'un acte terroriste. L'inquiétude est réelle au sein de la communauté juive, qui parle d'un climat d'hostilité d'une part de la population. Certains préfèrent partir, laissant derrière eux une communauté qui s'éteint à petit feu (guère plus de 3.500 personnes pour l'ensemble du royaume). D'autres s'accrochent, mais trembent de peur lorsque les enfants partent le matin pour l'école. "S'il y a encore un attentat, dit une femme, ce sera la débandade générale". -- 13 septembre. La communauté juive a été ébranlée par un deuxième asssinat. Elie Afriat, 75 ans, a été tué d'un coup de poignard le samedi matin dans une ruelle de Meknès (100 km au sud de Rabat), alors qu'il se rendait à la synagogue. Son cadavre a été retrouvé en milieu de matinée et son agresseur a, semble-t-il, réussi à prendre la fuite sans être inquiété. Ce double assassinat survient alors que le Maroc et Israël ont repris un processus de normalisation diplomatique. -- 16 septembre. Les deux meurtriers de M. Rebbibo ont été identifiés par la police, a rapporté l'agence marocaine de presse MAP. Ils appartiendraient au mouvement islamiste Salafia Jihadia, déjà mis en cause dans les attentats-suicides de Casablanca en mai dernier. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 17 septembre 2003)
* Maroc. Le berbère dans les écoles - Jugée "historique" par la presse nationale, la rentrée scolaire au Maroc, qui a débuté le lundi 15 septembre, est marquée cette année par l'introduction de l'enseignement du tamazight (langue berbère) dans le cycle primaire. L'enseignement effectif de la langue berbère marque une réforme importante dans un pays de 30 millions d'habitants, dont entre 50 et 60% sont considérés comme berbérophones. Après des années d'arabisation à marche forcée au lendemain de l'indépendance, le défunt roi Hassan II s'était engagé dès 1994 à faire entrer le tamazight dans les écoles. Il aura fallu attendre l'avènement de son fils Mohammed VI en 1999 et la création en 2001 de l'Institut royal pur la culture amazighe (IRCAM) pour que ce projet se concrétise. Lancé à titre expérimental dans 317 écoles du royaume, l'enseignement du tamazight devrait être généralisé d'ici 2013, selon les projections du ministère de l'Education. (AP, 17 septembre 2003)
* Mauritania. Torture alleged after coup attempt - The mothers, daughters and sisters of 129 soldiers detained in connection with a failed June coup accused two army officers Sunday of torturing the accused men. Hundreds of the soldiers' female relatives staged a sit-in on 13 September outside the courthouse in the capital, Nouakchott, demanding to see the detainees. In a statement on 14 September, the women said the soldiers were tortured by two lieutenant colonels before being taken to prison in the northwest African country. They described the treatment as a "serious violation of human rights" and demanded the officers be brought to justice. The government has denied allegations of torture. The 129 soldiers are charged with "high treason, assassinations, sabotage and plotting against the constitutional order." (CNN, USA, 15 September 2003)
* Niger. Journaliste incarcéré - Le directeur de publication de l'hebdomadaire L'Enquêteur, Ibrahim Soulay, a été interpellé, retenu 48 heures dans les locaux de la police judiciaire sans droit de visite, avant d'être transféré le 16 septembre à la prison de Niamey. La première audience du procès a été fixée au 7 octobre. Il lui est reproché d'avoir dénoncé des malversations dans l'attribution de marchés publics. L'hebdomadaire avait publié un article qui accusait le régime d'avoir contribué à l'enrichissement rapide de Djibo Zakou, un homme d'affaires connu au Niger. Il faisait état du mécontentement d'investisseurs originaires de l'est du pays à propos de l'attribution de "marchés juteux" à Djibo Zakou, ressortissant de l'ouest nigérien. (RSF, France, 17 septembre 2003)
* Nigeria. "Hope for a better Nigeria" - At the conclusion of the second plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, held in Owerri, 1-6 September 2003, the Bishops issued a communique in which they gave a summary of their deliberations. Main areas of concern are: Irregularities in the last general elections; lack of objectives in local government reform; the crisis in the Niger Delta; the fuel crisis; the deplorable state of Nigeria's roads; the abortion issue; continued insecurity in Nigeria; the Sharia controversy. The Bishops called on all Nigerians "to actively cooperate with the grace and blessings of God, by always seeking to know and do what is right for our country and our neighbours". (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 12 September 2003)
* Nigeria. Huge deficit in the state pension fund - 16 September: The authorities have uncovered a huge deficit in the state pension fund, confirming what many unpaid former state workers have feared for years. Retired civil servants have long complained of non-payment of their pensions, with many forced to queue for days to claim what they are owed. According to government calculations, the shortfall in the state pension fund amounts to at least $14.8 billion. The revelation is likely to stir suspicions that some of the money may have been misappropriated. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 September 2003)
* Nigeria/Liberia. Taylor exercises influence from Nigeria - From a luxury villa in the coastal Nigerian city of Calabar, Taylor is still trying to run Liberia, staying in close touch with his former colleagues in government and the military, according to Western and Liberian officials. The officials have accused him at news conferences and in interviews of violating stipulations of his asylum agreement: that he not travel, give interviews without the government's permission, participate in Liberian politics or receive visitors from Liberia. They say Taylor controls the government's army, keeping in cell phone contact with commanders, and receives ministers. He is also accused of collecting millions of dollars in kickbacks from Liberia's black market cell phone, fuel and generator businesses. "Charles?" said Cecil Brandy, the minister of agriculture and a Taylor defender. "Oh, he's still in charge. I'm going to see him next week. What's wrong with that? We got business to contend with." But Taylor, who told the nation, "I will be back" as he left on Aug. 11, is meddling so much that Jacques Klein, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's special representative for Liberia, said he is keeping track of which Liberian ministers pay Taylor a visit. Klein also accused Taylor of continuing to extract funds from the country. "Taylor is clearly rebuilding his network. He is like a vampire. Until you drive a stake in his heart, he won't die," Klein said. "At some point the Nigerian president will have to ask himself if Taylor is behaving himself or not." (Washington Post, USA, 17 September 2003)
* Rwanda. Kagame prête serment - Le 12 septembre, le président rwandais Paul Kagame a prêté serment dans le stade national Amahoro à Kigali, en présence de neuf chef d'Etat africains et d'une foule estimée à 50.000 personnes. Des délégués ministériels de 13 pays d'Afrique et d'Europe, ainsi que des dirigeants de nombreuses organisations africaines et internationales ont également fait le déplacement. Paul Kagame, 46 ans, a été élu le 25 août dernier avec 95,05% des voix pour un mandat de 7 ans, au cours de la première élection présidentielle pluraliste de l'histoire du Rwanda et à l'issue de 9 ans de transition politique après le génocide de 1994. (PANA, Sénégal, 12 septembre 2003)
* Rwanda. Kagame sworn in as President - 12 September: Paul Kagame is sworn in as Rwanda's president for a seven-year term. The ceremony follows last month's presidential poll in which Mr Kagame, the candidate of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), scored an overwhelming victory. The presidential elections were the first since the genocide in 1994, in which up to one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. Mr Kagame's election brings an end to nine years of transitional government, led by the RPF. Heads of state from across Africa arrive in Kigali for the swearing-in, including two of the continent's political heavyweights, Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo and South Africa's Thabo Mbeki. Mr Kagame, a Tutsi, won 95% of the vote against two candidates from the majority Hutu ethnic group in the election. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 12 September 2003)
* Rwanda. New prosecutor starts work - 15 September: The new prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal For Rwanda (ICTR), Hassan Bubacar Jallow, begins his four-year mandate today. Justice Jallow, a judge from The Gambia, replaces Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte who had been chief prosecutor for both the Balkans way crimes tribunal and the Rwanda court for fur years. She will now be responsible only for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Mr Jallow (52) brings considerable experience to his new job. he has served as a judge both for the UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone, and for the war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia. Mr Jallow also led a UN team looking at how to improve the effectiveness of the tribunals for both Rwanda and former Yugoslavia. (BBC News, UK, 15 September 2003)
* Sierra Leone. Diamond raids - 11 September: Authorities in Sierra Leone are reported to have launched raids on illegal diamond trading offices in the east of the country. United Nations radio in Sierra Leone says police and officials from the ministry of mineral resources seized mining equipment and offices in the town of Kenema. It said several shop owners were taken in for questioning then released. Correspondents say the operation could be extended throughout the eastern region of Sierra Leone where diamond trafficking is rife as the gems cross the border to neighbouring Guinea or Liberia. In an attempt to combat gem smuggling across the border, last month the government of Sierra Leone announced plans to restrict the residency rights and movements of foreign nationals within designated diamond mining areas. It is believed that the measures would affect Lebanese, Guinean, Gambian and Malian diamond dealers, who are often accused of benefiting from the illicit trade. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 11 September 2003)
* Sierra Leone. Former junta commander charged - 17 September: The International War Crimes Court for Sierra Leone is holding a former junta commander, Santigie Kanu. The Court says the commander, known as "Five-Five", has been indicted for crimes against humanity. He was handed over to the International Court in Freetown by local authorities, who had earlier detained him on separate charges of treason. He was a member of a militia group called the "West Side Boys", which acquired a reputation for extreme brutality during the civil war. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 17 September 2003) 

Weekly anb0918.txt - End of #6/7