Weekly ANB1016_5.txt #6

[anb-bia <anb-bia at village.uunet.be>]

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 16-10-2003      PART #5/6

* Somalia. Somali leader blocked at airport  -  9 October: Militiamen have 
prevented the head of Somalia's transitional national government, 
Abdulkassim Salad Hassan, from embarking on a planned trip to Libya. He and 
senior members of his administration were confronted by a former bodyguard 
as they prepared to leave from an airport 80km south-west of the capital, 
Mogadishu. Some of Mr Hassan's former bodyguards reportedly demanded money 
before allowing him to fly. A number of shots were fired into the air and 
the delegation returned to Mogadishu. Correspondents say the incident is a 
vivid reminder of the lack of authority exerted by the transitional 
government, whose powerbase is confined to small pockets of the country. 
Somalia has been without an internationally recognised central government 
since the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991. Rival warlords and 
clans run different parts of the country. The transitional government does 
not control any of the economic installations, such as ports and airports 
around the capital.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 October 2003)

* Somalia. Talks in Kenya on course  -  Organisers say the Somali peace 
talks underway in Kenya are on course, and contrary to reports, have not 
stalled. James Kiboi, a member of the Inter-Governmental Authority on 
Development (IGAD) technical committee which is steering the talks, 
admitted that "some personalities are not at the talks", but that the 
proceedings were continuing. He said the committee -- which now comprises 
Kenya and Ethiopia -- was trying to bring back those leaders who had left 
the talks. "We are still pursuing them and we have not given up on them, 
but even if they refuse to return the talks will continue," he told IRIN. 
Among those absent from the talks are the president of Somalia's 
Transitional National Government Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, prominent 
Mogadishu-based faction leaders Muse Sudi Yalahow and Usman Hasan Ato, the 
leader of the Kismayo-based Juba Valley Alliance Col Barre Adan Hirale, and 
Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army. Kiboi said the 
talks had moved into their third and final phase, which concerned the 
distribution of future parliamentary seats. The various clans had been 
discussing "the sharing out of their allotted number of seats".   (IRIN, 
Kenya, 14 October 2003)

* South Africa. Getting tough on crime  -  South Africa is now no longer 
the murder capital of the world, according to new government figures that 
show a drop in the number of killings per year. But with an increase in 
violent crime and car hijacking, the country still faces a huge challenge 
as society continues its transformation almost 10 years after the end of 
apartheid. In a recent dawn raid in Hillbrow, one of Johannesburg's most 
notorious neighbourhoods, police abseiled from helicopters. More than 250 
armed police entered the high-rise flats from the roof and from the street. 
Every room was searched for drugs and firearms. Every individual was 
fingerprinted and checked. Illegal immigrants were arrested and expelled. 
It is a zero tolerance policing strategy. (Latest annual crime figures: 
Murder -- 21,758: 17% fall since 1994; Rape -- 52,425: 17% rise since 1994; 
Robberies -- 228,442: 95% rise; Child abuse -- 4,798: 56% rise; Kidnapping 
-- 3,071: 25% fall). "If you combat the petty crimes, as we call it, then 
at the end of the day you will succeed with the major crimes," says police 
spokesman Superintendent Chris Wilkins. The main aim of the operation is 
obviously to gain back the buildings and the streets of Hillbrow, to make 
it safe, to make it a safe environment, and also to intensify the 
visibility of the South African police service."   (BBC News, UK, 7 October 
2003)

* South Africa. African workers launch $100bn lawsuit  -  A $100bn lawsuit 
seeking compensation for workers employed in South Africa during the 
apartheid era will be filed in London today against several pension fund 
managers, international banks, insurers and companies. The case is being 
brought by Ed Fagan, the controversial US lawyer, and a group of South 
African colleagues on behalf of over 10,000 former employees of companies 
operating in South Africa. The lawyers allege their clients were "victims 
of what could be viewed as one of the greatest corporate, accounting, 
banking, financial services, and pension and benefit fund frauds in 
history". Their document, of which the FT has a copy, states that the 
claims involve "the wrongful accounting, improper transfer, withholding 
and/or outright theft of tens of billions of dollars in deposited assets in 
worker pension and benefits funds" from 1975 to the present. The lawsuit 
will be brought against Alexander Forbes, a South African-based financial 
services company, and other so far-unnamed pension fund managers, corporate 
insurance companies and accountants. The companies named include Union 
Carbide, Dow Chemical, Vametco, Stratcor, AngloAmerican, CalTex, De Beers, 
DaimlerChrysler, GoldFields, Sasol and Fluor. It is alleged they conspired 
with pension fund managers, insurers, actuaries and banks to deprive 
thousands of mainly black, unskilled employees of their pensions: "The 
scheme was quite simple. It was to take billions of dollars from the 
workers on a company by company basis." The lawyers, who are asking for 
$10bn in damages for each of the 10 causes of action plus exemplary and 
punitive damages and costs, claim to have solid evidence to back their 
cases. The document, however, only contains unproven allegations. The chief 
executive of one of the companies named told the FT the idea of a 
conspiracy against workers was "far-fetched" and the basis for the lawsuit 
seemed "very flimsy indeed".   (Financial Times, UK, 13 October 2003)

* Afrique du Sud. Nouvelles plaintes contre l'apartheid  -  Le 13 octobre, 
l'avocat américain Ed Fagan devait déposer des plaintes contre au moins 
cinq compagnies accusées d'avoir exploité des travailleurs noirs sous le 
régime sud-africain d'apartheid, auxquelles il réclame quelque 100 
milliards de dollars de dédommagement. Parmi les sociétés visées: le groupe 
financier sud-africain Alexander Forbes et les groupes chimiques américains 
Union Carbide et Dow Chemical.   (Libération, France, 14 octobre 2003)

* South Africa. Herders win back diamond land  -  14 October: South African 
herders evicted from diamond-rich land in the 1920s could be in line for 
huge compensation. South Africa's highest court says the Richtersveld 
community had been removed under racist laws and is entitled to have land 
and mineral rights returned. The ruling ends a five-year battle with the 
state mining company Alexkor. Campaigners say the decision could have 
repercussions in other countries where tribal lands are exploited for 
mineral wealth. Lawyers for the State tell local media that the ruling 
could leave a $1.4bn hole in the government budget. In its judgement, the 
Constitutional Court says: "The Richtersveld Community is entitled...to 
restitution of the right to ownership of the subject land (including its 
minerals and precious stones) and to the exclusive beneficial use and 
occupation thereof." The Richtersveld area in the Northern Cape includes a 
narrow stretch of mineral-rich land along the Orange River that forms the 
border between South Africa and Namibia. After diamonds were discovered on 
the land of the nomadic Richtersveld people in the 1920s, they were moved 
off and a mine was opened.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 14 October 2003)

* South Africa. Anti-AIDS Conference  -  Two hundred delegates representing 
32 African countries are due to participate in the second edition of the 
international conference "Sister 2 Sister", the network of women working to 
relieve the suffering caused by AIDS, thanks also to the direct involvement 
of the "Scalabrini Development Agency". The "S2S network" supports the 
women and provides them with up-to-date information for use in their 
delicate task. The conference will be held from 25 October to 1 November at 
the Scalabrini Centre in Cape Town. Of the 30 million people infected with 
HIV (the virus that leads to AIDS) on the African continent, 67 per cent 
are women and girls, who are the most vulnerable due to the devastation of 
war and domestic violence.   (MISNA, Italy, 14 October 2003)

* Afrique du Sud. Eloge des religieux  -  Le ministre sud-africain des 
Affaires sociales, Zola Skweyiya, a loué l'apport des religieux dans le 
pays. Grâce à eux, des millions de Sud-Africains ont accès aux services 
sociaux, a-t-il affirmé lors d'une allocution au KwaZulu-Natal à l'occasion 
de la semaine du développement social. Il estime que 3,8 millions d'enfants 
et 2 millions de personnes âgées profitent de ces services. Il a appelé à 
lutter ensemble pour éradiquer la pauvreté et la faim dans la société 
sud-africaine.   (Kerknet, Belgique, 15 octobre 2003)

* South Africa. Hollywood arrives in Cape Town  -  15 October: Plans to 
build the biggest film studios in Africa near Cape Town have been given the 
go-ahead. The Hollywood-style studios will cost over $60m and are due to 
open in 2005. It is hoped they will transform the film industry in South 
Africa where low budget movies have struggled to compete with those of 
international film makers. Mike McCarthy, one of the directors of the 
Dreamworld Film City consortium, drove me round the site for the new 
studios. They will be built near one of Cape Town's poorest townships -- 
Khayaleitsha -- and it is hoped the 200 acre site will revitalise the area 
and create around 8,000 jobs.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 15 October 2003)

* Sudan. Hassan al-Turabi released  -  13 October: Sudan has freed Hassan 
al-Turabi after more than two years in detention and lifted a ban on his 
party's activities. Speaking to reporters at his home in Khartoum hours 
after his release, Mr Turabi said he had been released due to internal and 
international pressure. "I will continue working for the same principles 
for which I was arrested: democracy, freedom of expression and human 
rights," he said. Mr Turabi was arrested in February 2001 after a power 
struggle with his former close ally, President Omar el-Bashir. Mr Turabi, 
leader of the Popular National Congress (PNC), was accused of crimes 
against the state. In August, Sudan promised to free all political 
detainees as part of peace talks with the southern rebels. Further talks 
are taking place later this week aimed at ending more than 30 years of 
civil war in Sudan.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 13 October 2003)

* Soudan. Al-Tourabi libéré  -  Le 13 octobre à Khartoum, les autorités 
soudanaises ont libéré l'opposant islamiste Hassan al-Tourabi, en résidence 
surveillée depuis près de trois ans, et levé l'interdiction qui frappait 
son parti, le Congrès national populaire (CNP). Sept autres détenus ont 
également été libérés. Al-Tourabi, ancienne éminence grise du régime qui a 
aidé le président Omar el-Béchir à s'emparer du pouvoir en 1989, avait été 
arrêté en février 2001 après avoir signé un accord avec les rebelles de 
l'Armée de libération populaire du Soudan (SPLA). La libération de Tourabi, 
71 ans, intervient alors que les pourparlers entre le pouvoir et la SPLA, 
qui se tiennent au Kenya, semblent progresser. Le 25 septembre, les deux 
parties ont conclu un arrangement sur les questions de sécurité durant la 
période de transition de six ans, censé mettre un terme à 20 ans de guerre 
civile. La libération de M. Tourabi et des autres détenus politiques est 
considérée par certains observateurs, comme un effort de rallier sous un 
front uni les groupes d'opposition du Nord, afin de renforcer la position 
du gouvernement aux négociations.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 14 
octobre 2003)

* Soudan. Poursuite des pourparlers  -  Des divergences fortement ancrées 
sur le futur statut des régions du Nil Bleu austral, d'Abyei et des monts 
Nouba, émergent des pourparlers de paix intersoudanais qui se tiennent à 
Naivasha, au Kenya. Les représentants du gouvernement et de l'Armée 
populaire de libération du Soudan (SPLA) ont échangé leurs déclarations de 
principe sur ces trois régions, objet des discussions cette semaine. 
Celles-ci sont situées au centre du pays, où les rebelles sont actifs bien 
que ces régions ne fassent pas géographiquement partie du Sud. La SPLA 
affirme avoir été mandatéé par ces trois territoires pour les représenter 
aux négociations et réclame leur droit à l'autodétermination. Mais dans le 
cadre des frontières coloniales délimitées en 1956, ces trois régions ont 
été placées sous le contrôle de l'administration du Nord, et Khartoum 
déclare en contrôler 90%.   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 14 octobre 2003)

* Sudan. New newspaper in south  -  15 October: A new newspaper has been 
launched in war-torn southern Sudan -- the first for a generation. The 
Sudan Mirror will try to reach tens of thousands of people across the 
region, which is now daring to hope that 20 years of conflict may soon end. 
The people of southern Sudan have been starved of information, left to 
suffer in the dark as their villages have been bombed, their homes raided, 
their families whittled away by famine. But this week the Sudan Mirror is 
finally hoping to break the spell. The first 20,000 copies are already 
heading into the south, flown in by the many aid agencies working across 
this vast, inaccessible region.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 15 October 2003)

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