Weekly ANB1029_03.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-10-2003      PART #3/7

* Congo RDC. Rebelles et troupes à l'Est  -  Des mouvements rebelles 
ougandais ont des camps d'entraînement dans l'est de la RDC, a déclaré le 
23 octobre le ministre de la Coopération régionale, Mbusa Nyamwisi, leader 
du RCD-ML (ex-mouvement rebelle dans l'est du pays). Selon M. Nyamwisi, les 
camps de deux groupes rebelles ougandais, les Forces démocratiques alliées 
(ADF) et l'Armée nationale de libération de l'Ouganda (NALU), ont été 
repérés dans la province du Nord-Kivu, entre Beni et Kasindi. "Il pourrait 
y en avoir d'autres", a dit M. Nyamwisi. Au cours de ces dernières 
semaines, Kampala avait déployé des troupes le long de la frontière 
congolaise à cause de la présence dans l'est du Congo d'éléments hostiles 
au gouvernement ougandais. Les deux groupes armés cités par M. Nyamwisi 
sont toutefois considérés d'importance mineure. L'ADF, qui avait compté 
dans le passé jusqu'à 3.000 hommes, ne compterait aujourd'hui pas plus de 
150 éléments, comprenant des extrémistes islamiques et des hommes liés aux 
anciens régimes ougandais, indique l'agence Misna. -- D'autre part, le 24 
octobre, un groupe d'une centaine de soldats de l'Armée patriotique 
rwandaise "en uniforme et armés" a été identifié à Kanya Bayonga 
(Nord-Kivu) par un correspondant de l'AFP. Kanya Bayonga se trouve au début 
de la zone de Rutshuru. La semaine dernière, des observateurs de la société 
civile ont dénoncé une concentration de troupes rwandaises, chiffrée à 
"plusieurs milliers d'hommes", dans le Rutshuru, ce que le ministre 
rwandais des Affaires étrangères avait démenti. -- De son côté, dans un 
communiqué cité par l'AFP, la Monuc a dénoncé mardi 28 octobre, des 
"obstructions à ses opérations de vérification" sur la présence de troupes 
rwandaises. Elle cite le cas d'observateurs envoyés dans le territoire du 
Rutshuru qui se sont vu "refuser l'accès au camp militaire de Ruwangabo" et 
assure qu'elle va multiplier ses vérifications afin "d'établir les faits 
sur la présence supposée ou réelle de troupes rwandaises à l'est de la 
RDC".   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 28 octobre 2003)

* Congo (RDC)/Ouganda. Normalisation des relations  -  Le mardi 28 octobre 
à Kampala, la RDC et l'Ouganda ont procédé à la signature d'un accord de 
normalisation des relations diplomatiques et de coopération régionale aux 
termes duquel les deux Etats s'engagent à régler par le dialogue et la voie 
diplomatique tous les conflits les opposant, indique-t-on mercredi au 
ministère congolais de la Coopération régionale. Les deux pays ont 
réaffirmé notamment le principe de la non-utilisation de leurs territoires 
comme bases arrière de déstabilisation du pays voisin par des groupes 
armés. Ils se sont en outre accordés sur l'échange d'ambassadeurs entre 
Kinshasa et Kampala, ainsi que sur la mise sur pied d'une commission mixte 
permanente.   (PANA, Sénégal, 29 octobre 2003)

* Congo (RDC). UN unable to verify reports that Rwandan troops are still in 
the east  -  On 29 October, UN officials in Congo said former 
Rwandan-backed rebels had hampered efforts to verify reports that Rwandan 
troops were still present in the country's east in violation of a regional 
peace deal. A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping mission, known as MONUC, 
said their observers had been prevented from working freely in the North 
Kivu province in eastern Congo RDC, near the border with Rwanda. "We 
weren't able to do our work correctly," Hamadoun Toure told reporters in 
the capital Kinshasa. The accusations about Rwandan soldiers have raised 
cross-border tensions at a time when resource-rich Congo is trying to 
implement a peace deal to end a five-year conflict which drew in 
neighbouring countries, including Rwanda. Amnesty International last week 
accused Rwanda of meddling in Congo's northeastern Ituri region, and a 
senior UN official told Reuters he had reports of what appeared to be 
recent incursions by Rwandan troops across the border. Rwanda has denied 
having troops in Ituri or North Kivu. Toure said MONUC would continue its 
investigations. In a statement published on 28 October, MONUC said its 
military observers in North Kivu were denied access to one military camp by 
former rebels of the Rwandan-backed faction RCD-Goma. They were let into 
another camp, but were not allowed to talk to the soldiers.   (CNN, USA, 29 
October 2003)

* Congo (RDC). De Beers applies to return to Congo  -  De Beers, the 
diamond group, is seeking exploration rights in the Democratic Republic of 
Congo as part of plans to return to the war-ravaged country now that a 
fragile peace is taking root. Richard Napier, De Beers' manager for 
producer relations, said he was waiting to hear from Congo's mining 
licensing authority about a series of applications. The company's planned 
return to Congo, four years after it officially ceased buying there as part 
of efforts to disassociate itself from conflict diamonds, coincides with 
new interest from mining multinationals in the country. Congo has the 
world's largest reserves of cobalt, by some estimates its largest diamond 
reserves and some of the world's richest gold fields. It also harbours a 
host of more specialised minerals used in the production of aeronautical 
and telecommunications technology. Formal mining operations largely 
collapsed during the past decade of conflict, giving way to an artisanal 
sector in which millions of people now eke out a living. The World Bank and 
other financial institutions involved in a post-conflict reconstruction 
programme are pushing for greater multinational involvement in the sector's 
rehabilitation. "There are lots of opportunities in the RDC and [its] new 
mining code and the whole process put in place through World Bank 
involvement makes it a much more certain environment to do exploration," Mr 
Napier said.   (Financial Times, UK, 29 October 2003)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Police chief sacked  -  24 October: Côte d'Ivoire's chief 
of police has been sacked, three days after a French journalist was shot 
dead outside police headquarters in the commercial capital, Abidjan. The 
decision to dismiss General Adolphe Baby was taken at a meeting of the 
Ivorian cabinet, which issued a statement deploring the killing of the 
reporter, Jean Helene. He was shot in the head as he waited to interview a 
group of detained opposition militants. A policeman arrested after the 
shooting is expected to appear in court today. On 23 October, France's 
President Jacques Chirac called on the Ivorian Government to punish Mr 
Helene's killer in an exemplary fashion.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 24 October 2003)

* Côte d'Ivoire. ECOWAS planning to intervene  -  27 October: West African 
leaders are planning to intervene to rescue the faltering peace process, 
according to the region's umbrella body. The executive secretary of the 
Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), Mohamed Ibn Chambas, 
says that Ghanaian President John Kufuor and Nigeria's President Olusegun 
Obasanjo were preparing an "urgent intervention" to resolve the situation. 
Mr Chambas said the Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo, had been to see both 
presidents, and that the leader of main rebel movement, Guillaume Soro, had 
been in the Nigerian capital Abuja over the weekend to see President 
Obasanjo. Mr Chambas accepted that Ecowas had allowed the Liberian 
situation to divert its attention and that the situation in Côte d'Ivoire 
was now a cause for deep concern. "It appears that while we were all 
focused on Liberia, things did get out of control and we need to refocus on 
Côte d'Ivoire" he said.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 27 October 2003)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Attaques de banques  -  Tard dans la nuit du dimanche 26 
octobre, un groupe important d'hommes armés a essayé en vain de 
s'introduire dans une succursale de la Banque centrale des Etats d'Afrique 
de l'Ouest (BCEAO) à Korhogo (nord du pays). Ils ont cependant été 
repoussés par les commandants rebelles locaux, après d'âpres combats, selon 
un témoin. Cet incident faisait suite à une attaque similaire opérée 24 
heures auparavant à l'agence BCEAO de Man (ouest), et l'assaut lancé le 25 
septembre contre la BCEAO de la capitale rebelle, Bouaké, où 50 milliards 
de francs CFA ont été dérobés. Selon des témoins de l'attaque de Korhogo, 
les agresseurs étaient des combattants rebelles, loyaux à un seigneur de 
guerre inconnu, qui demeurerait actuellement hors de la Côte 
d'Ivoire.   (IRIN, Côte d'Ivoire, 28 octobre 2003)

* Côte d'Ivoire. On cherche une issue  -  Le 25 octobre à Abidjan, le 
président de l'Assemblée nationale, Mamadou Koulibaly (membre du parti du 
président Gbagbo), a déclaré que les accords inter-ivoiriens de Marcoussis 
sont "un échec" et a souhaité "organisation d'une élection présidentielle 
anticipée". Selon lui, il faut oublier Marcoussis, qui est "plutôt un 
problème pour le pays". Il a par ailleurs rejeté les accusations selon 
lesquelles il aurait participé à une campagne de haine anti-française ayant 
provoqué l'assassinat du journaliste français Jean Hélène. -D'autre part, 
le même jour à Paris, l'ancien Premier ministre sénégalais Moustapha Niasse 
a appelé les protagonistes à reprendre un dialogue "direct et constant", 
seul moyen de sortir de l'impasse, avec le soutien de ceux qui ont parrainé 
l'accord de Marcoussis et celui du reste de la communauté internationale. 
-- Le 27 octobre, un conseil des ministres extraordinaire s'est ouvert à 
Abidjan en vue de débattre des questions de sécurité et du processus de 
désarmement des forces belligérantes. Le ministre français des Affaires 
étrangères a appelé la Côte d'Ivoire à un double désarmement, à la fois 
"des esprits" et "sur le terrain". --30 octobre. Dans un entretien au 
journal Le Monde, l'ancien putschiste Ibrahim Coulibaly affirme que les 
rebelles ivoiriens seraient prêts à désarmer si la Côte d'Ivoire était 
placée sous tutelle onusienne.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 30 octobre 
2003)

* Egypt. Dollar drought irks Egyptian firms  -  A shortage of hard currency 
is undermining the Egyptian government's efforts to boost the country's 
exporting and tourism industries by allowing the pound to be devalued. 
There is growing frustration in the business community at how difficult it 
is to buy US dollars, and this has contributed to the re-emergence of an 
active black currency market. The government has responded to the shortage 
of dollars with a new law which demands all exporters hand over 75% of 
their foreign exchange earnings to the country's banks. The aim of the law 
has been to make sure the hard currency surrendered by firms is made 
available to the rest of the market. The law has caused an uproar in the 
business community, and bankers in Cairo say it has increased the level of 
capital flight out of Egypt. In January this year, the government decided 
to let the Egyptian pound float freely, allowing the exchange rate to be 
determined by the market rather than the Central Bank of Egypt. This led to 
an instant fall of over 20% in the pound's value against the US dollar. The 
slide came hot on the heels of a gradual weakening of the currency over the 
past few years. Critics blame the government for the subsequent hard 
currency shortage and insist it has "messed up".   (BBC News, UK, 29 
October 2003)

* Erythrée. La saga des moutons australiens  -  Après près de trois mois 
d'errance en mer, le sort de 52.000 moutons australiens à bord du cargo 
"Cormo Express" a finalement été réglé. Un accord a été trouvé entre 
l'Australie et l'Erythrée, qui a accepté de prendre en charge les animaux, 
ont annoncé les autorités des deux pays. Dans le cadre de l'accord, 
l'Australie fournira plus de 3.000 tonnes de nourriture et un million de 
dollars australiens (588.000 euros) pour payer les frais de déchargement, 
transport, entretien et abattage des moutons. L'accord met fin à quelque 11 
semaines d'errance pour les moutons, envoyés début août en Arabie Saoudite, 
qui avait refusé la cargaison estimant que trop d'animaux étaient malades. 
Plus de 5.000 moutons ont péri lors de ce périple et leur sort a suscité 
une tempête de protestations des défenseurs des animaux dans le monde 
entier. Le gouvernement australien avait dû racheter le stock à 
l'importateur saoudien et tentait depuis de trouver acquéreur. Au total, la 
saga devrait coûter 10 millions de dollars australiens (5,88 milions 
d'euros) à l'Australie.   (AP, 24 octobre 2003)

* Eritrea. Home found for "sheep of shame"  -  24 October: Over 50,000 
Australian sheep, stranded at sea for almost three months, have been given 
to Eritrea. The so-called "sheep of shame" are now being offloaded in the 
African nation, after several countries refused them because of fears of 
disease. An Australian government spokesman described the sheep as a 
"gift." He said Canberra would provide Eritrea with some fodder for the 
animals as well as aid to meet the costs of transport and slaughter. The 
sheep have been at sea since 6 August, after leaving the Australian port of 
Fremantle bound for Saudi Arabia. But Saudi authorities in Jeddah said some 
of the animals were diseased and refused to accept them. The Australian 
government disputed this and said the Saudis had no proper basis for 
refusing the cargo. Several other countries also turned down the sheep when 
the animals were offered to them instead. Animal rights groups around the 
world said the sheep should have been slaughtered rather than remain stuck 
on the ship. More than 5,000 died during the voyage. The animals were on 
their way to Australia's Cocos islands when Eritrea agreed to accept them. 
The sheep will eventually be slaughtered and then cooked and eaten.   (BBC 
News, UK, 24 October 2003)

* Eritrea/Ethiopia. Border demarcation again postponed  -  Demarcation of 
the contested 1,000-km frontier between Ethiopia and Eritrea will not take 
place as planned this month, the United Nations acknowledged on 24 October. 
After being hampered by two earlier delays, the independent border 
commission charged with the task had planned to begin physically marking 
out the border this month. The commission, based in The Hague and 
established under a deal to end the 1998-2000 Ethiopia-Eritrea war, has yet 
to announce a new date for the exercise.   (IRIN, Kenya, 24 October 2004)

* Ethiopia. Malaria threatens 15 million  -  Fifteen million Ethiopians are 
facing a deadly malaria epidemic, according to a warning issued by the UN 
on 22 October. This new development comes in the wake of an unprecedented 
and complex humanitarian crisis hitting the impoverished country, leaving 
13 million people in need of food aid. "The risk of death spread by malaria 
mosquitoes looms in millions of homes in Ethiopia," the UN Country Team 
announced in its emergency warning. It said "thousands of deaths" could 
occur, because those under threat were already weakened by months of 
drought and hunger. Poor rains last year country-wide resulted in the loss 
of nearly one-fifth of the harvest. This year, however, Ethiopia received 
satisfactory rains from June until September, which, analysts predict, will 
result in a good harvest. But humanitarian organisations have noted that 
the rains have left pools of stagnant water, which have provided a fertile 
breeding ground for mosquitoes.   (IRIN, Kenya, 23 October 2003)

* Ethiopia. AIDS drugs free of charge to poor  -  On 28 October, Ethiopia 
said it planned to distribute anti-retroviral drugs for free to poor people 
living with HIV/AIDS. Up to 2.2 million Ethiopians are HIV-positive out of 
a population of some 70 million. "Preparation is underway to enable people 
who cannot afford (the drugs) and certified as HIV/AIDS positive (to) get 
access to anti-retroviral drugs free of charge," the Health Ministry said 
in a statement. "Trained personnel will be engaged in screening those 
seeking free medications from the low income bracket", the statement added. 
Donors last year gave the Horn of Africa country some $60 million for 
programmes to tackle HIV/AIDS.   (CNN, USA, 29 October 2003)

Weekly anb1029.tx - #3/7