Weekly ANB1211_04.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-12-2003      PART #4/6

* Ethiopia. Farmers turn to khat as world coffee prices tumble  -  Farmers 
in Ethiopia, where the drinking of coffee originated 3,000 years ago, have 
begun cutting down coffee bushes and replacing them with the drug khat, 
according to research by Oxfam, the British aid group, which says the slump 
in world coffee prices is boosting the global drugs trade. The research 
--published to coincide with a crisis meeting of coffee farmers, industry 
officials and international institutions in Geneva --says production has 
dropped by 17 per cent since 1998 in the Ethiopian province of Harar, an 
area reputed by tasters to produce some of the world's finest Arabica 
beans. According to Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia's prime minister, the trend is 
spreading, although industry officials say favourable climactic conditions 
have kept the overall crop steady this year. In the past five years 
coffee's contribution to Ethiopia's foreign exchange earnings has fallen 
from 70 to below 40 per cent, while earnings from khat doubled to $58m. 
When chewed for hours, khat produces an amphetamine-like high. It is 
popular with African truck drivers and is used by 50 per cent of militiamen 
in Somalia, according to a recent United Nations survey. Oxfam argues that 
khat will overtake coffee as Ethiopia's primary export commodity within a 
decade if world coffee prices do not rebound. Coffee is central to 
Ethiopia's economy, which is among the world's poorest, providing work for 
some 700,000 farmers.   (Financial Times, UK, 9 December 2003)

* Gabon. Contre l'enrichissement illicite  -  Le 4 décembre à Libreville, 
des hauts cadres de l'administration gabonaise et des représentants des 
syndicats et de la société civile ont décidé de la création d'une 
commission nationale de lutte contre l'enrichissement illicite au Gabon. 
Cette création est une réponse des autorités gabonaises aux pressions du 
FMI, soucieux d'une gestion rationnelle des ressources de l'Etat avant la 
signature d'un accord avec le gouvernement. Les responsables ont révélé que 
les services des douanes, des impôts et des travaux publics sont les 
secteurs les plus corrompus au Gabon. Les chefs de ces administrations 
exigeraient systématiquement des pots-de-vin représentant 10 à 20% de la 
valeur totale d'une transaction économique.   (PANA, Sénégal, 4 décembre 2003)

* Gabon. Visite d'Omar Bongo en France  -  Le président gabonais Omar Bongo 
entame, le lundi 8 décembre, une visite de deux jours à Paris. Il devrait 
surtout tenter d'attirer de nouveaux investisseurs. Le Gabon doit faire 
face au déclin inexorable de sa production pétrolière. M. Bongo espère 
signer, début 2004, un accord avec le FMI qui insufflerait un peu d'oxygène 
à ses finances publiques et redonnerait confiance aux opérateurs étrangers, 
auxquels il propose d'investir dans une vingtaine de projets, notamment 
dans la transformation du bois, la création d'un tour-opérateur ou 
l'établissement d'une zone franche à Port-Gentil.   (D'après Le Figaro, 
France, 8 décembre 2003)

* Kenya. Economic aid pledges for Kenya  -  4 December: International 
donors have pledged $4.1 bn in 2004-2006 to help with economic recovery, 
Kenya says. It claims a further $50m and 40m euros will be disbursed 
immediately in 2003. Finance Minister David Mwiraria says: "Nearly 60 
percent of all that money will be in grants and 40 percent is in 
concessionary loans." The news comes two weeks after The International 
Monetary Fund resumed aid to Kenya after a three-year gap and approved a 
loan of $250m. Mr Mwiraria says the amount is beyond his expectations. "It 
definitely will reduce the current budget deficit but I cannot reveal by 
how much at the moment". He said more than 90% of the pledged $4.1 billion 
to help mainly development and budgetary support would go directly to the 
government, while the rest would be channelled through various aid 
agencies. Donor agencies and 25 countries attended the east African 
country's first donor conference in seven years, where the money was 
pledged.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 4 December 2003)

* Kenya. Minister in carjack terror  -  7 December: A Kenyan Government 
minister and a priest were bundled into the boot of their car by 
carjackers, reports say. Water Resources Minister Martha Karua was robbed 
of money, a mobile phone and her golden earrings. A five-man gang abandoned 
the pair unhurt on the outskirts of Nairobi, the Sunday Standard newspaper 
said. Earlier this year, Ms Karua was badly injured in a plane crash in 
western Kenya that killed Labour Minister Ahmed Khalif and two pilots. Ms 
Karua and University of Nairobi chaplain Fr Dominic Wamugunda had been 
waiting to enter a compound in the Kabete area at around 0100 on 6 December 
(2200 GMT 5 December) when they were attacked, said Kenyan KTN TV. "They 
were waiting for the gate to be opened, that's when they were confronted by 
the carjackers," said police spokesman Jesse Mituki. The gang commandeered 
the car and drove around the city before finally dropping the minister and 
the priest in the Waithaka suburb. Ms Karua was robbed of $171, a mobile 
phone and her gold earrings, said KTN TV.   (BBC News, UK, 7 December 2003)

* Kenya. Lighting and Power head accused of orchestrating a power 
shortage  -  10 December: The head of Kenya's state-owned power company 
plundered the institution for nearly two decades, according to an official 
Government investigation. Samuel Gichuru, the managing director of Kenya 
Lighting and Power for 19 years, is said to have stolen millions of Kenyan 
shillings. He also created an artificial power shortage, said the report. 
The investigating committee has called for Mr Gichuru to have his property 
seized and face prosecution.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 December 2003)

* Kenya. Alternative press" shut down  -  10 December: Kenya's newspaper 
vendors have stopped selling unlicensed, sensational publications for fear 
of arrest. The papers often contain lurid reports about Kenya's rich and 
famous. On 9 December, the attorney-general said the "alternative press" 
was illegal and said he would apply the law against it. However, the 
vendors say the law should target those who write the papers, not those who 
sell them on the pavements.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 December 2003)

* Liberia. Taylor recherché par Interpol  -  Depuis le 4 décembre, l'ancien 
président libérien Charles Taylor est sous le coup d'un avis de recherche 
international d'Interpol. Cet avis, baptisé "notice rouge", fait suite à la 
requête de la Cour spéciale sur la Sierra Leone, qui a inculpé Taylor pour 
crimes de guerre et crimes contre l'humanité en raison de son soutien aux 
rebelles sierra-léonais du RUF et de son implication dans la guerre civile 
qui a fait 200.000 morts entre 1991 et 2001. Taylor est réfugié au Nigeria 
depuis le 11 août dernier. Le président nigérian Obasanjo refuse de 
l'extrader vers la Sierra Leone. Le 5 décembre, le Nigeria a déclaré de 
nouveau qu'il ne livrerait pas M. Taylor, sauf si une telle requête vient 
du gouvernement du Liberia.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 décembre 2003)

* Liberia. Bishops blame warring factions for Liberia's ruin  -  Pointing 
to the rebels and former supporters of deposed President Charles Taylor, 
the Catholic bishops of Liberia blamed the warring factions for the 
suffering of the people over the past 14 years. The bishops said the 
warring factions, which last week walked out of a meeting on disarmament 
with the UN Mission in Liberia, should realize that the Liberian people 
have suffered enormously from their "callous dehumanizing behaviour, 
violating their fundamental rights, killing, injuring, raping and 
sodomizing". The bishops also blamed the warring factions for "looting and 
destroying our country for selfish motives," and called them to return 
immediately to the disarmament talks. The bishops appealed to Liberians to 
stand up peacefully in protest against the factions. "All of us have a 
co-responsibility for the safety and security of our country," they 
said.   (Zenit, Italy, 5 December 2003)

* Liberia. Soldiers hand over guns  -  7 December: Hundreds of soldiers 
hand in their weapons at the official launch of a UN-sponsored disarmament 
programme in Liberia. More than 1,000 soldiers of ousted President Charles 
Taylor lay down their weapons. UN forces are expected to oversee the 
disarmament of around 40,000 troops, including child soldiers. As part of 
the programme, the soldiers will be given $300, counselling and vocational 
training. But when handing over their weapons, the former government 
fighters stage angry protests to demand immediate payment for disarming. 
They fire their guns into the air and beat passers-by near a United 
Nations-run disarmament camp. The fighters will be paid $300 but only half 
has been paid upfront. "This gun is my life, if I don't get money I won't 
hand in any weapons," says Lieutenant Paul Dust, a rocket-propelled grenade 
in his hands and a pistol tucked in his trousers. 10 December: A nighttime 
curfew comes into force in Monrovia to try and curb rioting by militiamen. 
President Bryant says the curfew will continue indefinitely. However, in 
spite of the curfew, a number of people are reported to have been killed in 
overnight fighting in Monrovia. The clashes were between UN peacekeepers 
and former government fighters.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 December 2003)

* Liberia. Début de désarmement - Troubles  -  Le dimanche 7 décembre, 
plusieurs centaines de combattants libériens pro-gouvernementaux ont été 
acheminés vers un centre de désarmement pour rendre leurs armes, 
conformément à l'accord de paix conclu le 18 août à Accra pour mettre un 
terme à 14 années d'anarchie, indique l'agence Reuters. Equipés de 
kalachnikovs, de grenades, d'obus de mortiers, ces combattants (parmi 
lesquels de nombreux enfants) se sont rassemblés à un carrefour en 
périphérie de Monrovia, où ils ont été pris en charge par des camions de 
l'Onu. Selon l'agence AP, plus d'un millier de soldats du président évincé 
Charles Taylor ont déjà déposé leurs armes. L'opération doit conduire au 
désarmement et la réintégration de quelque 40.000 soldats du gouvernement 
et combattants rebelles dans le pays. -8 décembre. Le calme est revenu 
graduellement à Paynesville, banlieue de Monrovia, après des troubles 
causés par un groupe d'anciens combattants du gouvernement. Ceux-ci avaient 
tiré des coups de feu en l'air, exigeant de l'argent contre la remise de 
leurs armes, au second jour du démarrage du programme de désarmement. Aux 
cris de "pas d'argent, pas d'armes", ils s'attendaient à recevoir 
immédiatement la moitié des 300 dollars promis à chacun deux par la MINUL. 
Lundi, un communiqué de la présidence a spécifié: "Nous avons convenu que 
les anciens combattants recevront chacun 75 dollars dès la remise de leurs 
armes, et 75 dollars supplémentaires au bout de sept jours. A l'issue de 
trois semaines, ils recevront le solde de 150 dollars". -- 9 décembre. Des 
miliciens gouvernementaux qui réclament de l'argent en échange de la 
restitution de leurs armes ont semé le trouble ce mardi soir dans les rues 
de Monrovia, en détruisant des véhicules et en tirant des coups de feu en 
l'air. La radio nationale a rapporté qu'une femme avait été tuée par balles 
par ces miliciens, fidèles à l'ancien président Charles Taylor. Le 
président par intérim, Gyude Bryant, a instauré un couvre-feu en vigueur de 
23h00 à 07h30. Par ailleurs, la Chine vient d'envoyer un premier contingent 
de 60 Casques bleus, deux mois après le rétablissement des relations 
diplomatiques entre ces deux pays. Au terme, 550 soldats chinois devraient 
intervenir au Liberia. -- 10 décembre. Des émeutes provoquées par les 
combattants de Taylor ont fait au moins douze morts dans la capitale. Neuf 
miliciens surpris en train de piller ont notamment été tués dans des 
échanges de tirs avec les Casques bleus.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 
11 décembre 2003)

* Liberia. Charles Taylor wanted by Interpol  -  4 December: International 
police body Interpol issues a global notice for the arrest of former 
Liberian President Charles Taylor. Mr Taylor has been indicted for alleged 
war crimes and crimes against humanity by a UN-backed court in Sierra 
Leone. Interpol's "red notice" is not an arrest warrant but national police 
can use it to make a provisional arrest. It is posted on Interpol's website 
with a photo of Mr Taylor in suit and a warning that he "may be dangerous". 
5 December: Nigeria says it will not hand over Charles Taylor for trial by 
the Special Court in Sierra Leone, unless such a request comes from the 
Liberian govt. 11 December: A report published by the BBC News says that a 
private UK-based military firm says it is looking for an investor to fund 
an operation to seize Charles Taylor. Northbridge Services Group says it 
has people ready to kidnap the former president to claim a $2 million 
reward allegedly offered by the US Congress. However, Washington has said 
it opposes any violent action to seize Mr Taylor.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 11 
December 2003)

* Malawi. Churchgoers see off yobs  -  Police are investigating an attack 
on cars belonging to the leader of the opposition, Brown Mpinganjira. The 
incident happened while Mr Mpinganjira was at a church service in Machinga, 
north of Blantyre on 7 December. Some 20 youths belonging to the ruling 
party threw stones at the cars. The worshippers left the service, chased 
the youths and gave them a beating before handing three of them over to the 
police, he said. Reverend Daniel Gunya, of Malawi's second largest church, 
the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP), said while his sermon was 
in progress worshippers heard the sound of breaking glass and steel. He 
said that worshippers "abandoned their prayers" and gave chase with other 
villagers. Police in Machinga say the three young men they captured are 
being charged with malicious damage and are expected to appear in court 
this week after investigations.   (BBC News, UK, 8 December 2003)

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