Weekly anb08243.txt #5

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 24-08-2000      PART #3/5

* Ghana. Stopper la chute libre de la monnaie  -  Le Ghana espère recevoir 
quelque 300 millions de dollars en entrées de capitaux le mois prochain, 
notamment de la Banque mondiale et du FMI, pour mettre fin à la 
dépréciation rapide de la valeur de la devise nationale et rétablir la 
confiance dans l'économie du pays. Le Cedi, qui au début de l'année 
enregistrait un rapport de 3.500 vis-à-vis du dollar, est tombé jusqu'à 
6.300. L'adjoint du ministre des Finances du Ghana, Moses Asaga, a déclaré 
que l'argent servirait à renflouer le marché des devises, à stabiliser le 
Cedi, à faire fonctionner des secteurs industriels critiques et à faire 
examiner des demandes de crédit déposées auprès des banques commerciales. 
Il a aussi laisser entendre que le gouvernement était en pourparlers avec 
certains pays exportateurs de pétrole, comme le Nigeria et la Guinée 
équatoriale, pour assurer un approvisionnement régulier et ininterrompu de 
pétrole brut à des prix négociables. Il a finalement déclaré que la 
situation du Ghana s'améliorerait dès que le pays consentirait des efforts 
pour ajouter de la valeur à ses principales denrées d'exportation, telles 
que le cacao, l'or et le bois, les rendant concurrentielles sur le marché 
international.  (PANA, 20 août 2000)

* Guinée. Réquisitoire sévère pour Condé  -  Le 16 août, le procureur de la 
République guinéen, Yves William Aboly, a requis la réclusion criminelle à 
perpétuité contre l'opposant politique Alpha Condé et quarante de ses 
coïnculpés, jugés par la Cour de sûreté de l'Etat à Conakry. Le leader du 
Rassemblement du peuple de Guinée (RPG) est accusé entre autres d'"atteinte 
à l'autorité et à l'intégrité de l'Etat".  (Libération, France, 17 août 2000)

* Guinea. Prosecutor seeks life sentence for Conde  -  On 16 August, the 
state prosecutor in the sedition trial of Guinean opposition leader Alpha 
Conde, has recommended sentences of life imprisonment for 41 of the 47 
defendants, including Conde. He told the court that Conde and his 
companions had plotted to overthrown Guinea's constitutional order.  (CNN, 
17 August 2000)

* Kenya. Nairobi's taps run dry  -  Nairobi has been doing without the 
essentials of life recently. There have been power cuts to homes and the 
workplace, and Maasai herdsmen with their cattle have been seen looking for 
green pastures in residential areas, posing a new hazard to the city 
motorists. As if that is not enough, the city residents now have to cope 
with an acute shortage of water.  (BBC News, 18 August 2000)

* Kenya. Accidents ferroviaires  -  Le 15 août, au moins 13 personnes, dont 
deux enfants, ont été tuées dans l'ouest du Kenya, à la suite du 
déraillement d'un train de banlieue. Les causes de l'accident n'ont pas 
encore été établies. Le train transportait entre 300 et 400 passagers 
lorque certains de ses wagons se sont retournés près de la ville 
universitaire de Maseno. - Le 20 août, les corps de 16 personnes, dont six 
enfants, ont été retrouvés dans la petite ville d'Athi River, près de 
Nairobi, après le déraillement et l'explosion d'un train composé de huit 
wagons-citernes transportant du gaz.  (La Croix, France, 18-21 août 2000)

* Kenya. Rail crash horrors  -  17 August: Desperate relatives are still 
searching through the wreckage of the Kawango train crash for the 
belongings of their loved ones. Others visit hospitals at nearby Chulaimbo 
and Kisumu looking for their injured relatives and friends. The crash on 15 
August at Kawango Village, Yala, happened when a Kisumu- bound train jumped 
the rails with up to 300 passengers on board. The horrific accident has 
left at least 20 dead and more than 38 injured. 20 August: Some 17 people 
have been killed after a train carrying liquefied gas from Mombasa to 
Nairobi exploded and caught fire, early today. Many other were injured in 
the accident, which happened in Athi River town. Most of the victims were 
residents of nearby houses, which were engulfed when flames spread to homes 
along the railway line. The victims were caught in their sleep. 21 August: 
Kenyan officials are due to launch an inquiry into yesterday's train 
explosion. The death toll rises to 25.  (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 August 2000)

* Kenya. Doubt on IMF deal  -  Less than a month after the International 
Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to a $198 million poverty reduction and growth 
facility with Kenya, concern is growing that political support for economic 
reform may be losing steam. President Moi said this week that the tough 
conditions accompanying the facility, threatened economic growth and did 
not account for the need to ensure political stability. "People have been 
acting as if there is another Kenya government," he said, at the opening of 
the government's ($36 million) Times Tower building in Nairobi, in the 
presence of World Bank and IMF officials. Only two weeks before, the 
Central Bank had defended the terms as home-grown.  (Financial Times, UK, 
24 August 2000)

* Liberia. Equipe de télévision arrêtée  -  Le 18 août, quatre journalistes 
(deux Britanniques, un Sud-Africain et un Sierra-Léonais) ont été arrêtés 
pour "espionnage" par la police de Monrovia. Selon le ministre libérien de 
la Justice, l'équipe, qui travaille pour la maison de production 
britannique Insight News Television, avait pour objectif de "ternir l'image 
du président du Liberia", Charles Taylor. L'équipe se trouvait au Liberia 
afin de réaliser un documentaire pour lequel elle avait obtenu 
l'autorisation du ministre de l'Information. La Grande-Bretagne a accusé le 
Liberia de se marginaliser au sein de la communauté internationale et le 
secrétaire d'Etat aux Affaires étrangères a exigé la libération immédiate 
des quatre journalistes.  (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 22 août 2000)

* Liberia. Foreign film crew charged with spying  -  20 August: A British 
Channel 4 film crew held in Liberia on suspicion of spying wait to hear 
whether they will face trial. British director David Barrie, cameraman Tim 
Lambon, South African cameraman Gugulakhe Radebe, and Sierra Leonean 
film-maker Sorious Samura have been held in a police station in Monrovia 
since 18 August. They had arrived three weeks ago, working for a television 
company, Insight News Television, commissioned by Channel 4 for a political 
documentary series, Sorious Samura's Africa. Liberia's justice minister, 
Eddington Varmah, says they have "engaged in acts against the security of 
the state" and were arrested on suspicion of espionage. He accuses them of 
trying to denigrate the President, Charles Taylor, and of assisting foreign 
powers in their diplomatic confrontation with Liberia. 21 August: The 
journalists are taken to court and charged with spying. 22 August: The 
journalists spend an extra night in jail after Judge Timothy Swope puts off 
a decision on whether to grant bail. He is expected to rule on the issue 
tomorrow. 23 August: In a Press Release, Amnesty International says the 
arrest of a foreign TV crew is yet another attack on the freedom of the 
news media in Liberia.  (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 24 August 2000)

* Libya. Shell in talks with Libya  -  Royal Dutch/Shell is negotiating a 
number of exploration blocks in Libya, a company official said on 23 
August. "Following an invitation by (Libya's state-owned) National Oil 
Company, we are engaged with them in commercial discussions regarding a 
number of blocks," the Shell spokeswoman said. (Financial Times, UK, 24 
August 2000)

* Malawi. Controversy over the death penalty  -  There are presently some 
800 prisoners on death row in Malawi. Their execution seems delayed by 
deadlock in the debate whether to retain and use the death penalty or not. 
Human rights activists urge that the 1996 capital punishment Act made 
during Kamuzu Banda's 31-year autocratic rule is inhuman. Banda's 
administration kept the death penalty on the statute books. In 1993 there 
was the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) during which chiefs, 
lawyers, politicians, the clergy, civil society and special interest groups 
hotly debated the issue. The NCC opted to retain the death penalty but the 
issue has come to the fore once again. The fact is, Malawi is experiencing 
an increase in crime resulting from rising unemployment, corruption, 
poverty, access to small arms coming from neighbouring war-torn countries. 
Although the death penalty remains possible, Malawi has not carried out any 
executions of prisoners convicted of murder since President Muluzi came to 
power in 1994.  (Charles Masapi, Malawi, 21 August 2000)

* Morocco. Record hashish crop  -  Morocco's cannabis farmers are enjoying 
a bumper harvest this year, thanks to a combination of late rains and an 
atmosphere of greater tolerance under King Mohammed VI. The growers produce 
some 2,000 tonnes of hashish a year, despite demands from the European 
Union for the government to stop it. A recent parliamentary report says 
60,000 hectares of land are given over to cannabis cultivation. Other 
reports claim that more than 120,000 hectares grow behind a camouflage of 
maize. Bankers estimate this black economy accounts for between one-third 
and a half of the country's total earnings.  (The Independent, UK, 15 
August 2000)

* Maroc. Le roi gracie 1.165 détenus  -  Le roi Mohammed VI a accordé sa 
grâce au profit de 1.165 détenus à l'occasion de la "révolution du roi et 
du peuple", célébrée le 20 août, date de l'exil en 1953 du roi Mohammed V. 
Le ministère de la Justice a indiqué que, parmi ces personnes, 356 ont 
bénéficié d'une grâce totale, 572 d'une remise de peine, et 4 détenus d'une 
commutation de la peine perpétuelle en peine de temps. Aucune indication 
n'a cependant été donnée sur l'identité des personnes graciées.  (PANA, 20 
août 2000)

* Maroc. Découverte de pétrole et de gaz  -  Le 20 août, le roi Mohammed VI 
a annoncé la découverte d'importants gisements de pétrole et de gaz dans la 
région orientale de Talsint, à quelque 200 km des frontières avec 
l'Algérie, sans toutefois préciser les quantités découvertes. Selon la 
presse marocaine, les gisements pourraient avoisiner les 20 milliards de 
barils d'équivalent de pétrole. Une dizaine de sociétés se partagent 
actuellement une vingtaine de permis d'exploration et de prospection au 
Maroc. L'objectif du pays est de réduire sa facture pétrolière estimée à 6 
milliards de FF par an. Le souverain marocain a toutefois souligné que la 
découverte ne va pas dissuader le Maroc de continuer sa marche de 
développement des différents secteurs économiques comme le tourisme, la 
pêche et les technologies de l'information.  (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 
22 août 2000)

* Nigeria. Row over oil clean-up  -  The authorities in the Delta State 
have asked Royal Dutch/Shell to help clean up an oil spill which local 
communities say has caused widespread destruction to farmland and fishing 
reserves. A spokesman for Shell said the company was considering the 
request but felt aggrieved because, although the spillage originated from 
one of its wells, it had been caused by a deliberate act of sabotage. For 
the past two weeks, Shell has been involved in an acrimonious dispute with 
communities in the Ugheli area close to the town of Warri.  (BBC News, 17 
August 2000)

* Nigeria. Borno State adopts Sharia  -  An enormous crowd has gathered in 
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in north-eastern Nigeria, to 
celebrate the adoption of Muslim Sharia law. Christian leaders in Borno, 
who comprise a substantial minority, say they are strongly opposed to 
Sharia. Reports from Maiduguri say there was a large police presence on the 
streets on 19 August. Christians kept a low profile, closing their shops 
and businesses and choosing to stat at home.  (BBC News, 19 August 2000)

* Nigeria. La charia adoptée dans un 8e Etat  -  Le 19 août, un huitième 
Etat du nord du Nigeria, le Borno, a adopté la loi islamique. Son 
gouverneur, Mala Kachalla, a présidé une cérémonie dans la capitale de 
l'Etat, Maiduguri, devant plus de 10.000 fidèles, mais il n'a pas précisé 
quand la loi prendra effet. M. Kachalla a pris également ses fonctions de 
grand juge islamique. Le Borno devient ainsi le 8e Etat du nord à instaurer 
ou à annoncer son intention d'introduire la charia depuis le retour du 
pouvoir à un gouvernement fédéral civil en 1999. L'instauration de la 
charia a provoqué des heurts interreligieux.  (La Libre Belgique, 21 août 2000)

* Nigeria. Parliament to probe the Executive  -  The unending feud between 
Nigeria's executive and legislative arms of government have a taken a turn 
for the worse, with legislators saying they are now ready to probe the 
handling of funds by the executive. In an apparent effort to turn the heat 
away from the two-chamber national assembly, which has been accused of 
profligacy and contract scams, the chairman of the house of 
representatives' committee on ethics and privileges, Farouk Lawan, said 
"very soon our whole energy will be directed at the executive where we will 
unearth things that will shake this country." But presidential adviser 
Aminu Wali said President Olusegun Obasanjo was not afraid of being probed 
by the lawmakers. Obasanjo started off the latest fight last week, when he 
publicly lambasted the lawmakers for illegally fixing huge salaries and 
allowances for themselves and advised them hands off in awarding contracts. 
The legislators reacted by describing the statement as uncharitable and in 
bad faith, setting the state for a renewed clash between the two branches 
of government. The president was speaking a few weeks after a probe set up 
by the senate led to the change of leadership in the upper legislative 
chamber, after revealing embarrassing cases of contract inflation, 
profligacy and overdrawing of approved allowances by the senators. The 
panel's report has led to calls from enraged Nigerians for a similar probe 
of the lower house, whose speaker was also indicted in the 63-page report. 
The senate probe was set off by the report of the Auditor-General which 
showed gross abuse of financial regulations in the national assembly. But 
Lawan denied that his committee was in fact planning a revenge mission by 
seeking to probe the presidency, saying it was part of the committee's 
schedule of duties to monitor the way the government spent funds.  (PANA, 
Dakar, 21 August 2000)

Weenkly anb0428.txt - End of part 3/5