Weekly anb09213.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 21-09-2000      PART #3/6

* Côte d'Ivoire. Guei escapes attack  -  18 September: General Robert Guei, 
Côte d'Ivoire's military ruler, has escaped what he called an assassination 
attempt, after loyalist troops clashed with armed assailants who broke into 
his residence. At a news conference following the attack, General Guei says 
two of his bodyguards have been killed. "Some young military people were 
more or less invited by certain people who are known to me to make an 
attempt on my life", he says, without clarification. The attempt is 
thwarted after heavy gunfire around the official residence in Abidjan. 19 
September: The attack is further evidence that the army and the country 
have grown disenchanted with General Guei since he backtracked on his 
promise to hold free elections after he seized power in december. He has 
chosen to run for office himself while trying to bar more popular 
opponents. Several soldiers have now been arrested in connection with 
yesterday's attack. The authorities have outlawed all political rallies and 
demonstrations until campaigning begins for the 22 October presidential 
elections. The Organisation of African Unity has called a meeting of Côte 
d'Ivoire's political leaders and certain heads of state to discuss the 
situation in Côte d'Ivoire. 20 September: Côte d'Ivoire's Chief of Defence 
Staff, General Diabakate Soumahilia, has appealed to people not to put the 
country in peril by cultivating divisions within the military. He was 
speaking after security forces searched the Abidjan home of the 
second-in-command of the military government, General Lanssana Palenfo. 
General Palenfo is presently out of the country attending the Olympic Games 
in Australia.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 September 2000)

* Egypt. Muslim Brotherhood offers a sister and a Christian in elections  - 
Egypt's Muslim brotherhood has selected a Muslim sister to stand at next 
month's parliamentary elections for a seat in Alexandria. For good measure, 
the Brotherhood, whose very name evokes male domination and religious 
exclusivity, has picked a Christian to stand alongside her. Juhan el- 
Halafawi's candidacy, due to be formally submitted next week, may turn out 
to be largely symbolic.   (Financial Times, UK, 16-17 September 2000)

* Ethiopie/Erythrée. Envoi de casques bleus  -  Le 15 septembre, le Conseil 
de sécurité de l'Onu a autorisé à l'unanimité le déploiement pour six mois 
de 4.200 casques bleus pour surveiller le cessez- le-feu entre l'Ethiopie 
et l'Erythrée. Celui-ci avait été signé le 18 juin sous le patronage de 
l'OUA. La mission de l'Onu aura à contrôler et à s'assurer que les deux 
pays respectent leur accord de cessation des hostilités, impliquant le 
redéploiement de leurs troupes respectives sur les positions fixées. Elle 
devra aussi coordonner et fournir une asssistance technique pour les 
activités humanitaires.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 16 septembre 2000)

* Ethiopia-Eritrea. UN observers arrive in the Horn  -  14 September: UN 
military observers have arrived in the capitals of Ethiopia and Eritrea at 
the start of an international mission. The monitors are due to undergo a 
four-day training programme before being dispatched to the demilitarised 
border zone. The 46 monitors from the UN Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia 
(UNMEE) are an advance party for a force of 4,000 troops, designed to 
police a ceasefire while peace talks take place. 19 September: The first 40 
members of the UN peacekeeping force being deployed on the 
Eritrean-Ethiopian border will be in place by the weekend. The military 
observers will be stationed on both sides of the disputed border and will 
meet with local military personnel to prepare for the arrival of the main 
force.   (ANB-BIA Brussels, 20 September 2000)

* Guinée. Les 5.000 étrangers libérés  -  Les quelque 5.000 Libériens, 
Sierra-Léonais et Burkinabé interpellés ces derniers jours à Conakry ont 
été libérés, alors que la diplomatie régionale s'active pour apaiser les 
tensions entre la Guinée et ses voisins. Le 13 septembre, les lieux dans 
lesquels les "étrangers" avaient été regroupés étaient vides, selon le HCR. 
Ces personnes avaient été accusées d'abriter des "rebelles" à l'origine des 
incursions meurtrières lancées à la frontière sud de la Guinée. En Sierra 
Leone, le président Kabbah a lancé un appel à ne pas "exagérer" la 
situation. Il a estimé qu'il "ne pouvait qu'être d'accord" avec les raisons 
qui ont conduit le président guinéen Conté àl'interpellation des 
Sierra-Léonais en Guinée, "parce qu'il avait eu des informations selon 
lesquelles les rebelles les avaient infiltrés".   (Le Monde, France, 15 
septembre 2000)

* Guinée. Une ville attaquée par des rebelles  -  17 septembre. Macenta, 
une ville guinéene située à une trentaine de km de la frontière libérienne, 
a été attaquée le dimanche 17 septembre, alors qu'au Mali, des ministres de 
Guinée, du Liberia et de Sierra Leone ont appelé à l'arrêt des "attaques" à 
la frontière. L'offensive a fait des victimes, dont un employé du HCR, le 
Togolais Lensah Kpognon; une autre employée de cet organisme a été enlevée. 
Le 1er septembre, une attaque, qui avait fait une cinquantaine de morts, 
avait été lancée contre Massadou. Depuis, les incursions ont continué dans 
les régions guinéennes frontalières du Liberia et Sierra Leone. Le 
gouvenement guinéen accuse le Liberia, le Burkina Faso, la rébellion 
sierra-léonaise du RUF, ainsi que des opposants guinéens (dont d'anciens 
militaires mutins) d'être les commanditaires ou les auteurs de ces 
incursions, qui poussent des milliers de civils à fuir. La Guinée accueille 
sur son sol 470.000 réfugiés au total, dont 340.000 Sierra-Léonais et 
128.000 Libériens. 18 septembre. Un groupe de rebelles guinéens, le 
Rassemblement des forces démocratiques de Guinée, a revendiqué l'attaque. 
Il nie avoir des liens avec les rebelles du Liberia et de Sierra Leone. 19 
septembre. Les opérations de ratissage continuent aux alentours de la ville 
de Macenta. Selon la police, l'attaque a fait au moins 35 morts. Le HCR est 
toujours sans nouvelles de son employée enlevée, Sapeu Laurence Djeya, de 
nationalité ivoirienne.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 20 septembre 2000)

* Equatorial Guinea. Brave swimmer thrills crowds  -  Eric Moussambani, the 
swimmer from Equatorial Guinea whose determination to finish his race 
thrilled the Sydney crowds as an example of the Olympic spirit, began 
swimming only in January. The only other two participants in his 100m 
freestyle heat were disqualified but Moussambani doggedly pressed on. He 
had never swum the distance previously. "I didn't want to swim 100m but my 
coach told me that I should do it anyway. I thought it was too much, but I 
made it," he said in remarks quoted on the official Olympics website. The 
Games are the first international event he has taken part in, and the trip 
to Sydney is his first out of his homeland. When he appeared to be 
struggling to finish, spectators rose to cheer him on with the same 
enthusiasm as they had shown to Australian swimmers previously, according 
to news agency reports. Reuters reported that he was taking part as part of 
a plan by the sport's world governing body FINA to promote swimming in 
countries not already competing. His national swimming federation was 
formed only six months ago and has only seven members. The 22-year-old 
Moussambani has played basketball "just for fun" in the past. He recently 
finished school and now plans to study science at university. He carried 
the flag for his country's delegation in the opening ceremony. "They needed 
a small swimmer to do it, and nobody knew who I was. But now, when I go 
home, everyone will know," he said.   (PANA, Dakar, 20 September 2000)

* Kenya. Row over prison deaths  -  The Kenyan Human Rights Commission has 
called for a full-scale investigation into the deaths of six prisoners, 
saying it appeared they had been summarily killed by warders. Police said 
the prisoners were shot while attempting to escape from Kigongo Maximum 
Security Prison, in the Nyeri district of Central Province 10 days ago. But 
a preliminary medical report -- ordered by the government -- says none of 
the six had gunshot wounds. Doctors who conducted the investigation say the 
prisoners had fractured arms, legs and joints, all had similar fractures of 
the skull and some had their eyes gouged out.   (BBC News, 14 September 2000)

* Kenya. Vaccine breakthrough  -  A private firm in Kenya has announced a 
medical breakthrough in the fight against a killer disease which wiped out 
thousands of ostrich chicks in the country in 1999. An announcement by the 
Maasai Ostrich Farm in the Kajiado district of southern Kenya said a 
vaccine against the "Ecoli" disease has been developed by scientists after 
several months of research at the farm. The 200 plus acre farm was in the 
news in 1999 when it reportedly lost 2,000 young ostriches valued at more 
than 500,000 US dollars when the disease struck. Farm manager Jim Gardiner 
told journalists that since the vaccine began to be used, the epidemic has 
been contained. He said currently, the farm has 1,500 of the giant 
non-flying birds. Gardiner said he was hopeful that with the containing of 
the disease, the farm will take its rightful place in the tourism and trade 
sector, as it lies in the Amboseli, Masai-Mara and the Tanzanian northern 
circuit zone. He also announced that soon, an ostrich leather tannery would 
be set up at Limuru, 25 kilometres west of Nairobi, to supply by-products 
for shoes, purses, handbags, briefcases and keyholders.   (PANA, Dakar, 20 
September 2000)

* Liberia. Déplacés face à la famine  -  Plus de 13.000 personnes déplacées 
dans les zones de conflit du nord du Liberia font face à de sérieuses 
pénuries de vivres, alors que les combats entre les dissidents et les 
troupes gouvernementales se poursuivent. La pénurie a obligé les adultes et 
les enfants à s'aventurer dans les zones de guerre à la recherche de vivres 
abandonnés dans les fermes par des villageois en fuite. Le flux de 
personnes déplacées vers les villes et les villages a entraîné également 
une pénurie d'eau potable, et l'absence de latrines pour les populations au 
nombre sans cesse croissant est en train de dégénérer en un désastre 
sanitaire.   (PANA, 19 septembre 2000)

* Liberia. Thousands of displaced face starvation  -  More than 13,000 
internally displaced persons in embattled northern Liberia are facing 
severe food shortages as fighting between dissidents and government troops 
continue. The majority of the displaced are surviving on wild yams from the 
forest, leaves prepared with palm oil and cassava from farms of host 
villages that they have to labour to obtain. Rice, the Liberian staple, is 
almost non-existent in many areas, including Zorzor, a provincial 
headquarters, 210 km from Monrovia, and the major buffer for people en 
route to or from the war zone. The influx of displaced persons into nearly 
14 towns and villages in Zorzor and Salayea districts has impacted on food 
security and availability, triggering a triple hike in the cost of food and 
other items in the area. The severe food scarcity has compelled adults and 
children to venture into war zones to fetch food on farms abandoned by 
fleeing villagers. "We have to weed farms, pound rice, cut wood or brush 
farms to even find little food for our wives and children to eat daily," T. 
Jomah Kamara, a displaced teacher, says. But others are going to bed 
without food on many days, while a sizeable number of civilians are still 
in the forest living on wild fruits and fearing to come to town, Varlee 
Yarmah, one of the displaced, said. Physician assistant Augustine Daniels 
of the Konia health centre said the wild yams the displaced are surviving 
on were a source of diarrhoea and other health related problems. Shelter 
for the displaced constitutes one of their major problems as the bulk of 
them are sleeping in open-air and crammed huts, schools and market 
buildings. The influx of displaced into the towns and villages have 
resulted into an acute shortage of safe drinking water, as there are 
insufficient hand pumps while the absence of public latrines for the 
growing population is degenerating into a sanitation disaster. Unlike the 
past, the displaced are not fleeing into neighbouring Guinea which has 
closed its border with Liberia, and because the Liberian dissidents are 
reportedly attacking from that country. Meanwhile, about half a dozen 
international NGOs have completed a three-day assessment mission to 
northern Lofa County to assess the state of the internally displaced 
persons and the security situation in the area. (PANA, Dakar, 19 September 
2000)

Weekly News - anb0921.txt - End of part 3/6