Weekly anb09285.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 28-09-2000      PART #5/7

* Mozambique. Aid agency extends its emergency operation  -  The United 
Nations World Food Programme (WFP) on 26 September said it has extended its 
emergency operation in Mozambique with six months to assist about 172,000 
people who were still facing severe food shortages due to the country's 
worst floods ever in February and March this year. The extended operation 
would cost an additional US $6.8, bringing the total funding needs for the 
emergency feeding operation since February to US $42.8 million. "The 
emergency is by no means over yet," Georgia Shaver, WFP regional manager 
for Southern Africa, said in a statement. Tens of thousands of farmers have 
been unable to grow their own food largely because agricultural land is 
still water logged. The rainy season, which normally starts in December, 
could further worsen farming conditions, particularly in the low-lying 
areas. A nominal amount of rain could result in flooding. The WFP said many 
farmers who have been able to plant have found their crops to be of poorer 
quality than usual. "We are still helping communities to recover from the 
devastating floods, but there is still a lot to be done and the rainy 
season is just around the corner," Shaver said.   (Africa Press Bureau, 
Johannesburg. 26 Sept. 2000)

* Namibia. Apartheid in the work place  -  When workers at the National Art 
Gallery of Namibia (NAGN) went on strike on 23 August this year, one of 
their complaints against their managing director was her alleged "racist 
behaviour". The all-black strikers said their white counterparts received 
"special treatment". The NAGN's managing director, Annaleen Eins, said 
those white workers who receive more money, do so because they are 
educated, whereas the black workers in question do not have any formal 
training. Very few people believed her. The general view was that 
disparities in staff earnings can only be explained in terms of the time of 
apartheid, during which white people were favoured against the blacks. The 
government is working flat out to implement its Affirmative Action policy, 
which seeks to provide better living conditions for Namibia's black 
population. This involves creating jobs for black Namibians in both 
parastatal and privately-owned companies. What happened at the NAGN is not 
an isolated incident. Last month, black workers at Telecom Namibia said 
their white-dominated management still appoints and promotes some of the 
staff on a colour basis. The Affirmative Action policy, like the Indigenous 
People's Business Council, is doing well in creating a middle class among 
the black population.   (Mwana Bwalya, ANB-BIA, Namibia, 21 September 2000)

* Niger. Dissolution des mouvements ex-rebelles  -  Le 25 septembre à 
Agadez, quelque 10.000 personnes ont participé à une cérémonie au cours de 
laquelle ont été incinérées au moins 1.243 armes de guerre déposées par les 
ex-rebelles touareg et toubous et les milices d'autodéfense. Ces rebelles, 
aujourd'hui repentis, avaient sévi au nord et à l'est du Niger entre 1991 
et 1995, les affrontements ayant fait au moins 200 morts. La cérémonie, 
dite de "la flamme de la paix", a été organisée dans le cadre des accords 
de paix conclus entre 1995 et 1998. Au terme de trois traités, les 
ex-rebelles ont abandonné leur exigence du fédéralisme au profit d'une 
politique de décentralisation. Ce 25 septembre, les mouvements ex-rebelles 
ont proclamé leur auto-dissolution. (PANA, 25 septembre 2000)

* Niger. Arms destroyed to celebrate peace  -  The President of Niger, 
Tanja Mamadou, has lit a "flame of peace" to incinerate more than a 
thousand weapons at a ceremony in the northern city of Agadez. The bonfire 
-- greeted by applause and ululations from a crowd of several thousand 
--was aimed at highlighting the end of Tuareg and other rebel wars in 
northern Niger, following the peace accords of 1995 and 1998. The President 
of Chad, Idriss Deby, and the President of Sierra Leone, Ahmed Tejan 
Kabbah, attended the ceremony, as did representatives of Burkina Faso, 
Algeria, France and the Organisation of African Unity. The Tuareg leader, 
Mohamed Anako, used the occasion to announce the dissolution of several 
rebel movements and militias. (BBC News, 25 September 2000)

* Nigeria. "Unite for Saro-Wiwa's sake"  -  President Obasanjo has visited 
Ogoniland in the Niger Delta and appealed to its people to unite in memory 
of their late leader Ken Saro-Wiwa. He is the first Nigerian leader to 
visit the politically explosive region since Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and 
human rights activist, was executed in 1995 along with eight 
supporters.   (BBC News, 21 September 2000)

* Nigeria. Charia: appareils d'amputation  -  Selon le quotidien The 
Guardian du 24 septembre, l'Etat de Kano importe des appareils d'amputation 
pour exécuter les sentences découlant de décisions de justice basées sur la 
charia. La loi islamique doit entrer en vigueur à Kano le 26 novembre 
prochain. Les dignitaires religieux se sont réunis à Kaduna, durant le 
week-end du 23-24 septembre, et ont plaidé pour une application à l'échelle 
nationale de la charia. Ils ont exhorté le gouvernement fédéral à amender 
la Constitution pour permettre la création d'une cour d'appel fédérale 
islamique. La charia a été adoptée dans huit Etats du nord et se révèle de 
plus en plus un facteur de division politique. Elle a dressé l'un contre 
l'autre le nord à dominance musulmane et le sud majoritairement chrétien. 
Les associations des droits de l'homme ont critiqué l'adoption de la charia 
en raison de la sévérité des sentences prévues pour certains crimes, 
notamment l'amputation, et des lois relatives à la conduite de la femme. Un 
tribunal de l'Etat de Zamfara a condamné une jeune fille enceinte de 17 ans 
à 180 coups de fouet pour avoir eu des relations sexuelles hors 
mariage.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 25 septembre 2000)

* Nigeria-Equatorial Guinea. Dispute settled  -  Nigeria and Equatorial 
Guinea have formally resolved a long-standing dispute over their maritime 
border which runs through some of the world's richest offshore oilfields. 
The demarcation of the border was finalised in a treaty signed at the 
weekend between Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and Equatorial 
Guinea's President Theodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Officials involved in 
prior negotiations said the agreement involved Nigeria's recognition of 
Equatorial Guinea's sovereignty over the $1.5 billion Exxon-Mobil operated 
Zafiro oil complex and associated oil fields. In return, Equatorial Guinea 
conceded acreage further south where France's Elf- Acquitaine has rights on 
both sides.   (Financial Times, UK, 26 September 2000)

* Rwanda/Ouganda. Museveni à Kigali  -  Le président ougandais est arrivé 
le 22 septembre à Kigali pour sa première visite depuis les affrontements 
entre les armées des deux pays à Kisangani (RDC). Selon une source 
diplomatique, les principaux points des entretiens entre MM. Museveni et 
Kagamé devaient être la guerre en RDC et la formation d'un front commun des 
trois groupes rebelles congolais. Concernant le Burundi, dans un communiqué 
conjoint à l'issue de la visite, les deux dirigeants ont exprimé leur 
satisfaction et leur optimisme au sujet du processus de paix.   (D'après 
ABP, Burundi, 22-23 septembre 2000)

* Rwanda. Sécheresse  -  La FAO a signalé que la forte sécheresse prolongée 
dans certaines parties du Rwanda a provoqué le déplacement de bon nombre de 
personnes et de bétail. La région du Bugesera est particulièrement touchée; 
ses récoltes insuffisantes ont conduit les habitants à migrer vers d'autres 
régions à la recherche de travail ou d'aide. Les habitants des nouveaux 
villages créés par les autorités rwandaises, dépourvus de plantations de 
bananes ou de manioc, sont particulièrement vulnérables aux pénuries 
alimentaires. Environ 150.000 personnes nécessitent une aide d'urgence dans 
la région du Bugesera, ajoutait la FAO, qui a lancé un appel pour une aide 
internationale.   (IRIN, Nairobi, 25 septembre 2000)

* Senegal. Home after the World Youth Day in Rome  -  The young people from 
Senegal who travelled to Rome to take part in the 15th World Youth Day 
15-20 August, returned enriched by the meeting with other cultures 
strengthened in their faith and enthusiastic about having made friends with 
young people from all over the world. This was said by Fr Alphonse Seck, 
national director of Catholic works and the lay apostolate in Senegal. But 
the World Youth Day unconsciously highlighted young Senegalese trouble: 60 
of the group of 232 who were lucky enough to celebrate World Youth Day with 
the Pope and their peers, decided not to return home when it was over. They 
chose to remain in Italy, illegally, the organizers say since their 
passports were brought back to Dakar. Many have criticized the situation 
including the national press. Fides asked Fr Seck for his opinion on the 
matter. "This situation should speak to the world and the governments of 
Africa about the desperate situation of African youth abused and without a 
future in Africa". Besides the 60 Senegalese, some 45 young Zambian World 
Youth Day participants disappeared somewhere in or around Rome. On the 
other hand, Africa, Senegal in particular, is disappointed that the country 
chosen for the next World Youth Day in 2002, was not in Africa. The youth 
of Senegal have promised to send a message to the young people of other 
African nations to ask their support for a campaign to candidate an African 
nation to host a World Youth Day in the near future. But Fr Seck points out 
that "the African continent does not have the human or logistic resources 
necessary for the organization of an event of this size". Nevertheless he 
underlined that it would be a good idea for young people from all over the 
world to visit Africa to see for themselves the reality of a continent 
struggling with poverty, health emergency, civil wars.   (Fides, Vatican 
City, 23 September 2000)

* Sierra Leone. UN struggles to replace Indians  -  India's withdrawal from 
the UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone has left the UN scrabbling to 
fill the vacuum and fighting to maintain its credibility. Countries are 
proving reluctant to contribute troops to one of the most violent conflicts 
Africa has experienced in recent years. The UN will not confirm which 
countries have been approached, but diplomats say that many countries, 
including the UK, have declined to join the mission, forcing the Security 
Council de delay expanding the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Sierra Leone 
(UNAMSIL) from 12,400 troops to 20,500.   (Financial Times, UK, 22 
September 2000)

* Sierra Leone. Sankoh said to have cancer  -  The jailed former leader of 
the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Foday Sankoh, is critically ill with 
prostrate cancer, a senior official at the Ministry of Social Welfare said 
on 26 September. Sankoh is being held in an unknown location by the 
government awaiting a likely trial by an international tribunal on war 
crime charges. (CNN, 26 September 2000)

* Somalia. Clashes in Mogadishu  -  22 September: There has been an 
outbreak of heavy fighting in Mogadishu. At least 10 people are reported to 
have been killed in clashed between rival clans in the city centre at dawn. 
Militiamen loyal to the warlord Hussein Mohamed Aideed, attacked a 
neighbourhood called Bermuda with heavy artillery, anti-tank and 
anti-aircraft weapons. The area is reported to be a stronghold of Mr 
Aideed's rival, Ali Mahdi Mohamed.   (BBC News, 22 September 2000)

* Somalie. Affrontements à Mogadiscio  -  Le 22 septembre, de violents 
combats à l'arme lourde entre clans rivaux ont fait au moins 15 morts dans 
le sud de Mogadiscio. Les combats opposent les miliciens des chefs de 
guerre Hussein Mohammed Aidid et Osman Hassan Ali "Atto", des Habr Gedir, 
aux combattants du clan Abgal. Ces combats interviennent alors que la 
Somalie s'est dotée, pour la
première fois depuis 1991, d'un parlement et d'un président provisoires.   (La
Libre Belgique, 23 septembre 2000)

* Somalia.Moves to form government  -  President Hasan has begun consultations
with the clan-based Transitional National Assembly to form a government. He 
has
invited the parliamentary clan groups to submit two names each over the next
three days. After choosing a prime minister, subject to a vote of 
confidence by
parliament, the President will then announce ministerial posts and the 
cabinet.
He is now back in Djibouti.   (IRIN, East Africa, 26 September 2000

Weekly anb0928.txt -  End of part 5/7