Weekly anb10121.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 12-10-2000      PART #1/6

* Africa. Message from SECAM  -  The 12th Plenary Assembly of the Symposium 
of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) was held in Rome 
from 30 September to 9 October. The theme was: "Christ Our Peace: Church as 
Family of God, Place and Sacrament of Reconciliation, Forgiveness and Peace 
in Africa". In their final Message, the Bishops said they had given 
prayerful consideration to the overall situation in Africa. There are 
causes for concern and the Bishops decried the many acts of injustice, 
exploitation and violence that continue relentlessly. They deplored the 
lamentable political situation existing in many parts of Africa and the 
on-going contempt for human life and dignity. The Bishops condemned the 
economic sabotage -- the dishonesty of corrupt leaders; the loss of 
Africa's cultural; heritage, and called for greater respect for women. The 
Bishops said that much of the blame for Africa's present woes must be laid 
at the door of the former colonial masters, the rich industrial nations. 
They made special mention of HIV/AIDS in Africa, describing it as "a very 
grave situation". "But", said the Bishops, "We do not lose hope....We thank 
God for the courage of many men and women and of the youth who remain 
faithful to the call of the Beatitudes." (Editor's note: during the 
meeting, participants confirmed Archbishop Mosengwo of Kisangani, Congo RDC 
as their president. Deputy presidents are: Archbishop John Onaiyekan of 
Abuja, Nigeria, and Bishop Francis Silota of Chimoio, Mozambique. General 
Secretary is Father Peter Lwaminda of Zambia.)   (SECAM, Rome, 7 October 2000)

* Afrique. Le pape appelle à la réconciliation  -  Dans un message adressé 
au symposium des Conférences épiscopales d'Afrique et de Madagascar (SCEAM) 
qui s'est tenu près de Rome, le pape Jean-Paul II a exhorté les communautés 
catholiques du continent "à être des lieux authentiques de réconciliation 
et à témoigner énergiquement de la justice et de la paix dans leurs propres 
structures et dans les relations avec leurs membres". Le pape a aussi rendu 
hommage à Mgr Kataliko, archevêque du Bukavu (RDC), décédé le 3 octobre: 
"Puisse sa mort inattendue être pour l'Eglise et pour l'Afrique une semence 
d'espérance et de paix!". -Les travaux du symposium se sont terminés le 9 
octobre. Dans le document final, les évêques ont lancé un vibrant appel 
pour "la cessation immédiate de tous les conflits en Afrique et de tous les 
commerces d'armes qui les alimentent". Ils ont aussi dénoncé le fait que 
les demandes d'annulation de la dette des pays africains soient restées 
lettre morte, alors qu'on leur impose des programmes d'ajustements 
structurels aux coûts démesurés. Ils se sont engagés à poursuivre les 
efforts pour la promotion de la dignité de l'homme et pour la promotion de 
la justice.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 9 octobre 2000)

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Angola: The Committee to protect 
Journalists urges the government (4 October) to reconsider its draft Press 
Law. Congo RDC: The Minister of Communications has replaced (3 October) the 
management of four private radio and television stations which were 
recently put under state control. On 6 October, the security forces burst 
into the offices of the pro-government daily L'Avenir, arresting directors, 
editors and journalists working for the paper. The soldiers said they had a 
warrant signed by the commander of the army's seventh military region. 
Kenya: President Moi has again threatened (10 October) to close down radio 
stations broadcasting in vernacular languages. Malawi: On 6 October, the 
UDF's vice-president, Aleke Banda, threatened court action against the 
weekly The Chronicle for libel. - The vice-president of Malawi's ruling 
United democratic Party has said (10 October) that he is suing the 
Lilongwe-based independent weekly The Chronicle over a story that fingered 
him as having corruptly spent about US $264,000. Sierra Leone: In a letter 
addressed to the Minister of Transport and Communications, RSF protests 
against the attack on Mustapha Bai Attilla, a blind reporter from the radio 
station Voice of the Handicapped. Zambia: In a letter to the Zambian 
Minister of Home Affairs, (5 October), RSF has expressed its deep concern 
about the death of an Angolan journalist, Antonio Pacienca, whose body was 
found on 3 October floating in the Zambezi River. Zimbabwe: The legal row 
over Zimbabwe's first privately run radio station has deepened, with the 
High Court ordering (6 October) the authorities to grant the new station, 
Capital Radio, a licence within 10 days. On 9 October, the government shut 
down a pirate radio station that had been broadcasting without a licence. 
The High Court has asked the Police Commissioner and the Assistant 
Commissioner to show wyy they should not be held in contempt of court for 
closing down Capital Radio. -The station is preparing itself for a long 
battle through the courts after the government closed it down within a week 
of transmission.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 11 October 2000)

* Africa. Human rights  -  Congo RDC: On 11 October, Human Rights Watch 
sharply criticised the public beatings, detentions and ill-treatment of at 
least 13 leading human rights activists in the rebel-held town of Bukavu. 
The latest intimidation follows months of escalating violence and deaths in 
Eastern Congo, and comes on the heals of last week's visit by the UN High 
Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. Zimbabwe: On 11 October, 
Amnesty International described the clemency order issued by President 
Mugabe on 6 October as unjust and unacceptable. The order grants total 
amnesty to every person liable to criminal prosecution, whose guilt or 
innocence has not been determined by a court, for any politically motivated 
crime committed during the period 1 January 2000 to 31 July 2000. Although 
the order makes exceptions for some grave crimes, the amnesty protects 
peretrators of human rights abuses who are liable for 
prosecution.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 12 October 2000)

* Africa-UN. Sudan in Security Council?  -  The United States is 
intensively lobbying Kenya and other key African states to reverse their 
support for Sudan's bid to win a seat on the UN Security Council. Sudan was 
nominated as the sub-Saharan region's candidate for the seat at the 
Organisation of African Unity's (OAU) summit in Togo in July. Support for 
Sudan was said to be unanimous, but there were reports of concerted 
behind-the-scenes debates in the OAU regarding Sudan's suitability for the 
prestigious two-year post. Washington announced in early September that it 
would attempt to block Khartoum's confirmation by the UN General Assembly 
which is expected to act on the issue in the next few weeks.   (The East 
African, Kenya, 2-8 October 2000)

* Africa-UN. Mauritius representing Africa  -  At the expense of Sudan, on 
10 October, the UN General Assembly elected Mauritius as one of three 
African representatives in the 15-member UN Security Council for the next 
two years, effective January. The election, which had to go through four 
rounds of voting to get a clear winner, saw a display of the influence of 
the US, which purposely backed Mauritius to deny Sudan, Africa's candidate, 
a seat in the Council. Relations between the US and Sudan have been 
strained, with Washington accusing Khartoum of backing terrorist groups. In 
the final ballot, Mauritius got 113 votes as against 55 votes for Sudan. 
The first round of voting produced 95 votes for Mauritius and 69 votes for 
Sudan. By its election, Mauritius will begin a two-year tenure as a 
non-permanent member of the Security Council in January 2001. The Indian 
Ocean island nation of less than a million people takes over from Namibia, 
whose term expires at the end of the year. The tenure of the two other 
African representatives, Mali and Tunisia, will expire at the end of 2001. 
Other results of the elections conducted on 10 October showed Singapore 
(Asia), Colombia (Latin America and the Caribbean), Ireland and Norway 
(Western Europe) emerging victorious for non-permanent seats in the 
Council. While Ireland, Colombia and Singapore emerged victorious in the 
first round of voting, Norway and Italy had to go through four rounds of 
voting just like Sudan and Mauritius.   (PANA, Dakar, 10 October 2000) 
@CITA_1 =

* Africa-China. China forges Africa ties  -  Nearly 80 ministers from 44 
African countries have arrived in Beijing for the first every China-Africa 
Co- operation Forum. The event is being seen as an opportunity for China to 
strengthen its image as the leader and champion of the developing world. 
The Chinese Government says its main goals in organising this China-Africa 
get- together are economics and trade. - 11 October: China has announced 
that it will cancel more than $1 billion worth of debt owed to it by poor 
African countries as part of a package aimed at helping Africa to develop. 
The announcement came on the second day of the first ever China-Africa 
Forum in Beijing. China's purpose in holding this Forum is to demonstrate 
the strength of its commitment to the African continent.   (BBC News, 11 
October 2000)

* Afrique/Chine. Annulation de la dette  -  Un Forum de coopération 
Chine/Afrique réunit à Pékin des représentants de 44 pays africains. Le 11 
octobre, au deuxième jour de la rencontre, le ministre chinois du Commerce 
extérieur et de la Coopération économique a annoncé une annulation de la 
dette des pays africains les plus pauvres et plaidé pour le développement 
du commerce avec l'Afrique. La Chine s'engage à annuler dans les deux ans à 
venir 10 milliards de yuans (1,2 milliard de dollars) de dettes, mais sans 
préciser combien de pays ni lesquels seraient concernés. La seule certitude 
est que les huit pays qui entretiennent des relations diplomatiques avec 
Taiwan en seront exclus. Le geste de Pékin ne représente qu'une fraction 
des 320 milliards de dollars de la dette africaine.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 12 octobre 2000)

* Algérie. Visite du ministre russe Ivanov  -  Le 7 octobre, le ministre 
russe des Affaires étrangères, Igor Ivanov, est arrivé en Algérie pour une 
visite officielle de deux jours. Cette visite, la première d'un ministre 
russe des Affaires Etrangères en Algérie, devrait permettre de renouveler 
le cadre juridique de la coopération entre les deux pays. Dès son arrivée, 
M. Ivanov a exprimé son souhait de voir "les deux pays surmonter la 
stagnation de leurs relations bilatérales" et à relancer leurs relations 
politiques.   (AP, 7 octobre 2000)

* Algérie. Toujours la violence  -  Le soir du 3 octobre et le 4 octobre, 
12 militaires ont été tués et 6 autres blessés dans deux embuscades 
attribuées à des groupes islamistes armés, l'une près de Skikda (500 km à 
l'est d'Alger) et l'autre à Relizane (350 km à l'ouest), a annoncé la 
presse algérienne le 5 octobre. 10 d'entre eux ont été tués à Skikda, 
lorsque leur convoi a été bloqué sur une route de montagne par l'explosion 
d'une bombe déclenchée au moment où il passait devant un groupe armé qui 
les a aussitôt mitraillés. -Selon la presse du 7 octobre, plusieurs 
opérations de ratissage ont entraîné la mort de 14 personnes en deux jours, 
dont deux soldats et huit islamistes. - Le 7 octobre, huit bergers, dont 
trois femmes, ont été assassinés dans deux attaques attribuées à des 
islamistes dans les régions de Chlef et de Tiaret. - Selon les journaux 
algériens du 11 octobre, onze personnes, dont trois militaires, ont encore 
été tués le 9 octobre par des groupes islamistes, et treize islamistes 
armés ont été abattus le 10 octobre lors d'une offensive contre le 
campement d'un important groupe dans la région d'Aïn Desla.   (ANB-BIA, de 
sources diverses, 12 octobre 2000)

* Angola. Glissement de terrain: 13 morts  -  Le 9 octobre, treize 
chercheurs de diamants sont morts dans un glissement de terrain dans une 
mine de Chassuala, près de Saurimo (est de Luanda). Quatre autres 
prospecteurs de diamants artisanaux ont été grièvement blessés.   (Le Soir, 
Belgique, 11 octobre 2000)

Weekly anb1012.txt - end of part 1/6