Weekly anb11163.txt #5

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 16-11-2000      PART #3/5

* Egypt. Run-off elections  -  10 November: Egyptians will return to the 
polls next week to vote in a run-off election for 121 seats left undecided 
after interim results were announced for the third and final round of 
parliamentary elections. The vote, due on 14 November, is likely to mean 
the National Democratic Party led by President Mubarak, retains its grip on 
the 454-seat parliament. However, the Muslim Brothers, the main opposition, 
have already gained 14 seats, and have 7 candidates in the 
run-off.   (Financial Times, UK, 14 November 2000)

* Egypte. Elections mouvementées  -  9 novembre. Selon les résultats 
publiés, le Parti national démocrate du président Moubarak remporte 25 
nouveaux sièges sur 39 attribués lors du premier tour de la troisième et 
dernière phase des élections législatives, confirmant ainsi sa majorité à 
l'assemblée. Les élections législatives, qui ont commencé le 18 octobre, 
ont lieu en trois phases, avec chaque fois deux tours de scrutin. A l'issue 
du scrutin du 8 novembre, le PND de Moubarak a rassemblé 258 des 321 sièges 
déjà attribués sur un total de 454 à pourvoir. A ces sièges devrait 
s'ajouter le ralliement d'élus indépendants.- 14 novembre. Au dernier jour 
des élections législatives, quatre personnes ont été tuées par la police et 
plus de 200 blessées au nord du Caire. Les affrontements ont commencé après 
que d'importants effectifs de police eurent fait barrage pour empêcher les 
électeurs de voter, en particulier dans les circonscriptions où les 
islamistes étaient en concurrence avec le parti au pouvoir. Des jeunes en 
colère ont alors lancé des pierres sur les policiers. Depuis le début des 
élections, de nombreux affrontements ont eu lieu dans plusieurs régions du 
pays entre policiers et électeurs qui accusent les forces de l'ordre 
d'empêcher l'opposition de se rendre dans les bureaux de vote. - 15 
novembre. Le ministre de l'Intérieur communique les résultats du scrutin. 
Le parti du président Moubarak remporte 358 sièges, mais une centaine de 
ces députés ont été élus comme indépendants et n'ont rallié le parti 
qu'après l'annonce des résultats. Il a également perdu du terrain face à 
l'opposition, en particulier islamiste. 17 militants du mouvement interdit 
mais toléré des Frères musulmans ont été élus, ainsi que deux autres 
islamistes.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 15 novembre 2000)

* Ethiopie. Sida  -  Le gouvernement éthiopien a saisi le Parlement pour 
l'approbation d'un prêt à long terme de 59,7 millions de dollars accordé 
par l'Association internationale pour le développement (IDA), une 
organisation rattachée à la Banque mondiale, pour aider l'Ethiopie à 
réaliser son programme d'intervention contre le sida. La maladie toucherait 
3 millions de personnes en Ethiopie, qui compte 700.000 orphelins du sida. 
L'Ethiopie fait partie des 16 pays qui enregistrent le taux d'expansion le 
plus rapide du sida.   (PANA, 13 novembre 2000)

* Guinée. Législatives reportées  -  Le président guinéen Lansana Conté a 
reporté sine die les élections parlementaires initialement prévues le 26 
novembre. Selon le décret présidentiel, cette décision a été prise pour des 
raisons de sécurité. La principale alliance d'opposition avait menacé de 
boycotter le scrutin, estimant que l'insécurité liée aux raids frontaliers 
en provenance du Libéria et de la Sierra Leone risquait d'empêcher la 
population d'y participer normalement. Les autorités guinéennes ont fait 
état de 600 personnes tuées dans des attaques depuis le début du mois de 
septembre.   (La Libre Belgique, 13-14 novembre 2000)

* Kenya. Alert over Ebola  -  The Kenyan authorities have been alerted 
after it was discovered that seven of their nationals attended the funeral 
of a woman suffering from the Ebola virus late last month. Ebola, which can 
cause its victims to bleed to death, is spread through contact with 
infected body fluids. Traditional burial rites are one of the principal 
means of transmission.   (BBC News, 14 November 2000)

* Libya. Opening up to foreign invstment  -  An international conference on 
development and investments in Libya, gathering some 170 investment 
companies from all over the world, entered its second day on 15 November in 
Tripoli. Organised by Libya's General Union of Chambers of Commerce, 
Industry and Agriculture and the national committee for the promotion of 
investments, the three-day conference will evaluate development actions 
undertaken in Libya as well as the various investment sectors in the North 
African country. Participants are also expected to discuss plans for 
developing Libya's potentials in tourism, agriculture, livestock and 
fisheries resources and ensure that local products become more competitive 
on the international market. At the working session on 14 November, the 
conference dwelt on the role of organs charged with the responsibility of 
boosting investment activities. The diversification of the country's 
sources of revenue, so far based on oil sales, which account for 90 percent 
of its foreign exchange earnings, will also be discussed at the meeting. In 
a speech, the minister of Planning, Omar Mountassir, stressed the need to 
pay greater attention to the development of the tourism sector in Libya and 
to services involved in the transit trade between Europe and Africa. He 
announced that the major international communications companies have been 
invited to participate in the implementation of major investment projects 
in the communications and transport sectors aimed at linking Libya to its 
neighbours, particularly Chad and Niger. He blamed the embargo imposed on 
Libya over the Lockerbie affair and the drop in crude oil price for the 
stagnation of its economy in the past decade, and called for a new planning 
method and the formulation of a new development plan to revive it. He added 
that the new plan should enable the country to adopt clear and efficient 
policies and measures to uplift the economy.   (PANA, Dakar, 15 November 2000)

* Madagascar. Smallest primates discovered  -  Three previously unknown 
species of mouse lemur, the world's smallest primate, have been discovered 
in Madagascar. Their identification was made during a scientific survey of 
the island's western forests and later confirmed by genetic tests.   (BBC 
News, 14 November 2000)

* Malawi. Mineral wealth lures foreign investors  -  Efforts by Malawi's 
economic stakeholders to diversify exports, seem to be bearing fruit, 
looking at the number of established international mining companies eyeing 
Malawi's mineral wealth. For the past few years, Malawi, whose agro-based 
economy hinged on tobacco which realised up to 75% of the total exports' 
foreign earnings, is facing hardships due to the declining tobacco 
industry, faced by an aggressive anti-smoking lobby initiated by the World 
Health Organisation (WHO) to cut smoking and reduce deaths from cancer. 
There are other factors such as overproduction in major tobacco producing 
countries and ever-increasing production costs of the leaf. The Department 
of Mining under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental 
Affairs, has been to the forefront to publicise the variety of mineral 
deposits available in Malawi, ranging from gold, diamonds, nickel, bauxite, 
phosphates, aluminium etc. The recent commitment by the EU's Centre for 
Development of Enterprises, and several other companies to fund exploration 
of seven mining projects in the country, is a step forward. The funding was 
secured at the October 2000 Southern Africa Development Community (SADC/EU) 
mining forum held in Lusaka, Zambia, attended by 350 companies from all 
over the world.   (Hobbs Gama, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 6 November 2000)

* Mauritanie. Opposants au secret  -  Le 13 novembre, l'opposition 
mauritanienne a exigé la libération de ses cinq militants arrêtés le 9 
novembre et "gardés au secret absolu" depuis lors. Ils avaient manifesté 
pour une rupture des relations diplomatiques avec Israël. Ces derniers 
temps, plusieurs formations politiques d'opposition ont réclamé cette 
rupture. Le régime du président Ould Taya, qui a condamné les violences 
israëliennes contre les Palestiniens, refuse cependant de revenir sur sa 
politique de rapprochement avec Jérusalem.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 
15 novembre 2000)

* Mozambique. RENAMO demonstrations  -  At least 10 people died on 9 
November as clashes broke out between police and demonstrators from the 
second Mozambican political party, RENAMO, in several towns and cities. The 
former rebel movement had called for demonstrations all over the country in 
protest at the results of the December 1999 elections, which it regards as 
fraudulent. According to the police, the demonstrations were all illegal, 
because RENAMO failed to give the requisite four days written notification 
to all the local authorities and local branches of the police in the places 
where they intended to march. Police spokesman Nataniel Macamo said that 
three people had died in Pemba, capital of the northern province of Cabo 
Delgado, three in Balama, also in Cabo Delgado, three in Moma, in the 
neighbouring province of Nampula, and one in Nampula city. The death toll 
could well be higher: Radio Mozambique said it had received reports of 
seven deaths from elsewhere in Nampula province (in Angoche, Mogovolas and 
Mozambique Island). Details of the clashes are so far fragmentary, but the 
most serious rioting seems to have occurred in Cabo Delgado. According to 
the radio, there were about 300 demonstrators on the streets of Pemba. They 
reportedly seized and beat up Sara Marques, director of the provincial 
branch of STAE (Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat), who they 
blamed for RENAMO's defeat in Cabo Delgado. Cabo Delgado has long been 
regarded as a stronghold of the ruling FRELIMO Party, and in the 1999 
elections, it won 16 of the province's 22 seats, with RENAMO only taking 
six. A small RENAMO demonstration went ahead in Maputo, and the police did 
not disperse it. Macamo said the Maputo demonstrators avoided 
confrontation, and so the police left it alone.   (PANA, Dakar, 9 November 
2000)

* Mozambique. Manifestations sanglantes  -  Le 9 novembre, au moins 22 
personnes, dont 6 policiers, ont été tuées et 113 blessées, lors de 
manifestations de l'opposition dans plusieurs régions du Mozambique. 
Qualifiées d'"illégales" par le président Chissano, celles-ci contestaient 
"la fraude" lors des élections générales de décembre dernier. Ces défilés 
ont surtout eu lieu dans le nord et le centre du pays, bastions de la 
Résistance nationale du Mozambique (Renamo). - Le 10 novembre, le bilan des 
affrontements s'élevait à 31 morts. La police a arrêté plusieurs centaines 
de personnes, dont 5 membres de la Renamo. Le secrétaire général du 
Frelimo, le parti au pouvoir, a demandé le lancement de poursuites 
judiciaires à l'encontre des responsables des émeutes.   (ANB-BIA, de 
sources diverses, 11 novembre 2000)

Weekly anb1116.txt - end of part 3/5