Weekly anb11305.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-11-2000      PART #5/6

* Morocco. 6 new Franciscans arrive  -  Since September 15, there are 6 new 
Franciscans in Morocco, coming from six different countries, Italy, Poland, 
Congo RDC, Honduras, Chile and Taiwan. They are spending the first few 
months in a Franciscan community in Rabat to make contact with the local 
people, culture, language and Church community, before moving in December 
to Tangiers. The Catholic Church in Morocco is a small flock of only 25,000 
out of a population of about 28 million. Scarce local vocations and an 
aging clergy hamper witness which is important in this almost totally 
Muslim land. To boost the presence of his men in Morocco, a land which St 
Francis dreamed of visiting, Franciscan Superior General Giacomo Bini sent 
an S.O.S. to the Franciscan world calling for volunteers to sustain the 
Moroccan community left with only 25 members. The new arrivals have before 
them a vast field of apostolate: parishes and small communities of foreign 
residents; chaplaincy to communities of Religious, foreign students from 
sub-Saharan Africa. Undertakings with more direct contact with the local 
people include: work in libraries and study-centres, high schools and 
technical schools, social and educational service, all in close contact 
with the local Muslims.   (Fides, Vatican City, 17 November 2000)

* Mozambique. Inondations  -  Au moins neuf personnes ont trouvé la mort 
dans les inondations provoquées par les pluies torrentielles qui se sont 
abattues ces trois derniers jours dans le centre et le sud du Mozambique. 
Selon la radio mozambicaine, au moins 5 personnes, dont un enfant, ont 
trouvé la mort le 19 novembre dans la province centrale de la Zambézie, où 
des informations concordantes font état d'un bilan beaucoup plus lourd. Les 
victimes seraient également nombreuses dans les autres provinces touchées 
par des pluies diluviennes. De grosses tempêtes sont encore annoncées, le 
22 novembre, dans divers endroits du pays, déjà confronté en février 
dernier à d'importantes inondations qui ont fait 700 morts.   (PANA, 22 
novembre 2000)

* Namibie. Contre la guerre en RDC  -  Le 20 novembre, les députés du parti 
d'opposition, le Congrès des démocrates, ont sévèrement critiqué 
l'engagement militaire de leur pays dans les guerres civiles en Angola et 
en République démocratique du Congo. Ils intervenaient lors d'un débat sur 
une loi de finance additionelle de 566 millions de dollars namibiens. La 
Namibie a envoyé des troupes pour soutenir le régime du président congolais 
Kabila et a autorisé l'armée angolaise à opérer à partir de son territoire 
pour attaquer les rebelles de l'Unita, ce qui, selon l'opposition, a des 
effets négatifs sur l'industrie touristique. Ils ont critiqué le 
gouvernement pour avoir consacré des millions de dollars namibiens dans la 
guerre en RDC au moment où les citoyens ordinaires s'appauvrissent 
davantage chaque jour.   (PANA, 20 novembre 2000)

* Nigeria. Doctor's strike claims 2,500 lives  -  At last 2,500 people have 
reportedly died since the current industrial action embarked upon by 
resident doctors in Nigeria. Disclosing this at a press conference in Port 
Harcourt, the President of the Association of Resident Doctors, University 
of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Dr. Bonas B. Harry, said the 
deaths were mainly from "infant and under-five mortalities complicated 
obstetrics case as well as those from road traffic and sea accidents." He 
said the UPTH, which renders highly skilled and specialised services, has 
completely shut down and that daily clinic attendants which was within the 
range of 1,200 to 1,500 patients had decreased to about 5 to 20 patients a 
day. Besides, since the strike started some eight weeks ago, Dr. Bonas 
Harry maintained, the UPTH could only undertake three surgeries involving 
members of staff as against close to 150 surgeries done weekly. Admission 
rate, he said, was zero and old patients had been discharged. Giving 
reasons for the current strike, Dr. Harry stated that each time there was a 
salary review by governments, the call-duty allowance of doctors was always 
left out. "Call-duty allowance, as it is presently called, is paid in 
recognition of the extra hours we put in as doctors.... Therefore, it is 
tantamount to monumental injustice if there is upward review of salaries 
and other allowances of workers without touching the call-duty pay of a 
doctor," the resident doctors' president said. He described as 
unconstitutional, undemocratic, ill- advised and self-serving the Minister 
of Health's instruction that their salaries should not be paid, adding "we 
may begin to consider working like every other civil servant from 8 to 4 
p.m. without calls, since government is finding it difficult to properly 
remunerate us on the extra hours we put in as doctors."   (Casimir Igbokwe, 
PM News, Nigeria, 16 November 2000)

* Nigeria. Abacha's booty  -  The UK Serious Fraud Office on (SFO) 17 
November bowed to international requests to investigate the role played by 
several UK banks in handling money plundered from Nigeria by General Sani 
Abacha, the country's former leader. The SFO inquiry marks a significant 
stepping up of the British response to long-standing requests from Nigeria 
and Switzerland for help in tracing more than $4bn (E4.7bn) looted by the 
late dictator. It follows concern expressed by Nigeria over lengthy delays 
by the UK authorities in acting over the scandal. The Nigerian government 
believes at least $950m of Abacha money passed through London -much of it 
on its way to other financial centres, including Jersey, Switzerland and 
Luxembourg. It has asked the UK authorities to freeze accounts, seize 
papers and trace assets. The SFO would not divulge which London-based banks 
it will be investigating. It said only: "The SFO has received a request for 
mutual legal assistance from judicial authorities in Switzerland regarding 
the Abacha case and is acting upon that." The investigation is in response 
to criminal proceedings being mounted by the Swiss authorities against 
Mohammed Abacha, the son of the former leader, and other individuals. In 
June, Georges Zecchin, the Geneva judge heading the Swiss inquiry, charged 
Mr Abacha with money laundering, fraud, belonging to a criminal 
organisation and embezzling public money. Two other men have also been 
charged -- Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Mr Abacha's London-based partner and 
former power and steel minister, and Dharam Vir, an Indian businessman 
suspected of being an intermediary in an alleged Abacha scam involving 
construction of the Ajaokuta steel complex in Nigeria. (Financial Times, 
UK, 18 November 2000)

* Nigeria. Des journalistes risquent la bastonnade  -  Selon les 
informations recueillies par Reporters sans frontières, les médias de 
l'Etat de Kano ont rapporté à la mi-novembre que le gouvernement régional 
souhaitait voter une loi condamnant les journalistes publiant des 
informations offensant la sharia à une peine de 60 coups de bâton. Le 
gouvernement de Kano n'a pas démenti ces informations et d'autres journaux 
ont affirmé qu'un comité de onze membres avait été mis en place pour 
examiner la proposition de loi préparée par l'émir de l'Etat de Kano. Le 26 
novembre, la sharia doit entrer en application dans l'Etat de Kano. RSF a 
adressé une lettre au gouverneur de l'Etat, affirmant que "ce projet de loi 
viole la Constitution nigériane, le Pacte international relatif aux droits 
civils et politiques et la Charte africaine des droits de l'homme et des 
peuples ratifiés par le Nigeria".   (RSF, France, 20 novembre 2000)

* Nigeria. Food security and better income for African farmers  -  The 
Nigeria-based International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), has 
recorded yet another feat in its efforts to improve food production, food 
security and income for the poor people of sub-Saharan Africa with the 
development of Striga resistant maize varieties. Otherwise known as 
witch-weed or fire-weed, Striga is a parasitic weed that attaches itself to 
the roots of maize or certain other cereals and legumes, thereby depriving 
the crops of required nutrients for survival and development, while causing 
toxic effects that eventually destroy its hosts. The effect is wilting of 
the host plants and severe yield loss. Striga infests about 40% arable land 
in the Savannah regions of sub-Saharan Africa, thus threatening the lives 
of more than 100 million people who depend on cereals and grains in the sub 
region. The new maize varieties developed by IITA scientists were 
introduced to farmers at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja in 
collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in the 
area. A special field day was recently organized for maize farmers in the 
area by maize breeders in the Crop Improvement Division of the Institute to 
create public awareness on the research breakthrough which is expected to 
make a monumental impact on maize farmers in sub- Saharan Africa, where 
yield loss attributed to the effect of Striga is estimated at US $7 billion 
annually. Addressing farmers and other dignitaries on the occasion, the 
IITA maize breeder, Dr. Jennifer Kling, said confidently that "maize 
varieties have been developed that can suppress the development of Striga, 
and double maize yields in farmers' fields where Striga occurs." The 
varieties include maize that mature early (70 days), the intermediate 
maturing varieties (80 days) and those that are late maturing (90 days). 
The farmers who were conducted around the various experimental and 
demonstration plots and farmers' fields in the area, were convinced about 
the impact of the improved varieties.   (Taye Babaleye, ANB-BIA, Nigeria, 
21 November 2000)

* Rwanda/Burundi. Barrage hydroélectrique  -  Le Rwanda et le Burundi 
viennent de conclure un accord en vue de travailler conjointement à la 
production d'une centrale hydroélectrique en construisant un barrage sur la 
rivière de la Ruzizi le long de la frontière entre le Rwanda, le Burundi et 
la RDC, apprenait-on sur les ondes de la radio nationale. Cette décision a 
été prise à l'issue d'une rencontre de deux jours à Kigali entre les 
ministres de l'énergie des deux pays. Les deux Etats sont convenus de faire 
tout ce qui était dans leur pouvoir pour trouver des fonds pour ce 
projet.   (IRIN, Nairobi, 21 novembre 2000)

* Sahara occidental. Manoeuvres de l'ALS  -  Le 20 novembre à Douguej 
(sud-est du Sahara), l'Armée de libération sahraouie (ALS) a procédé à des 
manoeuvres en prévision, selon l'agence de presse sahraouie, d'un "retour 
imminent" de la guerre au Sahara occidental. Des bataillons d'infanterie 
motorisés, de l'artillerie lourde et la DCA ont participé à ces 
manoeuvres.   (Le Monde, France, 22 novembre 2000)

* Sierra Leone. UK tactics criticised  -  16 November: The commander of the 
UN peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone, General Mohammed Gaba (Nigeria) 
has strongly criticised Great Britain for mounting a show of military force 
this week in support of the government side of the way, just hours after a 
ceasefire agreement was signed. The dramatic show of British capability 
includes the arrival in Sierra Leone of warships, attack helicopters and 
600 marines.   (BBC News, 16 November 2000)

* South Africa. Local chiefs to keep power  -  The South African Government 
has defused a dispute with tribal leaders that threatened to derail key 
local elections set for early December (5 december), allowing them -- at 
least for now -- to retain most of their local powers. The 800 traditional 
leaders in South Africa who hold sweeping powers over millions of people 
had threatened to boycott the elections unless their demands were met. 
(CNN, 16 November 2000)

* Afrique du Sud. Justice  -  Le 21 novembre, cinq membres du Pagad, une 
milice d'inspiration islamiste, ont été condamnés à huit ans de prison pour 
possession d'armes et de munitions. Les peines prononcées montrent un 
durcissement de la justice sud- africaine à l'égard du terrorisme urbain 
qui sévit au Cap depuis deux ans. - D'autre part, le 22 novembre, les six 
policiers blancs accusés d'avoir "entraîné" leurs chiens à l'attaque sur 
des clandestins mozambicains ont été remis en liberté provisoire, sans être 
formellement inculpés, dans l'attente d'un "complément de preuves". Les 
policiers avaient été filmés en 1998. La découverte de cette vidéo, début 
novembre, avait suscité une grande émotion en Afrique du 
Sud.   (Liberation, France, 22-23 novembre 2000)

* Sudan. US Bishops' Statement  -  In a Statement published on 14 November, 
the US Catholic Bishops said that the cruel, fratricidal conflict in Sudan 
continues with few signs that an end is in sight. "One of the worst human 
tragedies of our times has been met with relative indifference by the 
international community. During the last 17 years, more than two million 
men, women and children have died, and twice that number have been driven 
from their homes and ancestral lands". The Bishops go on to say that the 
Bishops of Sudan are clear that all sides are engaged in egregious human 
right abuses, including the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army. The 
Sudanese Government, however, bears the greatest responsibility for abuses 
against civilian populations.   (US Catholic Bishops, 14 November 2000)

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