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

* Somalie. La démobilisation des miliciens  -  La démobilisation des 
milliers de miliciens et leur réintégration dans la société sont 
considérées comme la priorité des priorités par le nouveau gouvernement de 
la Somalie, pays resté sans gouvernement central depuis 1991. Ce nouveau 
gouvernement, qui n'est cependant pas reconnu par tous les chefs de guerre 
se disputant des territoires dans le pays, s'est fixé pour objectif de 
démobiliser 75.000 miliciens au cours des trois prochaines années, de leur 
permettre de recevoir une formation professionnelle et de les aider à 
réintégrer la société. Le Programme des Nations unies pour le développement 
(PNUD) s'est félicité de cette initiative en déclarant qu'un soutien de la 
communauté internationale était indispensable à sa réussite. Sur un groupe 
de 500 miliciens interrogés à Mogadiscio au début de novembre, 493 ont 
déclaré qu'ils étaient prêts à quitter leurs groupes armés si on leur 
donnait du travail.   (PANA, 28 novembre 2000)

* South Africa. Facing $30 million loss  -  South Africa has been deprived 
of a large part of its oil reserves for a year and could lose more than 
$30m after a secret deal between the state oil trading company and a 
Dutch/South African consortium, according to an official report seen by the 
Financial Times. As a result, South Africa could be forced to replenish its 
oil reserves in the open market at a time when crude prices are high, the 
report by the Energy Ministry says. The report also underlined the 
potential for abuse of black empowerment -- South Africa's effort to 
promote black business. The report focuses on a contract between the 
Strategic Fuel Fund Association (SFF), which oversees the country's oil 
stocks, and a joint venture between High Beam Trading International, a 
local "black empowerment" company, and Trafigura, a large Dutch oil trading 
company. In November last year SFF was granted permission by the energy 
minister to sell 9.5m barrels of low-grade oil in the strategic reserve and 
replace them with better-quality crude by the end of 2000 in a deal worth 
about R1.5bn. The stocks have since been sold to a local refinery but, 
under the deal with HBTI/Trafigura, the deadline for replacing them has 
been set for the end of 2001. "South Africa will be without a significant 
proportion of its strategic crude oil stocks for one year as a result of 
the contract signed with HBTI/Trafigura," the report says. Since the end of 
apartheid in 1994 the African National Congress government has boosted the 
state's income by selling millions of barrels of oil accumulated by the 
white minority regimes of the past to lessen the impact of economic 
sanctions.   (Financial Times, UK, 24 Nov. 2000)

* South Africa. De Beers renews Botswana deal  -  De Beers, the South 
African mining group, has renewed its sales agreement with Botswana, the 
world's largest diamond producer, for another five years. Securing its own 
sources of production is a key element in the company's strategy, now that 
it has ceased trying to control the world diamond market. Mines in Botswana 
supply around $2bn worth of diamonds a year, out of a global total of 
around $6.8bn. They account for over 60 per cent of the diamonds De Beers 
produces itself, and half of the total it sells through its marketing arm, 
the Diamond Trading Company. Botswana's diamond production is handled by 
Debswana, a company owned 50:50 by the Botswana government and De Beers. 
The tripartite agreement signed on 24 November channels Debswana's entire 
diamond production through the Diamond Trading Company, for another five 
years starting on January 1, 2001. Other important "in house" suppliers are 
South Africa, which provides $800m worth, and Namibia ($400m). De Beers' 
more controversial agreement to market a proportion of Russia's $1.4bn 
worth of diamonds comes up for review at the end of 2001.   (Financial 
Times, UK, 27 November 2000)

* South Africa. Ratification of International Criminal Court  -  On 27 
November, Human Rights Watch welcomed South Africa's ratification of the 
Rome Treaty for the International Crminal Court (ICC). In depositing its 
"instrument of ratification" at the United Nations today, South Africa took 
the formal step to become the 23rd state to ratify the Rome Treaty. The ICC 
will prosecute future cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war 
crimes. the court will come into being after 60 states have ratified the 
treaty.   (Human Rights Watch, 27 November 2000)

* Afrique du Sud. Eviction du juge Heath  -  Le juge Willem Heath, le 
"Monsieur Propre" de la nouvelle Afrique du Sud, vient d'être remercié. Le 
28 novembre, la Cour constitutionnelle a jugé anticonstitutionnelle sa 
nomination en 1995 à la tête de l'Unité spéciale de lutte contre la 
corruption, estimant qu'il ne pouvait pas être à la fois juge et enquêteur. 
Homme de confiance de Nelson Mandela, Heath pourrait devoir son limogeage à 
sa trop grande curiosité dans une affaire de vente d'armes. Notamment celle 
des pots-de-vin perçus par des officiels dans la négociation, en 1998, de 
contrats d'armements à hauteur de 30 milliards de FF. (Libération, France, 
30 novembre 2000)

* Soudan. Nouveaux bombardements au Sud  -  Le gouvernement de Khartoum a 
lancé une série d'attaques aériennes contre le sud du Soudan. 18 civils 
auraient été tués au cours d'une attaque à 1.250 km au sud de Khartoum, 
selon un communiqué des rebelles du SPLA et de Susan Rice, la 
vice-secrétaire d'Etat américaine pour l'Afrique, qui est en visite au 
Sud-Soudan. On compte également une cinquantaine de blessés. "Le 
gouvernement soudanais doit cesser ces bombardements horribles et insensés 
contre des objectifs civils. Il n'a aucune excuse. Ces bombardements n'ont 
pas de raison, sinon celle de frapper des civils et de faire peur à ceux 
qui ont le courage de venir les aider", a déclaré Susan Rice.   (Zenith, 
Rome, 23 novembre 2000)

* Soudan. Sadek El Mahdi à Khartoum  -  Le 23 novembre, l'ancien Premier 
ministre et chef du principal parti d'opposition nordiste soudanais, Sadel 
El Mahdi, est rentré à Khartoum après quatre ans d'exil volontaire. Il a 
été accueilli par des milliers de partisans de son parti, l'Oumma. Deux 
ministres et d'autres personnalités politiques étaient également présents. 
M. Mahdi a signé en novembre 1999 un accord de réconciliation avec le 
président soudanais Omar El Béchir, avant de quitter la coalition des 
partis d'opposition du Nord et de la rébellion armée sudiste de John 
Garang. M. Mahdi a déclaré qu'il voulait poursuivre ses contacts avec le 
gouvernement pour des changements politiques. Il n'y a pas d'alternative à 
la démocratie, a-t-il affirmé.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 25 novembre 
2000)

* Sudan. Schoolchildren flee Govt. bombing raids  -  Sudanese government 
planes carried out several bombing raids in the Eastern Equatoria region at 
the weekend, demolishing part of a school and causing people to flee in 
panic, humanitarian sources said on 27 November. The attacks began on 24 
November in Twic county, when 14 bombs were dropped in three raids, hitting 
the Panlit missionary school. Two classrooms were demolished and most of 
the 700 children at the school fled into the bush in panic or returned to 
their villages. A spokesman for the Sudan Production Aid (SUPRAID) 
Non-Governmental organisation, which works in the area, told IRIN the 
children were slowly trickling back from the bush, but they were too afraid 
to resume classes. In another raid, a herd of 73 cows was killed instantly. 
On 25 November, more bombing raids took place near Turalei, causing mass 
panic. One old lady died of shock, but no other casualties have yet been 
reported. People are afraid to venture towards Turalei centre, and bush 
shops remained shut. The Nuer inhabitants of a displaced people's camp fled 
and have not returned. SUPRAID said many of them were returnees from 
Western Upper Nile, and had probably gone back to that area. The spokesman 
added this was the first time Twic county had been bombed consecutively two 
days in a row, and regional observers pointed out that the raids were 
probably a prelude to the "fighting season". The local population is 
reported to be very nervous about the current situation in the 
area.   (IRIN, Eastern Africa, 27 November 2000)

* Swaziland. Borders bloxked  -  Trade unionists in Swaziland, backed by 
colleagues in South Africa, have begun a blockade of the country's borders 
as part of a long- running campaign for greater democracy. Workers at 
border posts have successfully turned back several trucks trying to enter 
the country from neighbouring South Africa.   (BBC News, 29 November 2000)

* Tanzania. Zanzibar seeks deal with Dar  -  Tanzania and its 
semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar have given themselves 60 days to come up 
with an agreement to tackle problems unsettling their 36-year 
union,President Mkapa said on 21 November. Leaders from both sides of the 
union would meet to "thrash out agreements on all basic issues in the 
operation of the union, and issues seen by both sides as impediments to 
efficiency or as source of wrong perception of benefits to the union", 
President Mkapa told the National Assembly.   (Daily Nation, Kenya, 21 
November 2000)

* Tchad. Le pétrole et les armes  -  Interrogé sur l'achat d'armes avec une 
partie du "bonus" pétrolier perçu pour un projet d'extraction soutenu par 
la Banque mondiale, le président Idriss Déby a estimé qu'il ne pouvait y 
avoir de développement "sans sécurité". A Genève, où il participait à une 
conférence des donateurs de son pays qui ont promis 280 millions de FF 
d'aide supplémentaire, il a également annoncé la tenue d'élections 
législatives à la mi-mars, suivies d'une présidentielle en juin ou juillet. 
Il a appelé à la négociation le chef de la rébellion dans le nord, Youssouf 
Togoïmi, en guerre contre son régime depuis 1998. (Le Monde, France, 24 
novembre 2000)

* Chad. Torture victims pursue Habre in court  -  For eight years, 
Suleymane Guengueng and a handful of other former political prisoners in 
this impoverished country carefully gathered and hid evidence of mass 
murder and torture ordered by a US-backed dictator, waiting for the day 
they could face their tormentors in court.They may finally get their 
opportunity. In court cases unprecedented in Africa, Chadians are pursuing 
the brutal former dictator, Hissene Habre, and his collaborators, many of 
whom still hold powerful positions. Human rights activists say the legal 
action was inspired by the campaign to prosecute former Chilean dictator 
Augusto Pinochet. "These cases sound an alarm for dictators across the 
continent," said Reed Brody, advocacy director for New York-based Human 
Rights Watch, which has supported the suits. "They know their impunity can 
be questioned. First Pinochet, then Habre, and they know maybe they could 
be next. It shows accountability is actually possible." US officials have 
said that Washington provided hundreds of millions of dollars to Habre and 
helped train his intelligence service, whose members are now accused of 
torture. In February, Guengueng and four others got a court in Senegal -- 
where Habre has lived in luxurious exile since 1990 -- to indict him for 
torture. Habre's lawyers acknowledged that rights violations took place 
under his rule but said Habre did not order them and the statute of 
limitations had expired. In another precedent, more than 50 Chadians have 
filed cases here in the past month against their alleged torturers, 
including some of Habre's closest collaborators. Almost as surprising as 
the filing is that the cases have not been thrown out, human rights workers 
and diplomats said.   (Washington Post, 27 November 2000)

Weekly anb1130.txt - Enf of part 5/6