Weekly anb12144.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 14-12-2000  PART #4/6

* Guinée. Violents combats - Selon le haut-commissaire aux réfugiés, Sadako 
Ogata, une "catastrophe humanitaire majeure" est imminente dans le sud-est 
de la Guinée où, depuis septembre, de violents combats opposent forces 
armées régulières et bandes non identifiées venues de la Sierra Leone et du 
Libéria. De source gouvernementale à Conakry, on annonce que les combats, 
le 6 décembre, lors de l'attaque de la ville frontière de Guékédou, ont 
fait 48 morts, dont 36 civils et 12 "rebelles". Le gouvernement, qui a 
accusé les assaillants d'être venus du Libéria voisin, n'a pas diffusé de 
bilan des pertes côté militaire. Le 10 décembre, lors d'une "importante 
attaque" lancée contre Kissidougou dans le sud du pays, l'armée guinéenne 
affirme avoir tué au moins 150 rebelles. La version officielle désigne les 
rebelles du RUF sierra- léonais et des formations armées libériennes comme 
responsables des deux assauts, mais ceux-ci ont été revendiqués par un 
groupe dissident, le Rassemblement des forces démocratiques de Guinée. 
(ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 12 décembre 2000)

* Guinea. ECOWAS to discuss the on-going violence - 8 December: As Guinean 
troops battle in Guinea's south-west, the UNHCR warns of a looming 
humanitarian catastrophe. The agency issues the warning after one of its 
offices, in Gueckedou, was destroyed during fighting between government 
troops and rebels. 11 December: The Economic Community of West African 
States (ECOWAS) is meeting in Bamako, Mali, for talks expected to focus on 
the violence in Guinea. A senior ECOWAS official has said that its 
secretariat will recommend to the Bamako meeting that ECOWAS provide 
well-trained and well-equipped troops, rather than just observers, if the 
tension in Guinea worsens. 12 December: The UNHCR says it has lost contact 
with over 400,000 refugees in Guinea. The refugees, who fled conflicts in 
neighbouring Sierra Leone and Kiberia, have got caught up in new fighting 
between Guinean government troops and rebels. Many thousands of them have 
fled for their lives. All international UN staff have been forced to flee 
the area in southern Guinea where the fighting is taking place. (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 13 December 2000)

* Guinea. Amnesty calls for Conde's release - The human rights 
organisation, Amnesty International, has called on the authorities in 
Guinea to release the leading opposition figure, Alpha Conde, and a number 
of his supporters. Amnesty said many of Mr Conde's supporters had been 
tortured and did not have a fair hearing, adding that the rule of law could 
never be applied in Guinea while the armed forces continued to act with 
total impunity. Mr Conde, who's president of the Guinean People's Rally, 
was a leading presidential candidate when he was arrested in 1998. He was 
convicted of sedition and sentenced to five years in jail. Ten of his 
supporters were accused of threatening the security of the state were given 
sentences of up to three years. (BBC News, 12 December 2000)

* Kenya. MP seeks an end to political parties - A Kenyan opposition 
legislator has moved a motion in parliament seeking the abolishment of 
political parties and the creation of a partyless state. Social Democratic 
Party, (SDP) member for Juja, Stephen Ndicho, wants all political party 
activities in the country to be suspended for at least 10 years in order to 
curb tribalism. Kenya, which has 47 tribes, ended its single party rule in 
1991 and has since held two multi-party general elections. Mr Ndicho 
insisted that his motion did not advocate for a return to a single party 
political system but seeks to provide a stop gap measure in the country's 
politics to heal tribal and political divisions. ""Since the advent of 
multi-partyism in this country in 1991, tribalism has really taken a toll 
order on this country," Mr Ndicho told the BBC. "Every tribe in Kenya seems 
to be owning a political party", he said adding that "if this trend 
continues, you can imagine Kenya will be a disintegrated country." The 
member said Kenya should borrow a leaf from Uganda where President Museveni 
banned political parties when he took power in 1986 in order to restore 
stability in a country that had been ravaged by war. Mr Ndicho said there 
was political enmity among Kenya's different party members, adding that 
during the 1992 and 1997 general elections, results showed that voting was 
done along tribal or regional lines. (BBC News, 7 December 2000)

* Liberia. US pushes on Liberia - The US is to intensify pressure on 
illicit trading in conflict diamonds by pushing for a United Nations 
embargo on Liberia's diamond trade, which is blamed for funding conflict in 
neighbouring Sierra Leone. Washington is keen to impose the embargo before 
the end of President Bill Clinton's term on January 20, though diplomats 
say the initiative is expected to be taken up by the next US administration 
regardless of who wins the presidential election. The US is expected to 
link its campaign to a UN report on Sierra Leone sanctions violations that 
is likely to implicate Charles Taylor, Liberia's president. Washington is 
likely to find support for its initiative from the Security Council, 
especially from the UK which has become increasingly involved in the fight 
against the trade in diamonds mined in war zones and sold on the 
international market. These diamonds are blamed for fuelling conflicts in 
Sierra Leone and Angola, where rebels sell them to buy weapons and fuel, 
perpetuating some of Africa's most horrific wars. (Financial Times, UK, 11 
December 2000)

* Morocco. Morocco targets dissenters - Moroccan Islamists and human rights 
activists went on trial on 11 December following a weekend crackdown that 
dealt a blow to King Mohammad's attempts to improve the country's human 
rights image. Police arrested scores of Islamist and human rights activists 
after violently breaking up demonstrations. The government said protesters 
had ignored an Interior Ministry statement banning demonstrations on a 
weekend marking the 52nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human 
Rights. The crackdown followed the government's ban last week of three 
weekly publications which ran articles implicating Morocco's left, now in 
government, in a foiled 1972 coup against the late King Hassan. The 
measures underlined the limits of tolerance in a country where a new young 
monarch has made human rights a central plank of his reforms. Since taking 
over last year, King Mohammad has settled all outstanding high-profile 
cases of human rights abuses. He promised a new beginning by sacking Driss 
Basri, long-time minister of the interior and symbol of the repression of 
the past. The palace's pledge was given further credibility by the presence 
of Abderrahmane Youssoufi, the Socialist prime minister who had been a 
long-time defender of human rights. Moroccans took the regime at its word. 
Al Adl Wal Ihsan, Morocco's largest Islamist group and the one that staged 
the 10 December's demonstrations across the country, has stepped up its 
efforts to win a lifting of restrictions on its activities. These include 
an effective ban on its publications, the denial of passports to officials, 
and regular arrests of student activists. (Financial Times, UK, 11 December 
2000)

* Maroc. Islamistes et droits de l'homme - Le dimanche 10 décembre, 
plusieurs centaines d'islamistes se sont rassemblées à Rabat à l'occasion 
du 52e anniversaire de la Déclaration des droits de l'homme, pour protester 
contre les "tracasseries" dont ils disent être l'objet et l'interdiction de 
leur presse. Ils ont été violemment dispersés par la police. A Casablanca 
et dans d'autres villes du Maroc de semblables rassemblements ont aussi été 
organisés. Dans l'ensemble, 778 membres du groupe islamiste al-Adl Oual 
Ihsane (Justice et Bienfaisance) auraient été arrêtés, dont la fille de 
cheick Yassine, le chef spirituel du groupe. 291 parmi eux seront jugés. 
D'autre part, 41 militants de l'Association marocaine des droits de l'homme 
(AMDH) avaient aussi été interpellés le 9 décembre lors d'un rassemblement 
à Rabat, où ils réclamaient la vérité sur les enlèvements, arrestations et 
tortures commis sous le règne de Hassan II, et des poursuites contre les 
auteurs de ces actes. Ils ont été remis en liberté provisoire, mais des 
poursuites judiciaires ont été maintenues à leur encontre. (ANB-BIA, de 
sources diverses, 12 décembre 2000)

* Maroc. Message du pape - Le secrétaire du Saint-Siège pour les relations 
avec les Etats, Mgr Jean-Louis Tauran, est actuellement en visite 
officielle au Maroc à l'invitation de ce pays, et a transmis au roi 
Mohammed VI un message du pape Jean-Paul II. Hassan II, le père du roi 
actuel, avait accordé un statut à l'Eglise catholique au Maroc. (La Croix, 
France, 14 décembre 2000)

* Mauritanie. Ould Daddah arrêté, puis libéré - Le 9 décembre, la police a 
arrêté le principal opposant au régime, Ahmed Ould Daddah, à son retour 
d'une visite en France, ont annoncé ses avocats. M. Ould Daddah, dont 
l'Union des forces démocratiques-Ere nouvelle (UFD) a été interdite en 
octobre, a été emmené vers une destination inconnue. M. Ould Daddah avait 
déjà été arrêté en avril, puis libéré. Son parti a été interdit pour menace 
à l'ordre public à la suite d'une série de manifestations hostiles à 
Israël. - Le 11 décembre, M. Ould Daddah a été libéré en fin d'après-midi. 
Il a déclaré que la police l'avait interrogé sur ses entretiens avec des 
hommes politiques français. D'autre part, trois jeunes militants de 
mouvements politiques basés en France ont été arrêtés le 10 décembre pour 
"atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat"; ils sont accusés de militer dans des 
mouvements terroristes basés en France, qui veulent renverser le régime en 
place à Nouakchott. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 13 décembre 2000)

* Nigeria. Imposition of Islamic Code faces wide opposition - People in the 
state of Gombe overwhelmingly oppose its plan to impose Islamic law, a 
state-appointed panel says. Mela Audu Nunghe, chairman of the Shariah 
Implementation Committee, said that more than 98% of the people surveyed 
were opposed to the introduction of Shariah, the Islamic legal code, 
because of its divisiveness. Nunghe said the committee, which included both 
Muslims and Christians, took into consideration the need to maintain 
peaceful coexistence among the diverse ethnic and religious groups in the 
northern state, according to the Christian news agency Compass Direct. 
"While most respondents recognize and accept the right of individuals and 
groups to practice and propagate their religion as provided for under 
Section 38 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 
virtually all detest the use of state apparatus, machinery, resources 
and...discriminations to project the interest of Islam over that of other 
faiths, especially Christianity," Nunghe said. The introduction of Shariah 
led to recent violent clashes between Christians and Muslims and the 
destruction of property worth millions of dollars. Twenty-five people were 
killed in Bambam. The violence apparently forced Governor Alhaji Abubakar 
Habiu Hashidu to set up the committee to further consider the implications 
of implementing Islamic law. After receiving the committee's report, 
Hashidu, a Muslim, said: "The almighty Allah will guide us to do the right 
thing." He said his government would work to ensure that "nobody is cheated 
or discriminated against." (Zenit, Italy, 10 December 2000)

* Nigeria. Rééchelonnement de la dette - Le 13 décembre, le Club de Paris a 
décidé le rééchelonnement de la dette extérieure du Nigeria, à hauteur de 
23,4 milliards de dollars sur 20 ans. Le service de la dette sera donc 
réduit à $1 milliard pour l'année prochaine. La totalité de la dette du 
Nigeria s'élève à près de $30 milliards. L'accord entrera en vigueur à la 
mi-avril, si Abuja respecte les termes de ses accords passés avec le FMI. 
Cet accord de rééchelonnement est un pas décisif qui intervient en effet 
après l'octroi, en août dernier, du premier prêt accordé par le FMI depuis 
huit ans à ce géant pétrolier, tout juste sorti de la dictature et englué 
dans d'énormes difficultés économiques. Le Club de Paris a également donné 
son accord de principe pour un nouveau rééchelonnement après juillet 
prochain, si le Nigeria négocie entre-temps un nouveau programme de 
réformes avec le FMI. (AP, 13 décembre 2000)

* Nigeria. Nigeria strikes debt deal - Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo 
edged closer to his goal of debt forgiveness for his country on 13 December 
after the Paris Club group of official creditors announced it had 
rescheduled $29.4bn of foreign debt. The Paris Club countries agreed to 
reschedule payments due on $21bn of debt arrears, and cut Nigeria's most 
urgent debt service charges from $2.4bn to $1bn. The Nigerian government 
said in a statement that it had agreed to pay the Paris Club $700m in 2000 
and $1bn in 2001 as part of the arrangement. Overseas development aid loans 
will now be repaid over 20 years, with a 10-year grace period and at 
'concessional' interest rates. Commercial credits, the bulk of the debt, 
are to be repaid over 18 years, with three years grace and at market 
interest rates. "While Nigeria is pleased to have achieved this important 
normalisation of relations with Paris Club creditors, we see this as the 
first step in a two step process," said Chief Philip Asiodu, economic 
advisor to president Obasanjo. "This agreement sets the stage for Nigeria 
to return to the Paris Club within the next 12 months to seek a 
cancellation of a significant part of these debts." The restructuring will 
take affect on April 15 2001, "unless Nigeria's track record with the 
International Monetary Fund and the Paris Club is not considered 
satisfactory," said the Paris Club's statement. Progress on reforms has 
been patchy this year, with privatisation proving especially controversial 
in a country where the huge state sector has been at the core of 
corruption, cronyism, patronage and inefficiency for several years. 
(Financial Times, UK, 13 December 2000)

Weekly anb1214.txt - end of part 4/6