Weekly anb01117.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-01-2001      PART #7/7

* South Africa. Saving fish stocks  -  The Englishman, the Scotsman, the 
Roman and the Musselcracker have one thing in common, the South African 
government announced on 3 January: they are all local fish species that 
have been "dangerously over-exploited" and will be protected by harsh cuts 
on licences and quotas. Valli Moosa, minister of environmental affairs and 
tourism, has declared a state of emergency on the so-called linefish sector 
- fish that are caught with hook and line - and the ministry says at least 
20 species are "under serious threat". Although the strict new regulations 
to be announced in the next three months affect inshore species such as Red 
Stumpnose and Rock Cod rather than internationally traded fish such as hake 
and tuna, the woes of the South African fishing industry are similar to 
those of fishermen in the northern hemisphere. More than 500,000 South 
Africans are involved in commercial, subsistence and recreational 
linefishing. Rising unemployment has forced increasing numbers of people to 
turn to the sea for survival. "The low abundance of some fish is already 
resulting in many fishermen finding it difficult to make a living," the 
ministry said. "The ultimate goal of this recovery programme is healthy 
stocks and larger catches. Short-term sacrifices will, in other words, be 
rewarded by long-term gains."   (Financial Times, UK, 3 January 2001)

* Afrique du Sud. Choléra  -  Des experts de l'Organisation mondiale de la 
santé (OMS) vont se rendre en Afrique du Sud pour lutter contre l'épidémie 
de choléra qui a fait 53 morts en 5 mois dans le KwaZulu-Natal, sur plus de 
13.000 cas diagnostiqués. Cette épidémie a un très faible taux de 
mortalité, qui n'a jamais dépassé 0,5%. Mais le nombre de personnes 
infectées continue d'augmenter, avec plusieurs centaines de cas 
diagnostiqués chaque jour.   (Le Soir, Belgique, 4 janvier 2001)

* Soudan. Béchir réélu  -  Le président soudanais Omar el-Béchir a été 
réélu pour un deuxième mandat de cinq ans avec 86,5% des voix. Les 
élections présidentielles et législatives, qui se sont déroulées du 13 au 
20 décembre, étaient boycottées par la quasi-totalité des partis 
d'opposition. Dans un discours télévisé, M. Béchir a affirmé que sa 
priorité était de rétablir la paix dans le pays. Le Congrès national, au 
pouvoir, est également sorti vainqueur des élections en remportant la 
majorité des 278 sièges pourvus, sur un total de 360, selon des résultats 
partiels annoncés le 31 décembre. L'annonce des résultats dans 30 
circonscriptions a été suspendue suite à des plaintes sur des 
irrégularités. La plupart des sièges non remportés par le Congrès national 
l'ont été par des indépendants et des frères musulmans. Les partis 
d'opposition ont qualifié ces élections de "farce" et ont affirmé qu'elles 
avaient été truquées. - Le président Béchir a décidé de proroger d'une 
année l'état d'urgence en vigueur depuis décembre 1999 (lorsqu'il avait 
dissous l'Assemblée nationale). Le décret, publié le 3 janvier, ne donne 
pas de justification à cette prolongation. L'état d'urgence permet au 
gouvernement d'imposer le couvre-feu, d'interdire les manifestations et les 
attroupements publics et de procéder à des détentions sans jugement pour 
une période ne pouvant pas excéder trois mois.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 4 janvier 2001)

* Sudan. Security powers extended  -  President Omar Hassan Bashir has 
extended the state of emergency in Sudan for a year. The official Sudan 
News Agency (SUNA) gave no reasons for the extension of the emergency, 
which was first declared on 12 December 1999, during President Bashir's 
power struggle with former parliamentary Speaker, Hassan 
al-Turabi.   (Financial Times, UK, 4 January 2001)

* Tanzanie. Séisme  -  Le 5 janvier, dans la région de Mbeya, au sud de la 
Tanzanie, plus de 140 familles se sont retrouvées sans abri après la 
destruction de leurs maisons par un séisme, a rapporté la radio nationale. 
Le chef de la police régionale a déclaré que les murs de plusieurs maisons 
du district de Rungwe s'étaient effondrés à cause de secousses qui se sont 
produites durant une dizaine de minutes, mais dont l'intensité n'avait pas 
encore pu être établie. En 2000, plusieurs régions de l'ouest et du sud 
tanzaniens avaient été touchées par des secousses telluriques.   (Le Monde, 
France, 7 janvier 2001)

* Tchad. Violents combats  -  Le chef de la garde rapprochée du président 
Déby, le général Kerim Nassour, a trouvé la mort dans de violents combats 
qui ont opposé, entre le 19 et le 28 décembre, des forces gouvernementales 
aux rebelles du Mouvement pour la démocratie et la justice au Tchad (MDJT), 
a confirmé le ministre tchadien de la défense. Le bilan et le lieu des 
affrontements restent cependant controversés. Selon le MDJT, retranché dans 
la montagne du Tibesti, dans l'extrême nord, les combats se seraient 
déroulés sur la frontière avec la Libye voisine. Selon le gouvernement, ils 
auraient eu lieu "à plus de 250 km à l'intérieur du territoire libyen", 
l'armée tchadienne ayant réussi à porter "un coup fatal" à la logistique du 
mouvement rebelle. Le MDJT, présidé par un ancien ministre de Déby, 
Youssouf Togoïmi, a fait état de 413 morts dans les rangs de l'armée. 
Rejetant ce bilan comme "fantaisiste", les autorités affirment avoir tué le 
chef d'état-major adjoint du MDJT, Doungous Kelleye.   (La Monde, France, 3 
janvier 2001)

* Chad. Deby calls for peace  -  President Idriss Deby has urged northern 
rebels to end their revolt, amid continuing heavy fighting with government 
troops. Mr Deby called on the rebels to lay down their weapons and work 
towards reconciliation. "I appeal solemnly to the armed opposition to give 
up this murderous enterprise because there will only be development in Chad 
if there is final and lasting peace," he said in a New Year address. The 
Chad Defence Ministry has confirmed that the deputy commander of the 
presidential security guards, Abdrahim Nassour, was among 13 government 
soldiers killed in the latest clashes. Armed rebels of the Movement for 
Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT), who want Mr Deby to resign, say they 
have killed 413 government soldiers in the last fortnight. The government 
says more than 120 rebels have died in the violence.   (BBC News, 2 January 
2001)

* Tunisie. Marzouki condamné  -  Le 30 décembre, un tribunal de Tunis a 
condamné l'opposant Moncef Marzouki à une peine cumulée de douze mois de 
prison ferme pour "appartenance à une association interdite" et "diffusion 
de fausses nouvelles de nature à troubler l'ordre public". Marzouki, 55 
ans, est le porte-parole du Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie. 
Ancien président de la Ligue tunisienne des droits de l'homme, ce médecin 
est déjà interdit de voyage et a été licencié de son poste à la faculté de 
médecine de Sousse. Lors du procès, la quarantaine d'avocats assurant sa 
défense s'est retirée, le président du tribunal ayant refusé au prévenu et 
aux avocats d'évoquer la question des libertés en Tunisie.   (Libération, 
France, 2 janvier 2001)

* Uganda. Ugandan election campaign begins  -  Campaigning has begun in the 
Ugandan presidential elections which are due by mid-March. Four contenders 
were officially nominated, including the man expected to present the 
strongest challenge so far to President Yoweri Museveni -- Kisa Besigye, a 
retired colonel and former minister once close to Mr Museveni. A BBC 
correspondent says there was a huge turnout and great excitement at the 
rally where Colonel Besigye launched his campaign. Our correspondent says 
the colonel's popularity appears to stem from his promises to tackle 
corruption, reform the economy and his criticism of militaristic solutions 
to regional problems. President Museveni, who has introduced a non-party 
political system since winning power in 1985, is expected to announce his 
candidacy for a final term on Tuesday.   (BBC News, 8 January 2001)

* Ouganda. Candidats à la présidentielle  -  Le président Yoweri Museveni 
devra affronter six adversaires lors de l'élection présidentielle de mars 
prochain. Les autres candidats déclarés sont: MM. Aggrey Awori (député), 
Francis Bwengye (chef du Parti démocratique), Kiiza Besigye (colonel et 
ancien ministre), Chapaa Karuhanga (homme d'affaires), Mohammed Kibirige 
Mayanga (professeur, déjà candidat aux élections de 1996) et Charles 
Senkubuge (présentateur de radio). Museveni, qui dirige l'Ouganda depuis 15 
ans, brigue un dernier mandat de cinq ans.   (D'après PANA, 8-9 janvier 2001)

* Zambia. Oil refinery shut down  -  Zambia's only Oil Refinery, Indeni 
Petroleum, has been forced to shut down because of lack crude oil, barely 
two weeks after it resumed work. About 40,000 metric tonnes of unprocessed 
crude destined for the refinery are reported to be stuck at the Tanzanian 
port of Dar Es Salaam. The Zambia Daily Mail newspaper reported on 2 
January that Tazama Pipelines was still waiting for instructions from the 
Zambia National Oil Company (ZNOC) before they can pump commingled feed 
stock to the facility. "I am as much in the dark as you are. I only learnt 
of the shut-down on Sunday (December 31) morning so I do not have details," 
the paper quoted deputy minister for Energy and Water Development, 
Celestino Chibamba, as saying. However, sources said that Indeni, which 
started production two weeks ago after undergoing rehabilitation for 19 
months following a fire accident, was switched off four days ago because 
there was nothing to refine. The commingled feed stock was off-loaded into 
storage tanks at the Dar Es Salaam port last Friday. But Tazama could not 
pump the stock to Zambia for refining without instructions from ZNOC. 
Indeni, however, said it is ready to resume production as soon as it 
receives stock. Indeni was gutted by fire in May 1999 and was shut down for 
19 months for repairs estimated to have cost some 19 million US dollars. 
The plant suffered another minor fire accident two weeks ago, a day before 
it resumed operations in which one of the seven furnaces was destroyed. The 
country has been importing refined oil since May 1999 when the plant was 
gutted by fire.   (PANA, Dakar, 2 January 2001)

* Zambia. Food shortages looming in refugee camps  -  The United Nations 
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has run out of food to feed the 
250,000 refugees in Zambia, the organisation's representative in Zambia, 
Oluseyi Bajulaiye has revealed. Bajulaiye said that the current food stocks 
which are supplied by the World Food Programme (WFP) would only last for 
two weeks. He disclosed that apart from facing the problem of finding food 
for the refugees, the UNHCR continues to experience shortfalls in funding. 
He said the UNHCR's operations in Zambia this year would require US $12.5 
million. On 5 January, the British High Commissioner to Zambia, Thomas 
Young, donated 1 million Pounds sterling to the refugee relief effort in 
Zambia. He said the funds are being channelled through the UNHCR to provide 
food emergency assistance and called on other potential contributors to 
come forward with their own contributions for the refugee relief programmes 
already under way.   (Zima Resource Centre, Zambia, 5 January 2001)

* Zambia. DRC soldiers seek asylum in Zambia  -  More than 200 soldiers 
loyal to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Laurent Kabila have 
refused to be repatriated from Zambia opting to seek asylum because of 
fearing facing execution once they return to their home country, security 
sources have revealed. The sources disclosed on Tuesday 9 January that 115 
DRC soldiers and close to 100 Rwanda and Burundese Hutus militiamen are 
seeking asylum in Zambia. The sources are part of the Zambian defence and 
security personnel deployed to monitor the security situation in the 
Zambian towns close to the DRC border areas. The close to 200 soldiers who 
are now being kept at Nchelenge Secondary School suspected members of the 
interahamwe among the Rwandan and Burundese militiamen. Currently there are 
more than 10,000 DRC soldiers fleeing the war in their home country living 
on the Zambian soil, mainly in border towns in Luapula and Northern 
provinces. Some UN refugee agency stuff say they do not know what to do 
with the close to 100 suspected interahamwe militiamen seeking asylum in 
Zambia. They, however, disclosed that the fate of the close to 100 
interahamwes like all asylum seekers in Zambia depends on the outcome of 
the scrutinising of their cases by the Switzerland based UNHCR's refugee 
protection office.The United Nations sanctioned International Criminal 
Tribunal on Rwandan (ICTR) has issued an international warrant of arrest 
for all suspected interahamwe for crimes against humanity they committed in 
1994.   (Gideon Thole, ANB-BIA/ZIMA, Zambia, 9 January 2001)

* Zimbabwe. 2.000 fonctionnaires licenciés  -  Le 3 janvier, le 
gouvernement du Zimbabwe a licencié 2.000 fonctionnaires dans le cadre d'un 
programme de diminution des effectifs de la fonction publique. Les 
débarqués ont reçu leur lettre de licenciement en reprenant le travail 
après les fêtes de fin d'année.   (Libération, France, 4 janvier 2001)

* Zimbabwe. Arming the veterans  -  Senior Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) 
officers have clandestinely released firearms from the police armoury to 
independence war veterans, which the former guerrillas have used to unleash 
violence and terror on white-owned commercial farms and against members of 
the opposition, an investigation by the Financial Gazette has revealed. 
Police sources said deputy commissioner Godwin Matanga - - himself a war 
veteran -- and other senior police officers sometime last year issued guns 
to several war veterans who were not attested to the police force. Several 
of the ex-fighters had also been issued with police uniforms and kit and 
are being assigned to man roadblocks in areas believed to be strongholds of 
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). It is believed that 
scores of war veterans disguised as police officers had already been 
deployed in the hotly contested Bikita West constituency. The ruling 
ZANU-PF party is pitted against the MDC in a tricky by-election scheduled 
for January 13 and 14. The seat was won by the MDC in June last year but 
its newly elected MP, Amon Mutongi, died in November from an 
illness.   (Financial Gazette, Zimbabwe, 4 January 2001)

Weekly anb0111.txt - End of part 7/7 THE END


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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie 
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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