Weekly anb02014.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 01-02-2001      PART #4/7

* Eritrea-Ethiopia. No easy road to peace  -  As you drive towards the 
Ethiopia- Eritrea border, the dry, dusty roads and blazing hot sun, are not 
the most amenable conditions. Those that live along the 1,000 km border may 
be accustomed to it, but what of the thousands of fresh-faced peacekeepers 
who started arriving one month ago, with the aim of making peace stick 
between Ethiopia and Eritrea. More than three-quarters of the 4,200 strong 
peacekeeping force have been deployed so far. They are keen and eager, but 
they are in inhospitable territory. Temperatures in some areas like the 
Eastern Bure front, are soaring above 50C. The terrain is hazardous and 
varies from treacherous mountain regions to desert-like, barren landscapes. 
And communication with the local population is problematic as most people 
only speak the local dialect. The United Nations Mission in Eritrea and 
Ethiopia seems to be prepared for any practical eventuality, bringing with 
them everything from portable toilets through to armoured ambulances. At 
the Central Sectoral Headquarters in Adigrat, a 1,600 strong Dutch-Canadian 
battalion is deployed.   (BBC News, 25 January 2001)

* Eritrea-Ethiopia. UNMEE present temporary security zone plan  -  The 
United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has presented the 
two parties with its redeployment plans for the establishment of the 
Temporary Security Zone. The security zone is to be used to separate the 
Ethiopian and Eritrean forces and allow the UN to monitor their security 
agreements. Since a peace agreement was signed on the 12th of December 
Ethiopia and Eritrea have failed to reach a consensus on the establishment 
of the buffer zone, where the majority of the UNMEE's 4,200 peacekeepers 
will be deployed. Eritrea and Ethiopia have been fighting over their 
disputed border since 1998 in a conflict which has cost tens of thousands 
of lives. (BBC News, 31 January 2001)

* Ethiopia. Neighbours seek to share the Nile  -  The Nile has been 
identified by analysts as a potential source of regional conflict over the 
next 25 years, as water becomes an increasingly scarce commodity. The 
meeting, in Addis Ababa, was trying to work out a common position, which 
the Egyptian minister, Mahmud Abu-Zayd, said could serve as a springboard 
for developing the equitable utilisation of the Nile. The Rive Nile is 
almost 7,000km long and, with its tributaries, flows though nine countries. 
The combined population of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia is expected to rise 
rapidly in the next 50 years, putting further strain on an already limited 
resource. In the era of globalisation, we cannot afford to work in 
isolation. We are bound by the dictates of the modern global economy and 
the hydrology of Nile River system to work together for the benefit of our 
peoples," said Ethiopian Water Minister Shiferaw Jarso. It was announced at 
the meeting that a donors consortium will be convened in June in Geneva, 
where it is hoped international agencies and donor countries will commit 
themselves to the initiatives taken by the three countries meeting in Addis 
Ababa.   (BBC News, 28 January 2001)

* Guinea. Refugees stuck in Africa's unseen war zone  -  Hundreds of 
thousands of Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees in south-west Guinea are 
facing a potentially deadly dilemma: they must decide whether to stay in an 
increasingly unstable country or try to return to an uncertain future in 
their strife-torn homelands. About 328,000 refugees from Sierra Leone 
living in Guinea for the past three years, and 122,000 Liberian exiles who 
fled a decade ago, are struggling to survive in isolated camps along one of 
the most volatile borders in Africa. The outside world knows little of 
their plight.Until recently Guinea was a relatively stable asylum country. 
But the proliferation of guns, diamonds and power that comes with 
controlling territory have spawned rebel groups and despots throughout West 
Africa. The resulting instability now threatens Guinea, whose border with 
Sierra Leone and Liberia has become Africa's latest war zone.According to 
government estimates, more than 1,000 people have died in recent fighting, 
and caught in the crossfire are the hundreds of thousands of refugees who 
fled to Guinea for safety, as well as Guinea's civilians who were forced to 
flee their homes.The attacks, which began in September, have also affected 
the international aid community. A UN refugee worker was murdered in 
September and another was abducted during an attack on the southern town of 
Macenta. The kidnapped UNHCR staff member was later freed in Liberia, but 
the fighting forced many aid agencies to withdraw from southern Guinea for 
several weeks.Another round of rebel attacks began in late November near 
the south-west Guinea towns of Gueckedou and Kissidougou. More than 250,000 
people, most of them refugees, have been affected. Several refugee camps 
were destroyed and tens of thousands of refugees were displaced from 
existing camps. In early December another UN refugee worker based in 
Gueckedou was kidnapped by withdrawing rebels. He was released 47 days 
later.Despite the continuing security problems, the UNHCR and relief groups 
from Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, Spain, the US and other countries 
have been trying with little success since the end of last year to gain 
regular access to the estimated 250,000 people who have been isolated by 
the fighting -- many of them south-west of Gueckedou.   (The Guardian, UK, 
29 January 2001)

* Kenya. La pêche sur le lac Victoria  -  Les autorités de la province 
kényane de Nyanza ont décidé de durcir la lutte contre la surexploitation 
du lac Victoria en sévissant notamment contre la pêche au chalut. Les 
commissaires de district ont reçu des instructions pour mettre un arrêt 
définitif à la complicité entre les pêcheurs et les agents des services de 
pêche. L'adjoint du directeur de ces services a déjà été muté et les autres 
agents ont été avertis qu'ils pourraient subir le même sort. Les 
exportations de poisson rapportent au Kenya plus de $6,5 millions par an en 
devises. Le durcissement des autorités kényanes intervient au moment où 
l'Ouganda et la Tanzanie, qui partagent le lac Victoria avec le Kenya, 
apprécient mal que les agents des pêches kényanes tolèrent la pêche au 
chalut sur le lac, alors qu'eux- mêmes y ont mis un terme. -D'autre part, 
le 26 janvier, le ministre kényan du Développement rural a annoncé que le 
Kenya reprendra ses exportations de poisson vers l'Europe, après avoir 
satisfait aux normes d'hygiène exigées par l'Union européenne. Il y a deux 
ans, celle-ci avait interdit l'importation de poisson du Kenya lorsqu'il 
avait été établi que les pêcheurs utilisaient des produits chimiques. L'UE 
a levé cette interdiction en décembre dernier.   (PANA, Sénégal, 25- 27 
janvier 2001)

* Kenya. Archaeologists discover treasure  -  Diving in the shadow of a 
16th-century fort off Kenya's coast, marine archaeologists said on 24 
January they have found new treasures in the Indian Ocean and conducted 
Africa's first undersea archaeological survey. After 10 days searching the 
waters around Mombasa Island, the archaeologists said they have discovered 
at least four sunken vessels, including a Portuguese frigate destroyed 
during a battle in the late 1690s, and ceramics created between 3000 B.C. 
and 10,000 B.C. But they said those finds are just the rewards of a more 
important accomplishment: A comprehensive survey that takes in the 
landscape of both the shoreline and the adjacent seabed. Marine archaeology 
focuses not only on individual shipwrecks but on the whole environment, 
analyzing how life has evolved in coastal areas. And the Africa's eastern 
coast - visited for centuries by Asian, Arab, African, and later, European 
sailors and traders -provides a rich hunting ground.   (InfoBeat, USA, 25 
January 2001)

* Kenya. Six Sudanese deported  -  Kenya has deported six Sudanese men said 
to be linked to Muslim extremist Osama bin Laden, who is wanted by the 
United States for the 1998 bombings of its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, 
officials said Thursday. Government officials would not disclose the 
reasons for the expulsions, but police sources and officials speaking on 
condition of anonymity said the deportees had been recruiting Kenyans for 
bin Laden's militant training camps. Six Sudanese were arrested Jan. 7. Two 
of them did not challenge the deportation order and left the country two 
weeks ago. Four others, who had appealed, were deported Wednesday, said a 
senior immigration officer on condition of anonymity. He refused to say to 
which country they were sent. The United States has charged bin Laden with 
ordering the Aug. 7, 1998 bombings of its embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and 
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The attacks killed 224 people, including 12 
Americans, and wounded 5,000 others and were said to have been ordered by 
terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. (InfoBeat, USA, 25 January 2001)

* Kenya. La campagne anti-corruption menacée  -  Le directeur de l'Autorité 
anti- corruption du Kenya (KACA), le juge Aaron Ringera, a donné sa 
démission, selon la presse locale du 29 janvier. Cette démission intervient 
à la suite de la remise en cause persistante de la constitutionnalité de sa 
nomination ainsi que de celle de la structure elle-même. La KACA avait été 
instituée par le gouvernement en 1998, sur l'instigation du FMI et de la 
Banque mondiale, comme une des nombreuses conditions pour la reprise de 
l'aide suspendue l'année précédente. La démission du juge Ringera 
intervient deux semaines à peine après qu'une mission d'évaluation du FMI 
et de la Banque mondiale s'est plainte de la lenteur du rythme des réformes 
économiques et politiques au Kenya. La mission avait également reproché aux 
autorités kényanes de n'avoir pas réussi à satisfaire les conditions 
conclues avec les bailleurs, dont la plus importante est le combat contre 
la corruption.   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 29 janvier 2001)

* Liberia. "Blood diamonds" challenge  -  Liberia has issued a challenge to 
the international community to prove its allegations that President Charles 
Taylor is involved in diamond smuggling which fuels the Sierra Leone civil 
war. Addressing a Security Council hearing at the United Nations, the 
Liberian Foreign Minister Monie Captan said that President Taylor had 
offered to resign if any proof was forthcoming. But he questioned why the 
international community, with all its resources, was finding it difficult 
to reveal any "money trail". Earlier, the UK's deputy ambassador to the UN 
said: "There can no longer be a shadow of a doubt that President Taylor has 
been callously prolonging the conflict for personal gain." Britain and the 
United States are calling for the imposition of wide-ranging sanctions 
including an expanded arms embargo, a ban on Liberian diamond and timber 
exports, on Liberian-registered flights and a travel ban on government and 
military officials. In attempts to avoid sanctions, Liberia has already 
announced the grounding of all Liberian-registered aircraft, insisted it is 
willing to allow UN monitors at its airports, seaports and borders and said 
it wants the UN to supervise all diamond matters in the country.   (BBC 
News, 26 January 2001)

* Libéria. Attaque guinéenne  -  Le 29 janvier, dix personnes au moins ont 
été tuées dans le nord-est du Libéria, lors d'une attaque par des 
hélicoptères guinéens contre la ville frontière de Solumba, a affirmé le 
ministre libérien de la Défense, Daniel Chea. Mais le bilan pourrait être 
beaucoup plus lourd, un grand nombre de personnes étant présentes pour le 
marché hebdomadaire. "Ces attaques non provoquées contre notre territoire 
sont inadmissibles", a dit M. Chea. Depuis plusieurs mois, les deux pays 
s'accusent mutuellement d'incursions armées déstabilisatrices dans le 
territoire du voisin, par forces rebelles interposées. Chacun des pays 
abrite des réfugiés ayant fui l'autre.   (La Libre Belgique, 1er février 2001)

* Libya. Kadhafi urges Libyans to seek alternatives to oil  -  Libyan 
leader, Col. Moammar Kadhafi, has reiterated his call to Libyans to 
seriously explore alternative resources other than oil, so as to ensure 
better living standards for future generations. Kadhafi re-echoed the 
statement on 22 January on Libyan television on the occasion of the first 
meeting of the year 2001 of the Libyan general people's committee. He 
warned Libyans against using oil revenues in projects which had no 
long-term impact. "I can never deceive the Libyan people... the oil tap is 
going to run dry one day. Oil is an exhaustible resource. What are we going 
to do tomorrow to finance food imports for instance that would cost one 
billion dollars annually and 280 million dollars for medical products 
intended for five million inhabitants today?" the Colonel said. He said now 
was the time to explore the oil and use its revenues to invest in Africa 
where there are bid water reserves. Libya, Kadhafi said, like all other 
countries of the Maghreb, currently suffers from a serious water shortage. 
"What are we going to do in 2025 when there would be a high population 
growth?. "We have succeeded in opening the doors of Africa before the 
Libyans. Now then what are we waiting for the construction of roads and to 
export electricity towards Chad, Niger, Sudan, and to invest in agriculture 
and industry?". He said administrative functions continue to swallow up oil 
revenues in spite of regulations, and warned that such a practice should be 
discontinued as it would not ensure better days for the country. He then 
urged the Libyan general people's committee to equip Libya with modern 
infrastructure, especially in the fields of communications and 
telecommunications.   (PANA, Senegal, 24 January 2001)

Weekly anb0201.txt - End of part 4/7