Weekly anb03236.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 23-03-2000      PART #6/7

* Sierra Leone. Commission electorale  -  Une commission electorale independante a ete creee pour veiller aux preparatifs des elections prevues en 2001. La commission, dont les cinq membres ont ete approuves par le Parlement, a prete serment le 20 mars devant le president Kabbah; elle est presidee par un inspecteur general de la police a la retraite, Walter Nicol. - D'autre part, le 22 mars, une marche organisee par l'ONG catholique Caritas, a rassemble plusieurs milliers de personnes a Freetown pour protester contre le recrutement des enfants-soldats et pour qu'ils soient rapidement rendus a leurs familles. Selon des indications, environ 10.000 enfants ont ete enleves par des forces armees, et a peine la moitie d'entre eux ont ete liberes.   (D'apres IRIN, Abidjan, 21-22 mars 2000)

* Sierra Leone. March against recruitment of child soldiers  -  21 March: MISNA reports that a march will be held on 22 March in Freetown, against the recruitment of child soldiers. An initiative that will take off from the eastern neighbourhoods of the city and conclude in the western sector, near the Miatta Conference Centre of the Ministerial Building, where UNICEF representative for Sierra Leone, Joanna van Gapen, will read a document. Also, Foday Sankoh, Johnny Paul Koromah and Hinga Norman and others have adhered to the demonstration.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 22 March 2000)

* Somalia. New bid for reunification  -  18 March: The latest attempt to reunify Somalia enters a crucial phase today. Sixty Somalis chosen to represent a cross-section of society are due to being a UN-backed consultative meeting in Djibouti. Unlike the previous twelve failed peace plans, it's the first initiative not to focus on the warlords and faction leaders who have dominated and destroyed much of Somalia in recent years. The UN representative to Somalia, David Stephen, says Somalia has been without a government for nearly a decade and the initiative offers the best chance of reunification. Opposition to the plan has come from the two northern regions of Somalia -- Puntland and the self-declared Republic of Somaliland -- which have established autonomous administrations and relative peace. 20 March: The talks have had to be postponed due to reports of renewed clashes between rival clans in the Mudug region, a few kilometres north of Mogadishu. They are now due to start tomorrow.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 March 2000)

* Soudan. L'opposition s'est scindee  -  L'union entre l'opposition nordiste et la rebellion sudiste soudanaises a vole en eclats a Asmara, avec la decision, annoncee le 16 mars par le parti Oumma, de quitter l'Alliance nationale democratique (AND) creee en 1995 pour renverser le regime de Khartoum. La formation de l'ancien Premier ministre Sadek El Mahdi a claque la porte de l'AND apres une semaine de reunion des dirigeants des huit partis jusque-la allies pour lutter contre le gouvernement. En revanche, le second parti d'opposition nordiste, le Parti unioniste democratique d'Osman El Mirghani, est reste au sein de l'AND, oppose a tout compromis politique. Mais le secretaire general de l'Oumma a declare: "L'Oumma est favorable a une solution politique. Nous ne pouvons gagner militairement. Il existe une ouverture [du regime] pour un travail politique".   (Le Monde, France, 19 mars 2000)

* Sudan. Opposition alliance splits  -  17 March: The Umma Party, led by former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi, has withdrawn from the exiled opposition coalition which has been campaigning to remove the government of Khartoum. The split happened during a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Asmara (Eritrea). The secretary-general of the NDA, Mubarak al'Mahdi, who is also a very senior official of the Umma Party, resigned his position and walked out of the meeting. The Umma Party, which is a leading northern- based group, wants to return to Sudan, as part of a reconciliation with the Khartoum government. The party argues that changes in recent months in the political situation in Sudan -- which have seen the ousting of Islamist Speaker of Parliament Hassan al-Turabi -- had given the Opposition a chance to reform the system from within. 22 March: The MISNA press agency reports that the Sudanese government has expressed its appreciation for the cease-fire declaration by the Umma Party and its military wing, the Umma Liberation Army, thus ending hostilities with government forces. Also, with Ummah's disassociation from John Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 23 March 2000)

* Uganda. Ssemogerere to finally step down  -  The Democratic Party's president-general, Dr Paul Ssemogerere has finally decided to quit the party leadership. He will also not challenge President Museveni for the national presidency. A process has already started to revitalise the leadership of the party from top to bottom. Although he is quitting the party leadership, Ssemogerere says he is going to focus his remaining energy on the struggle against the forthcoming referendum.   (Sunday Vision, Uganda, 12 March 2000)

* Uganda. Government will foot the referendum bill  -  President Yoweri Museveni has vowed to fully finance the national referendum in June, which has hitherto been threatened by lack of funds. The President has vowed to mobilise all his supporters to swamp the voting places to ensure there is no boycott. Asked whether he is worried about boycott threats by the Opposition, the President said: "I have never cared about the opposition. They are not serious and have never bothered about the problems of Uganda. They have never had any useful solutions to our problems".   (The East African, Kenya, 13-19 March 2000)

* Ouganda. Croissance menacee  -  Les pays donateurs s'inquietent des importantes depenses militaires de l'Ouganda, qui risquent de ralentir la croissance economique du pays, a indique le 17 mars le representant de la Banque mondiale pour l'Ouganda et la Tanzanie, a trois jours d'une reunion du groupe consultatif des bailleurs de fonds a Kampala. L'Ouganda est implique dans le conflit au Congo ex-Zaire et fait face a des mouvements internes de rebellion dans le nord et l'ouest de son territoire. Lors de l'annee fiscale 1998- 99, les depenses militaires s'elevaient a 128 millions de dollars, soit 2,4% du PIB.   (Le Monde, France, 19 mars 2000)

* Uganda. Cult deaths shock Uganda  -  The graphic severity in last week's events (17 March), in which as many as 400 members of the millennial Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments died after setting fire to their makeshift church in south-western Uganda, has proved a particular shock. President Museveni has condemned the burning as "horrific, senseless and a tragic act", and called on religious and community leaders to be vigilant about the activities of other sects. For the past decade, cultism has been a growing phenomenon in Uganda. These often double as NGOs, which promise to restore social services and a sense of community. More than 200 new churches have registered in recent years. Many of these churches are funded by western organisations, but there is also a resurgence of home-grown bodies led by priests who have spurned traditional churches --as in Kanungu. The reasons for their proliferation are manifold. AIDS, which has hit Uganda particularly badly, has been interpreted by many as a heavenly portent for the end of the world. This has been exacerbated by millennial doom- sayers. The erosion of the extended family has also played a part in prompting rural Ugandans to look for new support mechanisms. Often, unscrupulous leaders can turn this search into a source of revenue or political gain.   (Financial Times, UK, 21 March 2000)

* Ouganda. Suicide collectif  -  Le vendredi 17 mars, les membres de la secte du "Mouvement pour le retablissement des Dix commandements de Dieu" se sont donnes la mort en s'immolant par le feu, croyant la fin du monde imminente. Cette tragedie, qui a eu lieu dans l'eglise de la petite ville de Kanunugu, dans le sud- ouest de l'Ouganda a 320 km de Kampala, pourrait etre le deuxieme suicide collectif le plus meurtrier du siecle. Le premier bilan s'etablissait a 235 morts, mais deux jours apres le suicide, un porte-parole de la police a declare que jusqu'a 470 personnes pourraient avoir peri. D'apres les premiers elements de l'enquete, les adeptes (hommes, femmes et enfants) de la secte se sont barricades dans l'eglise, apres avoir au prealable vendu tous leurs biens comme le leur avait ordonne leur chef; ils ont chante et danse pendant plusieurs heures avant de mettre le feu a l'edifice. La totalite des 234 adeptes enregistres a probablement peri dans les flammes, de meme que certains nouveaux arrivants. On ignore si les chefs de la secte figurent parmi les victimes. Les enqueteurs traitent l'affaire a la fois comme un suicide et comme un meurtre, en raison du nombre important d'enfants impliques. Au cours des derniers mois, en septembre et novembre 1999, la police ougandaise avait demantele deux autres sectes, les accusant d'etre une menace pour eux-memes et pour la communaute. - Le 22 mars, le bilan des victimes etabli par la police s'elevait a 530 morts, dont 78 enfants.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 22 mars 2000)

weekly news anb0323 - End of Part 6/7