Weekly anb03304.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-03-2000      PART #4/7

* Libya. EU leaders seek talks with Gaddafi at Africa Summit  - 
President Gaddafi is to consolidate his political rehabilitation at
a ground-breaking summit next week, and may hold face-to-face talks
with EU leaders including Romano Prodi, the president of the
European Commission. The first formal summit between the EU and the
Organisation of African Unity (OAU) which starts on 3 April in
Cairo, is seen as an opportunity to thaw relations with Libya and
to bring it closer to the international mainstream.   (The
Independent, UK, 29 March 2000)

* Madagascar. Lourd bilan  -  Le bilan des inondations risque
d'etre plus lourd que prevu a Madagascar. Il est maintenant
question de plus de 200 morts au minimum et de tres importants
degats materiels. Les prochaines recoltes sont menacees, les
regions sinistrees ne disposant meme plus de semences valables pour
leurs prochaines saisons culturales. A ceci s'ajoutent les 1.400
personnes mortes de cholera depuis le debut de l'epidemie en mars
1999. La progression de la maladie est aggravee par le manque
d'hygiene chez une population majoritairement tres pauvre et du
manque de formation du personnel sanitaire au cholera.   (Marches
Tropicaux, France, 24 mars 2000)

* Madagascar. Aid turns to repairs  -  Most flood victims in
Madagascar are out of danger, and relief efforts now will focus on
repairing damaged infrastructure and replanting ruined crops, aid
workers said on 27 March. Meanwhile, the spread of the year-long
cholera epidemic has slowed with drier weather. The World Food
Programme representative, Salha Haladou, said his organisation was
beginning a four-to-six month programme to restore roads, dams,
canals and buildings destroyed in the wake of the two cyclones that
swept over the island in mid-February and early March.   (AP, 27
March 2000)

* Malawi. Floods displace 8,000  -  Flood waters have swept through
Karonga North and Karonga Northeast in the northern part of Malawi,
leaving over 8,000 families in 40 villages homeless, according to
the Commissioner for Relief and Disaster Preparedness, Lucious
Chikuni. Chikuni said in an interview with the Daily Times on 26
March, that the floods which came about after an eight-hour
downpour on 23-24 March, affected almost the entire area. No deaths
were reported. Houses have not been demolished, they have only been
flooded. Chikuni further said that the Rufinya River rose four
meters above the normal levels, flooding the Kyungu and Songwe
Rivers, which forced the water overflow into the traditional
authority areas of Kilipula, Kyungu and Mwakaboko. The victims are
taking refuge in three primary schools in the area.   (Patrick
Mawaya, Malawi, 28 March 2000)

* Maroc. Lutte contre la secheresse  -  Un plan de 6,5 milliards de
dirhams (633 millions de dollars) pour lutter contre la secheresse
pendant la periode 2000-2001 a ete lance le 27 mars. Il prevoit,
outre un developpement de l'adduction d'eau, une enveloppe de 4,2
milliards de dirhams consacree a la creation d'emplois dans les
zones rurales. En raison de la faible recolte de cereales attendue
cette annee, le Maroc en importera 5,2 millions de tonnes pour les
deux annees a venir.   (Le Monde, France, 29 mars 2000)

* Mozambique. Nouveaux bilans  -  Le 22 mars, le gouvernement de
Maputo a appele a une nouvelle aide de 100 millions de dollars pour
quelque 650.000 personnes sinistrees, alors que de nouvelles
inondations menacent deux villes. Le 23 mars, un porte-parole du
gouvernement a annonce que le nombre des personnes tuees par les
inondations s'elevait maintenant a 640, de nouveaux corps ayant ete
decouverts dans la ville de Chokwe et la province de Gaza, dans le
sud. Les organisations internationales estiment cependant que le
bilan definitif sera beaucoup plus lourd.   (ANB-BIA, de sources
diverses, 24 mars 2000)

* Mozambique. The cameras have gone but the misery persists  -  28
March: The lakes of floodwaters that consumed whole towns are
trickling back into Mozambique's rivers, but the TV cameras have
gone, and with them the international attention that set off to
resettle a drowning people. In the next few weeks, Mozambicans will
have good cause to wish that the cameras were back, It is now, at
just the moment when the world's focus has moved on, that foreign
governments must decide how far their commitment goes. Do they walk
away, having completed the job of saving lives? Or do they stop and
face a further task --to help Mozambique rebuild and save its once
shining economy? Today, the Mozambican government will publish an
assessment of the havoc wreaked by more than two months of
flooding. It will form the basis for an appeal next month for huge
sums of money it will cost to rebuild the shattered infrastructure. 
 (The Guardian, UK, 28 March 2000)

* Nigeria. Sharia court orders amputation  -  A man's hand has been
amputated as a punishment ordered by an islamic Sharia court,
according to reports from the northern state of Zamfara. This is
believed to be the first such punishment ordered since the
introduction of the Sharia penal code in the state earlier this
year. The amputation came as human rights lawyers went ahead with
a court case aimed at having the implementation of Sharia declared
unconstitutional. The state government said Buba Bello Kare Garke
Jangebe -- a Muslim man described as a notorious cow thief -- had
his right hand chopped off from the wrist on 22 March. The official
statement said the convicted man had failed to meet a 30-day
deadline to appeal against the sentence.   (BBC News, 23 March
2000)

* Nigeria. Les eveques relancent le dialogue  -  "Notre opposition
a la loi de la sharia au Nigeria ne diminue en rien notre respect
pour l'islam et ses adeptes", dit le document conclusif des eveques
nigerians reunis a Ikeja du 13 au 18 mars. Concernant les derniers
accrochages ethnico-religieux, les eveques ont reaffirme leur refus
de la vengeance et leur volonte de precher le pardon. Ils ont
declare qu'ils veulent continuer a promouvoir les bons rapports
existant entre chretiens et musulmans au Nigeria, en reaffirmant le
besoin d'organes qui puissent renforcer le courage interreligieux.
Les eveques ont denonce aussi la corruption et le nepotisme dans le
pays. Par ailleurs, ils ont elu comme nouveau president de la
conference episcopale Mgr John Onaiyekan, archeveque d'Abuja.  
(Fides, Rome, 24 mars 2000)

* Nigeria. Arret de prospections petrolieres  -  Le geant petrolier
Chevron a suspendu l'exploration petroliere dans le nord du
Nigeria, apres six annees de recherche infructueuse, ont indique
des responsables de l'entreprise, cites par The Guardian. D'autres
partenaires pour l'exploration, les compagnies Shell et Elf,
envisagent egalement de mettre un terme aux operations dans la
region. Chevron a depense quelque 18 millions de dollars dans la
region, la depression de Benue, qui comprend les Etats de Bauchi,
Taraba et Plateau.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 27 mars 2000)

* Nigeria. Assembly in budget clash  -  28 March: Government
officials are trying to dissuade the National Assembly from
awarding itself $290 million is salaries, in an effort to avert a
potentially explosive public row. 29 March: The National Assembly
is due to pass a long-delayed budget. The budget follows months of
wrangling and revisions because of fluctuations in the price of
oil, which contributes more than 75% of government revenues. A
common complaint of assembly members has been a shortage of funding
for constituency offices, members have been told to set up. But
following the furore over hefty furniture allowances last year, the
Nigerian public is unlikely to sympathise.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 29
March 2000)

* Rwanda. Kagame, chef d'Etat par interim  -  Le 24 mars, le
general Kagame est devenu president par interim, pour un maximum de
trois semaines, apres la demission, la veille, du chef de l'Etat
Bizimungu. Si les accords d'Arusha prevoient que le president de
l'assemblee doit assurer cet interim, la Declaration unilaterale du
Front patriotique rwandais apres sa victoire militaire creait un
poste de vice-president et attribuait a ce dernier la fonction de
president interimaire. On s'interroge pour savoir si Kagame se
presentera comme candidat a la magistrature supreme. Le FPR doit
presenter deux candidats avant le 1er avril. Ces deux candidats se
presenteront devant le gouvernement et l'Assemblee nationale pour
un vote final.   (D'apres La Libre Belgique, 25-27 mars 2000)

* Rwanda. Seeking a new President  -  23 March: Rwanda's government
and parliament have begun the process of nominating new head of
state, after the resignation of President Pasteur Bizimungu early
on 23 March. Mr Bizimungu, who had been head of state since the
1994 genocide, was one of the few Hutus in a largely Tutsi
administration. His resignation followed growing tensions with
other members of the government. The new president is expected to
come from within the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which is the
main political movement in Rwanda. According to constitutional
procedure, the RPF will have to select two presidential candidates.
the final choice will go to the government, which will consult with
parliament. 24 March: Attempts to find a new President have been
delayed for a week. The Supreme Court is due to make a ruling on
who should be acting head of state following Mr Bizimungu's
resignation, though officials said earlier that the interim
leadership would fall automatically to Vice-President Paul Kagame.
The 90 members of the political bureau of the RPF have discussed a
possible five candidates, including Mr Kagame, but the RPF's
secretary-general said no names had yet gone forward and the
meeting had been more of a stocktaking of what had taken place in
Rwanda over the past week. 25 March: The Supreme Court confirms
that Paul Kagame is acting head of state.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27
March 2000)

WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-03-2000  END OF PART #4/7