Weekly anb04275.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 27-04-2000      PART #5/6

* South Africa. Mbeki's combative style  -  South Africa's
President Thabo Mbeki's blunt questioning of the effectiveness of
widely accepted AIDS treatment has reinforced his popular image in
South Africa as a restless intellectual who is deeply suspicious of
all but his closest advisers. Few things have gone unquestioned in
Mbeki's nearly year-old presidency, during which his combative
temperament has altered the country's political personality. The
AIDS controversy was brought into sharp relief this week, when a
letter Mbeki wrote to President Clinton and other heads of state on
4 April came to light. In it, Mbeki said Africans should map their
own response to AIDS, which is devastating sub-Saharan Africa.
Mbeki suggested that South Africans should take into account
dissident scientific views on the causes and treatment of the
disease -- including the assertion, rejected by virtually all
public health professionals, that HIV does not cause AIDS and that
treatment with drugs such as AZT does more harm than good. Mbeki
assailed the "intellectual intimidation and terrorism" of foreign
critics of his approach.   (Washington Post, 21 April 2000)

* South Africa. Land-hungry South African blacks  -  "Give us the
land or we'll take it". The cry that has become familiar in the
last two months as landless blacks invade hundreds of farms in
Zimbabwe, is now being heard in South Africa. Frustration at the
snail-like pace of land reform, has prompted some groups to
threaten to follow their neighbour's example. The threats have been
described as "extremely dangerous" by the police, who warned
potential invaders not to take the law into their own hands. "The
public order police is on standby for any illegal occurrence and
will act if necessary".   (Financial Times, UK, 22-23 April 2000)

* South Africa. Jiang's historic visit  -  24 April: Chinese
President Jiang Zemin has arrived in South Africa for a four-day
state visit. During his trip, he will meet President Mbeki and
members of the South African cabinet. He will also sign a number of
bilateral trade agreements. China has a long history of involvement
and investment in Africa, and South Africa is its most important
trading partner on the continent. This is, however, the first time
that Chinese head of state has visited the country.   (BBC News, 24
April 2000)

* Afrique du Sud/Chine. Partenariat  -  Le 25 avril, le president
chinois Jiang Zemin, en visite en Afrique du Sud, et le president
sud-africain Thabo Mbeki ont paraphe a Pretoria un acte bilateral
scellant un "partenariat strategique" qui engage les deux pays a un
soutien diplomatique mutuel "dans leurs efforts pour creer un
nouvel ordre international politique et economique". La declaration
preconise notamment le maintien des principes de l'egalite
souveraine et de la non-ingerence dans les affaires interieures des
autres pays. Pretoria reconnait aussi que Taiwan fait partie
integrante de la Chine. Les ministres sud-africains et chinois ont
signe six accords sur la cooperation policiere, le transport
maritime, la cooperation phyto-sanitaire, la sante animale et la
quarantaine, les arts et la culture, ainsi que les problemes de
doubles taxes dans les echanges.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses,
26 avril 2000)

* Sudan. President halts most air raids on south  -  19 April:
President al-Bashir has suspended most aid raids on rebel-held
parts of southern Sudan. The move follows international criticism
of Khartoum's conduct of the war. The pro-government newspaper,
Alwan says the President has urged the international community to
press the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) not to
operate from civilian areas.   (MSBC News, 19 April 2000)

* Soudan. Visas pour diplomates americains  -  Le gouvernement
soudanais a accorde des visas d'entree au Soudan a trois diplomates
americains. Washington y avait ferme son ambassade a Khartoum en
1996, a la suite des sanctions imposees au Soudan pour son refus de
livrer les auteurs presumes d'un attentat manque contre le
president egyptien Moubarak en 1995. En 1997, les Etats-Unis
avaient envoye, par rotation, du personnel diplomatique a Khartoum.
Cette presence avait ete suspendue en 1998 apres les attentats
anti-americains de Nairobi et Dar es-Salaam. Recemment, le
president soudanais avait affirme que son pays etait dispose a
renouer avec les Etats-Unis.   (La Libre Belgique, 20 avril 2000)

* Swaziland. Journalism situation in murky waters  -  Swaziland's
journalism situation continues to be having problems. Exactly two
months after the closure of The Swazi Observer and the sacking of
31 workers from the Swaziland Television Authority, the only Swazi-
owned independent newsmagazine, The Nation, has been served by the
lawyer of Douglas Loffler, proprietor and publisher of the Times of
Swaziland Newspapers Group, with an injunction compelling the
Swaziland Independent Publishers to remove from sale all issues of
the magazine. According to Peter R. Dunseith, Douglas Loffler's
lawyer, the independent publishers have contravened the 1912
Copyright Act No.36, Section 8, by publishing certain photographs
in the April 2000 edition without his client's authority or consent
and without credit given to the owner. Asked for a comment, the
managing editor of The Nation, Cyprian Tsabedze, wonders why the
publisher of The Times wants to stop them from using material from
freelancers. He explains that as a young Swazi-owned magazine, The
Nation relies on pictures and stories from contributors. Three
years ago, The Nation was founded by a group of young professional
journalists (including this writer) and a chartered accountant.
Owing to its high quality and in-depth analysis, The Nation has
become a force to be reckoned with in the country's media industry. 
 (Vuyisile Hlatshwayo, Swaziland, 18 April 2000)

* Togo. Reprise du dialogue  -  Le 25 avril, la Mouvance
presidentielle et l'opposition ont repris les discussions visant a
resoudre la crise politique dans le pays, a rapporte l'AFP. Ces
discussions, au sein d'une commission paritaire formee pour
peaufiner les accords conclus par les deux parties en juillet 1999,
sont essentiellement centrees sur la composition d'une commission
electorale independante. Les discussions avaient ete suspendues en
janvier dernier, mais suite a la promulgation d'un nouveau code
electoral, l'opposition a declare qu'il n'y avait plus d'obstacle
a la reprise du dialogue.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 26 avril 2000)

* Tunisia. Journalist leaves hospital  -  A Tunisian journalist,
who has been on hunger strike for the past three weeks, has
returned home from hospital after being admitted on 24 April. Mr
Taoufiq Ben Brik is protesting against the confiscation of his
passport. A judge is questioning Mr Ben Brik about articles seen as
hostile to the Tunisian authorities which he wrote for foreign
publications, and has barred him from leaving the country. The
Tunisian authorities have so far failed to comment on Mr Ben Brik's
hunger strike. He has told the French news agency that he intends
to continue with his hunger strike.   (BBC News, 26 April 2000)

* Tunisie. Ben Brik: greve de la faim  -  24 avril. Au 21e jour de
sa greve de la faim, le journaliste tunisien Taoufik Ben Brik,
correspondant du quotidien francais La Croix et de deux agences de
presse, a ete transfere dans un hopital de la banlieue de Tunis. Un
bilan signe de cinq medecins avait ordonne son hospitalisation
apres qu'il eut perdu 18 kg. M. Ben Brik a cependant repete qu'il
irait jusqu'au bout de ses forces et qu'il etait determine a
poursuivre son mouvement jusqu'a la satisfaction d'une partie au
moins de ses revendications: la restitution de son passeport, le
retablissement de sa ligne telephonique et la fin du harcelement
dont il est la cible, ainsi que sa famille. A Tunis, le RCD, parti
au pouvoir, s'est "etonne" de l'appel lance par le Parti socialiste
francais sur la situation du journaliste et pour que soit mis fin
aux "violations graves et systematiques des droits de l'homme et
des libertes fondamentales" en Tunisie. - Le 25 avril au soir, M.
Ben Brik a quitte l'hopital "a sa demande" et a ete ramene chez lui
a bord d'une ambulance. Une delegation de journalistes, francais
notamment, venus le voir le lendemain, a ete dispersee violemment
devant son domicile.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 27 avril
2000)

* Uganda. "Habyarimana tried to bring back Obote"  -  President
Museveni yesterday revealed that deceased presidents Mobutu of
Zaire and Habyarimana of Rwanda tried to force Amin and Obote back
to power but he fought them, reports Anne Mugisa. Museveni said
Amin and Obote with other rebel groups tried to destabilise Uganda
but the Movement government fought them. The President was
launching the Mubende district referendum campaign at Mityana. He
urged thousands of people who gathered at the sub-county to vote
for the Movement and consolidate the developments they have
achieved. "Mobutu, Habyarimana, Kony, Lakwena, and others tried to
bring back the dictatorial governments we had ousted. But they
failed because we fought them. That is because we are firm and are
aided by the will of the people," Museveni said.   (The New Vision,
Uganda, 15 April 2000)

* Ouganda. Reddition d'un haut cadre de l'ADF  -  Le "chef d'etat-
major" du mouvement Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) se serait rendu
a l'armee ougandaise dans l'est du Congo-RDC. "Je peux confirmer
que le chef de l'etat-major de l'ADF, connu sous le pseudonyme de
Benz, s'est rendu a nos forces", a indique le 20 avril le porte-
parole de l'armee. Le commandant Benz qui, selon certaines sources,
etait le commandant supreme de l'ADF, est le premier haut cadre
rebelle a se rendre aux autorites ougandaises. On ne sait encore
avec precision s'il s'est rendu dans le cadre de la loi d'amnistie
recemment votee par le Parlement. D'autre part, selon le dernier
rapport d'OCHA, si certaines informations indiquent que la securite
dans l'ouest de l'Ouganda s'est amelioree depuis decembre et
janvier derniers, les attaques des rebelles continuent et il serait
plutot trompeur de penser que l'insecurite est moindre. Certaines
organisations humanitaires sont retournees a Bundibugyo, d'autres
attendent, indique le rapport. Les ONG etudient aussi avec grande
prudence la possibilite d'intensifier leurs activites a Kasese et
Kabarole.   (IRIN, Nairobi, 20 avril 2000)

Weekly anb0427 - End of part 5/6