Weekly anb03223.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 22-03-2001      PART #3/6

* Congo (RDC). Troop withdrawals  -  The warring parties in Congo are 
pulling back from their frontline positions. An official from the UN 
Mission in Congo says that the disengagement from all fronts is a reality. 
Everyone is showing great willingness, and they are moving. The official 
says that almost all Rwandan troops have already withdrawn and that 
soldiers from the Rwandan-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) have 
also begun pulling back The Ugandan- backed Congolese Liberation Movement 
(MLC) is also reported to be withdrawing. Uganda began pulling its troops 
out of the northern town of Buta at the end of February, and the UN has 
confirmed that nearly a whole battalion has left. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 22 
March 2001)

* Congo (RDC). Guy Kasongo Kilembwe libéré  -  Guy Kasongo Kilembwe, 
rédacteur en chef de l'hebdomadaire "Pot Pourri" a été libéré sans 
explication dans la matinée du 22 mars 2001, après vingt-trois jours de 
détention. Joint au téléphone par Reporters sans frontières, le journaliste 
a raconté que pendant les premiers jours de sa détention dans des cachots 
des Services spéciaux de la police et de l'Agence nationale de 
renseignements, il a été "sévèrement fouetté" par ses geôliers. Il a 
précisé qu'il n'a jamais été déféré à un tribunal et qu'il n'avait pas 
l'autorisation de recevoir des visites. La nourriture apportée par sa 
famille était régulièrement confisquée par les gardiens des cachots. Des 
responsables des Services spéciaux de la police et de l'Agence nationale de 
renseignements ont expliqué à Guy Kasongo Kilembwe d'une manière informelle 
que des articles critiques envers le ministre de l'Intérieur Gaétan Kakudji 
étaient à l'origine de son interpellation.   (Reporters sans frontières, 
France, 22 mars 2001)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Réconciliation?  -  Le 19 mars à Lomé (Togo), le président 
ivoirien Laurent Gbagbo a rencontré Alassane Ouattara, le leader de 
l'opposition ivoirienne, écarté des deux derniers scrutins nationaux. C'est 
leur première rencontre depuis la présidentielle d'octobre, qui avait été 
suivie de violences entre leurs partisans. Après une série d'entretiens 
sous l'égide du chef de l'Etat togolais, président en exercice de l'OUA, 
les deux leaders ont appelé à la réconciliation nationale. La rencontre a 
été l'occasion de procéder à un examen approfondi de l'évolution de la 
situation politique en Côte d'Ivoire et des voies et moyens visant la 
consolidation de la politique d'apaisement et de réconciliation, 
indique-t-on à Lomé. Cependant, M. Ouattara a déclaré qu'il ne décréterait 
une trève que s'il était "réhabilité politiquement" et que si les 
responsables de son parti étaient libérés de prison.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 20 mars 2001)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Winning AIDS drug war  -  Far from the big courtroom 
battle over HIV-drug patents in South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire quietly imports 
knockoff generic HIV drugs as it has for years -- without fuss, patent 
payments or apologies. "Believe me, I don't care", Kassim Sidibe, director 
of Côte d'Ivoire's AIDS progam said on 19 March. "Our concern is what we 
can do for our people. The lower the prices are for us, the better for our 
people".   (InfoBeat News, USA, 20 March 2001)

* Egypt. Egyptian law and policies encourage torture  -  Egypt's legal, 
political and social climate encourages the use of torture during detention 
and leaves victims without adequate means of redress, an Egyptian human 
rights group said on 19 March. A key reason behind the spread of torture 
was the country's emergency law, in force since the assassination of 
President Anwar Sadat in 1981, said a new report by the Human Rights Centre 
for the Assistance of Prisoners (HRCAP). "The report states that the 
emergency law provides a fertile climate for the spread of torture, as it 
allows for long periods of detention without guarantees such as visiting 
rights and contact with lawyers," the Centre said in a news release. 
"Ninety-nine percent of the 1,124 cases included in the report were under 
the emergency law," it said. HRCAP director Mohammed Zarei told Reuters 
that the report included cases of torture committed between 1981 and 1999, 
and took two years to compile. The report said that deficiencies in the 
prison law and penal code, as well as political and social practices also 
encouraged the use of torture. At the same time, limited opportunities of 
redress for victims meant there was no deterrent for offenders.   (Nbil M. 
El- Khodari, Egypt, 20 March 2001)

* Egypt. BP and ENI to build plant  -  BP Amoco and the Italian energy 
company ENI plan to invest $2.5 billion in a liquefied natural gas project 
in Egypt, a report said on 21 march. The deal between the two European 
companies and the Egyptian Petroleum could be announced as early as this 
week, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the 
negotiations. BP and ENI will each hold 45 percent of the venture, which 
involves building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at the Egyptian 
Mediterranean port of Damietta. Initial exports will be to Mediterranean 
markets such as Spain, although LNG carriers could transport the gas to the 
USA, where BP has a receiving terminal, the report said. The LNG process 
turns gas into liquid to allow the fuel to be transported by sea. Egypt's 
proven gas reserves at the end of 1999 were close to those of Norway, a 
major gas supplier to western Europe.   (CNN, 21 March 2001)

* Eritrea-Ethiopia. Peacekeeping mission  -  8 March: The United Nations 
Security Council has approved a six-month extension of the mandate of the 
UN Mission in Eritrea and Ethiopia, through to 15 september. Yesterday, The 
UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, distributed his report on Eritrea and 
Ethiopia. He said that important issues which affected the peacekeeping 
operation in the two countries remain unresolved.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 20 
March 2001)

* Erythrée/Ethiopie. L'UNMEE prolongée  -  Le 15 mars, le Conseil de 
sécurité de l'Onu a prolongé le mandat de la mission de l'Onu en Ethiopie 
et en Erythrée (Unmee) de six autres mois, soit jusqu'au 15 septembre 2001. 
A l'unanimité, le Conseil a demandé aux deux ex-belligérants d'assurer une 
application rapide de l'accord de paix et de réorganiser leurs forces afin 
de permettre la création d'une zone de sécurité séparant les forces des 
deux parties. Le Conseil a not les progrès faits par les deux pays et les a 
encouragés à poursuivre leurs efforts. -D'autre part, le 16 mars, le CICR a 
rapatrié 1.222 civils éthiopiens d'Erythrée.   (PANA, Sénégal, 16 mars 2001)

* Ethiopie. Récolte record  -  Le ministre éthiopien de l'Agriculture, M. 
Huluka, a révélé que son pays a enregistré une récolte de 12,6 millions de 
tonnes, la meilleure en cinq ans. Les experts de la FAO, du PAM et du 
ministère ont pronostiqué cette production céréalière pour la saison 
2000-2001. Selon M. Huluka, près de 9 millions de tonnes proviennent de 
petites fermes utilisant des méthodes améliorées d'exploitation comprenant 
les engrais et la lutte contre les insectes nuisibles. Cette bonne saison 
agricole fait suite à trois années de sécheresse consécutives. En janvier 
dernier, l'Ethiopie avait encore lancé un appel en faveur d'une aide de 
640.000 tonnes de céréales pour la population affectée par la sécheresse de 
l'année précédente.   (PANA, Sénégal, 19 mars 2001)

* Ethiopia's. Top TPLF leaders expelled  -  Prime Minister Meles Zenawi 
expelled several leaders from The Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF), 
the Indian Ocean News Letter reported today. The Indian Ocean Newsletter in 
its report said that the Prime Minister met yesterday in Addis Ababa under 
tight security, with government ministers and several Ethiopian political 
leaders to inform them of his decision to expel twelve leaders of the TPLF, 
which holds the key posts in the coalition government. Meles Zenawi's move 
is backed by 18 of the 30 members of the TPLF's central committee, 
including Seyoum Mesfin, Sebhat Nega, Kinfe Gebre Medhin, Addis Alem 
Balema, Berhane Gebre Kristos, Abadi Zemo, Mulugeta Alemseged, and Arkebe. 
The Prime Minister's close collaborators, Tewolde Wolde Mariam and 
Alemseged Gebre Amlak have gone over to the dissident group led by Siye 
Abraha and made up of 12 members of the central committee, including Abay 
Tsehaye, Aregash Adane, Awalom Weldu, Hassan Shifa, Gebru Asrat, Solomon 
Tesfaye, Abraha Kahsaye and Bitew Bedlay. Five are members of the TPLF's 
politburo, Indian Ocean added. The above mentioned dissident group drafted 
and distributed a nine-page document in Tigrana, addressed to "all 
respected comrade members of the TPLF and to all the organizations as a 
whole" and in which they outline the different stages of the current 
conflict, which centres on the attitude adopted towards Eritrea and recalls 
discussions undertaken within TPLF leadership circles before the war with 
that country. The crisis took a turn for the worse two months ago when 
Meles Zenawi tried to swap the two scheduled topics for debate by the 
TPLF's leadership --Eritrea and corruption -- for a debate on "the dangers 
of Bonapartism to Ethiopia", which directly targeted Siye Abraha's 
backers.   (Visafric, Canada, 20 March 2001)

* Gabon/Congo-Brazza. Rapatriement  -  Le 14 mars, le ministre gabonais de 
l'Intérieur, M. Miyakou, a exhorté les militaires congolais vivant au Gabon 
"à regagner librement et en toute sécurité leur pays". M. Miyakou a déclaré 
qu'il se réservait le droit de mesures de refoulement systématique des 
intéressés à destination de Brazzaville où, selon lui, la paix règne 
actuellement. Il a souligné qu'au moment où le gouvernement congolais 
"s'efforce de résoudre définitivement la crise" par la négociation, il est 
tout à fait indiqué que les acteurs politiques retournent à Brazzaville. 
Selon lui, le statut de réfugié ne peut être maintenu en permanence lorsque 
les raisons qui en ont été à l'origine trouvent leurs solutions.   (PANA, 
Sénégal, 15 mars 2001)

* Ghana. Looking to its past  -  The families of eight Ghanaian generals 
publicly executed in 1979 are asking President John Kufuor for access to 
the bodies so that they can be reburied. The men were killed during the 
first brief rule of former President Jerry Rawlings following hurried 
over-night trials. Amongst the men was General Akwasi Afrifa, who led the 
overthrow of Kwame Nkrumah in 1966 and became head of state for two years. 
The others were members of the Supreme Military Council government of the 
1970s, and included General Kutu Acheampong and General Fred Akuffo, both 
heads of state when that council was in power. Ironically, it was General 
Acheampong who led the overthrow of the Second Republic in January 1972, 
and brought down the government in which President Kufuor was a deputy 
minister. The generals' crimes were never spelt out. One of them, Admiral 
Joy Amedume, was shot for allegedly using his position to take a bank loan 
of $20,000. The widows and children of the generals are counting on what 
they describe in their signed petition as Mr. Kufuor's sense of "justice 
and mercy" to grant their request for a reburial They said in their 
petition that they had had suffered "anguish and pain over the years". This 
is because after the shooting the Rawlings regime failed to show family 
members where their husbands and fathers were buried so they could lay 
wreaths for them. There was suspicion that the generals had been buried in 
a mass grave, but senior prison officials say they know exactly where the 
graves are, and that they were buried separately. President Kufuor has not 
made any comments about the petition. However, he has pledged in several 
speeches since his inauguration that he wants national reconciliation with 
emphasis on assuaging the pain of families who suffered during the Rawlings 
years.   (BBC News, 21 March 2001)

* Guinée. Réfugiés  -  Au sud de la Guinée, au moins 200 réfugiés épuisés, 
qui avaient fui Nongoa après l'attaque des rebelles le 9 mars, ont été 
recueillis sur la route, le 14 mars, par le HCR et transportés à Katkama. 
Selon le HCR, environ 9.000 réfugiés étaient dispersés dans plusieurs camps 
aux alentours de Nongoa au moment de l'attaque; beaucoup se sont enfuis 
dans la brousse et ont commencé à marcher vers le nord. Près de 2.000 sont 
arrivés à Mongo, 1.500 autres à Katkama, et 400 auraient atteint le camp de 
Nyaedou. D'autre part, plus de 800 réfugiés de plusieurs camps de 
l'intérieur du pays sont arrivés, le 15 mars, dans un centre de transit à 
Conakry. Le centre qui devait contenir 2.000 personnes au maximum, en 
héberge maintenant au moins 5.000.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 16 mars 2001)

WEEKLY ANB0322 - END OF PART 3/6