Weekly anb03291.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 29-03-2001      PART #1/6

* Afrique. Réunion des évêques catholiques  -  Le 24 mars à Dakar, le 
Comité permanent du Symposium des Conférences épiscopales d'Afrique et de 
Madagascar (SCEAM) a clôturé ses travaux consacrés à la restructuration du 
SCEAM, et a adopté un projet de lettre pastorale sur "La paix et la 
réconciliation en Afrique". Quant à la structure, les évêques ont notamment 
"réaffirmé à l'unanimité la nécessité de créer une entité continentale qui 
servira de plate-forme pour l'affirmation de l'unité et d'une solidarité 
ecclésiastique coordonnée". Concernant le document sur la paix et la 
réconciliation, la réunion a décidé qu'il devra être rédigé dans un style 
assez clair pour que tous les croyants puissent le comprendre. Cependant, 
le document sera aussi publié dans son intégralité à l'intention des 
chercheurs et des experts. Les conférences épiscopales nationales auront la 
primeur du document avant qu'il ne soit publié au plus tard le 3 juin 
prochain.   (PANA, Sénégal, 25 mars 2001)

* Africa. Media freedom  -  Congo RDC: In a letter sent to the Minister of 
Home Affairs on 27 March, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has protested 
against the attacks on three journalists in one week. Liberia: In a 23 
March letter to President Taylor, the Committee to protect Journalists 
stated that it is deeply concerned about the forthcoming trial of four 
Liberian journalists on trumped-up charges of espionage. Namibia: In a 
letter addressed to the Minister of Information (23 March), Reporters sans 
Frontières protested against the decision with "immediate effect" to stop 
publishing governmental advertising in The Namibian. Nigeria: The 
Association of Catholic Media Practitioners and Diocesan Communication 
Directors held a three-day National Workshop/Seminar at Makurdi, from 19-22 
March on the theme: "Electronic Media and Values in the Era of Democracy". 
The Seminar congratulated and paid tribute to the courage of the Nigerian 
media for the role which they played in the restoration of democracy to 
Nigeria. Togo: In a letter sent to the Minister of the Interior and 
Security on 28 March, RSF protested the seizure of copies of the weekly Le 
Regard. Zimbabwe: On 22 March, it was reported that the editors of 
Zimbabwe's two main government-controlled newspapers have been sacked 
without warning after only seven months in their jobs.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 29 March 2001)

* Africa. Africa and the Arab League  -  The first regular Arab summit in a 
decade has been billed to open a new page in Arab relations. The summit is 
taking place in Jordan. On 28 March, Arab leaders are expected to agree to 
launch a free-trade area by 2005, two years ahead of schedule, and to call 
for the immediate removal of technical and administrative barriers to 
trade. The following African countries are members of the Arab League: 
Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, 
Somalia, Comoros. (Other members are: Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, 
Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Oman). Arab 
governments are discovering the value of integration as they open up to the 
rest of the world. Most Arab countries are members or have applied to join 
the World Trade Organisation. Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and Morocco have 
signed association agreements with the European Union to create a 
Mediterranean free trade area.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 March 2001)

* Afrique. Rapport de la Banque mondiale  -  Selon un rapport qui vient 
d'être publié par la Banque mondiale, l'aide extérieure est inefficace en 
matière de croissance durable et de réduction de la pauvreté si les pays en 
développement ne sont pas déterminés à mettre en oeuvre des réformes. Ce 
rapport qui analyse 10 pays (Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopie, Kenya, Nigeria, 
Ghana, Ouganda, Congo-Kinshasa, Tanzanie et Zambie) affirme que l'aide au 
développement n'a pas d'effet si les autorités de ces pays évitent de 
procéder à des réformes économiques pour stimuler la croissance et réduire 
la pauvreté. Les donateurs ont trop souvent tendance à ne pas tenir compte 
des différentes étapes du processus de réformes dans lequel ils sont 
engagés. Ils devraient surtout fournir une assistance technique ou non 
directement financière, tant que le gouvernement du pays bénéficiaire n'a 
pas sérieusement envisagé d'orienter son action, indique le rapport, 
soulignant qu'ils devraient s'abstenir de fournir un important soutien 
budgétaire.   (La Libre Belgique, 29 mars 2001)

* Southern Africa. Rain and flooding continues  -  Rains over the past week 
have continued to plague the southern African region, increasing the number 
of people who need shelter and food aid. In Mozambique, hunger is driving 
hundreds of Mozambicans who initially refused to be evacuated during 
floods, into temporary emergency centres.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 March 2001)

* Algeria. No refuge from rebel attacks  -  Suspected rebels killed 15 
people in an Algerian shantytown in the second such massacre this week, 
residents said on 28 March. A family of 11 was killed in their home and 
four members of another were also shot dead in the shack next door. The 
attacks followed the deaths on 25 March of a family of 13, killed near 
Blida. Amar Kinaa told Reuters that three women and a seven-year-old boy 
from his family were killed before they could escape. "I heard gunshots and 
I managed to escape together with seven relatives. When we came back we 
found the four bodies," he said. The attacks occurred on the night on 27-28 
March in the poor district of Hai Benachour on the northern outskirts of 
Blida, 40 miles southwest of Algiers. Residents said up to 10 assailants 
burst through the unlocked metal doors and opened fire in a now familiar 
pattern in such killings of civilians. Algeria has been wracked by an 
Islamic insurgency since early 1992 when the army-backed government 
cancelled a general election that a now-outlawed Muslim fundamentalist 
party was poised to win. More than 100,000 people have died in the violence 
since then with almost daily reports of killings despite the government's 
assertion that Islamic rebels, now operating mostly in remote mountainous 
areas, have largely been crushed. About 450 people have been killed so far 
this year, mainly civilians shot or knifed in isolated villages.   (CNN, 28 
March 2001)

* Algérie. Nouvelles tueries  -  Dans la nuit du 25 au 26 mars, douze 
personnes d'une même famille, dont 4 enfants et 5 femmes, ont été 
assassinées par un groupe islamiste armé à Bouarfa à la périphérie de 
Blida, à50 km au sud d'Alger. L'attaque s'est produite dans un quartier 
pauvre situé à la sortie de Blida vers la montagne de Chréa connue pour 
abriter le maquis de Tala Acha du GIA d'Antar Zouabri, selon des habitants 
de la région. Depuis plusieurs semaines, les groupes armés ont accentué 
leurs tueries dans l'Algérois. -- Quelques jours après, le 27 mars au soir, 
dans la même région de Blida, seize personnes ont encore été assassinées à 
Ouled-Yaïch par des présumés islamistes. - D'autre part, selon un 
communiqué des services de sécurité du 28 mars, Abdelmadjij Dahoumane, 
recherché par la justice américaine pour son implication dans l'affaire 
Ahmed Ressam (actions terroristes aux Etats-Unis pendant les festivités du 
passage à l'an 2000), a été arrêté en Algérie à son retour d'Afghanistan où 
il avait suivi une formation en armement et en explosifs. Il faisait 
l'objet d'une mise à prix de la part des autorités américaines de 5 
millions de dollars.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 mars 2001)

Algérie. Saint Augustin, l'enfant du pays  -  L'Algérie s'apprête à 
célébrer Saint Augustin, l'enfant du pays, avec une série de colloques à 
Alger et à Annaba, grand port de l'est algérien, l'ancienne Hippone où le 
penseur chrétien est décédé en 430 après en avoir été l'évêque pendant plus 
de 30 ans. Organisés à l'instigation du président Abdelaziz Bouteflika 
"pour aider les Algériens à se réconcilier avec leur histoire", ces 
colloques ont pour objet de montrer "l'africanité et l'universalité" de 
l'auteur des "Confessions", a indiqué Mahmoud Bouayad, un des promoteurs de 
cette manifestation et conseiller culturel du président algérien. Le projet 
s'inscrit dans le cadre du dialogue entre les civilisations proclamé pour 
2001 par les Nations unies. Il a suscité depuis son lancement, il y a 18 
mois, des réticences en Algérie, secouée par les violences ininterrompues 
des extrémistes musulmans. Les rencontres d'Alger et d'Annaba, qui auront 
lieu du 1er au 7 avril, vont rassembler plusieurs dizaines de 
conférenciers, des universitaires, des historiens, des philosophes, ainsi 
que quelque 200 spécialistes du penseur. Le colloque, parrainé par le Haut 
conseil islamique algérien (HCI), l'université de Fribourg en Suisse et 
l'Augustinianum de Rome, a aussi pour objectif de souligner que la pensée 
de ce père de l'Eglise est toujours influente seize siècles plus 
tard.   (D'après AFP, France, 29 mars 2001)

* Angola. Securing foreign bank loan  -  Angola has secured a new $455m 
oil-backed loan from a group of foreign banks which is likely to bring 
conflict with human rights organisations and the International Monetary 
Fund and could hamper efforts to reform an economy struggling to emerge 
from years of war. "The practice of obtaining oil-backed loans [has] 
heightened concern over the lack of transparency in the government's use of 
oil revenues," US-based Human Rights Watch said in a report this week. 
Angola pledged to limit borrowing to $269m this year under an IMF 
monitoring programme and though Standard Chartered Bank, which arranged the 
latest loan, said part of it was not new borrowing, other banking officials 
said they expected overall borrowing this year to exceed the agreed limit. 
A $500m oil-backed loan last September, arranged by French banks, helped 
Angola breach IMF borrowing restrictions. Oil-backed loans have been of 
huge strategic importance to Angola, particularly after the collapse in 
1992 and 1998 of two peace agreements when they were used to buy arms and 
reverse large advances by Jonas Savimbi's Unita rebels. Because of high 
interest rates, typically 2 percentage points above Libor, and safe 
repayment structures, the banks' appetites for these oil-backed loans are 
voracious. Standard Chartered noted "huge oversubscription" for the latest 
facility signed on March 8. But now that Unita is reduced to a limited 
guerrilla force and no longer threatens the fast-growing 750,000 b/d oil 
industry, the IMF wants Angola to curb this expensive borrowing and build a 
portfolio of longer-term concessional debt. "Only part of the 
oil-guaranteed debt and a small amount of bilateral debt falling due can be 
serviced in 2001," Angola's IMF agreement said. Such action, if taken, 
could damage banks' confidence in Sonangol, the state oil company, which 
guarantees the loans and has raised billions of dollars this way in recent 
years. Much of the oil-backed debt, however, is owed to Portugal, Brazil 
and Spain, and repayments to them could be renegotiated through political 
arrangements.   (Financial Times, UK, 23 March 2001)

* Angola. UNITA leader calls for talks  -  Angola's veteran and elusive 
guerrilla leader Jonas Savimbi broke 18 months of silence late on 22 March 
to call for peace talks with the Luanda government. "Dialogue! We are for 
dialogue and we agree on the type and structure of this dialogue," the 
66-year-old leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of 
Angola (UNITA) told the Voice of America radio service in Luanda. Speaking 
by telephone, Savimbi said Angola's last attempt at peace, the failed 
Lusaka Peace Accord signed in 1994, could be revived. "We would like to 
come to a national reconciliation phase, in peace, with calm, with a 
disposition to accept the errors pointed out to us," Savimbi added. The 
Lusaka deal, which had called for the demobilisation of troops and a 
government of national reconciliation, crumbled due to renewed fighting in 
late 1998. Both sides accused the other of flouting the agreement and 
blamed the United Nations for not enforcing it. Savimbi urged opposition 
politicians, the church, and independent journalists to work toward a 
dialogue for peace. "I want to encourage some that are organising the 
debate on peace in Angola," he said. He dismissed the government's amnesty 
programme launched last November, saying it was a way to get rid of 
UNITA.   (CNN, 23 March 2001)

* Angola. Church aims to improve health care  -  Angola's health-care 
sector is on the critical list, and the Church is looking for wider 
cooperation with the government to improve the situation. "The health 
sector in Angola is one of the most problematic, mirroring the lack of 
facilities in which the political and military situation continues to keep 
the country," said Father Joao Caniço, director of the country's Catholic 
press office. He linked the deplorable health situation to the degradation 
of social service buildings and structures, and especially to the spread of 
serious diseases like sleeping sickness and AIDS in this southern African 
nation of 10.1 million people. Given that the Angolan Catholic bishops are 
increasingly concerned about the matter, as are other churches and 
nongovernmental organizations, the bishops invited Health Minister 
Albertina Hamukwaia to their conference's plenary assembly, being held 
here. The bishops said the Church has done much in the health field, 
especially over the past decade. The care of patients with sleeping 
sickness, for instance, has been relegated almost exclusively to Caritas, 
the Church's humanitarian organization. The bishops now want a more 
systematic approach to health questions. They say it is urgent to sign 
agreements with the government, to ensure that service to the impoverished 
population is not interrupted. The Health Minister admitted at the meeting 
that the problems are grave, and said that "all contributions are 
necessary, especially those of the Catholic Church." Several steps were 
suggested, to continue the dialogue on matters of health at a high level 
between the Church and state.   (Zenit, Italy, 26 March 2001)

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