Weekly anb03293.txt #6

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

WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 29-03-2001      PART #3/6

* Congo (RDC)/Zimbabwe. Kabila au Zimbabwe  -  Le 26 mars en début de 
matinée, le président congolais J. Kabila est arrivé à Harare pour une 
visite officielle de 48 heures. Le Zimbabwe est le principal allié 
militaire de la RDC dans sa guerre civile. Les discussions entre les deux 
présidents devraient porter principalement sur le processus de paix en RDC. 
Le président Kabila, qui est accompagné d'une importante délégation de 
ministres et de hauts responsables militaires, s'adressera également au 
Parlement zimbabwéen.   (PANA, Sénégal, 26 mars 2001)

* Congo (RDC). Rapports sur les occupations  -  Le rapport d'une commission 
des Nations unies sur le pillage des richesses congolaises, qui aurait dû 
être publié le 27 mars, ne le sera que le 4 avril; les experts ont été 
appelés à New York pour sa rédaction définitive. Selon le journal Le Monde, 
qui en a pu voir les conclusions, on y parle de "pillages systématiques" 
par diverses parties. - D'autre part, dans un rapport publié le 28 mars, 
l'organisation Human Rights Watch accuse les autorités ougandaises 
d'attiser les conflits politiques et ethniques qui touchent l'est du Congo, 
ce qui entraîne des conséquences désastreuses pour la population locale. Le 
rapport de cinquante pages intitulé "L'Ouganda dans l'Est du Congo: une 
présence qui attise les conflits politiques et ethniques" décrit comment 
les autorités ougandaises se trouvent impliquées dans les rivalités qui 
divisent les diverses factions du Rassemblement congolais pour la 
démocratie (RCD). Certaines de ces querelles ont dégénéré en accrochages 
militaires. Ainsi la guerre Hema-Lendu, où les soldats ougandais sont 
intervenus, a coûté la vie à plus de 7.000 personnes et en a déplacé 
quelque 200.000. (Voir le rapport: 
www.hrw.org/reports/2001/congo.htm)   (HRW et De Standaard, 28 mars 2001)

* Congo (RDC). The Government must end the torture and killing of 
suspects  -  In a new report, "Deadly Conspiracies", published on 28 March, 
Amnesty International challenged President Joseph Kabila to publicly 
demonstrate his commitment to human rights and the rule of law, by putting 
an immediate end to the torture and killing of suspected opponents, and to 
account for alleged government opponents who were reportedly executed in 
late 2000 of whose whereabouts remain unknown. Amnesty International says 
over 100 people from the Kivu region of eastern Congo are currently held 
incommunicado and are at risk of torture and execution. Most of them have 
been detained without charge since late 2000 in connection with an alleged 
coup plot. Several dozen others were arrested in the wake of the 
assassination of President Laurent-Desiré Kabila in January 2001. Amnesty 
International fears that some of these individuals are being arbitrarily 
detained simply because they are from the Kivu region.   (Amnesty 
International, 28 March 2001)

* Congo (RDC). Casques bleus  -  Ce 29 mars, on attend en RDC l'arrivée du 
premier contingent de casques bleus: une centaine de soldats urugayens. Le 
nombre total de casques bleus attendus est estimé à 2.000. D'autre part, le 
recul des belligérants à 15 km de leurs positions achoppe dans deux zones, 
selon le commandant de la force de l'Onu au Congo (Monuc), le général 
Diallo. Dans la zone de Kananga (Kasaï occidental) ce sont les forces 
gouvernementales qui "n'ont pas bougé". Dans l'Equateur, une des factions 
rebelles, le MLC, a posé deux conditions: d'une part, que la Monuc déploie 
ses troupes pour protéger les populations; d'autre part, le démarrage du 
dialogue intercongolais.   (La Libre Belgique, 29 mars 2001)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Opposition takes poll lead  -  Early results in Côte 
d'Ivoire's (25 March) local elections shows that President Gbagbo's Ivorian 
Popular Front (FPI) has suffered major defeats. Correspondents say the 
voting passed off peacefully in Abidjan, but a number of violent incidents 
were reported in the north and the west of the country.   (BBC News, 26 
March 2001)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Elections municipales  -  Le dimanche 25 mars, les 
électeurs ivoiriens ont voté dans le calme pour les élections municipales. 
Un climat contrastant avec les violences des dernières consultations 
présidentielle et législatives. Tous les grands partis politiques 
participaient à ce scrutin, y compris le Rassemblement des républicains 
(RDR) d'Alassane Ouattara. Ces élections, qui devaient marquer la fin du 
processus de retour à un régime constitutionnel normal, constituaient aussi 
un test pour la reprise des relations politiques et économiques d'Abidjan 
avec ses partenaires étrangers. -26 mars. Alors que quelques incidents ont 
eu lieu à l'heure du dépouillement des votes, des résultats provisoires 
indiquent que le RDR a réalisé une importante percée: le parti de Ouattara 
l'emporterait dans au moins 67 municipalités sur 197. Selon Reuters, les 
résultats portant sur 185 municipalités, communiqués par la Commission 
électorale, créditent le RDR de la victoire dans 61 communes. Il est suivi 
du PDCI avec 56 municipalités, et du FPI du président Gbagbo avec 33 
communes. 35 autres municipalités ont été remportées par des candidats 
indépendants. Gagnoa, le fief du président Gbagbo, est tombé aux mains du 
candidat du RDR, à la consternation des militants du FPI. -- Le 27 mars au 
soir, la commission électorale a rendu publics les résultats officiels 
concernant 195 communes sur 197. Le RDR de Ouattara vient toujours en tête 
avec 64 communes, contre 58 à l'ancien parti au pouvoir PDCI, 34 pour le 
FPI du président Gbagbo et 38 pour des candidats indépendants. Cette 
victoire du RDR fait de M. Ouattara un leader incontournable, estiment les 
observateurs.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 28 mars 2001)

* Egypt. Indian meat banned  -  India is expecting its exports of meat and 
meat products to fall by half after Egypt, its biggest single customer, 
banned Indian imports for fear of the spread of foot-and-mouth disease. 
Saudi Arabia has also suspended Indian imports and Jordan is considering 
similar measures. Outbreaks of the disease, which has appeared sporadically 
in the country despite efforts to eradicate it, have been reported in the 
states of Haryana and Rajasthan. The Indian industry, which exports 30,000 
tonnes of meat and meat products each month and is worth an estimated 
Rs10bn (£149m) annually, is expecting volumes to fall to less than 15,000 
tonnes following the ban, which came into effect on March 20. Egypt imports 
14,000 tonnes of Indian meat and meat products each month - mainly buffalo. 
The Indian Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development 
Authority, the government body responsible for the industry, is sending a 
delegation to Egypt to try to reverse the ban set to last until April 28. 
Officials were, however, tight-lipped on 27 March. "The Egyptian government 
is in the process of reviewing their existing protocols for imports," said 
Irfan Allana, president of the All India Meat and Livestock Exporters' 
Association. "But our buffalo products are de-boned and de-glanded and kept 
at a pH level of less than six, so they are entirely 
risk-free."   (Financial Times, UK, 28 March 2001)

* Ethiopia. Plot within ruling party alleged  -  25 March: The Ethiopian 
prime minister, Meles Zenawi, says he's thwarted an attempt to cause 
political upheaval by a dissident group in the dominant Tigray People's 
Liberation Front (TPLF). Mr Meles said the party had cleared up the mess 
and embarked on the right track. Correspondents say left-wingers in the 
TPLF have objected to what they see as a cave-in by Mr Meles to Eritrea in 
their border dispute, as well as bowing to demands by the IMF and the World 
Bank for an economic austerity programme in Ethiopia.   (BBC News, 25 March 
2001)

* Ethiopia. Popular newspaper closes  -  One of Ethiopia's most popular 
newspapers has been closed down. Eletawi Addis had only been in circulation 
for eight months, but had rapidly become one of the most respected papers 
in the country. The closure was caused by a dispute between the editor of 
the paper and its owner over the reporting of a dispute within Ethiopia's 
main political party. The news has shocked the country's media industry. 
Most of Ethiopia's tabloid and broadsheet press have given prominence to 
the story of the political crisis within the Tigray People's Liberation 
Front, the dominant party in the ruling coalition government. It has been 
the talk of Addis Ababa and the media's willingness to report the story has 
dispelled the shroud of secrecy often associated with politics in Ethiopia. 
It has therefore come as a surprise to many to learn that the story has led 
to the closure of Eletawi Addis, Ethiopia's largest daily private 
newspaper. Editor-in-Chief, Solomon Abate and his deputy, Dereje Desta 
resigned over what they say are "violations of editorial freedom by the 
owner of the paper, Dr Fisseha. We wanted to cover this story but Dr 
Fisseha didn't want us to cover it. We however took it as immoral and 
unethical to remain silent on this issue as a daily paper. So against the 
orders of the publisher we printed the story", says Solomon Abate. This led 
to the Dr Fisseha sending a letter of reprimand to Solomon and fining him 
for publishing the story. Solomon Abate and his deputy resigned as a 
result. He believes Dr Fisseha should never have interfered. Solomon says 
the paper's closure has wider implications.   (BBC News, 28 March 2001)

* Guinea. Refugee camps "deserted"  -  The United Nations refugee agency is 
surprised to discover camps in southern Guinea completely empty of the 
hundreds of thousands of Sierra Leoneans they once housed. Aid deliveries 
were halted by the UNHCR to an area of southern Guinea that juts into 
Sierra Leonean territory known as the Parrot's Beak 10 days ago after heavy 
fighting. UNHCR official Fatoumata Kaba told the BBC her team was 
astonished when they resumed visits. "We realised that there are fewer 
refugees than we thought in the Parrots Beak. To see that most of the camps 
are empty - that was a discovery." She said it appeared many Sierra 
Leoneans had returned home, mainly directly across the land border, in a 
process that has been going on for several months. But Ms Kaba said there 
others that will have gone inland further into Guinea. There are still more 
than 100,000 Liberian refugees and displaced Guineans in refugee camps. The 
Sierra Leonean authorities announced that almost 1,000 refugees had 
returned by foot to Daru, northeast of Kenema, at the weekend. In Kenema, 
more than 300 returnees are being registered at the UNHCR field office 
every day. They are then being taken to UNHCR temporary settlement sites in 
Jembe and Gerihun in Bo district in southern Sierra Leone. The fighting in 
southern Guinea is mainly between the government army and rebels made up of 
local forces and mercenaries recruited in neighbouring countries. Last 
year, hundreds of thousands of refugees were forced from their camps in the 
border region after fighting erupted between the Guinean army and rebels. 
Only last month the UNHCR estimated that about 140,000 mainly Sierra 
Leonean refugees were sheltering in refugee camps in Parrot's Beak.   (BBC 
News, 22 March 2001)

* Guinée. Camps vides  -  La plupart des camps de réfugiés de la "languette 
de Guéckédou" (ou "bec de perroquet") sont vides, a-t-on appris le 22 mars 
auprès du Haut-Commissariat des Nations unies pour les réfugiés. Le mois 
dernier, le HCR estimait à environ 140.000 le nombre de réfugiés, 
principalement sierra-léonais, répartis dans une douzaine de camps situés 
dans cette zone. Le HCR n'a pu préciser où les réfugiés étaient 
partis.   (La Croix, France, 23 mars 2001)

* Kenya. Espoir dans l'impasse constitutionnel  -  Après presque quatre 
années de tiraillements pour déterminer les modalités de réforme de la 
Constitution, il semble que la crise soit en train de s'estomper. La 
semaine dernière, le groupe Unfungamano, un organisme parallèle de réforme 
dominé par des groupes religieux, a voté en masse en faveur d'une fusion 
avec l'initiative officielle du gouvernement pour mettre en oeuvre un 
processus unifié. Il ne resterait aux deux groupes qu'à désigner leurs 
représentants respectifs au sein de la Commission de révision de la 
Constitution.   (PANA, Sénégal, 26 mars 2001)

* Kenya. Dortoir en feu  -  Dans la nuit du 25 au 26 mars, 58 élèves ont 
péri brûlés dans un dortoir près de Machakos, à 60 km de Nairobi. La police 
privilégie la thèse d'un acte criminel. Le feu a pris à 1h40 dans un 
dortoir où dormaient plus de 130 garçons, pensionnaires à l'école de 
Kyanguli, à 3 km de Machakos. Plus de 58 adolescents âgés de 15 à 18 ans 
sont morts et au moins 28 ont été blessés, certains grièvement brûlés. 
Selon un policier, les témoins ont fait état d'une odeur de pétrole. L'une 
des deux portes du dortoir était fermée à clef. Six gardiens étaient sur 
place, mais ils sont intervenus trop tard. -- (Ndlr - 27 mars. Le 
responsable provincial de l'éducation, Samson Kisuke, annonce que le nombre 
d'étudiants péris dans l'incendie est de 68.   (Libération, France, 27 mars 
2001)

* Kenya. Horror of a school fire  -  26 March: Police say they suspect a 
fire that killed almost 60 schoolboys as they slept, was started 
deliberately. They said people at the scene had reported smelling petrol 
before the fire broke out. 58 boys died in the blaze and 28 are seriously 
injured. It is feared that the blaze was started with petrol by former 
pupils protesting about the cancellation of their exam results for 
cheating.It started in the early hours of the morning at Kyanguli Mixed 
Secondary School, not far from Nairobi. Most of the injured are in Machakos 
District Hospital, although six boys who are badly burnt have been rushed 
to Nairobi's main hospital, some 60 km away. President Moi later arrived to 
inspect the site. -- 27 March: The number of students killed in the fire 
has risen to 68. The new figure is given by the provincial education chief, 
Samson Kisuke.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 March 2001)

Weekly anb0329.txt - End of part 3/6