Weekly anb05315.txt #8

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-05-2001      PART #5/8

* Kenya. Quotas from COMESA sugar proposed.  -  A confidential report by a 
government fact-finding mission which returned recently from five Comesa 
countries, suggests that Kenya should impose quotas on sugar imports from 
the Comesa region, to protect the local market from saturation by more 
efficient producers in Sudan, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. The fact-finding 
mission found out that the factories in these countries had capacity 
utilization rates much higher than even the most efficient producers in 
Kenya. The threat to the local sugar market is further underlined by a 
finding that the four countries are all net sugar exporters, with surplus 
stocks that could be readily exported to Kenya. The mission's main 
recommendation is that Kenya should create an arrangement whereby sugar is 
imported into the country, only through agreed quota levels, especially 
whenever there are national deficits. The mission visited Malawi, Zambia, 
Zimbabwe and Mauritius, all of which have acceded to the zero-tariff 
regime, which came into operation within the Comesa region on 31 October 
2000. Kenya is a party to the same agreement on a total duty waiver on 
products. As a result of this, the country experienced a dramatic increase 
in imports of agricultural commodities, particularly sugar, to the 
detriment of Kenya's sugar industry.   (T & C Inc, Kenya, 24 May 2001)

* Liberia. War in the north  -  23 May: The Liberian government says that 
it has recaptured a crucial town in Lofa county in the north of the country 
from rebels. Foya, about 250 km north of the capital Monrovia, is an 
important centre close to the Guinea and Sierra Leone border. The town has 
changed hands at least twice since March. But a spokesman for the rebel 
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd) said the 
government statement was "a lie". The rebels say that they are moving 
closer to Monrovia. This is the latest exchange of claims in this 10-month 
insurgency. The fighting is part of a series of regional conflicts in 
neighbouring Sierra Leone and Guinea. The Liberian Government said on 22 
May that the army had launched a "major offensive that resulted in the 
massive retreat of dissident forces". Lurd on the other hand say that it is 
trying to establish a civilian administration in Lofa county and there is 
no fighting there at all. Meanwhile, Liberian President Charles Taylor has 
called for a meeting with his Guinean and Sierra Leonean counterparts in 
order to settle the region's conflicts. The Guinean President Lansana 
Conte, however, will not meet Mr Taylor because he says Mr Taylor is 
backing rebels movements in the other countries that are destabilising the 
region.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 24 May 2001)

* Liberia. Regime under threat  -  The Liberian president, Charles Taylor, 
has called in the Sierra Leonean Revolutionary United Front (RUF) 
guerrillas to help fight off an insurgency which threatens his rule. With 
UN peacekeepers deploying throughout Sierra Leone, the RUF's survival has 
become contingent on Mr Taylor, whose arms-for-diamonds deals have 
sustained their 10 years of war. But analysts say the insurgency in Lofa 
county, in northern Liberia, by the Liberians United for Reconciliation and 
Democracy (LURD) poses a serious threat to Mr Taylor and could topple him, 
dramatically increasing the chances of peace in Sierra Leone. Liberian 
refugees at Daru, a ransacked town near the southern border of Sierra 
Leone, said the RUF had not stopped the dissidents sweeping Mr Taylor's 
ragtag security services before them. UN intelligence sources said LURD 
were in control of Lofa and had been reported as far south as Salayei, 125 
miles from the capital, Monrovia. LURD are thought to be a loose alliance 
of Mr Taylor's disgruntled former officers and rival warlords, galvanised 
by Guinea since it was attacked by RUF and Liberian fighters last 
year.   (The Guardian, UK, 28 May 2001)

* Malawi. Child labour rampant in tobacco industry  -  The umbrella 
organisation, Tobacco International Growers in Africa, has noted that the 
tobacco industry in Malawi, the country's major forex earner which 
contributes 70 percent of Malawi's foreign exchange earnings, is promoting 
child labour. It seems that many young people are either employed on the 
tobacco estates or sell cigarettes in the markets or drinking joints. 
Addressing the Press, the International Tobacco Growers in Africa Chief 
Executive, Garbett Thyangathyanga, said it happens because children in 
Malawi provide cheap labour. Most most of the children employed on the 
tobacco estates are sent there by their parents whose aim is to earn more 
income. "This is an abuse of the children's rights, such as the right to 
education. Primary education in Malawi is free so that children who work in 
the tobacco industry do so at a time when their friends are in class," said 
Thyangathyanga. The Ministry of Gender and Youth says it is aware of the 
problem.   (Frank Jomo, ANB-BIA, Malawi, 24 May 2001)

* Nigeria. Corruption hearings open  -  In the first case brought by 
Nigeria's anti-corruption commission, three senior officials have pleaded 
not guilty to the charges against them. One of the accused Mika Anache was 
a member of an official panel set up by the government to investigate the 
management of the state-run airline, Nigeria Airways. He is accused of 
receiving money to influence the outcome of the hearings, and the three 
others are accused of paying him. One of them was not present in court, and 
has yet to plead. The commission was set up last year by President Olusegun 
Obasanjo as part of his attempts to stamp out corruption in a country which 
correspondents say is regularly voted one of the most corrupt in the 
world.   (BBC News, UK, 29 May 2001)

* Rwanda/Belgium. The Brussels trial  -  23 May: The lawyers for the 
plaintiffs claiming damages, call for justice vis à vis the widows of those 
killed in the genocide. 28 May: The lawyer for the plaintiffs claiming 
damages against two of the accused, Vincent Ntezimana and Alphonse Higaniro 
finishes his speech, roundly denouncing the two accused as being guilty of 
genocide. 29 May: The final speeches of the lawyers for the plaintiffs are 
made today. In particular, the guilt of the two nuns is insisted on. The 
procedure in the coming days is: 30 May -- The lawyers for the defence 
begin their case; 5 June -- Both the defence and the accusation should have 
ended the presentation of their cases; 6 June -- Replies to both defence 
and prosecution cases; 7 June -- The verdicts. 30 May: The defence opens 
its case. The lawyers defending Vincent Ntezimana plead that a strong 
element of doubt exists and call for a acquittal verdict for their 
client.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 31 May 2001)

* Rwanda. Ten sentenced to death  -  A court in Rwanda is reported to have 
sentenced 10 people to death and 23 more to life imprisonment for leading 
the 1994 genocide in which around half a million people died. The state run 
radio said the court in Gisenyi, 80 kilometres north of the capital Kigali, 
had found them guilty of organizing the militias that carried out the 
killings of Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. The radio said that a 
former member of parliament under the last extremist Hutu government, 
Wellars Benzi, was among those sentenced to death. Mr Benzi was accused of 
inciting Hutus to kill Tutsis through articles published in the Kangura 
newspaper. Correspondents say the judgement comes as Rwanda is trying to 
set up an alternative legal system to speed up trials of genocide suspects, 
and reduce overcrowding in the country's prisons.   (BBC News, UK, 26 May 2001)

* Rwanda. Former president under house arrest  -  The former president of 
Rwanda, Pasteur Bizimungu, says he has been put under house arrest. Mr 
Bizimungu told the BBC programme, the Great Lakes Lifeline, that the 
measure was taken against him as he was planning to launch a new political 
party, together with other prominent Rwandan politicians. Mr Bizimungu 
resigned in March following disagreements within the ruling Rwandan 
Patriotic Front. He was succeeded by his former vice-president, General 
Paul Kagame.   (BBC News, UK, 30 May 2001)

* Sénégal. Démission du ministre de l'Economie  -  Le 23 mai a été une 
journée pénible pour la vie politique sénégalaise. Le ministre de 
l'Economie et des Finances, M. Mamadou Seck, personnalité importante du 
Parti démocratique sénégalais (PDS, au pouvoir), a démissionné dans 
l'après-midi suite à la diffusion d'informations concernant son implication 
présumée dans une affaire judiciaire. Selon la presse, il aurait été 
condamné en 1998 à deux ans de prison pour détournement de fonds. M. Seck a 
démenti ces accusations, en affirmant que l'affaire avait été classée. Plus 
tard dans la soirée, une communication officielle annonçait le limogeage de 
M. Abdoulaye Seye, directeur de la Brigade nationale de la Sûreté de 
l'Etat, le commissaire qui devait garantir la moralité des ministres avant 
qu'ils ne soient nommés. Ce sont les premières difficultés du nouveau 
gouvernement mis en place le 12 mai.   (Misna, Italie, 24 mai 2001)

* Senegal. Rebel movements in Casamance  -  25 May: Senegal says it has 
suspended an offensive against separatist rebels in Casamance. Over the 
past week, the Senegalese Government has been involved in operations 
against the rebel Movement of Democratic Forces in Casamance (MFDC) trying 
to eliminate their bases. 26 May: The MFDC says peace talks between the 
rival factions due to be held in The Gambia next week, have been postponed. 
The MFDC's leader, Augustin Diamacioune, says continuing differences 
between the rival factions and an upsurge of fighting in Casamance has 
forced the delay.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 26 May 2001)

* Sénégal. Affrontements en Casamance  -  200 rebelles auraient été tués 
par l'armée lors d'une offensive qui visait à reprendre possession de bases 
rebelles en Casamance, a annoncé le 27 mai une agence de presse publique 
sénégalaise, qui affirme aussi qu'un grand nombre de villages ont été 
partiellement ou totalement brûlés la semaine passée. - D'autre part, près 
d'un millier de réfugiés casamançais, qui s'étaient installés depuis plus 
de dix ans au nord de la Guinée Bissau, ont été rapatriés de force par 
l'armée de ce pays depuis le 18 mai.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 28 
mai 2001)

* Senegal. Casamance clashes -- Guinea Bissau pushes back refugees  -  More 
than 200 are dead and many are injured after a recent military "combing 
out" operation by the Senegalese army in the separatist Casamance region. 
For some time, the army has been working through the Bignona region on the 
border with The Gambia, to capture armed bands responsible for acts of 
terrorism. During the operation the army clashed with members of the armed 
wing of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), struggling 
for independence since 1982. A military spokesman told Fides that the army 
is determined to clear the region of these bandits responsible for a series 
of massacres over the past few months. The MFDC's secretary general, a 
Catholic priest, Rev. Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, says the bandits are led 
by Salif Sadio, leader of a break-away faction of the MFDC. On March 16, 
this year, with the mediation of Bishop Maxient Coly of Ziguinchor, the 
Senegalese government reached a peace accord with the MFDC, but not all the 
rebels factions signed. A meeting to bring the different MFDC factions 
together, planned for the end of May, was postponed after the recent 
violence which forced more than 2000 people across the border to Gambia for 
safety. In the meantime Guinea Bissau has expelled from its territory about 
1500 Casamance refugees who since 1990 had settled in villages along the 
Senegal-Guinea Bissau border. The army pushed the people back over the 
border, burning homes and killing livestock. The government justified the 
operation as an action to prevent war from spreading to its territory and 
because the refugees had always refused to report MFDC members hiding in 
their midst. Senegal's internal minister said he agreed with Guinea 
Bissau's policy. Humanitarian sources say about 7500 Casamance refugees are 
registered in Guinea Bissau.   (Fides, Vatican City, 28 May 2001)

Weekly anb0531.txt - #5/8