Weekly anb06286.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 28-06-2001      PART #6/7

* Somalie. Leaders à Addis-Abeba  -  Les principaux leaders de factions 
somaliennes opposés au Gouvernement national de transition (GNT), se 
trouvent actuellement à Addis-Abeba pour une série de réunions avec les 
autorités éthiopiennes concernant le processus de paix dans leur pays. La 
visite de ce groupe intervient une semaine après que les autorités 
éthiopiennes ont annoncé qu'elles avaient convaincu une délégation de haut 
niveau du GNT de convoquer une autre conférence de réconciliation nationale 
sans conditions préalables. Mais les leaders des factions exigent que le 
président Salat Hassen renonce d'abord au GNT avant qu'ils puissent 
accepter des négociations directes.   (PANA, Sénégal, 26 juin 2001)

* Somalia. Police patrol Mogadishu streets  -  On 27 June, Mogadishu 
residents woke up to the sight of hundreds of armed, uniformed policemen 
patrolling their war-ravaged city's streets for the first time in more than 
10 years. In the first major police operation since President Barre was 
ousted in january 1991, more than 2,000 police officers and 45 pickup 
trucks fitted with anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns began taking charge of 
key strategic junctions in the capital. However, security remains a major 
problem in the capital, pockets of which are controlled by faction leaders 
who oppose President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan.   (CNN, USA, 27 June 2001)

* South Africa. Mines offer AIDS help  -  The South African mining industry 
has plans to make special payments to miners suffering from HIV/AIDS, on 
condition they take voluntary retirement. Rick Menell, the president of the 
chamber of mines, said mining companies had plans to launch a two-year 
pension as part of a voluntary ill-health retirement package for workers 
suffering from AIDS within the next two months. Companies and employees 
would contribute to an AIDS fund that would cover the last months of 
sufferers' lives and a death benefit payment. "We would create a financial 
pool between employees and employers that could offer additional benefits 
to people that were previously not available. It has been under negotiation 
with stakeholders over the last couple of months," said Mr Menell. South 
Africa has one of the highest infection rates of HIV/AIDS with 11.8 per 
cent of its 40m population infected. Within industry, mining is one of the 
worst hit sectors with an estimated 30 per cent of its 500,000 miners 
infected. Some 73 per cent of miners live in single-sex hostels and 25 per 
cent of them come from neighbouring countries. Mining companies, as part of 
a broader private sector initiative, are also considering the supply of 
generic anti-retroviral drugs to employees. Research by Anglo American and 
Old Mutual, the country's largest financial services company, has shown 
that treatment of employees with anti-retrovirals can be cheaper than the 
costs incurred by leaving them untreated.   (Financial Times, UK, 23 June 2001)

* South Africa. Spurned Winnie rounds on Mbeki  -  The growing rancour 
between Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki has been 
brought into the open by the disgraced but still popular "mother of the 
nation" accusing his government of lacking democracy, betraying the ideals 
of the liberation movement and neglecting the poor. The verbal assault 
follows Mr Mbeki's humiliation of Nelson Mandela's former wife a week ago 
when he pushed her away as she tried to kiss and hug him at a rally to 
commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Soweto uprising. After the 
incident, the African National Congress accused her of "tomfoolery" and the 
president said she showed "disrespect" for the nature of the commemoration. 
At the weekend she responded with an attack on his government's 
record.   (The Guardian, UK, 25 June 2001)

* South Africa. Bush meets with Mbeki
26 June: Aiming for a stronger relationship with South Africa, US President 
George W. Bush says at the start of his two-day meeting with South African 
leader Thabo Mbeki in Washington that trade and bilateral ties would be on 
the agenda. Mbeki meets with Bush at the White House's Oval Office and 
later the two leaders continue their talks over lunch in the private 
residence. When asked if the AIDS pandemic will figure in his talks with 
Mbeki, Bush said "it's an incredibly important part of our dialogue." It is 
the first time that Mbeki had met with Bush since the US leader took 
office. The two met in Texas in May, 2000, while Bush was the state's 
governor. Mbeki has upset UN officials by not speaking in New York this 
week at a special session of the General Assembly on the topic of AIDS, 
although South Africa has a delegation at the conference.   (CNN, USA, 27 
June 2001)

* Swaziland. Liberté d'expression muselée  -  Le roi Mswati III a 
définitivement muselé l'opposition politique et la presse indépendante par 
un décret extraordinaire. Le souverain s'est en effet accordé le droit 
d'interdire sans délai et sans condition toute publication contraire à son 
gré. Par ailleurs, quiconque critiquera son activité ou fera de la satire à 
son insu pourra être incarcéré et contraint de payer une lourde amende. Le 
décret prévoit enfin l'abolition de toute garantie légale aux personnes 
accusées de délits de vol ou de viol, voire même de manifestation non 
autorisée. L'initiative de Mswati III a outrepassé la magistrature, qui a 
récemment établi que l'absence de garanties aux personnes accusées de 
certains types de crimes était inconstitutionnelle. Des sources de 
l'opposition, réunies au sein du "Swaziland Solidarity Network", ont 
commenté que ce geste renforçait "le règne de la terreur politique 
institutionalisée dans un pays soumis à une autorité tyrannique".   (Misna, 
Italie, 26 juin 2001)

* Sudan. Bombing raid on Raga  -  Six people were killed and several others 
injured when a government bomber hit the southern Sudanese town of Raga on 
24 June. Speaking on the (satellite) telephone from Tonj (about 1,000 km 
south of Khartoum) on the morning of 27 June, Bishop Caesar Mazzalori of 
the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek, said the six included a mother and her baby 
whom she was holding at the time of the incident. The mother also lost her 
elder son in the some tragedy. The Bishop who made a quick visit to Raga on 
26 June said: "This is really diabolical considering that so far the 
government has continued to deny humanitarian agencies access to Raga". He 
said that the 24 June air strike took place in the afternoon and involved 
between seven and nine bombs, which were dropped along a straight line on a 
strictly civilian section of the town. Earlier, the bomber aircraft had 
hovered over the town without dropping any bombs. It is suspected to have 
been trying to identify its intended target.   (Sudan Catholic Information 
Office, 27 June 2001)

* Tchad. Financement pétrolier contesté  -  La Banque européenne 
d'investissement (BEI) a annoncé le 22 juin un prêt de 144 millions d'euros 
pour la construction d'un oléoduc entre le Tchad et le Cameroun. Ce crédit 
s'ajoute à celui de 700 millions d'euros annoncé le 15 juin par un groupe 
bancaire comprenant le Crédit agricole indosuez. Ces prêts ont été 
enclenchés par le feu vert donné en juin 2000 par la Banque mondiale qui 
avait accordé aux gouvernements du Tchad et du Cameroun 100 millions 
d'euros pour leur permettre de participer au consortium réalisant le projet 
pétrolier de la région de Doba. Les décisions des institutions financières 
interviennent alors que de nombreuses ONG dénoncent l'appui au gouvernement 
tchadien; en effet, les atteintes aux droits de l'homme se multiplient au 
Tchad depuis les élections du 20 mai favorables au président Déby, marquées 
par une fraude massive.   (Le Monde, France, 23 juin 2001)

* Togo/West Africa. "Refugee" ship flounders off Togo  -  22 June: A 
Swedish-registered ship carrying more than 150 Liberians is reported to be 
in trouble off the West African coast. Its propeller is believed to have 
been fouled by fishing nets and the ship is running out of fuel and water. 
"The situation is desperate," said Eva Furberg, wife of the ship's captain, 
Henning Kielberg. "It has got a net in its propellers. It doesn't have any 
more fuel and there is no more food or water aboard. People's lives are in 
danger." Togolese port authorities told the BBC that it had sent divers out 
to the ship to help disentangle the nets. According to the authorities the 
captain did not ask for help with fuel, water or food. The ship, the Alnar 
Stockholm, left the Liberian capital of Monrovia on 1 June. Its passengers 
were due to enter Ghana but were refused. The ship was last seen on 18 June 
off the coast of Benin, where officials also denied it permission to dock. 
Shipping officials say the ship's plight is partly a result of a recent 
criticism of West African countries over labour-trafficking. In April a 
Nigerian registered ship, the Etireno, triggered international concern when 
it was reported to be carrying child slaves, although these were not found. 
24 June: The Liberians are now hoping to disembark in Lagos on 25 June. 
President Olusegun Obasanjo had ordered last week that the ship be 
permitted to dock in Nigerian waters. But Lagos port officials said that 
they were waiting to "receive a clear instruction from the federal 
government on 25 June." 25 June: The ship is now expected to dock in Lagos 
tomorrow. 26 June: The vessel docks in Lagos after nearly a month drifting 
off the West African coast.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 27 June 2001)

* Tunisie. Ligue des droits de l'homme  -  Le 21 juin, la cour d'appel de 
Tunis a rendu public son verdict sur l'affaire qui oppose le comité 
directeur de la Ligue tunisienne de défense des droits de l'homme (LTDH) à 
quatre de ses membres. Confirmant un jugement en première instance du 12 
février, le juge a décidé l'annulation du 5e congrès de la LTDH, des 
décisions et des comités qui en sont issus. Mais la mission de 
l'administrateur judiciaire imposé est terminée, et le nouveau comité 
directeur est tenu d'organiser un nouveau congrès dans un délai d'un an. Le 
vice-président de la ligue, Me Anouar Kousri, continue à affirmer que c'est 
"une affaire strictement politique qui vise à mettre au pas notre 
association". Tout porte à croire que le comité directeur ira se pourvoir 
en cassastion pour contester ce verdict.   (Le Soir, Belgique, 22 juin 2001)

* Tunisie. Prisonniers d'opinion  -  La militante tunisienne des droits de 
l'homme Sihem Bensedrine, interpellée le 26 juin à l'aéroport de Tunis, a 
été emprisonnée, ont annoncé ses avocats. Mme Bensedrine, 47 ans, 
porte-parole du Conseil national pour les libertés en Tunisie (non 
reconnu), a été inculpée pour diffamation du corps judiciaire, diffusion de 
fausses nouvelles de nature à troubler l'ordre public dans des propos tenus 
sur la chaîne de télévision Al-Mustaquilla, dirigée par un opposant depuis 
Londres. - D'autre part, le 26 juin, Mohamed Hédi Béjaoui, ancien 
prisonnier d'opinion, au 51e jour de sa grève de la faim, était dans un 
état qualifié de désespéré. Ce père de sept enfants est privé de tous ses 
droits depuis sa sortie de prison en septembre 1999, au terme de 9 ans de 
détention pour appartenance supposée au mouvement islamiste interdit 
Ennahda. M. Béjaoui tente par son action d'attirer l'attention sur la 
situation de milliers d'anciens prisonniers tunisiens, condamnés comme lui 
à la misère à leur sortie de prison.   (Le Soir et Le Monde, 27 juin 2001)

Weekly anb0628.txt - Part 6/7