Weekly anb07055.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 05-07-2001      PART #5/7

* Nigeria. Violences interethniques  -  Des policiers ont été dépêchés en 
renfort dans l'Etat de Nasarawa, au centre du Nigeria, en raison de la 
recrudescence des violences interethniques, qui durent depuis 17 jours et 
ont fait environ 200 morts, rapporte l'agence PANA le 28 juin. Les heurts 
ont éclaté le 12 juin dernier entre les Azara de langue haoussa, les 
premiers habitants de la région, et les Tiv, originaires de l'Etat voisin 
de Bénoué, à la suite du meurtre d'un chef azara par des inconnus. Les 
violences ont connu cette semaine une escalade, avec des attaques menées 
contre les villages de Tudun Adabu, Aguchi, Agaza et Giza. Dans la seule 
journée du 26 juin, 40 personnes ont été tuées et plusieurs autres 
blessées. Des jeunes se sont déchaînés dans la ville de Lafia, brûlant 
plusieurs habitations. Les habitants ont cherché refuge ailleurs. Le 
gouverneur de Nasarawa a lancé un appel au calme. - Selon le quotidien 
français Libération du 3 juillet, plus de 22.000 personnes ont fui leurs 
habitations de l'Etat de Bauchi, dans le nord du Nigeria, à la suite de 
violences communautaires entre chrétiens de l'ethnie Jarawa et musulmans 
haoussas, qui durent depuis le 12 juin. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 3 
juillet 2001)

* Nigeria. Violence claims 10 victims in Delta State  -  A fresh outbreak 
of communal violence in the trouble-prone Nigeria's oil-rich Delta State 
has claimed 10 lives and left many others injured, the local media reported 
on 3 July. The fighting, between the two Ijaw communities of Odimodi and 
Ogulagha, erupted again on 1 July after about three months lull. The 
communities have been fighting over patronage from oil companies operating 
in the area. Seven persons were reported killed in the first round of 
violence in April.   (PANA, Senegal, 3 July 2001)

* Nigeria. Abiola death inquiry opened  -  Nigeria's human rights 
commission has opened hearings into the death of Moshood Abiola -- the man 
believed to have won the annulled presidential election of June 1993. 
Proceedings were postponed until 19 July, however, to enable former 
military ruler General Abdusalami Abubakar to give evidence. Mr Abiola died 
in jail in July 1998 during the time of General Abubakar's rule. Mr 
Abiola's death was put down to a heart attack at the time, but his family 
suspected foul play. Mr Abiola was a key figure in Nigeria's democracy 
movement and his death, at a time when the country was taking steps towards 
re-establishing democracy, sparked riots.   (BBC News, UK, 3 July 2001)

* Rwanda. Rwandan tribunal investigator in court  -  A Rwandan investigator 
for the UN Criminal Tribunal has appeared in court in Arusha for the first 
time since his arrest in May. Simeon Nshamihigo pleaded not guilty to three 
counts of genocide and crimes against humanity in the 1994 genocide. The 
prosecution said he organised and participated in the killing of Tutsis in 
southwestern Rwanda where he worked as a deputy prosecutor. Mr Nshmihigo 
was identified by witnesses to the court while working as a defense 
investigator for a former Rwandan military commander, who operated in the 
southern Cyangugu region during the genocide. He is the first member on the 
tribunal's staff to face genocide charges.   (BBC News, UK, 29 June 2001)

* Rwanda. Infiltrations  -  Le 29 juin, un policier rwandais a été tué et 
le maire du district de Ndiza (province de Gitarama) grièvement blessé par 
des combattants extrémistes hutu, a-t-on appris de source locale. Joseph 
Sibomana a été pris sous le feu de deux "infiltrés" alors qu'il circulait 
en moto sur une piste du mont Ndiza; un policier qui l'escortait est mort 
sur le coup. Les auteurs de l'attentat, deux rebelles âgés de 13 et 20 ans, 
ont été capturés. Les miliciens Interahamwe et les ex-FAR tentent depuis la 
fin du mois de mai de s'infiltrer sur le territoire rwandais via la forêt 
des volcans séparant le Rwanda et le Congo.   (La Libre Belgique, 3 juillet 
2001)

* Rwanda: "No quick pull-out from Congo"  -  The Rwandan President, Paul 
Kagame, has said the international community should not expect a quick 
withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr 
Kagame said his soldiers needed to remain in Congo for the time being 
because Kinshasa was continuing to support Hutu rebels entering north-west 
Rwanda. The authorities in Kinshasa have previously denied similar 
accusations. Mr Kagame was speaking ahead of the 4 July National Day 
celebrations which mark the liberation of the Rwandan capital, Kigali, from 
Hutu extremists in 1994.   (BBC News, UK, 4 July 2001)

* Sahara occidental. Mandat de la Minurso prolongé  -  Le 29 juin, le 
Conseil de sécurité de l'Onu a décidé de prolonger le mandat de la Mission 
des Nations unies au Sahara occidental (Minurso) pour cinq mois encore 
jusqu'au 30 novembre. Selon M. Kofi Annan, cela permettra aux deux parties, 
le Maroc et le Polisario, d'avoir le temps de négocier un accord-cadre qui 
leur a été proposé en vue de sortir de l'impasse. (Il s'agit d'une large 
autonomie pour le territoire). M. Annan prévoit aussi un référendum dans 
cinq ans pour déterminer si oui ou non le Sahara occidental doit intégrer 
le Maroc ou devenir indépendant.   (PANA, Sénégal, 29 juin 2001)

* Sao Tomé et Principe. Candidats à la présidentielle  -  Cinq candidats à 
l'élection présidentielle, prévue le 29 juillet 2001, ont été retenus par 
le Tribunal suprême. Il s'agit de l'ancien président Manuel Pinto da Costa, 
du capitaine Victor Monteiro, du candidat de l'Alliance démocratique 
indépendante Fradique de Menezes, du président de l'Assemblée nationale 
Francisco Fortunato Pires, et de l'ancien ministre Carlos Tiny. La campagne 
électorale commencera le 14 juillet.   (AFP, France, 1er juillet 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Rebels release hostages  -  30 June: Rebels in Sierra Leone 
have freed 38 Guinean hostages who had been abducted during fighting along 
the border between the two West African countries. The United Nations 
refugee agency UNHCR says the civilians -- mostly women and children -- 
were handed over to it in the Kaliahun district of Sierra Leone. 
Correspondents say two of the women, held captive for six months, claimed 
to have been gang raped by the rebels. 2 July: A total of 7,642 rebels have 
laid down their arms since January. 4 July: About 30 RUF fighters from the 
important eastern, diamond-mining region of Kono which they hold, have 
surrendered their weapons.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 4 July 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Processus de paix  -  Un total de 7.642 rebelles 
sierra-léonais, ex-enfants-soldats, membres d'une milice civile ou soldats 
renégats, a rendu les armes depuis le mois de janvier, a annoncé le 2 
juillet un responsable de l'Onu à Freetown. La milice progouvernementale et 
les rebelles du Front révolutionnaire uni (RUF) se sont engagés en mai à 
désarmer leurs combattants. - Le 4 juillet, le RUF a reconnu le 
gouvernement civil de la Sierra Leone comme une "autorité légitime" et 
réclame un statut légal pour pouvoir se préparer aux élections prévues 
cette année. Ce processus pourrait mettre un terme à une rébellion qui dure 
depuis 1991.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 juillet 2001)

* Somalia. Crackdown signalled in Mogadishu  -  A rare day of celebration 
took place in the capital, Mogadishu, on 1 July, to mark the 41st 
anniversary of Somalia's independence. It marks the first time that 
independence festivities have been held under the auspices of the 
transitional national government. A flag-raising ceremony was held in 
Mogadishu's main stadium and the city was lit up with coloured lights, a 
sight not seen in the capital for the past 10 years. But the lights were 
mainly concentrated around the government houses and the streets leading to 
them, with most of the roads remaining as dark as before. At the ceremony, 
Prime Minister Ali Khalif Gallaydh spoke about the history of the day, but 
also the current issue of security. Mr Gallaydh vowed that his government 
would soon be able to control the capital. "Major operations will start 
immediately after today," he said, sending his condolences to the families 
of two police officers killed three days ago. "I promise the noble cause in 
which these two men were killed will continue and we will crush all the 
banditry in Mogadishu," he said.   (BBC News, UK, 2 July 2001)

* South Africa. A queen with power over the skies  -  On 1 July, South 
Africa buried the last in a line of rain queens, Mokope Modjadji V, who was 
also the country's only woman tribal leader of modern times, media reports 
said. Queen Modjadji, whose name means "the woman who belongs to the sun," 
governed the tiny Lobedu tribe and was believed to have power over rain 
that she inherited from her ancestors. She died on 28 June. A leading 
regional politician told mourners her death had occurred just days after an 
eclipse had plunged portions of southern Africa into darkness. "I think the 
African heaven chose to mourn her demise in this spectacular way," Northern 
Province premier Ngoako Ramathlhodi said in remarks reported by the local 
SAPA news agency.   (CNN, USA, 2 July 2001)

* South Africa. Discount car scheme to be probed  -  DaimlerChrysler, the 
German car manufacturer, tried to distance itself on 3 July from a policy 
of supplying discounted cars to senior South African government officials 
by a subsidiary company participating in a R43bn ($5.3bn) defence deal. The 
Scorpions, an investigative arm of the South African police, has launched 
an inquiry into the supply of 30 Mercedes Benz vehicles, at favourable 
prices, to influential South Africans by the European Aeronautic Defence 
and Space Company (Eads). "We know nothing about what Eads did. It's a 
company our mother company owns some shares in. The relationship is purely 
at a shareholder level and definitely not at management or operational 
level," Lulama Chakela, a spokeswoman for DaimlerChrysler South Africa, 
said. "There is a longstanding relationship with the mother company to 
supply them [Eads] cars... We sell vehicles and we should be allowed to 
determine the price. What Eads does with the cars after the sale is none of 
our business." DaimlerChrysler also issued a statement claiming it was the 
victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by forces wishing to damage the 
South African economy. On 29 June, the Scorpions questioned Tony Yengeni, 
the former chairman of the parliamentary joint standing committee on 
defence, on subpoena about the terms under which he bought a Mercedes Benz. 
Opposition parties have called for the resignation of General Siphiwe 
Nyanda, the head of the South African National Defence Force, after he 
admitted buying a discounted car arranged by Eads.   (Financial Times, UK, 
4 July 2001)

* South Africa. Top policeman arrested  -  One of South Africa's top 
policeman has been arrested on fraud charges. The national head of 
detective services dealing with organised crime, Assistant Commissioner 
Albert Eksteen, was suspended without pay early last month. He is alleged 
to have submitted false travel expenses worth R40 000 between 1999 and 
2000, according to division commissioner Johan de Beer. The commercial 
crime court in Pretoria released him on bail, but he is not allowed to 
leave his state and has had to surrender his passport. A warrant was issued 
by a magistrate in Pretoria on 2 July. Mr De Beer told the South African 
press agency that Mr Eksteen's arrest came after "intensive investigations. 
This will send a clear message to both serving members and the public that 
the South African Police Service is committed towards uprooting acts of 
criminality and corruption within its ranks," he said. Eksteen has been 
ordered to appear in court again on 27 September.   (BBC News, UK, 4 July 2001)

* Soudan. Plan de paix égypto-libyen  -  L'opposition soudanaise a approuvé 
à l'unanimité une version révisée d'une initiative égypto-libyenne pour la 
paix au Soudan, qui prévoit un gouvernement de transition avec la 
participation de toutes les parties soudanaises, a déclaré le 29 juin un 
porte-parole de l'Alliance nationale démocratique (AND), une coalition 
regroupant l'opposition nordiste et la rébellion sudiste. Le porte-parole a 
indiqué que le gouvernement soudanais avait rejeté cette proposition, mais 
le ministre soudanais des Affaires étrangères a déclaré que "les autorités 
examinaient toujours le mémorandum". - Le 4 juillet, l'agence officielle 
soudanaise SUNA a annoncé que le Parti national du Congrès, au pouvoir, 
avait accepté l'initiative de paix conduite par l'Egypte et la Libye. "Nous 
acceptons le texte et nous appelons toutes les forces politiques 
soudanaises à faire de même", a déclaré le secrétaire général du parti, 
selon SUNA.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 4 juillet 2001)

* Sudan. Peace plan accepted  -  The Sudanese Government has accepted a 
Libyan- Egyptian initiative aimed at ending the civil war. The decision, by 
the ruling National Congress Party, comes a few days after the peace plan 
was backed by the Opposition. The initiative calls on both sides to set up 
a committee leading to a national reconciliation conference. Also for 
constitutional reforms and a transitional government. However, it does not 
include a referendum on self- determination for the south.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 5 July 2001)

Weekly anb0705.txt - Part 5/7