Weekly anb09276.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 27-09-2001  PART #6/7

* Senegal. Call for African pact against terrorism - The President of 
Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, has called for an African pact against terrorism. 
He has urged African leaders to come together to ensure terrorist groups 
are deprived of any kind of support in Africa. He suggests that the 
Organisation of African Unity should establish a seven-member committee of 
African heads of state to ensure that no country on the continent offers 
sanctuary to terrorist groups, much less money or aid. "Beyond verbal 
declarations, African countries should engage in direct actions in the 
global fight", says Mr Wade. He was speaking in Paris. Mr Wade had been 
part of a delegation of six African heads of state which held talks in UK 
with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 20 September 2001)

* Sénégal. L'enseignement religieux à l'école - Dans un entretien au 
quotidien Le Soleil publié le 24 septembre, le président sénégalais 
Abdoulaye Wade se dit favorable à l'éducation religieuse à l'école, ainsi 
qu'à la "formalisation" de l'enseignement dans les écoles coraniques. 
"Voir, à l'école primaire, le marabout dispenser des cours d'arabe et 
d'éducation coranique aux enfants musulmans, ne me dérange pas. Les 
chrétiens peuvent eux aussi assister à des cours de catéchisme. Je suis 
pour la liberté", a dit M. Wade. Il a annoncé également avoir "décidé de 
formaliser le secteur informel de l'enseignement coranique. Nous pouvons 
utliser les structures existantes pour y assurer d'autres enseignements que 
le Coran", ajoutant que les talibés doivent aussi apprendre un métier et 
d'autres disciplines, dont le français et l'anglais. (AFP, France, 24 
septembre 2001)

* Sénégal. Liberté de presse - Le 24 septembre, le Comité de protection des 
journalistes (CPJ ) a exprimé sa "profonde inquiétude" envers ce qu'il a 
décrit comme l'accroissement du harcèlement des journalistes sénégalais par 
les autorités depuis que le président Wade a pris ses fonctions en avril 
2000. "Nous sommes particulièrement perturbés par la persécution d'Aliouine 
Fall, rédacteur en chef du quotidien indépendant 'le Matin', accusé en 
particulier de publier des fausses informations", a indiqué le CPJ dans une 
lettre adressée à M. Wade. Il a précisé que le Sénégal a été longtemps un 
modèle pour la liberté de presse en Afrique de l'Ouest et pour le respect 
que les autorités sénégalaises ont généralement montré aux médias. Or, à au 
moins cinq occasions depuis avril 2000, les autorités ont utilisé divers 
règlements pour arrêter et interroger des journalistes dont le seul "délit" 
semble consister à couvrir des sujets sensibles, parmi lesquels le conflit 
en Casamance, a précisé le CPJ. Il a demandé à M. Wade de s'assurer que les 
accusations contre M. Fall étaient annulées et de faire tout ce qu'il 
pouvait pour annuler la loi de diffamation criminelle et d'autres lois qui 
criminalisent les journalistes. (IRIN, Abidjan, 25 septembre 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Call for justice - On 24 September, Amnesty International 
said that renewed commitment is needed to end impunity. The international 
community must honour its commitments to the people of Sierra Leone to 
bring to justice the perpetrators of the worst crimes under international 
law. The following day, 25 September, the RUF rebels threatened to bring 
disarmament to a virtual standstill, charging that pro-government 
militiamen are being allowed to keep some of their weapons. (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 26 September 2001)

* Somalie. L'Onu quitte le pays - Les Nations unies ont déclaré, le 24 
septembre, qu'elles retiraient leurs quelque 45 employés étrangers de 
Somalie, après que des assurances ont refusé de couvrir les vols pour s'y 
rendre, dans le sillage des attentats qui ont frappé les Etats-Unis. 
(Reuters, 24 septembre 2001)

* Somalia. UN pulls out of Somalia - The United Nations has pulled its 
international staff out of Somalia after being told flights to and from 
Mogadishu can no longer be insured after the suicide attacks on the United 
States. The European Union withdrew its expatriate staff last week because 
of "general tension and uncertainty there" following the attacks on the US. 
This comes a day after a massive demonstration in Somalia's capital, 
Mogadishu, in support of Osama Bin Laden and against the United States. 
Last week, Somalia's Transitional Government denied having any links with 
Bin Laden and said that it was ready to co-operate with the US in its fight 
against international terrorism in the wake of the attacks on New York and 
Washington. US intelligence sources have suggested that the man held 
responsible for the attacks could be heading for Somalia. Diplomats in east 
Africa have said that some radical Islamic groups in Somalia may be linked 
to his al-Qaeda network. 45 UN staff have been flown to neighbouring Kenya 
until new insurance cover can be found but the UN says Somalia has not 
become any less safe than before. "I would like to stress that this 
decision has nothing to do with the security situation in Somalia, which 
remains stable and unchanged," said UN Resident and Humanitarian 
Co-ordinator Randolph Kent in Nairobi. (BBC News, UK, 24 September 2001)

* South Africa. The "cappuccino effect" - In South Africa they call it the 
"cappuccino effect". It is the mixing of black and white, the coming 
together of previously separate entities to create something new that is 
better than just the sum of its parts. South Africa has made huge strides 
in racial reconciliation and harmonisation since the transition to 
democracy in 1994. But the business world has lagged behind. Big, rich 
business remains white-dominated, while black business is still by 
definition small and underfunded. Access to markets and to capital remains 
far easier for a white business. Things have obviously changed: big white 
companies have developed a conscience and contribute millions of rands to 
social development projects; small black businesses get lucrative contracts 
from both the public and the private sector; there are more and more blacks 
sitting in boardrooms all over the country. Yet organised business has 
remained divided along racial lines. Even language is a dividing factor, 
reflecting and perpetuating the apartheid legacy. The South African Chamber 
of Business (Sacob) is English-speaking and represents mainly white 
business. The Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut represents Afrikaans speaking 
chambers. The National Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Nafcoc) 
represents black business. On 20 September, however, with a formal signing 
ceremony in Johannesburg, a unified body to represent black and white 
business was being created. Sacob is merging with Nafcoc to create a single 
colour-blind entity called the South African Federated Chamber of Commerce 
(Safcoc). It is a marriage between giants: Sacob is by far the biggest 
white business organisation and Nafcoc, launched in Soweto in 1964, is the 
country's main black business movement. (Financial Times, UK, 21 September 
2001)

* South Africa. South Africans call for AIDS emergency - President Thabo 
Mbeki of South Africa has been challenged to declare the AIDS epidemic a 
national emergency. The call came from a coalition of South African church, 
labour and civic groups after a meeting in Cape Town. The groups said Mr 
Mbeki and his government must recognise the scale of the problem because 
no-one in South Africa could afford to deny the terrible extent of the 
epidemic. They called for immediate publication of a report by South 
Africa's Medical Research Council which -- according to leaked details 
--apparently confirms AIDS as South Africa's biggest killer. Mr Mbeki has 
questioned the link between HIV and AIDS and the level of fatalities 
attributed to the epidemic. (BBC News, UK, 20 September 2001)

* Sudan. Rebels' battle claim - Sudanese rebels claim to have killed more 
than 150 soldiers and destroyed two warship steamers in a three-day battle 
with government troops along the River Nile in the south of the country. 
The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) said on 20 September it had 
attacked a large enemy convoy of government forces and independent militias 
between Tonga and Barboy in southeast Sudan on 10 September. "Two warship 
steamers were destroyed and sunk with all their contents and more than 150 
soldiers killed", the SPLA said in a statement released in Nairobi. There 
was no independent confirmation of the report. (CNN, USA, 20 September 2001)

* Soudan/Ouganda. Réconciliation - La réouverture, le 18 septembre, de 
l'ambassade ougandaise à Khartoum a mis un terme à un différend 
diplomatique et sécuritaire vieux de six ans. Initiée par le colonel 
Kadhafi, la réconciliation entre les présidents Museveni et El-Béchir a 
cependant mis du temps à se concrétiser. Il a fallu deux ans pour que 
l'accord de paix, signé en 1999, puisse enfin aboutir au rétablissement des 
liens diplomatiques et la nomination d'ambassadeurs. Les deux voisins se 
sont engagés à stopper leur soutien respectif aux rebelles ougandais (LRA) 
et soudanais (SPLA). Ils ont en outre commencé à libérer leurs "otages": 
prisonniers et réfugiés des deux côtés de leur frontière. 
(J.A./L'Intelligent, France, 25 septembre 2001)

* Sudan. USA backs away from helping rebels - The US has backed away from 
plans to step up aid to rebels in war-torn Sudan as a result of the 
Khartoum regime's co-operation in the US campaign against terrorism. Under 
pressure from the Bush administration, House Republican leaders late last 
week quietly pulled from the floor the Sudan Peace Act, a bill that would 
have bolstered assistance to the southern rebels in Sudan and potentially 
punished foreign companies doing business in the country. The move is the 
latest indication that the administration is prepared to mend relations 
with a host of what were once seen as hostile countries, if their 
governments are willing to aid in the fight against terrorism. "The 
administration and the State department believe that Sudan is playing ball 
right now and State is happy with what they're getting," said one 
congressional aide. In its latest report on terrorist-sponsoring countries, 
the US said that Sudan continues to be used as a safe haven by several 
different groups, including Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda organisation, the 
prime suspect in the September 11 attacks. But a State Department official 
said that US talks with Sudan over the past year have produced concrete 
progress in addressing US counter-terrorism concerns. The US, however, will 
be looking for further measures from Khartoum, including an expansion of 
efforts to identify and remove all remaining terrorists, a willingness to 
ship terrorists abroad to face justice, and closer co-operation with 
international intelligence and law enforcement efforts. (Financial Times, 
UK, 27 September 2001)

Weekly anb0927.txt - end of #6/7