Weekly anb11154.txt #6

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 15-11-2001      PART #4/6

* Nigeria. Oil price to fall  -  The oil dependent economy of Nigeria is 
expected to suffer a near one-third fall in revenues next year because of a 
fall in world oil prices, Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo warned. "Our 
revenue projection in this budget, which some may regard as optimistic, is 
in fact 30% less than the current 2001 budget," he said in his presentation 
of the government's budget to parliament. Mr Obasanjo expects the Nigerian 
government to spend $7.6bn next year, compared with the $9.2bn spent this 
year. Oil prices have fallen sharply in recent months from record levels 
seen last year, partly due to the global economic gloom that was made worse 
by the terrorist attacks on the US. "The events of 11 September in the 
United States and its aftermath have accelerated recession in most regions 
of the world," said Mr Obasanjo. As much as 95% of Nigeria's foreign 
earnings come from oil sales. So a fall in the price of crude oil from $22 
per barrel, which was the basis for the last budget, to $18 per barrel, 
which is the price forecast on which next year's budget, is painful for the 
country. Currently the price of a barrel of oil is just under $19.   (BBC 
News, UK, 8 November 2001)

* Nigeria. Cholera kills hundreds  -  More than 200 people have died in a 
outbreak of cholera in northern Nigerian in the past few weeks. The worst 
affected area is the state of Kano, but the neighbouring states of Katsina 
and Jigawa have also been affected. Records in the infectious diseases 
hospital in Kano clearly show that at least 250 people have died as a 
result of the cholera outbreak. This contrasts strongly with an official 
figure of eight deaths given on 12 November by the State Commissioner of 
Health, Dr Mansur Kabir, in response to a question put to him by a 
journalist.   (BBC News, UK, 14 November 2001)

* Nigeria. 250 morts du choléra  -  Quelque 250 personnes sont mortes du 
choléra depuis la semaine dernière, notamment à Kano, la plus grande ville 
du nord du Nigeria. Le responsable de la santé de l'Etat, Mansur Kabir, a 
indiqué que le gouvernement local a sollicité des dons de 
médicaments.   (Libération, France, 15 novembre 2001)

* Rwanda. Child genocide suspects released  -  Rwanda has begun the large 
scale release of hundreds of children who have been held for years on the 
grounds that they took part in the 1994 genocide. The children, who were 
aged between five and 12 at the time of the mass killings, are among 600 
young people who will be freed to their families or foster families. They 
have spent the last three years in rehabilitation centres run by the 
Rwandan government and UNESCO, being taught literacy and technical skills. 
Most were originally held in prison after the genocide in which up to a 
million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists. The BBC's 
Helen Vesperini in Kigali says that before the children were taken to 
resettle in an area, the government had done preparatory work with 
villagers, explaining to them the logic of the programme. She said some had 
earlier been taken to their communes for approval by villagers before they 
were finally handed over to their families. Since 1998 children have been 
sent home in small numbers to test whether villagers were ready to accept 
them back into the community.   (BBC News, UK, 13 November 2001)

* Rwanda. 552 enfants libérés  -  Un groupe de 552 enfants soupçonnés de 
génocide et d'autres crimes contre l'humanité a recouvré sa liberté, après 
trois mois passés dans le camp de rééducation de Gaculiro, dans la capitale 
Kigali, a annoncé le 14 novembre le chargé d'information auprès de 
l'Unicef. Treize filles font partie de ce groupe, après qu'un tribunal 
villageois traditionnel a entendu des témoignages confirmant leur 
innocence. La libération, le 12 novembre, porte à 1.500 le nombre de 
mineurs que le gouvernement a libérés jusqu'à présent.   (IRIN, Nairobi, 14 
novembre 2001)

* Rwanda/Uganda. Britain to help monitor peace in Central 
Africa  -  Britain has agreed to help monitor a Uganda and Rwanda peace 
agreement aimed at pre-empting another war in central Africa, Uganda's 
President Yoweri Museveni said on 7 November. The pact was signed by 
President Museveni and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda in London on 6 
November after talks brokered by Clare Short, Britain's aid minister, with 
the personal backing of Tony Blair. In a move seen as an attempt to give 
substance to his pledge to play a more constructive interventionist role in 
Africa, the prime minister met the two leaders at Downing Street, his 
London residence, and encouraged them to resolve their differences. At 
subsequent talks in London, Mr Museveni and Mr Kagame agreed to try to ease 
the simmering tensions between their countries by cracking down on 
cross-border support for dissidents, and allowing third country monitoring 
of the deal. This will include inspection of alleged rebel training camps. 
"The important thing now is that we have a mechanism involving a third 
party," said Mr Museveni. "Within the next seven days there will be the 
first inspection." Each government accuses the other of sponsoring the 
internal opponents of its rival. Observers are concerned that any further 
degeneration of the situation could bring more instability to the volatile 
Great Lakes region, already ravaged by war in the Democratic Republic of 
Congo and Rwanda's 1994 genocide.   (Financial Times, UK, 8 November 2001)

* Sénégal. Un prêtre tué dans une embuscade  -  Le 7 novembre, l'abbé 
Siméon Coly, prêtre du diocèse de Ziguinchor (Casamance), a été tué au 
cours d'une attaque survenue sur la route qui relie le nord au sud du 
Sénégal. L'abbé se rendait à Dakar en taxi collectif, quand des hommes 
armés sont apparus et ont fait signe au chauffeur de s'arrêter. Devant son 
refus, les assaillants ont tiré des coups de feu, blessant trois personnes 
et en tuant deux autres. L'abbé Coly a été atteint d'une balle en plein 
coeur.   (Fides, Rome, 14 novembre 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Govt regains Liberia border area  -  After almost a decade 
since the outbreak of civil war in Sierra Leone, the Government has at last 
re-established its authority on the country's border with Liberia. Sierra 
Leone Army's information director, Major Desmond Henry told journalists on 
7 November that it took the army 20 days to prepare and 10 days to secure 
the border area between Liberia and Sierra Leone. He said the military 
would prevent dissidents from operating within Sierra Leone and the border 
area. Member countries of the Mano River Union, namely Liberia, Guinea and 
Sierra Leone, recently agreed on joint patrol of their common frontiers. 
Henry said the area along the Mano River and through out the north and 
north-east of Gola Forest (south of Kenema, Sulima, Joru and Zimmi) were 
under the full control of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces and the 
Sierra Leone Police Force. Sierra Leone's naval wing reinstated its 
presence in the area by establishing a forward operating base in Sulima, 
covering a distance of over 250 kilometres. During the operation, the army 
repaired and rebuilt seven bridges which had been destroyed by rebels of 
the Revolutionary United Front. "The bridges have begun facilitating 
cross-border trade between Liberia and Sierra Leone", Major Henry 
said.   (PANA, Senegal, 7 November 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Contrôle de la zone frontalière  -  Le gouvernement 
sierra-léonais a établi son contrôle le long de sa frontière avec le 
Liberia, près d'une décennie après l'éclatement de la guerre civile dans le 
pays. Le chef des services de renseignements de l'armée a expliqué, le 7 
novembre, qu'il a fallu dix jours à l'armée pour sécuriser la zone 
frontalière. Il a ajouté que les militaires empêcheront toute opération des 
dissidents sur leur territoire et le long de la frontière. Les pays membres 
de l'Union du fleuve Mano, le Liberia, la Guinée et la Sierra Leone, ont 
récemment convenu de mener des patrouilles conjointes le long de leurs 
frontières communes.   (PANA, Sénégal, 8 novembre 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Peace conference underway  -  A three-day conference in 
Sierra Leone, which brings together the government, political parties and 
civic groups, has begun in the capital, Freetown. The Information Minister, 
Cecil Blake, said that all opposition parties were represented at the talks 
and the atmosphere was positive. He said the key issues to be discussed 
included building a sustainable peace in Sierra Leone, and how best to 
organise next year's elections. Mr Blake stressed though that decisions 
taken at the conference would not be binding on the government.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 13 November 2001)

* Sierra Leone. Désarmement et avenir  -  Le 8 novembre, le gouvernement 
sierra-léonais et les rebelles du RUF se sont mis d'accord pour 
entreprendre des "actions immédiates afin de faciliter un désarmement 
rapide" dans tous les districts du pays. Les deux parties sont convenues de 
commencer la récupération des armes non couvertes par le programme de 
désarmement du 15 novembre au 31 décembre. D'autre part, le 12 novembre, 
plus de 7.600 armes récupérées par les casques bleus durant le désarmement 
des ex-combattants ont été détruites dans la capitale Freetown. - Par 
ailleurs, le 13 novembre, s'est ouverte à Freetown une conférence de 
consultation nationale de trois jours visant à jeter les bases de l'avenir 
de la Sierra Leone. Plus de 250 délégués de différentes parties y 
participent, incluant des responsables gouvernementaux, des anciens 
rebelles, des chefs de file politiques et des membres de la société civile. 
Les opposants politiques ont cependant exprimé leur scepticisme quant aux 
résultats de cette conférence.   (IRIN, Abidjan, 9-14 novembre 2001)

* Somalia. New PM pledges reconciliation  -  The new interim Prime Minister 
of Somalia, Hassan Abshir Farah, has said he will make reconciliation among 
Somali communities and armed groups a top priority for his administration. 
Addressing a women's meeting in the former police high school, he said he 
was prepared to talk to any group opposed to the interim administration. Mr 
Farah, who was appointed by the president on 12 November, said that within 
30 days, he would form a new government which he hopes would cover the 
entire country. Mr Farah himself comes from Puntland, where he was once 
interior minister before leaving for Djibouti to chair the peace 
conference, which culminated in the establishment of the Transitional 
National Government.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 November 2001)

* Somalia. Run for peace  -  A peace run through the streets of Mogadishu, 
sponsored by the United Nations Sport for Peace Programme in collaboration 
with the Somali Olympic Committee, was successfully completed on 12 
November, a UN press release said. The winners of the six races were on 13 
November their prizes in front of the Olympic building in south Mogadishu, 
said the release. More than 650 people, including men, women and 180 
children had participated in the races through the city. The races were 
respectively of 5,000, 3,000, 2,000, 1,500 and 1,000 meters. The release 
quotes Philippe Gourdin, the Sport for Peace Programme Coordinator, as 
saying: "This is the first time in a decade that we saw such a peaceful and 
animated crowd supporting their fellow brothers and sisters, regardless of 
their clan affiliation." There had been no security incidents, "and the 
event went very well". Gourdin described the run as "a successful start for 
our Programme, and we hope to continue and expand with the support of our 
partners". All registered participants received a Sport for Peace 
tee-shirt, and the winners collected prizes of US $40, $30 and $10 for 
first, second and third places respectively.   (IRIN, 14 November 2001)

Weekly anb115.txt - End of #4/6