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Weekly anb11223.txt #6
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 22-11-2001 PART #3/6
* Congo (RDC). Foreign armies perpetuating warfare - Despite UN warnings,
foreign armies are perpetuating warfare in the Congo so they can continue
plundering the country's gold, diamonds, timber, cobalt and other
resources, a UN panel reported on 19 November. The initial motivation for
Rwanda and Uganda to intervene in the central African nation was to secure
its borders while Zimbabwean troops came at the request of the government.
But over time the lure of natural resources became "the primary motive" for
staying in many areas of the country and perpetuating warfare, the expert
panel said. "This holds true for both government allies as well as rebel
supporters," it said in a 38-page report. The Congo's civil war, which is
gradually subsiding, saw Rwanda and Uganda supporting rebel groups trying
to topple the Kinshasa government, which was propped up by troops from
Zimbabwe as well as Angola and Namibia. The main parties have generally
honoured a cease-fire since last April, but warfare continues among a
variety of armed groups. The panel said Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe as well
as the government apparently tolerated some of these conflicts as an excuse
to maintain their armies and exploit resources. The five-member panel was
established by the UN Security Council to investigate the relationship
between the war and natural resources. It submitted its first report in
April, criticized by some council members as being disjointed. The panel,
with some changes in personnel, on 19 November produced a more organized,
documented report, which came to similar conclusions about the heavy
involvement of Rwanda and Uganda in carrying off the country's riches. But
it also elaborated on the role of Zimbabwe, the mainstay of government
support, saying its joint ventures with Kinshasa appear to benefit
Zimbabwean army and government officials as well as some Congolese rather
than the general population in either country. The panel recommended a
moratorium on the Congo's coltan, diamond, gold, coper, cobalt, timber and
coffee originating from areas where foreign troops are present as well as
regions under control of the rebels. It said all concessions and contracts
signed by the government of the late Laurent Kabila should be reviewed
under UN Security Council supervision. (CNN, USA, 20 November 2001)
* Congo (RDC). Efforts to stabilise the situation - 20 November: A
delegation from the European Union led by Belgian Foreign minister Louis
Michel, leaves Brussels, today, for a tour of six African countries
involved in the Congolese conflict. Apart from Michel, the delegation
includes Javier Solana who is EU senior representative for common foreign
and security policy, EU foreign relations commissioner Chris Patten, and
Spanish foreign minister Josep Pique. The delegation will from 20 to 26
November visit Congo RDC, Angola, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. In
Congo RDC, the delegation will visit Kinshasa, Gbadolite, Goma and Kamina
where it will assess the disarming of Rwandan fighters currently under the
surveillance of the UN Observer Mission in Congo (MONUC). -- President
Joseph Kabila has signed a decree extending for six months the deadline for
registering their political parties with the interior ministry. According
to sources close to the ministry, that extension is an illustration of the
regime's desire to put all political parties on an equal footing, given the
opposition parties' traditional reluctance to submit to that regulation.
The parties object to the new regulation on the pretext that they
registered during the late President Mobutu Sese Seko's regime. Registered
during the failed democratic process in 1990, the opposition parties, led
by the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) of Etienne
Tshisekedi, believe that their official recognition was covered by the law
of 18 July 1990. Meanwhile, the interior ministry has revealed that only
247 out of the 443 political parties registered with the various regimes
have been given notice to resume their activities. -- The Congo RDC Congo
government has denounced and condemned the 16 November tragic acts that
occurred in Wembo- Nyama (eastern Kasai) where a joint force of the
Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD) and the Congolese Liberation Movement
(MLC) killed four people and injured 17 others. The killings, the
government said, were contrary to a resolution of the UN Security Council
relating to disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, relocation and the
reintegration of armed groups in the Democratic Republic of
Congo. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 21 November 2001)
* Côte d'Ivoire. Médiations dans la crise - Le 20 novembre, Mme Diabaté,
la secrétaire générale du Rassemblement des républicains (le parti
d'Alassane Ouattara), a exprimé la disponibilité de son parti pour la
réconciliation nationale en Côte d'Ivoire. Elle a fait cette déclaration à
Dakar, où elle avait été reçue par le président Wade, qui conduirait une
médiation entre les protagonistes de la crise ivoirienne. D'autre part, le
21 novembre, l'ancien président ivoirien, le général Robert Gueï, à l'issue
d'un entretien avec le président togolais Eyadéma, a annoncé qu'il pourrait
participer au forum national de réconciliation en cours. (D'après PANA,
Sénégal, 20-21 novembre 2001)
* Côte d'Ivoire. RDR on the offensive - 20 November: An Ivorian
opposition politician, Henriette Dagri Diabate, has given a positive
assessment of the ongoing national reconciliation forum that opened 9
October in Cote d'Ivoire. "On the whole, we have seen the forum move
towards reconciliation. We can say that there were highlights. Halfway, we
cannot despair of the meeting", Diabate, secretary general of the Rally for
Republicans (RDR) says. The forum is aimed to resolve the political and
social crisis that developed in Côte d'Ivoire since the 24 December 1999
military overthrow of President Henri Konan Bedie. "Our demands are
addressed to the government authorities for things to be done as simply as
possible," she says, noting that chairman Seydou Elimane Diarra of the
forum, with whom her party has no qualms, is making concrete efforts for
reconciliation. 21 November: The RDR announces it will take to the streets
again with demands that its leader be rehabilitated. (ANB-BIA, Brussels,
22 November 2001)
* Egypt. EU aid called for - Egypt has asked the European Union to help
overcome its short term liquidity problems as its economy becomes a
casualty of the war against terrorism. In a grim presentation of the impact
on the Egyptian economy of the September 11 attacks, Atef Ebeid, the prime
minister, told top officials from the EU at the weekend that the country
was expected to lose up to $2.5bn in revenues this year. The EU delegation
was led by Romano Prodi, the Commission president, Javier Solana, the EU's
top foreign policy chief, and Guy Verhofstadt, prime minister of Belgium
which holds the EU's rotating presidency. The group was on a packed
three-day visit to the region. The main aim was to shore up support for the
Mitchell Commission report, which set out a coherent path leading to an
eventual resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. The
report was fully endorsed by Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, and
Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, but has still to be implemented.
Ahmed Maher, the Egyptian foreign minister, said it was "total nonsense" by
Mr Sharon to insist on seven days of non-violence as a condition for
putting in place a ceasefire. "We just can't condition the peace process on
a veto by the Israelis," he said. During talks with Mr Ebeid, Mr Maher and
President Hosni Mubarak, EU officials were briefed about Egypt's economic
problems. Egypt has now short-term liquidity problems, making it difficult
to buy basic commodities such as wheat, grain, sugar and vegetable oil. It
has asked the EU to provide some of these commodities. It has also asked
the EU to speed up the disbursal of some E615m ($549m). This sum was
earmarked by Brussels for helping to modernise the Egyptian
economy. (Financial Times, UK, 19 November 2001)
* Guinée. Plébiscite contesté - Selon les résultats officiels, 98,36% des
Guinéens ont répondu "oui" au référendum du 11 novembre, supprimant la
limitation du nombre de mandats présidentiels. Plus de 87% des électeurs
auraient participé au scrutin, ce que conteste vivement l'opposition qui
avait appelé au boycottage. Cet amendement de la Constitution ouvre la voie
à une "présidence à vie" pour Lansana Conté. (Libération, France, 16
novembre 2001)
* Kenya. Ethnic dispute flares up - Tribal clashes sparked by a land
dispute in southern Kenya have left 14 people dead and 13 seriously
injured, according to the police. Violence erupted on 18 November in the
Tana River district when armed cattle herders of the Orma community
attacked Pokomo tribespeople, who are mainly farmers. Police spokesman
Peter Kimanthi said among the dead, eight were from the Pokomo tribe and
six were Orma herdsmen. Almost 200 people fled their homes to escape the
fighting and were hiding in a local church in Tarasaa. More than 50 heavily
armed police officers were sent to the district to restore calm. The
situation was reportedly brought under control, and police were searching
for those responsible, but there have as yet been no arrests. (BBC News,
UK, 19 November 2001)
* Kenya. Violences à Tana - Le bilan des heurts survenus les 18 et 19
novembre dans le district du fleuve Tana (centre-est du Kenya) fait état
d'au moins 14 morts. Selon la presse locale, des "bandis armés" ont rasé
plusieurs villages. Les blessés seraient nombreux. Les auteurs de
l'agression appartiendraient au groupe ethnique Pokomo, des agriculteurs.
Depuis le début de l'année, des querelles au sujet de pâturages et de
points d'eau ont été la source de nombreuses explosions de violence dans
cette zone. (D'après Misna, Italie, 21 novembre 2001)
* Kenya. Kenyatta's son in cabinet - Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi has
awarded a cabinet seat to the son of founding president Jomo Kenyatta.
Uhuru Kenyatta was named local government minister in a cabinet reshuffle
amid intensifying political manoeuvring ahead of next year's elections. In
the other significant cabinet change, Chris Okemo was replaced in the
Treasury by Chris Obure from Foreign Affairs. Correspondents see the move
as an attempt by President Moi to get a more diplomatic minister to front
negotiations with the World Bank and IMF in a bid to convince them to
release funds that they have been withholding for the past 10 years. Mr
Kenyatta, 40, is widely viewed as one of the so-called "Young Turks" vying
for leadership of Moi's ruling Kenya African National Union (Kanu) party.
Observers say President Moi is aiming to rejuvenate Kanu before he is
obliged to step down and make way for polls by the end of 2002. (ANB-BIA,
Brussels, 21 November 2001)
* Libya. Gaddafi suggests a committee of "wise men" - President Gaddafi
has suggested a committee of "wise men" from around the world -- he
recommended Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton and Mikhail Gorbachev -- to help
and guide the United Nations. He has conveyed his suggestions to Kofi Annan
and has expressed hope that "the committee starts its work soon, because of
the world's troubled circumstances". (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 20 November 2001)
* Libye. Le beau-frère de Kadhafi en résidence surveillée - Le n.2 du
service des renseignements libyen, Abdallah Senoussi, qui est également le
beau-frère de Mouammar Kadhafi, a été placé récemment en "résidence
surveillée, ainsi que plusieurs responsables du service des renseignements
libyen", a affirmé le 20 novembre le quotidien arabe Al-Hayat édité à
Londres. M. Senoussi avait été condamné par contumace, ainsi que cinq
agents secrets et diplomates libyens, à la réclusion criminelle à
perpétuité par la Cour d'assises de Paris en mars 1999 pour implication
dans l'attentat contre le DC-10 d'UTA qui avait fait 170 morts en 1989.
Al-Hayat n'explique pas les raisons de cette mesure, mais affirme que
"cette décision coïncide avec une amorce de coopération dans la lutte
antiterroriste entre la Libye et les Etats-Unis". (La Libre Belgique, 21
novembre 2001)
Weekly anb1122.txt - End oh #3/6