R: Weekly anb01247.txt #7

["Riccardo Venturi" <ricky76@wappi.com>]

no more weekly news please

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> Da: anb-bia <anb-bia@village.uunet.be>
> A: anb-weekly@ntlist.online.be
> Oggetto: Weekly anb01247.txt #7
> Data: giovedì 24 gennaio 2002 15.13
> 
> _____________________________________________________________
> WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 24-01-2002      PART #7/7
> 
> * Tanzania. President announces deaths inquiry  -  16 January: President 
> Benjamin Mkapa has announced the formation of a body to investigate the 
> killings of opposition demonstrators in Zanzibar. The government says
that 
> a total of 27 people died during a police break up of a political 
> demonstration last year. Mr Mkapa's announcement of the inquiry
commission 
> came as a surprise, just 10 days before the first anniversary of the 
> deaths. People, generally, have expressed pleasure at the president's
move 
> despite the lateness of the setting up of the probing body.   (ANB-BIA, 
> Brussels, 18 January 2002)
> 
> * Tanzania. Chaos as Tanzania provides free schooling  -  Tanzania's
plans 
> for free education for primary school students has hit a snag. The 
> compulsory scheme re-introduced by President Benjamin Mkapa last year 
> requires all seven-years-olds to register at primary schools across the 
> country. But so widely observed has this been by parents, that they have 
> found schools ill prepared to handle the huge extra numbers.
Consequently, 
> in the capital, Dar es Salaam, some of the students have been taking
refuge 
> under trees to escape either the blistering hot sun or they have been 
> cramming into classrooms to escape the heavy downpours hitting the city 
> recently. Kiburugwa Primary School in Dar es Salaam, which normally 
> accommodates 3,500 pupils, has now registered a further 1,200 children. 
> Head teacher Mr Yassini Shaban says the school cannot cope with the
influx. 
> "What am I going to do with these children?" he asks. "We have followed
the 
> government directive, the children have been registered, and now they sit

> under trees." The school needs 32 new classrooms to add to the current 11

> classrooms in order to cope, he says.   (BBC News, UK, 22 January 2002)
> 
> * Chad. Lawyer for Hissène Habré's victims honoured  -  On 17 January, 
> Human Rights Watch hailed the announcement that Jacqueline Moudeina, a 
> lawyer from Chad who was almost killed because of her work on behalf of 
> torture victims, had received the prestigious Martin Ennals Award for
Human 
> Rights Defenders. The award is presented yearly by ten of the world's 
> leading human rights organisations. Jacqueline Moudeina is the lawyer for

> the victims of the exiled former dictator of Chad, Hissène Habré. He is
now 
> in exile in Senegal. Lawyer Moudeina had taken an enormous personal risk
by 
> filing criminal complaints in Chad itself against a number of Habré's 
> accomplices, many of whom are still in positions of power in 
> Chad.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 17 January 2002)
> 
> * Uganda/Congo (RDC). Ugandan troops sent back to Congo  -  17 January:
The 
> Ugandan army says it is sending troops to the east of Congo RDC to stop 
> factional fighting from spreading to areas near the Ugandan border. The 
> army says the move is precautionary because of the difficult situation in

> eastern Congo. The deployment follows attacks by tribal fighters on a 
> military camp about 60 kilometres west of the Ugandan border, belonging
to 
> a rebel group backed by the government in Kampala.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels,
17 
> January 2002)
> 
> * Ouganda/Congo-RDC. Envoi de troupes  -  L'Ouganda revient au Congo-RDC.
A 
> force d'avoir manipulé, dressé les uns contre les autres les groupes 
> ethnico-politiques de l'est de ce pays, l'Ouganda est obligé aujourd'hui 
> d'intervenir pour éviter que les troubles entre factions rivales ne 
> franchissent la frontière. "La situation là-bas était confuse; nous ne 
> pouvions pas accepter une telle confusion près de nos frontières, qui 
> mettrait en danger la sécurité dans cette zone, sans prendre des 
> précautions", a expliqué un porte-parole de l'armée. Kampala a envoyé des

> troupes dans trois villes congolaises proches de la frontière, Aru,
Ariwara 
> et Mahagi, sans préciser combien d'hommes étaient déployés. Des centaines

> d'hommes appartenant aux milices tribales congolaises Maï-Maï ont attaqué

> la semaine dernière à Butembo une position militaire d'un petit mouvement

> rebelle soutenu par l'Ouganda. L'année dernière, l'Ouganda avait retiré
12 
> de ses 14 bataillons de la RDC, conformément à l'accord de paix de 
> 1999.   (Libération, France, 18 janvier 2002)
> 
> * Zimbabwe, Help needed to trace Mugabe funds  -  International auditing 
> firms operating in southern Africa said on 17 January that an
investigation 
> into the assets of Robert Mugabe, president of Zimbabwe, and those of his

> associates would be strengthened by the co-operation of international
donor 
> agencies. John Roux, the head of PricewaterhouseCoopers' forensic unit in

> Johannesburg, said the international banking community's co-operation in 
> tracking funds belonging to Zimbabwe's ruling elite depended on donors, 
> such as the World Bank or the European Union, raising concerns about the 
> abuse of their funds. The US and the UK have launched an investigation
into 
> the assets held abroad ahead of a possible decision to impose targeted 
> sanctions on Zimbabwe to put pressure on the government to hold free and 
> fair elections. The US said that capital outflows from top officials to
tax 
> havens in Europe and the US had been increasing in the months before the 
> presidential elections in March. Ed Royce, chairman of the Africa
Committee 
> of the US House of Representatives, warned of the danger of officials 
> stripping the Zimbabwean national treasury. "There is nothing to prevent 
> them [Zimbabwean officials] from doing it [moving money offshore]. It's 
> very difficult to investigate. To get the Swiss banking authorities to 
> co-operate, you would need some official backing and a criminal 
> prosecution. The banks are not going to disclose for the sake of 
> disclosing," said Mr Roux.   (Financial Times, UK, 17 January 2002)
> 
> * Zimbabwe. Violence at rally  -  20 January: Violence has erupted in 
> Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo ahead of a visit by Nigerian President 
> Olusegun Obasanjo to discuss the nation's deepening political crisis. 
> Police fired tear gas to disperse rival party supporters who clashed
before 
> an opposition rally, witnesses said. At least 18 people were injured. The

> opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said its supporters were 
> attacked by militants from President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party trying

> to prevent them from entering a sports stadium for the rally, at which
MDC 
> presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was due to speak. About 150 
> militants camped in the stadium overnight to block the entrances and stop

> an expected crowd of 15,000 from attending, the MDC said. Eddie Cross, an

> opposition official at the stadium said police refused to remove the 
> militants and "clearly were in cahoots" with them.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels,
20 
> January 2002)
> 
> * Zimbabwe. Media law again delayed  -  22 January: Zimbabwe's parliament

> adjourns until 23 January without holding a long-awaited debate on a 
> controversial media bill, which critics say is part of President Mugabe's

> drive to silence opposition to his bid for re-election in March. Under
the 
> controversial proposals, foreign journalists would not be allowed to be 
> based in Zimbabwe. All local media organisations would have to apply for 
> annual government licences or face two years in prison. Reports deemed to

> cause alarm and despondency would be forbidden. The bill is one of
several 
> pieces of legislation which analysts say are key to Mr Mugabe's campaign
to 
> win the 9-10 March presidential elections, when he is likely to face a 
> strong challenge from the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of the 
> Movement for Democratic Change. The proposed legislation has been 
> criticised by foreign governments and media organisations. Zimbabwean 
> journalists have vowed to carry out protests. Parliament was expected to 
> pass the bill last week, but Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa delayed
its 
> introduction, saying the government was considering several 
> amendments.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels 23 January 2002)
> 
> * Zimbabwe. Vers les élections  -  Face au tollé provoqué par son nouveau

> projet de loi sur l'information, le gouvernement zimbabwéen a décidé, le
22 
> janvier, d'en modifier le contenu, notamment au sujet des journalistes 
> étrangers, indique le quotidien français Le Figaro. Ces derniers
pourraient 
> être autorisés, sous certaines conditions, à exercer leur activité au 
> Zimbabwe, ce que la précédente mouture interdisait. Le texte, qui doit
être 
> voté cette semaine par les députés, reste toutefois largement répressif.
- 
> D'autre part, selon l'agence PANA, le gouvernement a demandé à la 
> Commission de supervision des élections d'élaborer un code de conduite 
> réglementant le comportement de tous les partis politiques dans la 
> perspective de l'élection présidentielle des 9 et 10 mars prochain.
Malgré 
> les appels au calme et à la non-violence lancés par les principaux
partis, 
> les affrontements liés à la campagne électorale continuent à augmenter 
> entre militants rivaux. - Par ailleurs, pour faire face à la grave crise 
> alimentaire, le gouvernement a confisqué 36 mille tonnes de maïs
récoltées 
> par des cultivateurs d'origine européenne, rapporte l'agence Misna. La 
> confiscation concerne des fermiers blancs dont les propriétés ne figurent

> pas parmi celles qui sont en phase d'expropriation. Plus d'un demi
million 
> de personnes souffrent de carence alimentaire, surtout dans les régions 
> méridionales et occidentales.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 23 janvier
2002)
> 
> * Zimbabwe. Programme to send food to Zimbabwe set for clearance  -  18 
> January: The World Food Programme (WFP) is expecting to get clearance, 
> today, to send its first consignment of maize to Zimbabwe, where food 
> shortages are worsening and an estimated 500,000 people are on the brink
of 
> starvation. The first load of 8,470 tonnes of maize meal donated by the
US 
> will leave Tanzania by train as soon as Zimbabwean inspectors in 
> Dar-es-Salaam have declared it "acceptable and bacteria-free", said
Judith 
> Lewis, WFP regional director for eastern and southern Africa. "You could 
> say it is a drop in the ocean, but I prefer to call it a start," said Ms 
> Lewis. "The situation in Zimbabwe is bad and deteriorating fast." The WFP

> estimates that at least 116,000 tonnes of maize is urgently needed. Other

> organisations put the total food import bill for the year at $750m, while

> 3.5m Zimbabweans have applied for food handouts. The consignment marks
the 
> return of the WFP to Zimbabwe, which it had left in 1996, and is the 
> outcome of often difficult negotiations with the government. "We have
been 
> working on a memorandum of understanding with the authorities since 
> November," said Ms Lewis. "They were concerned at how we would actually 
> operate. But we have opened an office in Harare and, despite a slow
start, 
> the programme is now shifting into high gear." Zimbabwe normally produces
a 
> surplus of food but this year a combination of negative factors has
brought 
> the country to the brink of famine. The maize shortage, initially caused
by 
> drought, has been exacerbated by politically motivated violence, as 
> agricultural production has been severely hampered by farm invasions and 
> commercial farming has been disrupted by the government's "fast-track"
land 
> reform programme. 23 January: The WFPsays it has made its first delivery
of 
> food aid to Zimbabwe. Trucks from neighbouring South Africa delivered the

> first of 5,200 tons of corn meal -- the region's staple food -- to 
> warehouses in the second city of Bulawayo. Further consignments of beans,

> ground nuts and vegetable oil would be delivered soon, said Anna Shotton,
a 
> WFP spokeswoman in Harare. This evidence of Zimbabwe's economic
devastation 
> came as southern African church leaders called on President Robert Mugabe

> to step down. And the British Government said political conditions in 
> Zimbabwe had worsened in the last two weeks, and threatened that it would

> press for the country's suspension from the Commonwealth unless the 
> situation improved. The UN food agency has appealed for $60m from 
> international donors to feed 558,000 rural Zimbabweans in need of
immediate 
> aid. The government blames the food shortages on poor rains, but critics 
> say that the invasion of white-owned farms by militant supporters of Mr 
> Mugabe has worsened the situation. Zimbabwe has traditionally been a
major 
> exporter of food to the region. On 21 January, state media reported that 
> the authorities had seized 36,000 tonnes of grain from white farmers who 
> were accused of hoarding it to create artificial shortages.   (ANB-BIA, 
> Brussels, 24 January 2002)
> 
> Weely news - anb0124.txt - #7/7
> 
> THE END
> 
> 
>