Weekly anb01317.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-01-2002      PART #7/7

* Zambia. Copper tarnishes Zambia's future  -  The withdrawal of mining 
group Anglo American from its copper investments in Zambia has dealt a 
devastating blow to confidence in the southern African country's struggling 
economy. Copper production accounts for 75 per cent of Zambia's export 
earnings in a largely agricultural economy. Anglo American's decision this 
week to pull out of Konkola Copper Mines, at a cost of $350m, has thrown 
the privatisation of the Copperbelt into reverse. In the absence of a 
buyer, the mines are likely to close down in 12 months, putting 9,500 
miners and 1,600 workers at the Nkana smelter out of work. "There is deep 
discontent that [former] President [Frederick] Chiluba had spent years 
saying he was going to privatise the copper mines and not doing so," says 
Ross Herbert, senior Africa researcher at the South African Institute of 
International Affairs. "If Zambia had privatised, Anglo American would have 
made its investment when the copper price was higher." Newly-elected 
President Levy Mwanawasa's task of rebuilding Zambia's economy would be 
made more difficult by rising unemployment on the Copperbelt and falling 
foreign currency earnings. Mr Mwanawasa has vowed to keep Konkola's mines 
open and told miners not to panic in the face of possible retrenchment. But 
in the absence of private shareholders, the government will struggle to 
maintain the loss-making operations and raise the estimated $1bn finance 
for the development of the copper-rich ore body.   (Financial Times, UK, 25 
January 2002)

* Zambia. Political deadlock  -  President Levy Mwanawasa's political woes 
appeared to deepen on 28 January as a disgruntled opposition boycotted 
bridge-building talks he called to resolve an impasse that crippled the 
National Assembly last week. Opposition parties, which won a majority in 
parliament in a controversial general election in December, refused to 
attend the talks, which were also aimed at reaching agreement on common 
strategies to counter a growing economic crisis. Key issues on the agenda 
for resolution were the political impasse resulting from the conduct of the 
election, which the opposition alleges was rigged, a crisis in the mining 
industry, and a severe grain shortage that has reportedly affected tens of 
thousands of people. "I have invited political leaders to come to State 
House tomorrow so that we can discuss our differences and, above all, 
discuss the problems afflicting this nation. My view is that when elections 
end, fighting should not continue, but that everybody has to contribute to 
the country's development," Mwanawasa said during an inter-denominational 
church service on 27 January. However, the seven parties -- the United 
Party for National Development (UPND), the Forum for Democracy and 
Development (FDD), the United National Independence Party (UNIP), the 
Heritage Party, the National Citizens Coalition, the Zambia Republican 
Party and the Patriotic Front -- said in a joint statement that they would 
not talk with the government until consensus on the ground rules was 
reached.   (IRIN, 28 January 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Bulawayo Catholics defend their Archbishop  -  The pastoral 
council of the archdiocese of Bulawayo, the second biggest city in 
Zimbabwe, has spoken out against the state owned newspaper, The Chronicle, 
for attacking its leader, Archbishop Pius Ncube. Responding to a scathing 
report published in The Chronicle last week, the Bulawayo Pastoral Council 
said the lay people of the Catholic Church were disgusted by the on-going 
campaign of lies, and the persecution of Archbishop Pius Ncube. Archbishop 
Pius Ncube has been a constant critic of Robert Mugabe's government, 
criticising the government of abusing its power in the management of the 
country. In an open letter to The Chronicle, the pastoral community said: 
"Please leave our Archbishop out of your election campaign. Pius Ncube 
detests all violence and intimidations. He preaches nothing but the 
Biblical truth of love peace and justice for the poor. We are proud of our 
faith, proud of our Church. Our faith teaches us to speak the truth and to 
defend the poor against powerful oppressors. Our archbishop preaches a 
prophetic message and we shall be happy to die for that message". The 
community solidly defended the archbishop.   (MISNA, Italy, 24 January 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Journalistes et observateurs  -  Les autorités zimbabwéennes 
sont à la recherche de journalistes étrangers qui sont entrés dans le pays 
comme touristes, a dit un porte-parole du gouvernement le 24 janvier. 
Depuis quelque temps, les journalistes étrangers ne peuvent plus entrer 
dans le pays. Selon le journal gouvernemental Daily News, plusieurs 
reporters, surtout des Britanniques, sont entrés dans le pays en tant que 
touristes, mais y travaillent comme journalistes. - D'autre part, le 25 
janvier, le président Mugabe a réitéré l'engagement de son gouvernement à 
aller de l'avant avec le programme controversé de réforme agraire. - Le 28 
janvier, l'Union européenne a menacé le Zimbabwe de lui imposer des 
sanctions si le régime n'acceptait pas, d'ici le 3 février, le déploiement 
sur son territoire d'observateurs des Quinze dans la perspective des 
élections des 9 et 10 mars prochains. Les sanctions pourront aussi être 
appliquées si le Zimbabwe devait empêcher la mission de fonctionner 
efficacement, si le gouvernement devait empêcher les médias de couvrir 
librement les élections, ou si une détérioration grave de la situation sur 
le terrain devait être constatée. Le même jour, M. Mugabe a annoncé dans un 
communiqué que le Zimbabwe invitait des observateurs de différentes régions 
du monde à assister à l'élection présidentielle, à l'exception des 
Britanniques. Le Royaume-Uni, qui va demander cette semaine la suspension 
du Zimbabwe du Commonwealth et pousse pour des sanctions européennes contre 
le régime de Mugabe, est accusé par ce dernier de soutenir l'opposition 
avec pour objectif de rétablir "le colonialisme" dans le pays. Notons que, 
quelques jours auparavant, l'Observatoire national des élections avait 
annoncé le déploiement de quelque 22.000 observateurs locaux pour 
superviser l'élection. - 29 janvier. Le Forum parlementaire de la 
Communauté de développement de l'Afrique australe (SADC) a reçu le feu vert 
des autorités de Harare pour superviser l'élection présidentielle, a 
indiqué le président du forum, précisant qu'au moins 39 parlementaires 
superviseront ces élections dans les 10 provinces. - Le 30 janvier, le 
ministre britannique des Affaires étrangères, Jack Straw, n'a pas réussi à 
convaincre le Groupe d'action ministériel du Commonwealth (CMAG) de 
recommander la suspension du Zimbabwe de cette organisation. Le CMAG a 
préféré inviter le gouvernement de Mugabe à mettre un terme à 
l'intervention des forces de police et de l'armée sur le terrain de la 
politique et à permettre une campagne électorale libre. Il l'invite 
également à revenir sur les restrictions apportées aux activités de la 
presse. Le même jour, le Parlement reprenait la discussion d'un projet de 
loi sur l'information, visant à museler la presse indépendante. Trois 
journalistes, qui manifestaient devant le Parlement, ont été arrêtés. 
D'autre part, le Conseil angliacan du Zimbabwe s'est dit "alarmé par la 
violence insensée qui est en train de déchirer notre pays" et a appelé à la 
tolérance.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 31 janvier 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Political violence increases  -  24 January: Two new reports 
from human rights groups say there has been a sharp increase in political 
violence in Zimbabwe. The reports, one by a coalition of non-governmental 
organisations called the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum and the other by a 
group of Danish doctors, say the government is overwhelmingly responsible. 
It comes as the government again fails to push through a controversial 
media bill, after ruling party MPs in parliament were critical of the 
bill's shortcomings. The bill, which critics say is part of President 
Mugabe's drive to silence opposition to his bid for re-election in March, 
is now tabled to be discussed in parliament on 29 January. 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. And reports deemed 
to cause alarm and despondency would be forbidden. 29 January: Human Rights 
Watch says that the presidential elections are highly unlikely to be free 
and fair and the Commonwealth should insist that president Mugabe take 
immediate steps to end political violence and restore the rule of law. 30 
January: The UK's The Times, reports that Eddison Zvogbo, a senior 
ZANU-PFmember has denounced government attempts to gag the Press. He said: 
"I can say without equivocation that this Bill was the most calculated and 
determined assault on our liberties guaranteed by the Constitution in the 
twenty years I served as Cabinet minister". 31 January: SADC foreign 
ministers are gathering in Zimbabwe for a two-day meeting to discuss the 
often violent land grabs.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 31 January 2002)

* Zimbabwe. Sanctions -- off -- on --?  -  27 January: Reports indicate 
that European Union foreign ministers are to pull back from agreeing to 
impose immediately any kind of sanctions on Zimbabwe, preferring to wait 
until after the presidential election on March 9-10. The decision reflects 
a growing consensus among member states, including the UK, that imposing 
sanctions over political violence and the government's crackdown on free 
speech at this stage could be counter-productive as Robert Mugabe, 
Zimbabwean president, could exploit them. However, the UK will push for 
Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth at the organisation's heads of 
government summit in March, if political violence continues. The EU foreign 
ministers have the support of neither the Southern African Development 
Community (SADC) nor the Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic 
Change, led by Morgan Tsvangirai, to impose sanctions. Instead, they will 
choose from four options. The first is essentially to do nothing but retain 
the option of imposing sanctions if Zimbabwe does not reinstate the rule of 
law, press freedom and an end to political violence. The second and 
preferred option is for the EU to threaten sanctions, backed by the threat 
of suspension from the Commonwealth. The third is to impose sanctions but 
not apply them at least until the election is over. The last option is to 
apply sanctions that could include a visa ban as well as a freeze on bank 
accounts and assets held by Mr Mugabe and other government members. 28 
January: Zimbabwe is served notice that the European Union will impose 
targeted sanctions next week unless full access is granted for observers 
and the media for the March presidential election. Announcing the move in 
Brussels, Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, says all 15 EU members 
have agreed to tell President Robert Mugabe that he would face punitive 
measures to stop him "stealing" the election. The EU, galvanised by 
Britain, sets a deadline of 3 February for its conditions to be met and a 
first advance team of observers to be deployed on the ground. The threat 
ends months of vacillation over the Zimbabwe crisis, in which Mr Mugabe has 
played for time and sought to split his European critics. "The decision 
that has been taken by the EU was a clear, unambiguous and unanimous one," 
Mr Straw says, after a day of talks and intensive weekend contacts with 
fellow ministers. "Mugabe must accept effective observers. Either he calls 
off the thugs, allows the media to operate freely and lets the people of 
Zimbabwe make a democratic choice, or he and his key ministers will pay the 
penalty." The sanctions will involve a travel ban on 20 top individuals, 
including Mr Mugabe and his family; an assets freeze; and a ban on the 
export from the EU of arms and dual-use equipment that could be used for 
internal repression. The subjects of targeted sanctions would include the 
hardline information minister Jonathan Moyo and the ministers of 
agriculture and local government -- both of whom are involved in the 
controversial land reform question -- as well as four military and police 
commanders. 30 January: Commonwealth foreign ministers rebuff Britain's 
call for Zimbabwe to be suspended immediately from their meetings. The 
ministers give President Mugabe a last chance to restore the ground for 
free and fair elections.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 31 January 2002)

Weekly anb0131.txt - Part 7/7 -  THE END