Weekly anb01313.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-01-2002      PART #3/7

* Ethiopia/Scotland. Sacred artefact returning home  -  A delegation of 
religious leaders from Ethiopia has travelled to Edinburgh to collect a 
sacred carving which was unearthed in a church cupboard. The holy wooden 
tabot, or tablet, is thought to be more than 400 years old. It is believed 
that it was taken from Ethiopia by British soldiers trying to free hostages 
from the home of Emperor Theodore the Second in 1868. Some 200 mules and 15 
elephants were loaded with plunder after victorious British forces stormed 
the mountain fortress at Maqdala. The treasure -- which included solid gold 
crowns -- was bought up by many respected UK institutions, including the 
British Museum. The tabot was brought to the Princes Street church in 
Edinburgh by a soldier returning from the campaign. It was discovered by 
the Rev John McLuckie in a battered leather box while he was looking for a 
communion set in a cupboard at St John's last October. Mr McLuckie 
recognised the carved piece of wood as he had worked in the Ethiopian 
capital, Addis Ababa, and he recognised its religious significance. The 
tabot -- a 6 inch square carved with an Ethiopian inscription -- represents 
the ark of the covenant and is sacred to Ethiopia's Orthodox 
Christians.   (BBC News, UK, 27 January 2002)

* Gabon. Nouveau gouvernement  -  Le 25 janvier, le gouvernement gabonais a 
présenté sa démission au président Bongo, qui l'a acceptée, ouvrant la 
porte à la formation d'un "gouvernement d'ouverture" dans lequel devrait 
entrer le parti d'un opposant historique, Paul Mba Abessole. Cette 
démission intervient à la suite de la proclamation définitive des résultats 
des législatives de décembre dernier, remportées haut la main par le Parti 
démocratique gabonais du président Bongo. Le "Rassemblement national des 
bûcherons/Rassemblement pour le Gabon" du député-maire de Libreville, Paul 
Mba Abessole, est devenu le premier parti d'opposition, avec seulement huit 
élus. Ce parti est dominé par l'ethnie Fang, majoritaire, et fer de lance 
de l'opposition radicale gabonaise au début des années 90. Par ailleurs, le 
gouvernement gabonais, excédé par une grève illimitée des enseignants du 
supérieur, dont il affirme avoir satisfait les revendications, a ordonné, 
le 25 janvier, la fermeture et l'évacuation des deux pôles universitaires 
du Gabon. - Le 27 janvier, la composition du nouveau gouvernement a été 
annoncée par le Premier ministre Jean-François Ntoutoume Emane. Des 
opposants de longue date y ont fait leur entrée, mais les ministères-clés 
demeurent aux mains des proches du chef de l'Etat. Paul Mba Abessole a été 
nommé ministre d'Etat pour les droits de l'homme. Le nouveau gouvernement 
mettra l'accent sur la lutte contre la pauvreté et la corruption, et pour 
la réinsertion sociale.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 29 janvier 2002)

* Kenya. Réfugiés victimes du HCR  -  Le bureau des enquêtes internes des 
Nations unies vient de révéler un invraisemblable scandale qui éclabousse 
le Haut Commissariat aux réfugiés (HCR). A Nairobi, un réseau criminel de 
70 personnes, dont des employés locaux du HCR, a extorqué des millions de 
dollars à des réfugiés. Lorsque, après des années, leurs agissements 
commencèrent à être connus, les malfaiteurs se livrèrent à des menaces 
physiques, préparèrent un attentat à la bombe et même le rapt d'une jeune 
fille d'un administrateur de haut rang du HCR pour réduire au silence tous 
ceux qui pourraient parler. Des employés du HCR s'arrangeaient pour fournir 
les signatures nécessaires à tous ceux qui avaient les moyens de payer, au 
détriment d'autres dossiers, en vue de recommander leur réinstallation en 
Australie, au Canada et aux Etats-Unis.   (Libération, France, 28 janvier 2002)

* Liberia. Keeping a lid on unrest  -  Military unrest in northern Liberia 
is having a disastrous impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people 
who have been made homeless. The unrest involves claims and military 
counterclaims from the government and a shadowy rebel group, Liberians 
United for Reconciliation and Democracy. But its impact on ordinary people 
is severe. Rebels accused by the Liberian Government of being backed by 
neighbouring Guinea claim to be active in northern Liberia, and the 
government has sent military reinforcements there to deal with them. But 
many of the rebel claims are unverifiable and the situation is also 
confused by a variety of pro-Liberian government militias in the region, 
some of which are reported to have clashed among themselves. Some 10,0000 
refugees from the recent months of military unrest in north-western Liberia 
now live in makeshift camps around the village of Sawmill, about 100 km 
north of the capital, Monrovia. "But these 10,000 people are only a small 
proportion of the internally displaced", said Marie Noel Rodrigues of aid 
agency MSF. "There are also those who have come to swell the population of 
Monrovia and other groups of displaced in the north-east." Meanwhile, the 
Liberian government has said that the United Nations sanctions imposed on 
it because of its involvement with rebels in the Sierra Leonean war, should 
be lifted. The sanction most keenly felt by the government is a travel ban 
on government ministers and senior officials.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 25 
January 2002)

* Liberia. Combats et réfugiés  -  L'armée régulière a repris le contrôle 
de Sawmill, un petit centre à 80 km au nord de la capitale Monrovia, selon 
des sources indépendantes. Les rebelles du LURD (Libériens unis pour la 
réconciliation et la démocratie) ont été contraints au retrait. "Le village 
est complètement désert et en grande partie détruit", rapporte un témoin 
oculaire. L'armée avance plus au nord et des combats sont signalés dans le 
village de Bopolu. En attendant, la situation d'urgence reste grave aux 
portes de Monrovia, où des personnes déplacées continuent à s'amasser. Près 
de 20.000 personnes y campent dans des conditions très précaires. Mais les 
militaires leur barrent la route pour empêcher l'afflux massif des réfugiés 
en ville. "Ce comportement est inquiétant", a commenté un leader de la 
société civile.   (Misna, Italie, 30 janvier 2002)

* Liberia. Refugees flee shooting  -  27 January: Thousands of refugees are 
on the move towards the Liberian capital, Monrovia, following an outbreak 
of shooting near the camp where they had been staying. A senior aid worker 
said the movement of internally displaced Liberians from Sawmill, about 100 
kilometres north of Monrovia, had panicked part of the local population. 
Some 20,000 destitute people had gathered at a road junction about 50 km 
north of the capital, according to Marie Noelle Rodrigues, a representative 
of the aid agency, Medecins Sans Frontieres. It is not clear who was 
responsible for the shooting near Sawmill.The refugees living there had 
fled earlier fighting in the far north of Liberia. For weeks the refugees 
in camps around the village of Sawmill have been saying they did not feel 
safe because of outbreaks of shooting in the forests around them. But the 
government of Liberia, reluctant to see a wave of panicking people enter 
the capital, said they could not leave the Sawmill camps. On the night of 
26 January, according to aid workers, there was more shooting near Sawmill 
and thousands of people simply fled southwards with or without permission 
from the government. The Liberian Government blames dissidents for the 
fighting and a rebel movement claims it is gaining ground. There may be 
some dissident activity, but well informed observers in Monrovia are 
sceptical about the rebel claims and say parts of the government army are 
prone to indiscipline and looting as well. 28 January: The Liberian army 
has erected barricades outside the capital, Monrovia, to prevent the 
thousands of refugees from entering the city. 29 January: Government troops 
have retaken sawmill from rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and 
Democracy (LURD) forces.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 January 2002)

* Libya/USA. Positive talks  -  Libya and the United States say they have 
held talks to mend relations between the two countries. The move comes 
after years of hostility between the two nations over what the Americans 
have termed Libya's sponsorship of terrorism. Relations hit a low in 1986 
when the US launched air attacks against the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after 
the bombing of a Berlin disco in which two American servicemen died. Two 
years later, in an event that Washington holds Libya responsible for, Pan 
Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky above Scotland with the loss of 270 
lives, most of them Americans. Libyan Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassouna 
Chaouch said on 24 January that the recent talks between the two countries 
had taken place at "several levels". He said: "Both Libya and the United 
States have a common willingness to rebuild their relations and help 
further security and peace in the world. It seems that the new US 
administration has shed the past negative policies."   (BBC News, UK, 24 
January 2002)

* Libya. Lockerbie: A sour pill for Libya  -  24 January: 2nd day of the 
appeal -- The Lockerbie appeal has heard that the trial judges who 
convicted Abdelbaset ali Mohamed al-Megrahi of the bombing of the Pan Am 
plane, misunderstood and misinterpreted crucial evidence. The claim was 
made by the lead lawyer representing the accused. Lawyers for the accused 
are attempting to overturn the verdict and are focusing on legal precedents 
to support their case that there has been a miscarriage of justice. 28 
January: The official Libyan media is paying only cursory attention to the 
Lockerbie appeal currently being heard at Camp Zeist. At best reports on 
the appeal come fourth on the news bulletins. Considering how outspoken he 
has been in the past about Lockerbie, Libyan leader Colonel Muammar 
Gaddafi's current silence is startling. This could be because the regime is 
not confident of a favourable outcome in the appeal against the conviction 
of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. Libya is hoping to draw the whole 
Lockerbie affair to a close. Tripoli is reported to have offered to pay 
billions of dollars in compensation to the families of the victims of the 
bombing, in return for closure on the issue. United States and British 
officials, reported to be negotiating a settlement with representatives of 
the Libyan regime, are said to be pressing Libya for a settlement before 
the appeal is concluded. Whichever way the appeal goes, Libya stands to 
lose financially and politically, or both. Like the government, most 
Libyans just want to see the Lockerbie affair concluded.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 29 January 2002)

Weekly anb0131.txt - Part 3/7