Weekly anb01316.txt #7

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 31-01-2002      PART #6/7

* South Africa. Mbeki to sell Africa Plan in New York  -  28 January: Thabo 
Mbeki, the president of South Africa, is heading for New York to convince 
the World Economic Forum that the New Partnership for Africa's Development 
(NEPAD) deserves funding. Mr Mbeki wrapped up a four-day meeting of African 
leaders near Johannesburg on 27 January, thrashing out a united front to 
take to the Forum. In all, 53 African nations have taken part in planning 
NEPAD, and at a conference in Tokyo late last year they called for $46bn of 
investment in Africa each year. "The question of buy-in from African 
countries is really important," said presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo 
of the plan, fronted by Mr Mbeki and the presidents of Senegal, Nigeria, 
Algeria and Egypt. The programme sets a series of targets for democracy and 
good governance along with sustainable economic development and a 7% growth 
rate for the continent as a whole by 2015. However, nagging questions of 
good governance in Africa dog the project, dubbed by some a "Marshall Plan 
for Africa" after the post-war investment programme for Europe funded by 
the US.   (BBC News, UK, 28 January 2002)

* South Africa. Agreement with EU on wine deal  -  On 28 January, South 
Africa and the European Union signed a long-delayed agreement on wine and 
spirits that allows South African wines freer access to their largest 
export market. South African wine producers will now be able to export 42m 
litres of wine a year duty-free to the EU, which accounts for 78 per cent 
of its total wine exports. In exchange, they have agreed to stop using 
names such as sherry, port or grappa. South Africa's total exports to the 
EU rose by 21 per cent in the first 10 months of 2001.   (Financial Times, 
UK, 29 January 2002)

* South Africa. Unions defy AIDS policy  -  On 29 January, the South 
African government's controversial Aids policy was once again defied, this 
time by a member of the ruling alliance. The Congress of South African 
trade unions (Cosatu) said it was helping to import generic anti-retroviral 
drugs from Brazil to treat Aids patients. Cosatu has teamed up with the 
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), the activist group, and Medecins sans 
Frontieres (MSF), the Nobel prize-winning humanitarian organisation, to 
violate the Patents Act in order to highlight the need for affordable 
treatment for the country's Aids sufferers. The initial batch of generic 
anti-retroviral medicines, brought back from Brazil by Joyce Pekane, Cosatu 
deputy president, and Zackie Achmat, TAC chairman, will be used to treat 85 
patients in MSF's treatment programme in Khayelitsha township, in the 
Western Cape. The Medicines Control Council has given MSF permission to 
import and use the drugs. The government does not allow the use of 
anti-retrovirals in the public health sector, arguing that they are too 
expensive, toxic and difficult to administer. So strong is the government's 
opposition to their use that doctors who have prescribed them to rape 
victims, including children, have been suspended and officially censored. 
Anti-retrovirals are available to private patients who can afford them. "We 
disagree with the government on anti-retrovirals and we hope the strength 
of the argument will persuade them to change their policy," Patrick Craven, 
Cosatu spokesman, said on 29 January. "Government's position is getting 
weaker by the day and they have already lost the debate as far as public 
opinion is concerned. We see ourselves as government's conscience on this 
issue."   (Financial Times, UK, 30 January 2002)

* Sudan. Nuba cease-fire  -  On 24 January, the rebel Sudan People's 
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) issued a statement confirming that all 
SPLA units in the Nuba Mountains region of Southern Kordofan had been 
ordered to "observe and extend the current military stand-down in the 
area", effective from 12 noon (local time) on 22 January. This was bringing 
into force the Nuba cease-fire agreement signed in Burgenstock, 
Switzerland, on 19 January. Sudanese army spokesman General Muhammad Bashir 
Sulayman had previously said the army would observe the cease-fire from the 
same time, and would be "instrumental in achieving the objectives of the 
agreement" in the 80,000 square-kilometre south-central Nuba region. In 
accordance with the terms of the Burgenstock agreement, the Nuba Mountains 
region covered by the cease-fire was "the whole of Southern Kordofan and 
the province of Legawa in Western Kordofan", and no others, Kwaje said. The 
cease-fire was only for a period of six months and its renewal would depend 
on the experience of the initial cease-fire period, he stated. "Its further 
renewal will also depend on continued needs for further humanitarian 
intervention in the Nuba area after a thorough evaluation 
process".   (IRIN, 24 January 2002)

* Sudan. Fighting abductions  -  27 January: A presidential decree in Sudan 
has reformed a commission set up to eradicate the practice of abducting 
women and children. Under the reforms, President Omar el-Bashir takes 
responsibility for the commission which will have extended powers. The 
decree said the commission would tap federal resources to help abducted 
women and children to return home, where they would receive psychological 
counselling. The announcement said similar commissions would be set up at 
the state level. The government attributed the abductions to the country's 
long-running civil war and said it wanted to raise public awareness of the 
issue.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 28 January 2002)

* Swaziland. Masuku's trial postponed  -  24 January: The sedition trial of 
jailed Swaziland opposition leader, Mario Masuku, has been postponed until 
25 January after he complained of hearing problems. His lawyer Advocate 
Piet Ebersohn, told the court that Mr Masuku would be seeing a specialist 
doctor later, today. The diabetes sufferer is accused of sedition, 
following a speech he made in September 2000, when he allegedly called for 
revolution in the kingdom. Security was extremely tight outside the 
courtroom and the Swazi authorities wanted to stop journalists from 
covering the trial. If Mr Masuku¿s hearing problems continue tomorrow, the 
lawyers agreed that the matter would have to be postponed to 4 February. 25 
January: The trial is postponed until 4 February.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 25 
January 2002)

* Tanzania. Air traffic furore  -  The Tanzanian Government has defended 
its decision to buy a new air traffic control system from the United 
Kingdom. Tanzanian Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete tells the BBC's File on 
Four editor David Ross why he is puzzled by the furore. The controversy 
over the contract hit the headlines towards the end of December. There were 
even reports of splits in the UK cabinet, with ministers such as 
International Development Minister Clare Short angry at the government's 
decision to grant BAE Systems an export licence for the $39.5m system. 
Critics claim it is too expensive for Tanzania's needs and is intended for 
military as much as civilian use. But, speaking on the BBC's File on 4 
programme, Mr Kikwete maintains there was no need for the fuss. "Our 
engineers prescribed the system which we required", he says. "We put the 
contract out to tender, four companies competed and we got BAE Systems 
delivering to our specification. This is the system we wanted." Which is 
fine except for the background against which the contract became public. 
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in Africa, and one of only four 
countries in the world to have had a portion of its international debt 
written off -- a total of $3bn which will be discounted over the next 20 
years. The relief will make a healthy dent in Tanzania's total 
international borrowings of more than $7bn.   (BBC News, UK, 29 January 2002)

* Tanzania. Tanzanians unhappy at electricity award  -  The Tanzanian 
government's latest move towards privatising the embattled Tanzania 
Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) has come under widespread domestic 
criticism. The Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC) has awarded a 
provisional tender to a South African management group to restructure the 
utility, sparking an outcry. Tanesco workers have threatened to sabotage 
the plant if the government does not guarantee generous retrenchment 
packages. Tanesco's board of directors has expressed reservations about the 
levels of transparency exhibited by the PSRC during the tender 
negotiations. Even Energy and Minerals Minister Edgar Makola-Majogo has 
questioned the manner in which the South African firm --Netgroup Solutions 
-- was selected for the contract. The PSRC has responded to the criticism 
with long adverts in the local papers, detailing how and why it chose the 
South African firm. It has also said it does not understand the energy 
minister's reservations, given he was aware of each and every stage of the 
tender. The minister has the power of veto over which company gets the 
management contract, but it was as yet unclear if he would exercise 
it.   (BBC News, UK, 30 January 2002)

* Tunisia. Trial resumes for accused terrorists  -  On 30 January, a 
prosecutor asked a Tunisian military tribunal to hand a maximum 10-year 
prison sentence to 34 defendants accused of terrorist activities and having 
links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. The defendants are facing 
charges of "belonging to a terrorist organisation operating overseas in 
times of peace". The trial, which opened on 19 December, resumed on 30 
January after more than a month's interruption. Journalists were barred 
from the proceeding, although relatives and attorneys for the defendants 
were allowed in.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 30 January 2002)

* Tunisie. Procès pour terrorisme  -  Le 30 janvier, un tribunal militaire 
à Tunis a condamné 34 personnes, accusées d'être membres d'un groupe 
terroriste ayant des liens avec Al Qaeda, à des peines de prison de 8 à 20 
ans. Seuls trois d'entre eux sont arrêtés, les autres ont été condamnés par 
contumace. Parmi eux, Essid Sami Ben Khemais, arrêté en Italie, soupçonné 
d'avoir la direction du recrutement en Europe des membres d'Al-Qaeda. Dans 
un premier procès anti-terroriste, le mois passé, un autre Tunisien, 
Mohamed Saidani, a été condamné à 20 ans d'emprisonnement.   (D'après De 
Standaard, Belgique, 31 janvier 2002)

* Tunisie. Libération de Mohamed Moaada  -  L'opposant tunisien Mohamed 
Moaada a été libéré jeudi, a-t-on appris de source officielle. Il avait été 
réincarcéré en juin "pour n'avoir pas observé les conditions de sa remise 
en liberté" et avait annoncé le 22 janvier qu'il cessait la grève de la 
faim qu'il observait depuis le 14 janvier. Comme précédemment, il s'agit 
d'une libération conditionnelle. Chef de l'aile dissidente du Mouvement des 
démocrates socialistes (MDS, principal parti de l'opposition légale en 
Tunisie), Mohamed Moaada avait été condamné à 11 ans de prison ferme en 
juillet 1995 pour "intelligence avec un pays étranger" (la Libye), avant de 
bénéficier "pour des considérations humanitaires" d'une mesure de liberté 
conditionnelle après six mois de détention. Il avait été de nouveau 
incarcéré en juin dernier après avoir critiqué durement le régime tunisien 
sur des chaînes de télévision arabes et après avoir conclu une alliance 
avec le chef du mouvement intégriste tunisien "Ennahdha" (interdit), Rached 
Ghannouchi, qui vit en exil en Grande-Bretagne.   (AP, USA, 31 janvier 2002)

* Ouganda. Museveni veut plus de pouvoirs  -  Le président ougandais, 
Yoweri Museveni, a exprimé ce week-end à Kampala le désir de renforcer ses 
pouvoirs, afin de se donner les moyens de revoir les décisions des députés. 
S'adressant à la nation à l'occasion des festivités organisées pour 
célébrer ses seize années de pouvoir, M. Museveni a affirmé que la 
situation qui prévaut actuellement entre l'exécutif et le législatif 
pourrait créer des difficultés. "Il n'est pas normal que la majorité des 
populations me donne son mandat pour qu'ensuite le Parlement vienne 
s'opposer à mes programmes de développement. J'ai obtenu beaucoup plus de 
voix que tous les députés réunis. Je devrais donc avoir plus de pouvoir 
qu'eux", a déclaré le chef de l'Etat, dont les propos ont été qualifiés de 
"plaisanterie" par les experts. M. Museveni a fait savoir qu'il tentera 
d'introduire des amendements à la loi fondamentale par l'intermédiaire de 
la Commission de révision de la Constitution, qui procède actuellement à un 
sondage des populations sur la question. Le président et ses partisans 
accusent le Parlement de retarder la plupart des programmes du 
gouvernement, notamment ceux qui touchent la privatisation.   (PANA, 
Sénégal, 28 janvier 2002)

Weekly anb0131.txt - Part 6/7