Weekly anb02144.txt #8

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 14-02-2002      PART #4/8

* Ethiopia. Return of sacred artefact  -  Hundreds of thousands of 
Ethiopians have packed the streets of Addis Ababa to welcome home an 
ancient Ethiopian relic looted by British troops more than 130 years ago. 
The 400-year-old "tabot" -- a replica of the Ark of the Covenant -- was 
found in a Scottish Church in December. It was handed over to a delegation 
from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church last month, who travelled to Edinburgh 
to receive it. In a colourful celebration at Addis Ababa's Trinity 
Cathedral, Ethiopians rejoiced at the return of the tabot to its rightful 
home. Excitement and pride filled in the air as the plane carrying the 
ancient Ethiopian artefact landed at Ethiopia's Bole International airport 
on the morning of 9 February. Many Ethiopians gathered outside the airport 
to catch a glimpse of the tabot, held sacred to the 25 million-strong 
Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Adorned in resplendent vestments made of bright 
velvet and gold and carrying silver and gold processional crosses, 
thousands of priests and religious elders from Addis Ababa's 106 Orthodox 
churches led a procession from the airport to Addis Ababa's Trinity 
Cathedral, where the wooden relic will be stored. Beating drums, they 
chanted in the ancient language of Ge'ez welcoming the tabot home.   (BBC 
News, UK, 9 February 2002)

* Ethiopie. Objet d'art religieux restitué  -  Le 9 février, dans une 
grande manifestation populaire, plusieurs centaines de milliers 
d'Ethiopiens ont accueilli un précieux objet d'art religieux, un "tabot", 
représentation de l'Arche d'alliance présente dans toutes les églises 
éthiopiennes. Volé par les Britanniques en 1868, il a été restitué par une 
église écossaise.   (La Croix, France, 12 février 2002)

* Gabon/Congo. Ebola  -  Le 8 février, le ministère de la Santé du Gabon a 
indiqué que le nouveau bilan des victimes de l'épidémie d'Ebola s'est 
encore alourdi. Selon le bulletin épidémiologique arrêté le 5 février, 42 
personnes sont décédées à cause de la fièvre hémorragique au Gabon. Au 
Congo-Brazza, 12 morts ont été notifiés. D'autre part, Associated Press a 
signalé le cas d'un enfant mort probablement d'Ebola au nord-est du 
Congo-RDC. Les autorités locales attendent la	confirmation du laboratoire à 
propos de six décès survenus la semaine précédente dans le district de 
Kelle, liés vraisemblablement au virus d'Ebola, a informé 
l'agence.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 11 février 2002)

* Ghana. Concern about "verbal terrorism"  -  A few years ago, if you spun 
the FM dial on your radio in Ghana you might have found the content of the 
single state-run station as monotonous as the hum of unused frequencies 
around it. Today, with about 50 FM stations across the country and 12 in 
the capital Accra alone, the airwaves in Ghana are now filled with a 
kaleidoscopic fusion of opinion and song. Suddenly there are no taboos. 
Even issues such as homosexuality, rarely addressed with much openness on a 
continent where its existence is often officially reviled, gets a 
comprehensive public airing. The consequences are sometimes as alarming as 
they are positive. Open discussion is helping to raise political 
consciousness, educate Ghanaians on the dangers of Aids, and open up a 
society held in line by the state for much of the past 41/2 decades since 
independence from Britain. But a worried kernel of Ghanaians, some of whom 
pushed the reforms that made independent broadcasting possible, believe 
things are going too far, too fast. Stations such as Peace, Vibe, Choice, 
Joy and Gold FM compete for scarce advertising and sponsorship to finance 
their programmes. With listeners spoilt for choice, the temptation for 
sensationalism and scandal-mongering is strong. Meanwhile the regulatory 
body that is supposed to monitor programming is weak. The challenge facing 
the government of President John Kufuor is to bring broadcasters back in 
line, to introduce notions of responsibility without appearing to impinge 
on newfound freedoms. Liberalisation of the airwaves followed Ghana's 
return to multi-party politics in the early 1990s. Jerry Rawlings, the 
maverick former president who first took power in a coup in 1979 and 
continued to dominate the political scene until last year, approved the 
first private station in 1996. Inadvertently, he was helping to engineer 
the demise of his own ruling party according to some journalists, who claim 
the proliferation of independent stations has been the most potent force in 
establishing democracy. Thanks also to Ghana's expanding mobile phone 
network, aggressive reporting in the 2000 general elections helped to 
prevent electoral fraud and violence, ensuring these would not go unnoticed 
even in isolated, rural areas.   (Financial Times, UK, 8 February 2002)

* Kenya. La KANU change de nom  -  Pour augmenter ses chances aux 
prochaines élections générales, le parti au pouvoir au Kenya, la KANU, a 
indiqué qu'il changeait de nom et de structure pour pouvoir accueillir des 
partenaires dans le cadre d'une coalition. Le parti sera dénommé "Nouvelle 
KANU", selon les recommandations d'un comité mis en place par le président 
Moi et le dirigeant du Parti du développement national (NDP), Raila Odinga. 
Le nouveau parti créera aussi 4 postes de vice-présidents. Selon le 
président du comité, les recommandations ont été acceptées par les deux 
partis, qui doivent les présenter à leurs conseils exécutifs nationaux pour 
adoption. Cette nouvelle structure apportera une nouvelle dimension au 
débat sur la succession d'Arap Moi, qui faisait déjà rage dans les milieux 
politiques.   (PANA, Sénégal, 7 février 2002)

* Kenya. 600 immigrants arrêtés  -  Selon les autorités du pays, la police 
aurait arrêté, le 7 février, un peu plus de six cents personnes dans la 
capitale Nairobi, au cours d'une opération de huit heures. Les forces de 
l'ordre visaient des criminels et des résidents en situation irrégulière. 
Le quotidien national Daily Nation a souligné la violence de l'intervention 
policière.   (Le Figaro, France, 8 février 2002)

* Kenya. Moi warns boozing officials  -  Kenya's President Daniel Arap Moi 
has warned senior government officials, civil servants and police officers 
not to drink in public. Speaking on his return from an official visit to 
France, the teetotal president said officials should go straight home after 
work and look after their families. President Moi reserved a particular 
caution for the police, citing the dangers of spilling official secrets 
while drinking with civilians. Although the announcement is not backed by 
any law, correspondents say the warning is likely to be taken very 
seriously. President Moi's crusade against drinking started soon after he 
took power in 1978.   (BBC News, UK, 11 February 2002)

* Kenya. Insécurité avant les élections  -  Dans son bulletin du 8 février, 
l'agence catholique de presse CISA annonce que le Conseil national des 
Eglises chrétiennes du Kenya (NCCK) se dit très préoccupé par la situation 
d'insécurité régnant au Kenya à la veille des élections générales. Cette 
situation se manifeste par des conflits d'ordre tribal, les luttes 
concernant les terres, des vols à main armée, des vols de bétail, des 
crimes organisés, le fait de se rendre justice soi-même, les viols et les 
meurtres rituels dans les milieux ruraux. Des politiciens sont les auteurs 
de certains conflits qui opposent des communautés traditionnellement 
ennemies. Le NCCK observe que le chômage et la pauvreté des jeunes sont 
exploités en vue d'instaurer la violence, et note qu'une politique 
économique inadéquate et la mauvaise gestion accompagnée de corruption ont 
conduit à l'affaiblissement du pouvoir d'achat de la population. La 
représentation britannique au Kenya a fait état de 27 cas de 
troubles.   (DIA, Kinshasa, 11 février 2002)

* Kenya. Opposition unites  -  Kenya's opposition parties have made another 
attempt at uniting before this year's general election. The move follows 
the intended merger of President Daniel arap Moi's ruling Kanu party and 
the National Development Party (NDP), led by Raila Odinga. The new 
opposition grouping is to be known as the National Alliance for Change and 
they have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to work together. 
Official spokesman Dr Willy Mutunga of the Kenya Human Rights Commission 
said the differences that had led to the collapse of opposition unity in 
the past had been taken care of in the memorandum. At a news conference in 
Nairobi, the leaders of the seven opposition parties pledged to ensure that 
Kanu is removed from power in the polls, due in December.   (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 12 February 2002)

* Kenya. Fears that vote rigging will save Moi  -  On 12 February, Kenya's 
government was accused of obstructing up to 3m opposition supporters from 
registering for this year's election. Opposition leaders said it had become 
practically impossible for the country's disaffected youth to obtain the 
identity cards needed to get on the electoral roll. "We believe there are 
around 3m young people not being given IDs so they can't vote against the 
government. This is a way of ensuring that the government wins the 
election," Charity Ngilu, leader of the National Party of Kenya, said. 
Rights groups said that half way through the month-long registration period 
only a fraction of a possible 4m new voters had been registered for the 
election that will end President Daniel arap Moi's 24-year rule. Most of 
these were in the ruling Kenya African National Union's strongholds, 
especially Mr Moi's Rift Valley homeland. Meanwhile, in opposition areas, 
including Nairobi and Kisii, in western Kenya, the process had barely 
begun. "Our evidence shows that in general young people are being turned 
away, but in government strongholds even underage people are being 
registered," Kepta Ombati of the national convention executive council 
said. "We believe this is the first instance of election-rigging." With 
around 9m Kenyans registered, Mr Ombati predicted that more than 30% of the 
electorate would be disenfranchised. Mani Lemayian of the electoral 
commission of Kenya admitted that the registration process had been "a 
little slow and cumbersome" but denied that there were regional 
discrepancies.   (The Guardian, UK, 13 February 2002)

* Liberia. Etat d'urgence  -  Le 8 février, le président libérien Charles 
Taylor a décrété l'état d'urgence, quelques heures après une fusillade 
survenue à proximité de la capitale et interprétée comme une tentative de 
coup d'Etat. "En vertu de l'article 86 de la Constitution, je déclare 
l'état d'urgence dans la République", a déclaré Taylor dans un message 
radiodiffusé. Le Parlement libérien doit encore approuver cette imposition, 
mais son vote positif ne fait pas de doute. Un porte-parole des rebelles 
avait auparavant affirmé à Reuters que ces derniers étaient sur le point 
d'attaquer la capitale et appelé Taylor à quitter le pouvoir. Les forces 
gouvernementales combattent depuis 1999 dans le nord du pays des forces 
"dissidentes", composées notamment de factions opposées à celle du 
président Taylor. - Le 9 février, Taylor a toutefois affirmé qu'à la suite 
de combats, les menaces s'étaient éloignées de la capitale. Le ministre de 
la Défense a déclaré que les forces gouvernementales sont passées à 
l'attaque contre les rebelles qui s'étaient approchés à quelques dizaines 
de kilomètres de Monrovia. Les rebelles du Mouvement des Libériens unis 
pour la réconciliation et la démocratie (LURD) utilisent la ville de 
Bopolu, à 85 km au nord de Monrovia, comme tête de pont pour leurs attaques 
contre l'armée gouvernementale. - Le 11 février, le PAM a indiqué que plus 
de 11.000 personnes déplacées par les derniers combats ont gagné Monrovia 
et ses environs. Selon Médecins sans frontières, entre 20.000 et 30.000 
Libériens auraient pris la fuite   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 11 
février 2002)

* Liberia. State of emergency  -  9 February: President Charles Taylor has 
declared a state of emergency as armed rebels appeared to be gaining ground 
on the capital Monrovia. The president made the announcement hours after 
rebels attacked Klay, just 35km north of the city, although he made no 
reference to the fighting. Forces loyal to President Taylor have been 
fighting rebel factions in the north of the country since 1999. Earlier 
this week, Defence Minister Daniel Chea said the government army was 
fighting an unfair war because of an international ban on selling weapons 
to the Liberian Government. Last week, the rebels briefly captured the 
village of Sawmill just 80km from Monrovia, causing thousands of refugees 
to flee. "The arms embargo and the government's inability to fully cater to 
the economic and social well-being of its citizens warrant the declaration 
of a state of emergency," Mr Taylor said on state radio and television. 
"The state of emergency will be lifted only circumstances which warranted 
this action are removed," he said. A rebel spokesman said they would soon 
be in control of Klay junction, on the main road to Monrovia. 10 February: 
President Charles Taylor has denied that the capital, Monrovia, is under 
threat from advancing rebel forces. Thousands of civilians have sought 
refuge in Monrovia since the opposition Liberians United for Reconciliation 
and Democracy (LURD) movement attacked the town of Klay, just 35km away two 
days ago. President Taylor said government forces had retaken the town, but 
rebel leaders maintain they still hold the district. A BBC correspondent 
who visited Klay said it was deserted except for government soldiers 
burying dead civilians. Rebels said they would attack Monrovia within a 
week if Mr Taylor did not step down, Reuters news agency reported. The 
president, however, remained defiant. "We are here to stay. Nobody should 
think that he can come and run Charles Taylor out of here," he told 
reporters on 9 February. 11 February: Refugee camps around the Liberian 
capital Monrovia are struggling to cope with thousands of people fleeing 
renewed clashes between the government and rebels. Thousands of refugees 
have been flocking towards the capital since late last week when rebels 
attacked the town of Klay, just 35 kilometres away. The opposition 
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) movement says it 
holds much of north-west Liberia, but the government says it has regained 
control of Klay. 12 February: Police in Monrovia have been rounding up 
people suspected of working as agents for advancing rebel forces, a report 
said. These incidents are likely to lead to further abuses such as the 
rounding up and detaining or killing of "suspected dissidents". According 
to the Reuters news agency, police also detained scores of street children, 
fearing they would use the chaotic situation to cause trouble. -- Thousands 
of refugees coming from Liberia have reached the Sierra Leonean town of 
Jendema.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 13 February 2002)

Weekly anb0214.txt - #4/8