Weekly anb06065.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 06-06-2002 PART #5/7

* Mauritanie. Appel d'aide alimentaire - Deux mois après que le PAM ait 
lancé un appel d'aide alimentaire pour 7,5 millions de dollars en faveur 
des victimes de la sécheresse et des inondations en Mauritanie, la mise en 
oeuvre de secours accuse du retard à cause d'un manque de financement. 
Quelque 250.000 Mauritaniens sont confrontés à de graves pénuries 
alimentaires à la suite d'une mauvaise saison agricole et de l'inclémence 
du temps au début de l'année en cours, qui a décimé les cultures et le 
bétail. La région du sud de la Mauritanie, bordant le nord du Sénégal, a de 
plus été affectée par des inondations et la sécheresse. Des habitants ont 
déjà pris l'exode vers les grandes villes ou les pays voisins. Certains ont 
commencé à cueillir des graines et des céréales sauvages. (IRIN, Abidjan, 4 
juin 2002)

* Nigeria. Shoring up democracy - Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria's president, 
is to introduce a bill to prevent political violence in the presidential 
elections next year. Mr Obasanjo said yesterday he was worried about 
ballot-rigging and intimidation in the run-up to the landmark poll. In a 
speech to mark the third anniversary of Nigeria's return to civilian rule 
after 16 years of military dictatorship, the president said he was writing 
to all political parties asking them to support the new bill. Nigeria is 
experiencing political tensions as the country tries to hold two successive 
elections without suffering a military takeover -- a feat not achieved 
since independence in 1960. "We stand at a major crossroads," the president 
said. "This will be the most supreme test of our commitment to the survival 
of a credible democratic system." Mr Obasanjo, a former military ruler who 
won elections in 1999, warned of the existence of "electoral experts" who 
had become adept in manipulating results by filing false returns and 
expanding voters' registers to include non-existent individuals. He said he 
was worried by a "pervading pessimism" that fixing of the polls and 
physical intimidation made it impossible for the country to hold elections 
judged to be generally free and fair. "It is a sad commentary of our 
conduct in the past that Nigerians live more in fear of violence than 
excitement at the opportunity to exercise a choice in who governs them," Mr 
Obasanjo said. "It is even sadder still that many Nigerians are losing 
faith that future elections will allow them to exercise genuine choices." 
He said the proposed law on political violence would force those involved 
in violence to compensate their victims and would ensure those who held 
elected office had no immunity from prosecution once they stood down. 
(Financial Times, UK, 30 May 2002)

* Nigeria. Woman reprieved - 3 June: An Islamic court rules that a woman 
sentenced to death by stoning for adultery will be free to look after her 
child until January 2004, whatever the outcome of her appeal, an Islamic 
court rules. Her male relatives are then required to bring her back to 
court. The ruling is greeted by the lawyer defending Amina Lawal as a sign 
that the verdict, which will be delivered on 8 July, will lean towards 
acquitting his client. In March, Amina Lawal, 30, was sentenced to death 
for becoming pregnant after her divorce, which is considered as adultery 
under Nigeria's interpretation of the Islamic law, or Sharia. The court in 
Funtua, in Nigeria's northern state of Katsina, has entered a phase of 
"substantial deliberations" and will "probably take all the time it deems 
necessary before delivering its verdict in a case "as politicised" as this 
one", sources close to the defence say. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 3 June 2002)

* Nigeria. Sauvée de la lapidation - Le 3 juin, le tribunal islamique de 
Funtua (nord du pays) a ordonné la libération de Amina Lawal, 30 ans. Elle 
avait été condamnée à mort par lapidation pour adultère le 22 mars par le 
tribunal de Bakori, après avoir avoué avoir eu un enfant hors mariage. 
Depuis l'instauration de la charia dans le nord du pays, Amina était la 
deuxième Nigériane condamnée à mort pour adultère après Safiya Husaini 
(acquittée en mars), dont l'histoire avait fait le tour du monde. Amina 
avait été arrêtée le 4 mars 2002 après avoir été dénoncée par son beau-père 
au chef du village. Sa condamnation était intervenue trois jours avant 
l'acquittement de Safiya. L'introduction de la charia dans le Nord a 
enclenché une controverse dans l'Etat fédéral qu'est le Nigeria. Le 
gouvernement fédéral a déclaré la charia contraire à la Constitution et a 
appelé les Etats du Nord à faire preuve de modération. (Libération, France, 
4 juin 2002)

* Nigeria. Lagos hit by disappearing waterfront - A row of dunes rises like 
camel humps above Ahmadu Bello Way, the thoroughfare that skirts the south 
side of Victoria Island in the Nigerian commercial capital Lagos. The 
route, named after a prominent northern Nigerian politician assassinated in 
1966, is half-covered by sand brought onshore by the strong ocean currents 
that pummel the west African coast. "This was road before," says Fatayi 
Durosinmi, the manager of a car hire firm, as he drives past. "Now it is 
beach." The street's gradual disappearance highlights a problem that is 
taxing the government and threatening the prestige of Victoria Island, the 
home of choice for many foreign embassies and leading businesses operating 
in Nigeria. The sea is eroding Bar Beach on the south side of the island 
and threatening to encroach on a slew of waterfront offices, including 
those of a number of the governments of the country's 36 states. The 
authorities say the problem is a side-effect of a 1923 initiative to create 
a deep-water channel into Lagos port by putting in place lines of boulders 
to stop sand building up. The Nigerian Institute for Oceanography and 
Marine Research says the protective rocks add power to the flow of water 
against Bar Beach, causing sand to be eroded without being replaced by 
fresh material. The government has for many years tried to deal with the 
problem by hiring contractors to dump extra sand on the beach periodically, 
although the method is expensive and short-term. (Financial Times, UK, 4 
June 2002)

* Nigeria. Electoral Commission asks for funds - The Nigerian National 
Electoral Commission (INEC), has asked the government for funds and has 
threatened to stop the revision of the voting registers for the general 
elections scheduled for next year. According to the local press, the 
Nigerian government has distributed up to now, only $63 million to the 
INEC, instead of the $86 million previously established for the completion 
of the revision of electoral lists. The president of the electoral 
commission, Abel Guobadia, has threatened to stop his representatives from 
carrying out the updating of the electoral lists, until the government 
guarantees the funds requested. Problems concerning the revision of the 
voters' registers have been going on for some time causing the postponement 
of the municipal elections. According to the electoral commission, another 
6 months are needed to complete the lists, with the risk that voting for 
the municipal councils could be further postponed. The government denies 
that reducing funding for the INEC has obstructed the work of the 
commission. (MISNA, Italy, 5 June 2002)

* Rwanda. Bizimungu en cassation - L'ex-président rwandais Pasteur 
Bizimungu et un de ses anciens ministres, écroués depuis le 23 avril pour 
"atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat", se sont pourvus en cassation devant la 
Cour suprême. La Cour d'appel de Kigali avait refusé leur libération le 22 
mai. (Le Soir, Belgique, 31 mai 2002)

* Rwanda/France. Kagamé débouté - Le 3 juin, le tribunal de grande instance 
de Paris a rejeté "pour des raisons techniques" le procès en diffamation 
intenté par le président rwandais Paul Kagamé contre le journaliste 
camerounais Charles Onana. M. Kagamé a accusé le journaliste de l'avoir 
diffamé dans son livre "Les secrets du génocide rwandais - Enquête sur les 
mystères d'un président", en le mettant notamment en cause dans l'accident 
d'avion qui, en 1994, avait coûté la vie au président Habyarimana. Le 
tribunal a jugé que le plaignant n'a pas respecté le délai, conformément à 
la loi française qui donne au plaignant trois mois pour intenter une action 
légale contre une nouvelle publication. (PANA, Sénégal, 4 juin 2002)

* Sénégal/France. 1-0 - Le 31 mai, au match d'ouverture de la Coupe du 
monde de football, le Sénégal a battu la France, tenante du titre, par 1 
but à zéro. Dès le coup de sifflet final, une foule monstre a envahi les 
rues de Dakar. A bord de voitures bondées ou juchés à plusieurs sur des 
motos et des mobylettes surmontées du drapeau sénégalais, les habitants de 
la capitale ont afflué vers le centre-ville pour fêter la victoire 
historique. Juste avant de se joindre aux festivités, le président 
Abdoulaye Wade a eu le temps de signer un dernier décret: la journée est 
fériée. (Libération, France, 1er juin 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Réfugiés libériens - Une centaine de Libériens fuyant les 
combats dans leur pays arrivent chaque jour en Sierra Leone voisine, ont 
annoncé le 1er juin les responsables de la mission de l'Onu en Sierra Leone 
(Minusil). Selon le général Opande, plus de 1.100 réfugiés sont ainsi 
arrivés dans un seul camp de transit depuis le 17 mai. La plupart se 
plaignent d'extorsion et de harcèlement de la part des forces 
gouvernementales libériennes. Le régime libérien fait face à la plus 
importante reprise des attaques de la rébellion en trois ans. Le général 
Opande s'est également plaint d'attaques transfrontalières et de raids de 
pillage des soldats libériens en Sierra Leone. La zone de l'Union du fleuve 
Mano (Liberia, Sierra Leone et Guinée) est l'une des plus conflictuelles 
d'Afrique. La Sierra Leone vient quant à elle de sortir de dix ans d'une 
violente guerre civile. (AP, 1er juin 2002)

* Sierra Leone. Sankoh rejects elections - 5 June: The former rebel leader, 
Foday Sankoh, made a dramatic appearance before the High Court, today, 
before his trial for murder is adjourned. Mr Sankoh, dressed in a flowing 
gown and wearing matted hair was quiet but his children wept and wailed as 
they attended the hearing, crying "Daddy, Daddy". Foday Sankoh is being 
tried for the killing of more than 20 anti-rebel demonstrators in May 2000. 
The High Court was packed for Mr Sankoh's second hearing since his trial 
began in March. Many in the crowd were curious and wanted to get a glimpse 
of Mr Sankoh. However, the presence of three of Sankoh's children, 
including his youngest, a teenager who wept openly and kissed Mr Sankoh as 
he was being taken away by guards, caused bitterness among the crowd who 
want to see the former leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) 
tried. Sankoh's trial is adjourned until 10 July. He also faces a separate 
trial by the UN Special Tribunal, for war crimes. (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 5 
June 2002)

* South Africa. Bill to restrict foreign work permits - South Africa is 
poised to introduce controversial immigration legislation that will 
restrict work permits for companies seeking to employ foreign expertise. 
The immigration bill, to be adopted next week, has sparked heated debate 
over how South Africa can attract the skills the economy needs. Poor 
education in the apartheid era and the emigration of skilled young people 
in the past 10 years have led to a severe skills shortage. Studies of the 
South African manufacturing and banking sectors show that local employers 
are struggling to find skilled workers. Businesses in South Africa have 
complained about delays in obtaining work permits for employees under the 
current legislation, the Aliens Control Act. It requires a company to prove 
that a suitable South African candidate could not be found, despite efforts 
by the company to find a skilled local employee. But the bureaucratic 
procedures proposed by the new immigration bill threaten to make the 
process worse. Although the government favours an open economy, measures 
are being implemented to reverse the disadvantage black people suffered 
under apartheid, when they were denied opportunities in the formal economy. 
The proposed quota system, which requires companies to conform to pre-set 
limits on the hiring of foreign nationals with particular skills, is an 
attempt to promote black economic empowerment. Work permit applications 
will have to pass through the department of labour as well as the 
department of home affairs. Applications will also have to be audited by a 
chartered accountant. The immigration bill has taken eight years to 
formulate. But the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and Mangosuthu 
Buthelezi, the minister of home affairs, have recently cooled towards the 
quota system. They have expressed concern that the quotas will be difficult 
to administer. They also fear the imposition of fixed limits on different 
skill categories may be considered a measure to restrict the freedom of 
foreign investors. "In my opinion it is by far the worst possible option in 
terms of difficulty of implementation because of the procedures it 
requires," said Mr Buthelezi. "It is going to be difficult." (Financial 
Times, UK, 30 May 2002)

* South Africa. African brewer seals Miller takeover - 30 May: South 
African Breweries (SAB) has sealed the takeover of US beer giant Miller for 
$5.6bn to create a new force in world brewing. The takeover will create the 
world's second biggest brewer -- named SABMiller -- producing 12 billion 
litres of beer a year. And the new group is poised to seize the number one 
spot from Anheuser-Busch, said Louis Camilleri, chief executive of tobacco 
giant Phillip Morris, which sold Miller. "The enlarged group will have the 
ambition... to become the world's leading brewer," Mr Camilleri said. The 
deal will bring within one firm, employing 38,000 people, SAB brands such 
as Castle, Lion and Pilsner Urquell, and a Miller US portfolio including 
Miller Lite, Milwaukee's best and Foster's. The announcement follows 
considerable speculation about the deal, which will allow South African 
Breweries, founded in 1896, the year after Johannesburg was established, to 
further spread its base beyond troubled African markets. (ANB-BIA, 
Brussels, 30 May 2002)

Weekly anb06065.txt #5/7