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Weekly anb06136.txt #7
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 13-06-2002 PART #6/7
* Mozambique. Italy cancels Mozambique's foreign debt - Italy has
cancelled all the debt owed to it by Mozambique -- a total of $524m. An
agreement on the debt cancellation was signed in Rome at a ceremony
attended by Mozambique's president, Alberto Chissano, and the Italian prime
minister, Silvio Berlusconi. President Chissano is in Rome for the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation summit. (BBC News, UK, 12 June
2002)
* Mozambique. L'Italie efface la dette - L'Italie a décidé de passer
l'éponge sur la dette du Mozambique, estimée à 524 millions de dollars.
L'accord a été signé à Rome à l'occasion de la participation du président
mozambicain Alberto Chissano au sommet de la FAO. D'abord, l'Italie avait
l'intention d'effacer cette dette en deux temps, mais a ensuite décidé de
résoudre la question en une fois. Le président Chissano a exprimé sa
profonde gratitude. (Misna, Italie, 12 juin 2002)
* Namibia. Food for Goma - The Namibian government has donated food worth
US $100,000 to Congo RDC for distribution in the eastern city of Goma,
where many thousands of residents were displaced by lava flows from Mt
Nyiragongo volcano in January. 60 mt of relief food, comprising 24 mt of
dried fish and 36 mt of canned beef, had been airlifted from Karibib and
the Namibian capital, Windhoek, to Kinshasa. From there it would be flown
to the eastern area controlled by the Rwandan-backed rebel Congolese Rally
for Democracy (RCD-Goma), in conformity with an agreement between Kinshasa
and RCD-Goma on easing the delivery of humanitarian aid from government-to
rebel-held areas. (IRIN, 7 June 2002)
* Namibia. Twelve die in trawler accident - 8 June: At least 12 fishermen
have drowned after a trawler sank off the coast of southern Namibia. Nine
of the 28 fishermen on board were rescued but another seven people are
still missing, a marine rescue official said. The accident happened early
this morning, about 30 nautical miles west of the town of Luderitz. "The
fishing vessel sank in 24 minutes in very rough seas and high swells," said
Pieter Moller of the Cape Town-based Maritime Rescue Co-ordinating Centre.
He said the boat started to sink after a rope caught in the propeller,
which then detached causing water to flood into the engine room. Four
fishing vessels are still in the vicinity, searching for survivors of the
sunken vessel, named the Meob Bay. As yet there are no details of the names
or nationalities of the missing or deceased men. (BBC News, UK, 8 June 2002)
* Rwanda. Loi sur les médias - Au terme de trois années de débats
houleux, le Parlement rwandais a donné le feu vert à une loi qui, si elle
est approuvée par la Cour suprême et le président Kagamé, devrait entraîner
une plus grande liberté de la presse au Rwanda. La nouvelle loi
autoriserait l'ouverture de stations de radio et télévision et d'agences de
presse privées locales. Le projet de loi prévoit également la création d'un
conseil de médias composé de fonctionnaires du gouvernement et de
représentants de médias privés. Le projet de loi pourrait être adopté dans
les quatre semaines à venir. Une des grandes surprises du projet est la
suppression de trois articles controversés qui auraient permis
d'administrer de longues peines de prison et la peine capitale aux
personnes reconnues coupables d'inciter à commettre le génocide. Une telle
législation doit faire partie intégrante d'un ensemble de lois sur le
génocide qui ne concerne pas uniquement les journalistes, a estimé le chef
de l'Association des journalistes rwandais. (IRIN, Nairobi, 5 juin 2002)
* Rwanda. Number of prisoners of conscience increases - On 7 June,
Amnesty International called on the government of Rwanda to immediately and
unconditionally release 20 men and women detained in recent months
seemingly for their entirely non-violent and legitimate connection with
imprisoned former President and opposition politician, Pasteur Bizimungu.
Amnesty International also called for the unconditional release of
prisoners of conscience Pasteur Bizimungu and his political ally Charles
Ntakirutinka. (Amnesty International, 7 June 2002)
* Rwanda. Les militants de Bizimungu - Le 7 juin, Amnesty International
(AI) a exhorté le gouvernement rwandais à remettre en liberté 20 personnes
arrêtées récemment "semble-t-il, pour leur relation totalement non violente
et légitime" avec l'ex-président Pasteur Bizimungu, actuellement
emprisonné. AI estime que ces prévenus sont des prisonniers d'opinion,
détenus uniquement pour leurs affiliations pacifiques - présumées ou
réelles - dans le milieu de la politique, a expliqué l'association. Elle a,
par ailleurs, demandé la libération de l'allié politique de M. Bizimungu,
Charles Ntakirutinka. Parmi les détenus figurent des fermiers, des
comptables, des fonctionnaires et des commerçants qui, d'après Amnesty,
sont soupçonnés d'être des membres du parti interdit de M. Bizimungu. AI
craint que les autorités ne maltraitent les détenus et ne les contraignent
à faire des dépositions compromettant Bizimungu ou ses alliés politiques.
MM. Bizimungu et Ntakirutinka ont été arrêtés en avril dernier, après avoir
tenté en mai 2001 de lancer un nouveau parti, Ubuyanja. (IRIN, Nairobi,
10 juin 2002)
* Rwanda. Gacaca trials to begin soon - The long-awaited trials to be
conducted by Gacaca courts -- an adapted form of Rwandan traditional
participatory justice -- are to begin on 18 June, to deal with the
perpetrators of the 1994 genocide. The Government says that the purpose of
the Gacaca judicial process is to expedite the trials of those accused of
crimes, to "reveal the truth about the genocide; to put an end to the
culture of impunity in Rwanda; and to reconcile the Rwandan people and
strengthen ties between them". (IRIN, 11 June 2002)
* Rwanda. Capturer les génocidaires - Les Etats-Unis ont annoncé une
campagne énergique et ciblée visant à arrêter les responsables du génocide
rwandais. Des récompenses allant jusqu'à cinq millions de dollars seront
offertes pour toute information menant à l'arrestation d'un suspect. Cette
campagne débutera au Kenya, mais devrait s'orienter par la suite vers le
Congo-Kinshasa, où l'on soupçonne de nombreux génocidaires d'avoir trouvé
refuge. Toute personne arrêtée sera déférée au Tribunal pénal international
pour le Rwanda pour y être jugée. "Ces individus continuent à jour un rôle
destructeur et alimentent la guerre qui affecte la région des Grands Lacs
depuis plus de cinq ans", a estimé un responsable américain. (La Libre
Belgique, 13 juin 2002)
* Sahara occidental. Pour une solution pacifique - Le président du Front
Polisario, Mohamed Abdelaziz, a exprimé la volonté de son mouvement de
trouver un règlement pacifique à la question sahraouie qui l'oppose au
Maroc, rapporte le 7 juin l'Agence de presse libyenne (JANA), citant des
sources officielles à Tripoli. M. Abdelaziz a fait part de cette volonté,
en réponse aux démarches de la Libye. La Libye a reçu le point de vue de
toutes les parties concernées par le problème sahraoui qui ont toutes
"réaffirmé leur volonté de parvenir à un règlement pacifique de la crise et
d'éviter toute escalade par un recours à la force". JANA ajoute que le
colonel Khadafi poursuit ses efforts et ses concertations avec toutes les
parties. (PANA, Sénégal, 7 juin 2002)
* Sierra Leone. Re-building a nation - On 5 June, two government offices
were reopened in the eastern district of Kono The offices were rebuilt by
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the National Commission
for Social Action. On 7 June, it was reported that several hundred homes
destroyed in the civil war are being rebuilt in the northwestern Kambia
district in a joint initiative between the UNDP and the
government. (ANB-BIA, 8 June 2002)
* South Africa. "AIDS is stabilising" - On 10 June, the South African
government countered studies suggesting that the country's HIV/Aids
infection rate was ballooning by releasing findings that reflected a
stabilisation in the spread of the disease. The health minister, Manto
Tshabalala-Msimang, said the rate of prevalence of HIV/Aids among pregnant
women was slowing. A national HIV and syphilis prevalence study showed
that, of about 17,000 pregnant women, 24.8 per cent tested HIV positive at
the end of last year. In the previous year, 24.5 per cent of the women had
tested positive. South Africa has one of the highest HIV/Aids infection
rates in the world with about 11 per cent of its 40m population infected
with the disease. An estimated 25 per cent of the economically-active
population is infected. The study found that about 4.74m South Africans had
HIV/Aids -- a marginal increase on the previous year's figure of 4.7m
people. (Financial Times, UK, 11 June 2002)
* Afrique du Sud. Décès de Peter Mokaba - Peter Mokaba, un des dirigeants
radicaux du Congrès national africain (ANC), très populaire chez les jeunes
des townships, est décédé le 9 juin à l'âge de 44 ans des suites d'une
"pneumonie aiguë". Proche de Winnie Mandela, il avait dirigé l'organisation
de la jeunesse de l'ANC au début des années 1990. Dans un communiqué, l'ANC
et le président Thabo Mbeki ont salué sa mémoire. (Le Figaro, France, 11
juin 2002)
* Sudan. Rebels capture key town - Sudanese rebels said they had seized a
key garrison town in a surprise attack on government forces on 9 June,
describing it as their biggest battlefield triumph in two years. The Sudan
People's Liberation Movement (SPLA/SPLM) said it had captured Kapoeta and
seized tanks, artillery and heavy machineguns. "This is our biggest
military victory for the past two years," Nairobi-based SPLA spokesman
Samson Kwaje said. "The element of surprise helped, they tried to put up
resistance but it was too late." Kwaje said the capture of Kapoeta, which
he described as one of three main government garrisons in the south,
effectively handed the SPLA control of Sudan's southern border zone. Aid
workers said access to the area was restricted, making it impossible to
verify the rebels' claim. "The town has changed hands several times in the
past few years," said a humanitarian source who declined to be named. "It's
a very tense situation, where government garrisons are surrounded by SPLA
forces," he said. (CNN, USA, 10 June 2002)
* Soudan. Prise de Kapoeta - Les rebelles du SPLA (Armée de libération du
peuple soudanais) ont revendiqué la prise de la ville stratégique de
Kapoeta, affirmant qu'il s'agissait de la victoire la plus significative
des deux dernières années. L'effet de surprise a dérouté les forces
gouvernementales, qui n'ont pas pu organiser une défense adéquate, a
déclaré le porte-parole des rebelles. Kapoeta (à près de 80 km de la
frontière kényane) était considérée imprenable, car entourée de champs
parsemés de mines antipersonnel et antichars et à cause de la présence de
nombreuses garnisons de l'armée régulière dans la zone. (Misna, Italie,
10 juin 2002)
* Sudan. Sudanese rebels jubilant after another hollow victory - The
veteran rebel Dr John Garang was in jubilant mood. His troops had just
captured Kapoeta, a heavily guarded garrison town inside Sudan's southern
border with Kenya. Seated under a tree, he flipped an identity card on to
the table. It belonged to another man in uniform -- the government
commander whose bloated remains lay rotting by the town's dirt runway.
oThis was a great defeat, a massive victory," said the well-spoken,
grey-bearded leader. The capture of Kapoeta on 10 June will not win the war
for Dr Garang's Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). Nevertheless, it
represents a small but strategic victory in Africa's longest-running war, a
seemingly intractable conflict aggravated this year by a deadly oil rush
that Canadian, Chinese and British companies have joined. Driven by the
promise of millions of pounds, government troops in helicopter gunships
have attacked civilian villages to clear oil-producing areas. In one
incident, a gunship crew attacked families queuing for UN food handouts.
Last Sunday, the SPLA responded by taking Kapoeta, a town it lost 10 years
ago. Rotting corpses still littered the ring of trenches around the town.
Some were decapitated; others had been stripped to their underwear.
Although the war is often portrayed as a fight between northern Arabs and
southern Africans, many of the fallen government troops were dark-skinned
-- possibly southerners conscripted or drawn by the lure of a wage.
Vultures wheeled overhead as rebel troops rested on captured artillery.
There were few civilians -- they had fled hours earlier, after a government
Antonov plane scattered bombs over the town. There were no casualties. The
Catholic church was in ruins, its blackened walls covered in a scrawl of
Arabic lettering. By the altar, neatly uniformed rebels were preparing
large vats of a porridge-like food. One rebel held a tin of donated cooking
oil. The American government, whose flag was on the tin, presumably
intended it for a hungry civilian, but skimming and the manipulation of aid
have also become part of this war. Dr Garang offered little hope for peace
talks. Sudan is blessed -- or perhaps blighted -- with four separate peace
initiatives, variously sponsored by Kenya, Egypt and Libya, Eritrea and
America. In addition, Dr Garang says he has a "three-pronged approach"of
his own, which combines fighting with talking. "It is a very complex
situation," he acknowledged. (Declan Walsh, The Independent, UK, 13 June
2002)
Weekly News - anb06136.txt - #6/7