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Weekly anb10102.txt #7



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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 10-10-2002  PART #2/7

* Angola. Government wants dialogue over Cabinda - Separatist rebels in the 
oil-rich Cabinda enclave remained sceptical on 3 October about the 
government's recent comments that it was open to negotiations. Following a 
recent visit to the oil-rich province, Bornito de Sousa, the ruling MPLA 
member responsible for the enclave said that "the solution for the 
[conflict in the] territory will be through dialogue and not the use of 
violence. We hope the government is serious about dialogue. We want to see 
something concrete happening. We are still concerned about the build-up of 
soldiers in Cabinda and the continuing offensive against our people", 
Francoise Xavier Builo, a representative of the separatists FLEC-FAC 
faction in the Netherlands, said. Builo said that following the signing of 
the 4 April ceasefire between the government and UNITA, the Angolan Armed 
Forces (FAA) had turned its attention to Cabinda. "Intimidation, day and 
night ground and aerial reconnaissance, incursions and attacks have become 
the norm in Cabinda following UNITA's surrender," Builo added. (IRIN, 
Kenya, 3 October 2002)

* Angola. UNITA camps to remain open - 7 October: A senior UN official says 
the Angolan government had agreed to keep "quartering areas" for some 
300,000 fighters of the former rebel UNITA group and their families beyond 
an October 15 closure deadline. Quartering areas are camps where the 
ex-UNITA combatants and their families are residing after emerging from the 
bush after the end of Angola's 27-year civil war. They are awaiting 
reintegration into the army or civilian life. "I think there will not be an 
arbitrary deadline to shut the reception areas and move people out," UN 
Special Representative for Angola Ibrahim Gambari said. Gambari heads the 
Joint Commission set up to supervise implementation of peace agreements 
between the government and UNITA, which collapsed as a military force after 
the death of its veteran leader Jonas Savimbi in February. UNITA officials 
had feared the government could close the quartering areas next week -- 
before completing the process of rehabilitation and reintegration of 
ex-fighters and their families, a key part of the April ceasefire 
agreement. (CNN, USA, 7 October 2002)

* Bénin. L'Italie annule ses créances - Le gouvernement italien a renoncé 
au recouvrement de toutes ses créances, d'un montant de 1,738 milliard de 
FCFA, que lui devait le Bénin, a-t-on appris le 9 octobre à Cotonou. 
L'initiative s'inscrit dans le cadre du programme d'annulation de la dette 
à l'intention des pays pauvres très endettés (PPTE). Lors de la réunion, en 
octobre 2000, des créanciers du Bénin membres du Club de Paris, il avait 
été convenu que chaque créancier fixerait lui-même le niveau d'annulation 
qu'il accorderait. L'Italie, qui est un des promoteurs de l'initiative en 
faveur des PPTE, a décidé d'annuler à 100% les montants qui lui sont dus. 
(PANA, Sénégal, 9 octobre 2002)

* Burundi. Army arrests over massacre - Two army officers have been 
arrested in Burundi in connection with the killing last month of 173 people 
in Gitega Province. President Pierre Buyoya said the officers -- the 
second-in-command of a battalion and a junior officer -- had been operating 
in the area at the time of the killings. "They are in the hands of the 
law," he told journalists. The Burundian army had earlier admitted that its 
soldiers were responsible for last month's killings, but tried to transfer 
responsibility to Hutu rebels; it said the army had warned civilians to 
leave because an attack was imminent, but the rebels had told them to stay 
put. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 4 October 2002)

* Burundi. Sommet sous-régional - Le lundi 7 octobre, un 17e sommet 
sous-régional sur le Burundi a réuni à Dar es-Salaam les chefs d'Etat de la 
région des Grands Lacs pour examiner le processus de paix. Etaient 
présents: les présidents de la Tanzanie, du Congo-RDC, du Burundi, de 
l'Afrique du Sud et de l'Ouganda. Le vice-président sud-africain, 
co-médiateur, a informé les chefs d'Etat des résultats des derniers 
pourparlers de paix en août et septembre, qui n'ont donné aucun résultat 
tangible. Toutefois, deux factions rebelles hutu, les ailes minoritaires du 
CNDD-FDD de Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye et du PALIPEHUTU-FNL d'Alain 
Mugabarabona, ont signé ce lundi un accord de cessez-le-feu avec le 
gouvernement de transition. Mais les deux principales factions, le CNDD-FDD 
de Peter Nkurunziza et le PALIPEHUTU-FNL d'Agathon Rwasa, ont refusé 
d'apposer leur signature sur le document. Le sommet a estimé que les 
parties en conflit qui n'approuveraient pas le cessez-le-feu devraient 
provoquer des entretiens directs afin de conclure un accord dans les 30 
jours. Si aucun accord n'est conclu au bout de cette période, le sommet 
prendra "les mesures appropriées" contre les parties concernées. Malgré la 
faible portée de l'accord de lundi, les chefs d'Etat y ont vu un "pas 
encourageant". (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 7 octobre 2002)

* Burundi. Another summit - 7 October: Another African sub-regional summit, 
the 17th of its kind devoted to the crisis in Burundi opens today in Dar es 
Salaam, Tanzania, with only the 26 August peace agreement signed in Arusha 
as the tangible result so far. A cease-fire has eluded the Burundi 
government and the various Hutu armed groups who have been fighting since 
late 1993 after the assassination of the democratically elected President, 
Melchior Ndadaye. Fighting has intensified despite the official 
installation 1 November 2001 of a transitional government drawing 
legitimacy from the Arusha peace agreements. A transitional parliament and 
senate are the other state institutions that have been created under the 
same accord. During today's summit in Dar es Salaam, sub-regional mediators 
are once again expected to exert pressure on the warring Burundian parties 
to reach a cease-fire. Attending the summit are Presidents Benjamin Mkapa 
of Tanzania, Joseph Kabila of Congo RDC, Pierre Buyoya of Burundi, Thabo 
Mbeki of South Africa and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda who chairs the Great 
Lakes Peace Initiative on Burundi. The facilitator of the Burundi peace 
process, retired President Nelson Mandela and South African Deputy 
President Jacob Zuma who chairs the cease-fire negotiations between the 
Burundi government and rebels are also present. -- The smaller factions of 
both Hutu groups still fighting the transitional government sign a formal 
ceasefire. Jean-Bosco Ndayikengurukiye's National Council for the Defence 
of Democracy-Force for the Defence of Democracy (CNDD-FDD) and Alain 
Mugarabona's Party for the Liberation of the Hutu People-National Force for 
Freedom (PALIPEHUTU-FNL) formalise their agreements with the transitional 
government. Two groups yet to sign any agreement -- Pierre Nkurunziza's 
CNDD-FDD and Agathon Rwasa's FNL are instructed to "continue negotiations" 
with a view to concluding the ceasefire agreement within 30 days. (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 7 October 2002)

* Burundi. Retour de réfugiés - Le 9 octobre, plusieurs centaines de 
personnes sont arrivées dans la ville de Rugomba (province de Cibitoke), à 
quelques kilomètres de la frontière congolaise. Les réfugiés, des civils 
pour la plupart, viennent du Congo, de la zone de Luvungi, qui se trouve à 
mi-chemin entre Uvira et Bukavu. De violents combats ont eu lieu dans cette 
zone entre Maï-Maï et soldats du RCD-Goma, faisant de nombreux morts. Au 
Burundi, on craint que les tensions au Congo ne fassent rentrer dans le 
pays les rebelles qui s'étaient réfugiés dans ce pays voisin. (Misna, 
Italie, 9 octobre 2002)

* Burundi. Le "Centre Jeunes Kamenge" distingué - Le prix "Right 
Livelihood", considéré comme le Prix Nobel alternatif, a été attribué cette 
année à deux personnes et à deux organisations, dont le "Centre Jeunes 
Kamenge" (CJK) à Bujumbura. Dans son commentaire, Right Livelihood explique 
que le CJK a été honoré "pour son courage exemplaire, prouvant qu'après 
neuf ans de guerre civile meurtrière, des jeunes de différents groupes 
ethniques sont capables d'apprendre à vivre et à bâtir ensemble un avenir 
de paix et d'harmonie". Le CJK a été voulu par l'évêque Mgr Simon Ntamwana 
et réalisé par les missionnaires Xavériens. C'est un lieu de rencontre pour 
les jeunes de 16 à 30 ans de la ville de Bujumbura, en particulier des 
quartiers nord de la ville. A travers des activités culturelles, 
religieuses et sportives, de divertissement et d'apprentissage de métiers, 
les jeunes s'y rencontrent, apprennent à se connaître, à se respecter, à 
s'accepter et à se pardonner. Actuellement, il y a 20.000 inscrits, et 
entre 1.500 et 2.000 présences par jour. Les six quartiers du nord comptent 
environ 200.000 habitants: 40% de Tutsi, 40% de Hutu et 20% d'étrangers. Le 
centre veut faire comprendre à un pays en guerre civile que les diversités 
ne sont pas causes de division, mais sources d'espoir pour tous. (Le prix 
Right Livelihood, créé en 1980, est présenté chaque année au Parlement 
suédois et veut "honorer et soutenir ceux qui apportent des réponses 
concrètes et exemplaires aux défis les plus urgents du monde 
d'aujourd'hui"). (ANB-BIA, Bruxelles, 10 octobre 2002)

* Burundi. Centre Jeunes Kamenge receives award - The 2002 Right Livelihood 
Awards go to two organisations working for conflict resolution and healing 
-- the Centre Jeunes Kamenge (Burundi) and Kvinna till Kvinna (Sweden) -- 
and two individuals --human rights activist Martin Almada (Paraguay) and 
scientist Martin Green (Australia). The Centre Jeunes Kamenga (the Kamenge 
Young People's Centre) is honoured for "their exemplary and indomitable 
courage and compassion, which have proved that, even after nine years of 
murderous civil war, young people from different ethnic groups can learn to 
live and build a future together in peace and harmony". The Centre was 
founded in 1991 by three Italian Xaverian missionaries, as a place where 
the youth of the neighbourhoods could come and, through shared activity, 
learn to live together in friendship and mutual respect. The Awards are 
presented annually in the Swedish Parliament and are usually referred to as 
"Alternative Nobel Prizes". (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 October 2002)

* Burkina Faso. New lakes support rural fisheries - Burkina Faso is 
benefitting from a total of 2,100 dams in low-lying areas of the country to 
harvest rain run-off for use during the cropping season and provide fishery 
resources for local people. The dams have been built over the years since 
the devastating 1970-'73 Sahelian drought and famine under the Sustainable 
Fisheries Livelihood Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization. 
"Participants [in the programme] learn to think in a more sophisticated, 
holistic way about all the community's livelihoods assets: skills, 
infrastructure, savings and so on," the FAO reported on 24 September. "The 
goal is to let people, in partnership with government, co-manage their own 
resources," it said. The dams being built should provide a permanent source 
of water for farmers to cultivate larger fields of grain and vegetables. 
Rural communities will also have a chance to catch tilapia, catfish and 
other fish stocked in the dams. (IRIN, Kenya, 3 October 2002)

* Cameroon/Nigeria. Court to rule on border dispute - The governments of 
Nigeria and Cameroon are braced for a United Nations court decision on 
Thursday on a border dispute that risks destabilising the surrounding 
oil-rich Gulf of Guinea region. The office of Kofi Annan, UN 
secretary-general, said UN officials were working to ensure both sides 
respected a commitment to abide by the judgment. The court decision, which 
comes after military skirmishes between the two sides over the issue, will 
be watched for its impact on the security of a region attracting increasing 
US interest as a potential bulwark against problems with Middle East oil 
supplies. "We don't know the attitude of the Nigerian government or what 
the Cameroonians will do," said an executive from an oil multinational 
operating in Nigeria. The Hague-based International Court of Justice will 
rule on Cameroon's 1994 claim for ownership of a 1,000 sq km strip of 
swampy land known as the Bakassi Peninsula. The ruling could affect 
maritime access to Calabar, the nearest big Nigerian port to the peninsula 
and the site of an export processing zone. (Financial Times, UK, 10 October 
2002)

* Central Afr. Rep. Ex-minister acquitted in coup trial - 7 October: The 
former defence minister of the Central African Republic, Jean-Jacques 
Demafouth, has been acquitted of charges of conspiracy against the regime 
at the time of the attempted coup last year. Thirty of Mr Demafouth's 
co-defendants, mostly former members of the armed forces, were handed down 
sentences ranging from one year in prison to 10 years' hard labour. Another 
48 were cleared with Mr Demafouth because, the judge said, there was not 
enough evidence against them. A total of 680 people were put on trial in 
August, most of them in their absence, in connection with the attempted 
coup which claimed at least 59 lives. Only 69 of those accused were present 
when the trial opened. Many people who were called before the tribunal had 
fled the country, claiming that the trial would not to be fair. Most of the 
accused were from the same Yakoma tribe as the presumed coup leader, a 
former president, Andre Kolingba, whose whereabouts are not known. Tens of 
thousands of Yakoma fled the capital following the coup attempt, after 
extra-judicial killings of members of their tribe. Mr Kolingba was 
sentenced to death in August, along with 21 other coup plotters, including 
three of Kolingba's sons. About 600 other defendants were handed harsh 
sentences at the time. The court case was a result of a special inquiry 
committee into the coup established last year by the President Ange-Felix 
Patasse. The committee, which finished the investigation in December, 
proved controversial. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 7 October 2002)

* Centrafrique. Verdict modéré - Le 7 octobre, la cour criminelle de Bangui 
a rendu un verdict modéré dans le procès sur la tentative de coup d'Etat du 
28 mai 2001, acquittant l'ancien ministre de la Défense Jean-Jacques 
Démafouth ainsi que 48 autres prévenus, et condamnant une trentaine 
d'autres accusés à des peines de un à dix ans. M. Démafouth a été acquitté 
"au bénéfice du doute". Le 26 août dernier, quelque 615 accusés, jugés par 
contumace, avaient été condamnés à des lourdes peines, dont 24 
condamnations à mort. Mais un grand nombre d'entre eux sont en fuite, dont 
l'ex-président Kolingba, accusé d'être le véritable instigateur du coup 
d'Etat. (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 8 octobre 2002)

Weekly anb1010.txt - #2/7