Weekly anb01099.txt #9

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 09-01-2003      PART #9/9

* Tanzanie/Rwanda. Rapatriement de réfugiés  -  Le rapatriement volontaire 
des réfugiés rwandais des camps du nord-est de la Tanzanie est terminé, 
alors qu'il reste environ 150 réfugiés rwandais dans le pays, selon Ivana 
Unluova, la porte-parole du HCR. Le nombre de réfugiés rapatriés en 2002 
s'est élevé à 23.474, dont près de 19.000 sont revenus dans leurs foyers 
durant les mois de novembre et décembre. Cet effort de rapatriement s'est 
terminé le 27 décembre, quand 3.200 réfugiés sont retournés au Rwanda, 
selon Mme Unluova. L'opération a ainsi pu être achevée avant la date limite 
du 31 décembre, tel que convenu le 13 décembre lors d'une rencontre 
tripartite entre le HCR et les gouvernements du Rwanda et de la Tanzanie. 
(Ndlr.: Des sources locales mettent en doute le terme "volontaire" de ce 
rapatriement).   (IRIN, Nairobi, 3 janvier 2003)

* Tanzania/Rwanda. Voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees from Tanzania 
complete  -  The voluntary repatriation of Rwandan refugees from camps in 
northwestern Tanzania has been completed, with only about 150 remaining in 
the country, according to Ivana Unluova, the spokeswoman for the Office of 
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She says that 
the total number of refugees repatriated in 2002 had been 23,474, of whom 
almost 19,000 had gone home in November and December. Only around 100 
refugees remained in the refugee camps in Tanzania at the beginning of 
2003, and another 50 in various prisons in Kagera Region. The repatriation 
effort had ended on 27 December when about 3,200 refugees returned to 
Rwanda, Unluova says They were taken to a reception centre in Nyakarambi, 
southeastern Rwanda, and later transported to their places of origin. The 
operation was thus completed before the deadline of 31 December, as agreed 
on 13 December at a tripartite meeting between the UNHCR and the 
governments of Rwanda and Tanzania. A further meeting to discuss the 
remaining caseload is due to be held at the end of January, Unluova 
added.   (IRIN, Kenya, 3 January 2003)

* Tchad. Pourparlers inter-tchadiens  -  Des pourparlers entre le 
gouvernement tchadien et l'Alliance nationale de la résistance (ANR, 
rébellion armée) ont débuté le dimanche 5 janvier à Libreville et 
pourraient se prolonger jusqu'au mardi ou mercredi. L'organisation d'une 
enquête internationale sur les exactions commises contre les populations de 
l'est du Tchad par les forces loyalistes et d'une table ronde impliquant 
toutes les composantes de la vie politique et sociale du Tchad constituent 
les principaux points de blocage. Les deux parties sont par contre d'accord 
pour une amnistie générale de tous les rebelles tchadiens et leurs leaders, 
ainsi que leur réintégration dans l'armée nationale. Les pourparlers se 
poursuivent dans un hôtel de la capitale gabonaise, dans le but de parvenir 
à un accord qui devrait décréter un cessez-le-feu sur le 
terrain.   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 7 janvier 2003)

* Togo. Présidence à vie  -  Le 30 décembre, le Parlement togolais a décidé 
de permettre au général-président Gnassingbè Eyadéma de briguer autant de 
mandats qu'il le voudra. A l'unanimité, les députés ont abrogé l'article 59 
de la Constitution, qui limitait le nombre des mandats présidentiels à deux 
quinquennats successifs. Ils ont estimé que la limitation des mandats 
portait "atteinte à la liberté du peuple de choisir librement son 
président". L'opposition, qui n'est pas représentée au Parlement, a appelé 
le peuple togolais à se mobiliser contre ce coup de force du 
président.   (Le Monde, France, 1er janvier 2003)

* Tunisie. 3 islamistes condamnés  -  Le 2 janvier, trois islamistes 
présumés ont été condamnés par le tribunal de première instance de Gafsa 
(centre) chacun à 13 mois de prison ferme pour "appartenance à une 
organisation illégale et collecte de fonds sans autorisation". 
L'organisation en question est le mouvement islamique tunisien interdit 
"Ennahdha", dont plusieurs dirigeants ont été condamnés à de lourdes peines 
depuis 1992. Neuf personnes étaient jugées au cours de ce procès, dont six 
ont bénéficié d'un non-lieu.   (AP, 2 janvier 2003)

* Western Sahara. Baker to visit Western Sahara  -  The UN envoy for 
Western Sahara, James Baker III, is to go on a three-day visit to Western 
Sahara and neighbouring countries to revive UN efforts to solve the 
conflict surrounding the former Spanish colony. Baker is expected to hold 
talks from 14 to 17 January with officials in Morocco, Algeria, Western 
Sahara and Mauritania, and leaders of the Polisario Front. The UN said in a 
press release on Monday that Baker would present and lobby in favour of a 
UN proposal for a political solution to the conflict as requested by 
Security Council Resolution 1429 of 30 July 2002.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 8 
January 2003)

* Zambia. Debt burden "intolerable"  -  2 January: Zambia may have find an 
extra $100m to service its foreign debt this year, putting an "intolerable" 
burden on the country's economy, according to the country's president. "The 
debt is what is going to undermine our development efforts, the debt burden 
is now intolerable," President Levy Mwanawasa warned in his New Year's 
address. Zambia is saddled with $6bn of external debt. The warning comes 
after the International Monetary Fund said Zambia will not receive about 
$1bn in debt relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) 
initiative if it does not follow an agreed privatisation programme. Most of 
Zambia's 11 million people live on less than $1 a day, and about a quarter 
face famine because of a regional food shortage. "Each year we have to find 
an excess of $200m just to service the debt. This year the figure may 
exceed $300m, something has to be done," Mr Mwanawasa said. He has warned 
that Zambia might suspend privatisation programmes, saying they cause hefty 
job losses while bringing few benefits to rural areas. Under HIPC, the 
sell-off of the state Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco), along with 
power utility Zesco and telecoms firm Zamtel, are key to qualifying for the 
debt relief. Anti-poverty campaigners have suggested that HIPC countries 
suspend all debt servicing and payments, and use the money instead to feed 
their populations and provide health care.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 2 January 2003)

* Zambia. Opposition creating Zambian food crisis  -  3 January: A 
government minister has accused political opponents of hoarding stocks of 
staple crops in famine-hit Zambia. Acting Home Affairs Minister Ludwig 
Sondashi says two unnamed parties are trying to force up prices, engineer 
shortages and cause unrest in a bid to topple the government. The 
allegations have been dismissed by opposition parties. They say the 
government wants to use them as scapegoats to shift the blame for the food 
crisis.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 3 January 2003)

* Zambia. Mwanawasa to speed up graft probe  -  President Levy Mwanawasa 
complained on 6 January that a probe into corruption in his country was 
proceeding too slowly and said he plans to announce measures soon to speed 
up the investigation. Mwanawasa, who took power from former president 
Frederick Chiluba after controversial elections in 2001, said he was 
concerned that an anti-corruption task force he appointed last year was 
taking a long time to bring suspects to trial. The president has billed his 
crackdown, the most visible move against corruption since Zambia's 
independence from Britain in 1964, as key to maintaining public confidence 
in the government. "It is unfortunate that investigations are moving 
slowly. Property has been seized (by the task force) but now we are told 
they are still investigating," Mwanawasa said on the sidelines of a meeting 
with labour leaders. "We do not need further evidence for people who have 
expensive mansions. You just need to take them to court, show the value of 
the property seized against their income and the onus will be on the owners 
to prove how they acquired it." The investigation, launched last March, 
appears focused on Chiluba's 10 years in office. At least four members of 
Chiluba's administration -- two former ministers, a former security chief 
and the former president's press and public affairs secretary -- have been 
charged with corruption. Parliament in July lifted Chiluba's immunity after 
Mwanawasa told lawmakers that the former president was directly or 
indirectly behind a series of "questionable" deals.   (CNN, USA, 7 January 
2003)

* Zimbabwe. Food riots  -  4 January: Thirty-four people have been arrested 
as police used tear-gas to break up a riot at a grain depot in Zimbabwe's 
second largest city, Bulawayo, state media reports. A report in the 
state-run Bulawayo Chronicle newspaper says those arrested had been 
protesting over what they said was the unfair distribution of food. The 
state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation reported that residents had 
accused grain board officials of corruptly supplying maize to unscrupulous 
millers, who then sold it on at exorbitant prices. Correspondents say that 
millions of people in Zimbabwe are threatened by famine as the result of 
the continuing drought and the disruption caused by government's seizure of 
white-owned farms. A report in the UK's Daily Telegraph says that President 
Mugabe's war veterans were responsible for the food riots. The paper says 
that the riot in Bulawayo began when Jabulani Sibanda, the provincial 
chairman of Mr Mugabe's ZANU-PF whipped up his supporters to march on the 
Grain Marketing Board to complain at the way grain was being allocated only 
to chosen millers. 5 January: Four police officers have been injured in a 
dormitory town near Harare, when youths attack people queuing for food. 
About 200 people were queuing up for mealie-meal, when a group of youths 
attacked the police who were controlling the crowd.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 
January 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Emeutes de la faim  -  L'aggravation des pénuries alimentaires 
au Zimbabwe suscite ces derniers jours des manifestations de plus en plus 
violentes qui pourraient se terminer par une confrontation générale entre 
le régime de Mugabe et la population. Plus de la moitié des 12 millions de 
Zimbabwéens sont en effet menacés par la famine. La semaine dernière, 
devant un dépôt de l'organisme d'Etat chargé de la commercialisation des 
céréales à Bulawayo, la deuxième ville du pays, des centaines de 
manifestants ont protesté contre la distribution injuste du maïs: 39 ont 
été arrêtés et présentés, le 6 janvier, devant la justice. L'aide 
alimentaire n'est en effet bien souvent délivrée que contre la présentation 
d'une carte de membre du parti au pouvoir, la ZANU-PF. Le 5 janvier, quatre 
policiers chargés de maintenir l'ordre dans une file d'attente qui s'était 
formée devant un magasin vendant de la farine de maïs, la nourriture de 
base, ont été blessés à Chitungwiza, principale commune de la capitale 
Harare.   (Libération, France, 7 janvier 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Mugabe loyalists to run opposition strongholds  -  Unelected 
governors will be installed to run two cities in Zimbabwe where 
anti-government protests have intensified in the past week, the government 
said on 6 January. President Robert Mugabe was immediately accused of 
trying to usurp mayors from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change 
(MDC) in Harare, the capital, and Bulawayo. The move was announced on 6 
January in the state-owned Herald newspaper, which quoted the local 
government minister, Ignatius Chombo. Mr Chombo denied that the new 
governors would take on the role of the mayors, but local observers 
disagreed. "The Mugabe government has already made it impossible for the 
two mayors to do their jobs properly and it is putting in place officials 
who will tell the mayors what to do," said John Makumbe, chairman of 
Transparency International Zimbabwe. "Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF, are 
control freaks and they are trying to take back any power or responsibility 
the opposition has won." Bulawayo and Harare have experienced food riots in 
the past week. People are unhappy with food shortages, inflation at 175% 
and unemployment at more than 60%. "The battle lines have been drawn," said 
Mr Makumbe, who is also a lecturer in political science at the University 
of Zimbabwe. However it was not clear when Mr Mugabe would appoint the new 
governors. (ANB-BIA's update: On 8 January, opposition supporters planned 
to march in Harare in support of Mayor Elias Mudzuri. The police banned the 
march and arrested those who turned up).   (The Guardian, UK, 7 January 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Cricket boycott calls grow  -  3 January: Politicians in 
Australia and New Zealand have called on international cricket chiefs to 
move World Cup matches away from Zimbabwe. The new demands by the 
governments to the International Cricket Council add to pressure for a 
boycott to protest against the regime of President Robert Mugabe. Britain's 
Guardian newspaper reported that Australian Prime Minister John Howard is 
heading a lobbying effort for national cricket boards to ask World Cup 
organisers to reschedule games. Mugabe supporters accuse Australia and 
Britain of wanting to keep cricket "white". But individual country 
organisations, including the England and Wales Cricket Board, could face 
fines and point penalties if they fail to fulfil fixtures in the 
competition next month. Australia and Britain have asked their teams to 
consider not playing in Zimbabwe -- where Mr Mugabe's government is accused 
of human rights abuses against political opponents. 5 January: Peter Hain, 
the British cabinet minister who rose to fame by campaigning against 
sporting links with South Africa during its apartheid years, has urged 
international cricket authorities not to stage matches in Zimbabwe. 9 
January: Senior English cricket officials are to meet British ministers, 
today, to discuss British Government objections to their planned World Cup 
match in Zimbabwe. If there is a boycott, the team will forfeit two points 
in the World Cup and are also likly to face a £1 million pound fine imposed 
by the International Cricket Council for not fulfilling the fixture in 
Harare. On top of that, there is the possibility Zimbabwe will retaliate by 
pulling out of a tour of England scheduled for later this year, causing the 
loss of millions of pounds in income.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 January 2003)

Weekly anb0109.txt - #9/9 - THE END


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Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie 
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature)
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Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
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