Weekly anb0167.txt #8

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 16-01-2003      PART #7/8

* Sierra Leone. Freetown calm after shooting  -  13 January: Sierra Leone's 
hard-earned peace and stability is put into question when shooting breaks 
out in the capital, Freetown. Gunfire is heard in the east of the city, 
putting UN peacekeepers and local authorities on high alert. But the 
situation is soon brought under control and has since been downplayed. The 
shooting began in the early hours in eastern Freetown, in and around an 
army barracks. It provoked numerous rumours that Sierra Leone was suffering 
yet another coup. But such rumours are at this stage alarmist, and police 
are treating the incident as nothing more than criminal activity. The 
situation was quickly brought under control by the army with support from 
United Nations peacekeepers and the police.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 13 January 
2003)

* Sierra Leone. Systematic rape committed during war  -  All sides in 
Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war committed "widespread and systematic" 
sexual violence, the New York-based organisation Human Rights Watch says. 
Thousands of women and girls were subjected to individual and gang rape, 
according to a report issued by Human Rights Watch on 16 January. The 
75-page document describes alleged abuses committed by the rebel 
Revolutionary United Front (RUF), as well as other rebel, government and 
international peacekeeping forces. The report -- entitled "We'll Kill You 
If You Cry" -- is based on hundreds of interviews with victims, witnesses 
and officials. "We have documented unimaginable atrocities against women in 
Sierra Leone," said Human Rights Watch's Peter Takirambudde. The report 
says most of the sexual violence was committed primarily by soldiers of 
various rebel forces -- the RUF, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council 
(AFRC), and the West Side Boys. The document also examines crimes by 
government forces, and gives details of alleged rapes by foreign 
peacekeepers -- including soldiers from Guinea, Nigeria, Ukraine, and 
Bangladesh. Sexual violence was characterised by extraordinary brutality, 
and frequently accompanied by other abuses against the victim, her family 
and her community, according to the report. "Child combatants raped women 
who were old enough to be their grandmothers, rebels raped pregnant and 
breastfeeding mothers, and fathers were forced to watch their daughters 
being raped," it says. Mr Takirambudde said: "The war in Sierra Leone 
became infamous for the amputation of hands and arms. Rape may not be 
visible in the same way, but it is every bit as devastating." About 30,000 
people were killed - and many thousands were maimed -- during the conflict 
between 1991 and 2001.   (BBC News, 16 January 2003)

* Somalia. Peace talks in jeopardy  -  7 January: Somali political groups 
participating in the Eldoret peace talks call on Kenya's new president, 
Mwai Kibaki, to save the talks from collapse. In a statement issued today, 
the leaders' committee said the talks are being mismanaged and conducted 
contrary to agreements. They also complain about the allocation of extra 
seats over and above the agreed 300. The statement says the number of 
delegates, which currently stands at 400, "should remain as already fixed 
and without further change or increase". They also accuse the organisers of 
continually changing the conference procedures, and "therefore the slow 
progress of the process lies squarely with the chairmanship of the 
technical committee of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development 
(IGAD)".   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 7 January 2003)

* Somalia. Boat tragedy  -  15 January: At least 80 people, mostly Somalis, 
are reported to have died when their boat caught fire on its way to Yemen. 
Survivors said the boat capsized after it caught fire, leaving them adrift 
for eight days. None of the children on board are reported to have 
survived. This is one of the worst known tragedies in the Gulf of Aden 
which separates Somalia and Yemen. A passing vessel rescued 23 Somalis and 
Ethiopians from the boat which was carrying up to 120 people. The Somalis, 
together with about 20 Ethiopians, were taken from the town of Bossaso in 
the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, by agents who arranged their voyage 
to Yemen. The voyage is said to take four to five days, and costs around 
$500 per person. The tragedy is only the latest to befall Somalis 
attempting to reach Yemen, before going on to Saudi Arabia.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 15 January 2003)

* South Africa. Govt to roll-out food security programme  -  South Africa 
has identified 150,000 households urgently in need of food aid and other 
assistance, and the government has set aside R400 million (about US $46.2 
million) to deal with the impact of rising food prices on the poor. Rapidly 
rising food inflation, blamed largely by supermarket chains and suppliers 
on the decline in the value of the rand earlier last year, had sparked 
concern that the poorest of the poor would be unable to access basic 
commodities. A spokesman for the Ministry of Social Development, Mbulelo 
Musi, said the government was already into phase two of its intervention 
programme. "Last year the government took a decision in October that -- 
given the situation of food price increases, which were going to impact on 
the poorest of the poor in a very negative way -- there was need for an 
interim intervention to cushion the blow," Musi said. Late last year 
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced that government would set aside 
R400 million for this purpose.The government had already had a strategy in 
place, the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme, which was 
aimed at targeting the worst affected for assistance.   (IRIN, Kenya, 14 
January 2003)

* Sudan. Khartoum's massive military build-up  -  A report dated 9 January 
2003 and published by AfricaFiles says that numerous highly reliable 
regional sources are now confirming that Khartoum's National Islamic Front 
regime is violating the explicit terms of the 15 October 2002 Memorandum of 
Understanding concerning the cessation of offensive military action in 
Sudan. A steady flow of barges down the White Nile has brought an enormous 
augmentation of military equipment and manpower to Juba, the military 
centre of Khartoum's presence in Southern Sudan. Such redeployment of 
offensive military capabilities is clearly prohibited under the terms of 
the 15 October agreement, and must be condemned forcefully by the 
international community as the gravest of threats to the Machakos peace 
process. (...) Immediate concern in Southern Sudan has focused in recent 
days on the extremely ominous outbreak of fighting near Tam, Leer and 
Nhialdiu in the oil regions of Western Upper Nile. Conscripted and hastily 
trained recruits from Juba and Khartoum (often selected on the basis of 
racial identity) were thrown into battle in several outbreaks of violence; 
they were accompanied by more regularly trained and Khartoum-equipped 
militians. (...)   (Eric Reeves, AfricaFiles, 9 January 2003)

* Sudan. Peace talks under threat  -  14 January: MISNA reports that 
Sudan's government has announced its intention of deserting the peace talks 
with the SPLA due to resume on 15 January in Nairobi. The next round of 
negotiations was supposed to have resumed on that date after a one-month 
interruption. The future destiny of three areas in central Sudan -- the 
Abyei district; the Nuba Mountains; and the Southern Blue Nile -- are what 
casts doubt on the resumption of negotiations. Khartoum claims these areas 
are under government influence and therefore should not be included in the 
Nairobi talks dedicated to the future of southern Sudan.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 14 January 2003)

* Soudan. Pourparlers en échec  -  Le 12 janvier, l'envoyé américain pour 
la paix au Soudan, John Danforth, a prévenu Khartoum et les rebelles du Sud 
que Washington pourrait cesser de soutenir les négociations de paix si un 
accord n'était pas conclu dans les six mois pour mettre fin à 20 ans de 
guerre civile. Une troisième session de tractations devrait commencer le 15 
janvier à Machakos, au Kenya. En juillet, les deux parties ont signé un 
protocole d'accord prévoyant la séparation de l'Etat et de la religion dans 
le sud du Soudan, et un référendum d'autodétermination de cette partie du 
pays dans les six ans. -- Le 15 janvier, la reprise des pourparlers de paix 
à Nairobi n'a pas eu lieu comme prévu. Le gouvernement de Khartoum a 
affirmé qu'il attendait toujours une invitation officielle de la part de 
l'IGAD, chargée de jouer le rôle de facilitateur. Il a également affirmé 
qu'il tenait à ce que la question des trois zones litigieuses (les Monts 
Nouba, le Nil bleu et Abyei) ne soit pas examinée, car elle serait en 
contradiction avec l'accord signé en juillet dernier. Cependant, le 
gouvernement soudanais s'est dit prêt à reprendre les pourparlers après "la 
définition des modalités appropriées". Notons que le gouvernement de 
Khartoum et le SPLA n'ont pas trouvé d'accord sur ces "trois zones", le 
premier affirmant qu'elles appartiennent au Nord, le second qu'elles 
devraient être intégrées au Sud.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 15 
janvier 2003)

* Tanzania. UK issues Zanzibar terror warning  -  15 January: British 
citizens in Tanzania are being warned that they may be the target of "an 
international terrorist group". The UK Foreign Office issued the warning 
after receiving information that terrorists were planning an attack. 
Tourists staying on the island of Zanzibar, off the East African coast, 
were warned to take particular care in public places.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 
15 January 2003)

* Tchad. Accord de paix  -  Le 9 janvier à Libreville, l'Alliance nationale 
de résistance (ANR, rébellion armée) et le gouvernement tchadien ont conclu 
un accord de paix mettant théoriquement fin à une guerre civile larvée de 
près de sept ans dans le sud-est du Tchad. L'accord, signé en présence du 
président gabonais Omar Bongo, prévoit "la proclamation d'un cessez-le-feu 
immédiat sur l'ensemble de la zone de conflit et une amnistie générale en 
faveur de tous les militants, éléments et sympathisants" de l'ANR. Celle-ci 
s'engage à renoncer à la lutte armée. En revanche, elle obtient du 
gouvernement des garanties quant à la réintégration dans la fonction 
publique des fonctionnaires civils et militaires qui avaient rejoint ses 
rangs. Le gouvernement et l'ANR s'engagent par ailleurs à assurer la 
sécurisation des zones de troubles. S'agissant enfin du retour au Tchad des 
personnes réfugiées et de leur réinsertion sociale, un appel à l'aide a été 
lancé en direction des organismes humanitaires et à l'Etat gabonais. 
L'accord est censé ramener la paix dans le sud-est du Tchad, à sa frontière 
avec le Soudan, zone dans laquelle l'ANR opérait depuis 1996. Celle-ci, qui 
n'a pas été dissoute, devrait devenir un parti politique. - Le vendredi 
soir, 10 janvier, le président de l'ANR, le colonel Mahamat Garfa, est 
arrivé à N'Djamena. "Après huit ans d'exil, je suis revenu pour consolider 
le retour de la paix", a-t-il déclaré aux journalistes. Il a été ensuite 
reçu par le président Déby.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 10 janvier 2003)

* Chad. Peace deal in the east  -  10 January: The government of Chad has 
signed a peace agreement with one of the main rebel groups, the National 
Resistance Army (ANR). The ANR is active in eastern Chad, near the border 
with Sudan and the Central African Republic. The accord, signed in Gabon, 
provides for an immediate ceasefire and an amnesty for all ANR supporters 
and fighters. Chad's foreign minister, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, said former 
rebels would be integrated into the national army or be given support to go 
back to civilian life. He called on the other rebel groups to join the 
agreement.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 January 2003)

* Togo. 36 ans de pouvoir  -  Le 13 janvier à Lomé, des manifestations ont 
célébré le 36e anniversaire de l'arrivée au pouvoir du président togolais 
Gnassingbé Eyadéma. Militaires et civils ont défilé pendant plus de 4 
heures sous la musique de la fanfare des forces armées, en présence du 
président. Contrairement aux années précédentes, aucun chef d'Etat étranger 
n'était cependant présent à ces cérémonies. Par ailleurs, un meeting de 
l'opposition prévu pour ce même jour a été interdit. La Coalition des 
forces démocratiques (regroupement des partis d'opposition) avait appelé la 
population à un "rassemblement de prières, de recueillement et de réflexion 
sur la situation togolaise".   (PANA, Sénégal, 13 janvier 2003)

* Tunisie. Libre de voyager  -  Sadri Khiari, artiste peintre et 
universitaire tunisien, qui a été empêché plusieurs fois de prendre l'avion 
depuis deux ans, s'est vu notifier, le 9 janvier, une autorisation de se 
rendre en France pour y soutenir une thèse de doctorat. M. Khiari est un 
des fondateurs du Rassemblement pour une alternative internationale de 
développement (RAID/Attac-Tunisie) et du Conseil national pour les libertés 
en Tunisie (CNLT, non autorisé).   (Le Soir, Belgique, 11 janvier 2003)

* Tunisie. Intempéries - Marins disparus  -  Un chalutier ayant à bord 10 à 
13 marins est porté disparu en raison des intempéries qui ont sévi sur la 
Tunisie pendant le week-end, a rapporté l'hebdomadaire Al-Bayane le lundi 
13 janvier. Le bateau se trouvait à quelque 10 milles de l'île de Djerba 
lorsqu'il a disparu; des opérations de recherche ont été engagées. Ces 
intempéries étaient accompagnées de fortes précipitations sur tout le pays, 
causant des crues de plusieurs cours d'eau. L'oued Medjerdah, dans le 
nord-est, a atteint un "niveau record" et de nombreuses zones dans cette 
région ont été inondées et isolées. De même, des chutes de neige 
exceptionnellement abondantes étaient signalées sur plusieurs hauteurs du 
nord-ouest et centre-ouest, en particulier sur Thala qui a été recouverte 
d'un manteau de neige de 30 centimètres.   (AP, 13 janvier 2003)

Weekly anb0116.txt - #7/8