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Weekly anb01237.txt #7
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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 23-01-2003 PART #7/7
* Sudan. Black pharaoh trove uncovered - 20 January: A team of French and
Swiss archaeologists working in the Nile Valley have uncovered ancient
statues described as sculptural masterpieces in northern Sudan. The
archaeologists from the University of Geneva discovered a pit full of large
monuments and finely carved statues of the Nubian kings known as the black
pharaohs. The Swiss head of the archaeological expedition said that the
find was of worldwide importance. The black pharaohs, as they were known,
ruled over a mighty empire stretching along the Nile Valley 2,500 years
ago. The pit, which was full of ancient monuments, is located between some
ruined temples on the banks of the Nile. It had not been opened for over
2,000 years. Inside, the archaeologists made a breathtaking discovery. The
statues of the black pharaohs are highly polished, finely carved and made
of granite. The name of the king is engraved on the back and on the feet of
each sculpture. The head of the expedition, Charles Bonnet, described them
as very beautiful. They were important not just for the history of Sudan
but also for world art. The Nubians were powerful and wealthy kings who
controlled large territories along the Nile. Their land was known as the
Kingdom of Kush. They controlled the valuable trade routes along the river
but were eventually conquered by their neighbours from the north. The
ancient Egyptians made the pit into which the monuments and statues were
piled. Many of the sculptures were savagely destroyed, with smashed heads
and broken feet. Professor Bonnet says that this shows that the Egyptians
were not content with simply conquering Kush. They also wanted to
obliterate the memory of the black pharaohs and their unique culture from
the face of the earth. (BBC News, UK, 20 January 2003)
* Soudan. Reprise des négociations - Le 16 janvier, le leader du
Mouvement/Armée de libération du peuple soudanais (SPLM/A), John Garang, a
demandé à la communauté internationale d'obliger le gouvernement de
Khartoum à revenir à la table de négociations de paix intersoudanais, au
lendemain du retrait de ce dernier des pourparlers de Nairobi. Les
représentants de Khartoum ont boycotté ces négociations, principalement à
cause d'un différend entre les deux parties au sujet de trois régions
situées au centre du Soudan, dont le gouvernement ne veut pas qu'elles
entrent dans le cadre des négociations. Pour sa part, le même jour, le
gouvernement soudanais a annoncé que les discussions reprendront le 22
janvier. -- Le 21 janvier au soir, une délégation du gouvernement est
arrivée au Kenya pour la reprise des négociations, sous la conduite du
ministre d'Etat chargé de la Paix, M. Idris Mohammed. Le SPLA a accepté de
limiter l'ordre du jour au partage des richesses et du pouvoir. (D'après
PANA, Sénégal, 16-22 janvier 2003)
* Sudan. Sharia row threatens peace talks - 22 January: Sudan's
Government has angrily dismissed rebel demands that Islamic or Sharia law
should not be enforced in the capital, Khartoum. Sudanese Vice-President
Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha was speaking as peace talks with the Sudan
People's Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels are set to resume in neighbouring
Kenya on 23 January. The Christian and animist SPLA says Khartoum should
have a special status if all Sudanese are to feel at home there. The
division of oil wealth and political power between the south and the Muslim
north are other key issues to be tackled in Kenya. The two sides have
agreed to observe a ceasefire for the duration of the talks, but both have
accused each other of launching attacks in the oil-producing south. The
peace talks were postponed two weeks ago after the government refused to
include three regions in central Sudan in the discussions. Representatives
from both sides are now in Nairibi. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 22 January 2003)
* Tunisia. Eight die in floods - Floods sweeping northern and central
Tunisia have left at least eight dead, including six children, officials
said on 16 January. Torrential rains have drenched most of the North
African nation's provinces over the past week, flooding some northwestern
areas as rivers burst banks. Officials said most of the dead were
schoolchildren taken by surprise by suddenly rising water as they crossed
rivers on their way home from school. Two girls, aged eight, drowned in a
river at the weekend in Sbeitla province, local officials said. Six other
people, four of them children, died in floods in villages in Le Kef
province. Meteorologists said the weather was back to normal now after the
heavy rains, which followed four years of severe drought. (CNN, USA, 16
January 2003)
* Tunisie. Bilan des inondations: 8 morts - Les inondations qui ont
affecté la Tunisie le week-end dernier ont fait huit morts dans le
nord-ouest du pays, rapporte la presse locale le 17 janvier. La ville de
Boussalem a été la plus affectée. Le niveau des eaux y a atteint trois
mètres par endroit. Des cités entières ont été submergées par les eaux. Les
populations se sont réfugiées sur les toits de leurs maisons et ont dû être
évacuées par hélicoptères. Les pluies torrentielles se sont abattues sur
tout le pays après quatre années successives de sécheresse. (AP, 17
janvier 2003)
* Zambia. Olive branch for Opposition - 17 January: President Levy
Mwanawasa has officially opened parliament for a new year by offering an
olive branch to the opposition. Last year, his first year in office, was
tough for he inherited an economic mess and the country was hit by the
worst food crisis in 10 years. The political front was not much easier
either as he faced a strong, vocal opposition which criticised his
government as incompetent and quickly launched a legal challenge against
what they called his rigging into power. The lavish opening ceremony,
including a 21-gun salute and a fly-over, was in stark contrast to
President Mwanawasa's state of the nation address. He plodded through a
marathon two-and-a-half hour but mainly lacklustre speech, which sent one
MP into the corridor to puff on a cigarette in the hope of waking up. But
the politics section did grab people's attention, especially when the
president said it was time for the ruling Movement for Multi-party
Democracy and opposition parties to bury the political hatchet and work
together as government of national unity. Last year, Mr Mwanawasa said he
would never include opposition members in his cabinet because they had
mounted a legal challenge to his election. This year's change of heart may
be precisely because of the election petition, which is currently being
heard by the Supreme Court. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 17 January 2003)
* Zambie. Ouverture à l'opposition - Le 17 janvier, le président
Mwanawasa a proposé aux membres de l'opposition présente au Parlement de
faire partie de son gouvernement, suite à une attaque virulente de ses
adversaires qui se sont coalisés en vue de le destituer. Selon le
président, la pétition déposée contre lui au sujet de son élection
contestée en décembre, est susceptible de durer très longtemps, risquant de
priver le pays de l'énergie nécessaire pour aller de l'avant. Il a indiqué
que la Zambie avait besoin d'hommes clairvoyants et intègres qui se
joignent à lui et à son gouvernement pour faire avancer le pays.
Reconnaissant que ses opposants ont formé un redoutable front, il a affirmé
que "ce genre d'alliance ne réussit pas, il ne sert qu'à affaiblir le
gouvernement au détriment de la Zambie". (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 17
janvier 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Compagnie de fret aérien - Une nouvelle compagnie de fret
aérien qui va surtout desservir les routes régionales et internationales, a
été inaugurée au Zimbabwe le 16 janvier. Selon son directeur général, M.
Edd Nyagura, la compagnie comble un vide laissé par une compagnie publique
qui a fait faillite trois ans auparavant. Elle se rendra au Congo-RDC, en
Tanzanie, à Dubai et à Amsterdam, pour ensuite étendre ses activités.
L'industrie de l'horticulture du Zimbabwe a été durement touchée par le
manque de transports fiables vers l'Europe depuis la faillite de la
compagnie publique et le retrait de la plupart des compagnies aériennes en
raison de l'instabilité politique. (PANA, Sénégal, 16 janvier 2003)
* Zimbabwe. "We're in crisis", admits army chief - The commander of
Zimbabwe's armed forces has publicly admitted for the first time that the
country is deep in crisis and has recommended a national task force should
resolve the country's emergency. The powerful head of the Zimbabwe National
Army and the Air Force of Zimbabwe spoke out while most senior politicians,
including President Robert Mugabe, refuse to publicly acknowledge the
country is in turmoil. Some blame the drought for the problems. Although
General Vitalis Zvinavashe reiterated his loyalty to Mr Mugabe, observers
in Zimbabwe saw his statement as a direct confirmation that senior aides to
Mr Mugabe were greatly worried by the country's slide into perdition and
many of them would be relieved if their leader quit. This week, the general
denied hatching a plan to send President Mugabe into retirement in return
for immunity from prosecution. Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader,
said he was approached with the plan by a mediator who said he was
representing General Zvinavashe and Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Parliamentary
speaker. General Zvinavashe said Zimbabweans had to be told frankly that
the country was in a crisis. "First we must admit there is a crisis,"
General Zvinavashe told Business Tribune, a newspaper owned by Mutumwa
Mawere, a prominent businessman with strong links to President Mugabe and
the ruling Zanu-PF. "Everyone can see that. So we must do something about
it. It is important for the nation to be told that we are facing an
economic crisis. In my view, it is not right to keep quiet and let nature
take its course." (The Independent, UK, 17 January 2003)
* Zimbabwe. L'armée reconnaît la crise - Le chef de l'armée zimbabwéenne,
le général Vitalis Zvinavashe, a reconnu que le pays se trouve dans une
crise économique. "Il ne serait pas correct de ne pas le reconnaître",
a-t-il dit au Business Tribune. Jusqu'à récemment, les fonctionnaires
zimbabwéens soulignaient que seule la sécheresse constituait un problème
pour le pays. Mais l'inflation monte de 1% par jour et le pays connaît une
grave pénurie de carburant. Selon Zvinavashe, il faut constituer un groupe
de travail pour étudier la crise économique et politique. La semaine
dernière, The Times avait annoncé que Zvinavashe était impliqué dans une
tentative de convaincre le président Mugabe à se retirer. Le général a tout
nié. (D'après De Standaard, Belgique, 18 janvier 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Famine plagues Zimbabwe - 21 January: Hungry people queue for
the meagre rations offered by church workers -- their children's hair
already changing colour from malnutrition. The elderly too are beginning to
suffer terribly -- not much food and not much hope of it either. Misrule,
corruption and drought are combining to make a catastrophe. Among the
poorest of the poor, some compete with wild animals for what they can
scavenge. Many people have abandoned their homes in search of food and
work. "For three days I haven't eaten, because of this I have no energy,
that is why you see me here," explained one man that we met. Yet the
commercial farms that could have provided much of the food needed are lying
abandoned, their owners forced out. As the economic crisis gets worse so
does the level of government repression. Nobody who opposes the government
now is safe from torture, from arbitrary imprisonment. We met a group of
people, many of them high profile, who have just been released from police
custody. In this country even members of parliament and human rights
lawyers can end up in torture chambers. All of those we met said they had
been subjected to electric shock torture. "The world must know of the kind
of life that the people of Zimbabwe are living under. It is terrible," Job
Sikhala, an opposition member of parliament, said from his hospital bed,
where he is recovering. Petrol queues throughout the city are a symptom of
the crisis. (Fergal Keane, BBC, 21 January 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Petrol bomb attack - 21 January: Attackers have thrown petrol
bombs at a ZANU-PF office in a suburb of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
One person died and seven people were hurt, several seriously, say police.
Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said about 50 young men drove into
Harare's western Kuwadzana township on the night of 20 January, smashing
property and assaulting pedestrians before throwing petrol bombs at the
offices. "It's a political attack. We suspect that it is related to the
by-election to be held in the suburb," Mr Bvudzijena said. A parliamentary
by-election is expected to take place soon, following the death in police
custody last year of an opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP,
Learnmore Jongwe. Police are blaming the attack on opposition supporters
and have made 16 arrests. (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 January 2003)
* Zimbabwe. Violences préélectorales - Le 20 janvier, une personne a été
tuée et sept blessées, dont plusieurs gravement, lors de l'attaque d'un
bâtiment de la banlieue d'Harare commise à l'aide d'engins incendiaires.
Seize personnes, toutes membres du Mouvement pour le changement
démocratique (MDC, opposition), ont été arrêtées par la police à la suite
de cette attaque menée à Kuwadzana par "un groupe de jeunes MDC armés de
matraques, bombes incendiaires et couteaux". On soupçonne une action
politique qui serait liée à l'élection législative partielle qui doit se
tenir dans cette ville. (Le Figaro, France, 22 janvier 2003)
* Zimbabwe. England want safety guarantee - England and Wales Cricket
Board chairman David Morgan has warned England could still pull out of
their World Cup match in Zimbabwe unless players' safety can be guaranteed.
International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed is
visiting the troubled state on Wednesday with Dr Ali Bacher -- who is chief
executive of the World Cup organising committee. They will report back to
an ICC board meeting at 1000 GMT on 24 January which is when the final
decision on Zimbabwe will be made. The visit follows further unrest in
Zimbabwe on 21 January, when one person died and seven others injured after
petrol bombs were thrown at an office in a suburb of Harare. And Morgan
said although none of the 15-man World Cup party had indicated they would
pull out of match for moral or political reasons, concerns over security
remained. Speaking about Wednesday's visit, Speed said he was aware of the
ongoing concerns about the safety and security of players and
officials. (BBC News, UK, 22 January 2003)
Weekly anb0123.txt - #7/7 - 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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