Weekly anb02276.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 27-02-2003      PART #6/7

* Liberia. Human rights group criticises introduction of exit 
visa  -  Liberia's Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) has criticized the 
reintroduction by the Liberian government of a compulsory exit visa for 
anyone -- nationals as well as foreigners -- wishing to leave the country. 
The government introduced the visa requirement on 18 February. According to 
the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, the move is aimed at "having 
a complete data base of those leaving Liberia". However, the Commission 
said on 25 February that it was a violation of the right to freedom of 
movement. The measure "contravenes Article 13(b) of the Liberian 
constitution which guarantees citizens the right to leave and enter Liberia 
at any time without precondition," it said. The JPC called on the 
government to reconsider its decision.   (IRIN, Kenya, 26 February 2003)

* Malawi. Many Malawians need food aid  -  21 February: The Malawian 
Government has been defending its decision to sell off 20% of its grain 
reserves. The Southern African country has been seriously hit by drought 
and severe food shortages. In February, the United Nations World Food 
Programme (WFP) distributed food to 3.6 million Malawians. But Chief 
Technical Advisor at Malawi's Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Allard Malindi, 
said Malawi is being responsible in seeking to sell off the grain because 
they were expecting a good harvest in three months' time. "We seem to have 
a surplus at the moment in the country. Right now the crop looks very good 
in the field," he said. Mr Malindi said that their decision was backed by 
donors, including the European Union, even though donors say the delivery 
of food aid will have to continue for some time. "The maize which is being 
sold is that which the Malawi Government bought to be sold commercially in 
the country," he said. "Government would like to recover some of the money 
used to buy the maize. That's why the decision has been made to sell a 
small proportion of the commercial maize." Aid officials say it is 
important for grain not to flood the market at cheap prices before the 
harvest begins. A 50 kg bag of maize currently costs about $10 in Malawi, 
but the average monthly income is only $18. The food crisis in Malawi was 
partly blamed on a sale by the government of 60,000 tonnes of maize to 
Kenya two years ago.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 21 February 2003)

* Maroc. 3 Saoudiens condamnés pour terrorisme  -  Le 21 février, trois 
Saoudiens, accusés d'appartenir à une "cellule" d'Al-Qaïda, ont été 
condamnés à dix ans de prison par la chambre criminelle de Casablanca. Ils 
étaient accusés d'avoir préparé des attentats terroristes dans le détroit 
de Gibraltar et au Maroc contre des navires occidentaux et des cafés de la 
place Djema El-Fna de Marrakech. Six "complices" marocains se sont vu 
infliger des peines allant de quatre mois à un an de prison. Soulignant 
l'absence de preuve matérielle et dénonçant un "procès politique", la 
défense a décidé de se pourvoir en cassation.   (Le Monde, France, 23 
février 2003)

* Namibia. Nujoma to step down  -  20 February: Namibia's ruling party has 
confirmed that President Sam Nujoma will not stand for a fourth term, 
despite calls from some traditional leaders for him to stay on. Head of the 
South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), Ngarikutuke Tjiriange, 
said the decision taken at their congress last year, when Mr Nujoma 
announced his intention to leave office at the end of his third term in 
2005, would not be changed. "The congress decision still stands. It is one 
thing for people to demonstrate and it is another thing how politicians and 
the country will act," he said. The latest reports may finally end 
speculation over whether the 73 year old president really intends to leave 
office. Speculation has been fuelled by the fact that the president has 
said he would stand down before and that a successor has still not been 
nominated.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 20 February 2003)

* Namibia. Targeting land owned by white farmers  -  The Government of 
Namibia has taken the first step towards a Mugabe-style seizure of land 
owned by white farmers.Farmers who fail to disclose details of the number 
of farms they own by 28 February have been warned that they face five-year 
jail sentences. Data verification forms were distributed as the government, 
under President Sam Nujoma, prepares to introduce a land tax in April aimed 
at farmers owning "excessive" land. But farmers' representatives say Mr 
Nujoma, who has threatened to seize white farms in the past, also wants to 
use the data for his plan to force some farmers to give up their land for 
resettlement. President Nujoma is the staunchest ally of the Zimbabwean 
President, Robert Mugabe, and his government appears to be copying the 
chaotic reforms that have forced most of Zimbabwe's 4,500 white farmers 
from their land. Namibia, which became independent from South Africa in 
1990, has 4,045 white farmers. The main difference in the two countries' 
land reform schemes is that Mr Nujoma, who like Mr Mugabe came to power 
after leading the fight against white rule, is paying the farmers whose 
land is acquired for resettlement. Mr Mugabe has flatly refused to do that, 
saying the British taxpayer must pay to compensate for "colonial settler 
robbery". The Namibian government says less than a quarter of the country's 
white farmers have returned the land data forms.   (The Independent, UK, 24 
February 2003)

* Nigeria. Bad start for ID scheme  -  20 February: Major problems have 
been reported on he first day of registration for the national identity 
scheme. Lack of equipment and publicity are blamed by some. Others say some 
centres do not have the equipment to register them. The identity cards will 
include fingerprints and photographs, as well as the name, address, 
occupation, state of origin and height of the bearer.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 
20 February 2003)

* Nigeria. Oil strike halted  -  20 February: Nigerian oil workers have 
called off a six day strike after talks with the government. Nigeria's oil 
strike has not affected exports as replacement staff have been used to load 
supplies. But the government feared a long-running strike would damage the 
country's economy. Oil exports account for more than 80% of Nigerian 
government revenue and more than 90% of foreign exchange earnings. 
Nigeria's Department of Petroleum Resources said it had thrashed out a deal 
in Lagos with member of the senior staff union, Pengassan. Pengassan staff 
walked out on 22 February in support of demands including greater autonomy, 
higher pay, and payment of allowances arrears, some dating back to 2000. 
The union's national secretary-general Kenneth Narebor said: "We have 
finished and worked on a communique which has been signed and we have 
agreed to suspend the action."   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 20 February 2003)

* Nigeria. Delta: nouveaux affrontements  -  Le 25 février à Wari (Etat du 
Delta, au sud du Nigeria), au moins six personnes ont été tuées dans une 
nouvelle explosion de violence entre des membres des ethnies locales 
Itsekiri et Urhobo. D'après les autorités locales, un grand nombre de 
personnes ont été blessées et de très nombreuses habitations incendiées. 
Les heurts ont suivi une polémique liée aux contrats et aux travaux que les 
deux communautés cherchent à passer avec la compagnie pétrolière Royal 
Dutch/Shell qui opère dans la zone. Au début du mois de février, des 
affrontements entre les deux groupes avaient fait 20 morts.   (Misna, 
Italie, 26 février 2003)

* Nigeria. Radioactive material missing  -  Nigeria has asked the world 
nuclear agency to help in tracking down radioactive material that has 
disappeared from the country's oil industry. "We have... informed the 
International Atomic Energy Agency in case somebody stole it and wants to 
take it outside Nigeria," Shams Elegba, the head of the country's nuclear 
regulatory agency, said on 25 February. Mr Elegba gave no further details 
of the missing material or the circumstances behind its loss. But he said 
his agency was working hard to recover it. Nigeria alerted the public in a 
statement broadcast last week that an unidentified oil company had reported 
the loss of the radioactive material used in its operations in the southern 
Niger delta. It urged caution on the part of anyone who might have come 
into contact with the material, saying nausea or vomiting might be signs of 
radioactive poisoning. It was not clear what function the missing material 
played in oil production. Radioactive material used in the industry 
includes caesium-137, used in rock surveying equipment and other devices. 
Severe burns, and even death, can result from handling an industrial source 
of caesium-137, a US environmental protection agency warned in a factsheet. 
The Nigerian authorities are worried that the material could fall into the 
hands of terrorists and have put all the security agencies on the alert, 
according to Mr Elegba. Nigeria is the world's sixth largest oil exporter, 
and nearly all of the oil comes from the impoverished Niger delta. But it 
has no known nuclear programme. Multinational oil companies' facilities in 
the delta are the object of frequent attacks by saboteurs and thieves. 
Residents accuse the companies of polluting the land and returning little 
of their profits to the area.   (The Guardian, UK, 26 February 2003)

* Nigeria. Petrol supply sabotage  -  The Nigerian Government has blamed 
recent petrol shortages on political sabotage. Information Minister Jerry 
Gana said it was no coincidence that traffic had been paralysed by a lack 
of petrol in the run-up to general elections in April. Petrol has become 
scarce in Lagos and some other parts of Nigeria, prompting a return to the 
long petrol queues common during the military rule, which ended in 1999. 
Correspondents say that President Olusegun Obasanjo had been citing the end 
of fuel queues as one of the key dividends of his rule during his 
re-election campaign. "For three years, we resolved the (fuel shortage) 
problem and then suddenly because we are now campaigning, some people 
thought they could make some subterranean moves just to discredit us," Mr 
Gana said. Oil officials have provided a raft of other reasons for the 
sudden shortage of petrol: Panic-buying; Petrol hoarding; Striking oil 
workers; Broken-down refineries; Fears of war in Iraq; World oil markets. 
Nigeria is a major oil exporter but most petrol is imported. During the 
military era, corruption, smuggling and mismanagement led to massive petrol 
queues and some of those caught in Lagos traffic jams felt a sense of deja 
vu. "It is like the Abacha dark days are here again," civil servant 
Celestine Orji said sadly, remembering the regime of late military ruler 
General Sani Abacha.   (BBC News, UK, 27 February 2003)

* Rwanda. Kagame au sommet France-Afrique  -  Le président Rwandais Paul 
Kagame, venu assister pour la première fois à un sommet France-Afrique, est 
resté sur des aigreurs. Il a affirmé ne pas avoir été consulté au sujet de 
la déclaration sur l'Irak et en a profité pour expliquer qu'il était plutôt 
favorable à une guerre (un "moindre mal") face à un Saddam Hussein 
possédant des armes de destruction massive. Quant à la réconciliation avec 
la France, il a eu ce commentaire: "On nous a donné des conseils pour nous 
réconcilier entre Rwandais. Nous espérons que les donneurs de leçons 
comprendront comment se réconcilier avec nous...".   (Le Monde, France, 23 
février 2003)

* Rwanda. Détention d'un journaliste  -  Le 25 février, l'organisation 
Reporters sans frontières a protesté contre la détention abusive, depuis le 
24 janvier, du directeur de publication d'un journal indépendant au Rwanda, 
Ismaël Mbonigaba, accusé d'"incitation à la division et à la 
discrimination". Les autorités judiciaires rwandaises doivent statuer, le 
27 février, sur le maintien ou non en prison de ce journaliste. Il lui est 
reproché la publication d'un article relatif à la prochaine élection 
présidentielle, prévue au cours du deuxième semestre de cette année. 
L'article était accompagné d'une caricature du chef de l'Etat, Paul 
Kagame.   (Le Figaro, France, 26 février 2003)

* Sahara occidental. 100 Marocains libérés  -  Le 26 février, les cent 
prisonniers marocains que le Front Polisario avait décidé de libérer le 11 
février, ont été rapatriés au Maroc par le Comité international de la 
Croix-Rouge. Le Front Polisario, qui revendique l'indépendance du Sahara 
occidental occupé et annexé par le Maroc en 1975, avait indiqué qu'il avait 
fait ce geste suite à l'intervention du Premier ministre espagnol José 
Maria Aznar, lors de la fête musulmane de l'Aïd el-Khébir. Selon Rabat, 
plus de 1.100 soldats marocains sont encore détenus par le mouvement 
indépendantiste.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 27 février 2003)

* Sierra Leone. Militaires britanniques  -  La Grande-Bretagne a dépêché 
300 éléments de Ghurka pour soutenir l'armée sierra-léonaise suite à des 
actes de déstabilisation menés par des rebelles qui luttent contre le 
troupes gouvernementales. Selon un communiqué publié par le ministère de la 
Défense le lundi 24 février à Freetown, les soldats britanniques, arrivés 
durant le week-end, vont entreprendre une série d'exercices militaires avec 
les forces sierra-léonaises. Un navire de guerre britannique, l'Iron Duke, 
est attendu incessamment pour prendre part aux exercices.   (PANA, Sénégal, 
24 février 2003)

* Sierra Leone. UK strengthens force  -  25 February: Three hundred Gurkha 
troops have been deployed in Sierra Leone to help counter insecurity in 
neighbouring Liberia, according to the British Defence Ministry. The recent 
arrival of the Nepali soldiers is the first time the British army has 
substantially reinforced its positions in Sierra Leone since it began 
reducing its presence two years ago. "Over the last few weeks there have 
been elements of rebel activity over the Liberian border which may 
destabilise the situation, but there was no specific or dramatic 
development last week itself to trigger the deployment," an army spokesman 
said. Rebels in Liberia have recently been making advances against 
government troops.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 25 February 2003)

* Somalia. Key issue is "survival"  -  The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) says 
that the survival and protection of children and women will remain key 
issues in Somalia over the next five years. In a press statement, it says 
UNICEF will also continue to support basic health education and water 
services. "This is essential to ensuring that children grow up in a society 
where they will be able to reap the long-term benefits of development 
initiatives whose foundations are currently being laid. UNICEF-Somalia 
Representative Jesper Morch says the programme will continue to be guided 
by basic human rights principles, chief among which is that of 
non-discrimination. "UNICEF-Somalia's goal is to build on progress achieved 
over the last few years to uplift the status of women and children. In 
this, UNICEF will continue to fulfil its mandate to enhance the survival 
needs of children and women, and at the same time will assist in preparing 
for a future in which civil conflict will no longer prevail."   (IRIN, 
Kenya, 20 February 2003)

* Somalie. Négociations en difficulté  -  L'Alliance de la Vallée de Jubba 
(JVA) s'est retirée de la conférence sur la réconciliation en Somalie, 
actuellement en cours à Nairobi, soulignant le manque de sincérité de 
certains membres de l'Autorité inter-gouvernementale pour le développement 
(IGAD) qui parraine les négociations. Le dirigeant de la JVA, le colonel 
Barre Hilale et son entourage ont quitté Nairobi ce week-end, pour 
rejoindre leur base de Kismayo au sud de la Somalie. Ce retrait est le 
second après celui d'une autre faction, le Congrès uni de Somalie, dirigé 
par Musa Yalahow. Selon le porte-parole de la JVA, certains membres de 
l'IGAD, en raison d'intérêts personnels, ne tiennent pas au retour de la 
paix en Somalie. Il a cité l'Ethiopie et Djibouti, et a averti que les 
négociations ne progresseraient pas tant que ces deux pays ne seraient pas 
considérés comme de simples observateurs.   (PANA, Sénégal, 24 février 2003)

* Somalia. Talks in crisis  -  25 February: The Transitional National 
Government (TNG) delegation from Mogadishu has decided not to participate 
in the second phase of the Somali peace talks which have opened in the 
Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The delegation says it will however remain at the 
deliberations. It says that it was not consulted nor has their delegation 
been given adequate accommodation for the talks. The talks were moved 
earlier this month from the north-western town of Eldoret to the outskirts 
of Nairobi after mediators complained that delegates had run up huge hotel 
bills. The venue was then switched again when delegates complained about 
wild pigs running about at the proposed venue. Warlords allied to the TNG 
have protested in recent days over the influence wielded by Ethiopia which 
is one of the mediators. Many key warlords have already pulled out 
prompting speculation that the talks are near collapse. Of those who signed 
a ceasefire accord in October, fewer than half were present at today's 
session. But Kenyan mediator Bethwell Kiplagat is remaining upbeat. "We are 
here to establish a united Somalia, a peaceful and prosperous nation 
through reconciliation," he told the opening session of the 
conference.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 25 February 2003)

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