Weekly anb0410_1.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 10-04-2003      PART #1/6

* Africa. Africa and the war in Iraq  -  The war in Iraq continues to 
exercise leader writers across Africa as the conflict enters a third week. 
Newspapers are mostly united in their condemnation of the war. Many papers 
turn their criticism to the way they believe some media coverage of the 
conflict is being manipulated. "Media barons have declared clear support 
for the war while media houses have taken the cue from their bosses to toe 
the line," rails a commentary in Kenya's Nation. "Journalists "embedded" in 
military propaganda will no doubt erode public trust in the fourth estate," 
the paper adds. "To restore this confidence will take longer than the 
conflict in the Gulf." A commentator in South Africa's Business Day shares 
these concerns. "If journalism has indeed become an offensive military 
weapon," he asks, "have news agencies turned journalists into combatants?" 
The Tanzanian Islamic weekly Nasaha says that those journalists seeking to 
report objectively on the Iraqi conflict are under pressure to file 
one-sided stories. "The US is hiding the truth and that is why journalists 
who are reporting the truth are being sacked in order to stop the flow of 
information from the other side and to ensure that only information from 
their side is heard," the paper warns. A commentary in Kenya's Standard 
also takes up the theme of objective journalism, arguing that the armed 
forces have little sympathy for cooperating with war correspondents. "Let's 
not mince words. A military, any military -- hates the media in general and 
war correspondents in particular... The basic problem is that the aims of 
the two groups are different," the paper says. An editorial in South 
Africa's Sowetan runs the headline "Time for soul-searching". This paper 
also worries about the way the Iraq war is covered by some journalists, 
accusing them of turning the conflict into a "spectacle".   (BBC News, UK, 
5 April 2003)

* Afrique. Génériques pour le sida  -  Bonne nouvelle. Même si les détails 
techniques doivent encore être finalisés courant avril, l'essentiel est 
acquis: l'Union africaine a signé, le 28 mars, un accord avec le Brésil 
pour la construction de trois usines (une dans le nord, une au centre et 
une au sud du continent) de fabrication de versions génériques des 
antirétroviraux. Le gouvernement brésilien, grand producteur de ces copies, 
est parvenu à endiguer l'épidémie en les distribuant à sa population. Même 
si les génériques seront bien moins onéreux que les médicaments 
actuellement disponibles, il restera aux gouvernements africains à 
organiser leur distribution.   (J.A.I., France, 6 avril 2003)

* Afrique. Aggravation de la crise alimentaire  -  Le 7 avril, le Programme 
alimentaire mondial (PAM) a attiré l'attention du Conseil de sécurité sur 
l'aggravation de la crise alimentaire en Afrique, occasionnée par la 
sécheresse et les guerres civiles. Selon l'agence, plus de 1,8 milliard de 
dollars sont nécessaires pour satisfaire la demande en vivres du continent 
cette année. Le directeur exécutif du PAM, James Morris, a préconisé 
l'implication des pays membres dans les efforts pour aider l'Afrique à 
surmonter ses problèmes alimentaires et sanitaires. Il a en outre appelé 
les gouvernements africains à prendre les orientations nécessaires par le 
biais de politiques internes encourageant la production alimentaire, comme 
la diminution de la violence politique, la dotation en infrastructures et 
l'engagement en faveur d'une révolution verte.   (PANA, Sénégal, 8 avril 2003)

* Africa. UN slams aid "double standards"  -  The head of the United 
Nation's food agency has accused western countries of ignoring Africa 
because of the war in Iraq. The World Food Programme (WFP)'s James Morris 
said that 40 million people in Africa faced starvation and were in greater 
danger than the Iraqi population of 26 million. Harvests in countries 
across Africa, from Zimbabwe to Eritrea to Mauritania have failed, leading 
to widespread food shortages. He said that the WFP appeal for emergency 
food aid was currently $1bn short. The Iraqi appeal could spiral to $1.3bn, 
he said. "As much as I don't like it, I cannot escape the thought that we 
have a double standard," he said.   (BBC News, UK, 8 April 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Benin: On 8 April, Reporters sans 
Frontières (RSF) condemned the assaults by police officers on Etienne 
Houessou, publication director of the newspaper Le Télégramme, and three of 
his colleagues on 1 April 2003. "Whatever their mistake was, nothing can 
justify the inappropriate detention of these journalists and the acts of 
violence committed against them. In this country, which views itself as a 
democratic model in West Africa, legal provisions exist preventing the 
assault or detention of citizens for their writings. We hope that this is 
an isolated incident and ask that you punish those responsible for these 
violent acts," Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general, said in 
a letter to Minister of Communications and the Promotion of New 
Technologies Gaston Zossou. Egypt: On 2 April, the Writers in Prison 
Committee said that the outbreak of military action in Iraq has led to 
concerns that governments of many countries will restrict the ability of 
their citizens to gather and speak out against the coming war. These 
concerns have unfortunately been borne out by the actions of governments 
throughout the world, most noticeably those of the Egyptian authorities. 
Since 20 March 2003, hundreds of people associated with the anti-war 
movement in Egypt, 16 of whom are writers, have been detained and some have 
reportedly been tortured solely for the peaceful practice of their right to 
freedom of expression and assembly. Liberia: On 9 April, RSF called on the 
Liberian authorities to search for four journalists -- Grody Dorbor, editor 
of the Inquirer news paper; Oscar Dolo, Nyahn Flomo, and William Quiwea, 
local correspondents of the radio station Talking Drun Studio -- Liberia, 
who have been missing for more than two weeks in the central part of 
Liberia. Morocco: On 3 April, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) 
said it is alarmed by state-owned Moroccan public television's (TVM) 
decision to bar the satellite television station Al-Jazeera from using its 
facilities to feed broadcasts to the station's headquarters in Doha, Qatar. 
Al-Jazeera's correspondent in Morocco, Iqbal Ilhami, told CPJ that on March 
30, she and her crew had completed a report on demonstrations in the 
capital, Rabat, opposing the US-led war in Iraq and went to TVM's 
facilities to feed the tape to Doha. Ilhami said that when she arrived at 
TVM, she was told that there were orders not to allow Al-Jazeera to use the 
facilities. Ilhami was not told who gave these orders or why they were 
given. Tunisia: On 4 April, RSF repeated its call for the immediate release 
of jailed cyber-dissident Zouhair Yahyaoui, who began another hunger strike 
a few days ago to protest against his recent ill-treatment. "We are not 
surprised to see the Tunisian regime taking advantage of the international 
media's focus on Iraq to step up pressure on political prisoners such as 
Yahyaoui," said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. "This is disgraceful 
and we call on the president to free him at once, along with another 
journalist, Hamadi Jebali, who has been in jail since 1991."   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 9 April 2003)

* Algérie. Pas de nouvelles des touristes  -  Partis en vacances dans le 
Sahara algérien, huit Autrichiens "n'ont pas donné signe de vie à leurs 
familles depuis plusieurs jours", a indiqué en fin de semaine un diplomate 
algérien, ce qui porte à 29 le nombre d'Européens disparus ces dernières 
semaines dans des conditions mystérieuses. "Aucun indice n'est apparu ces 
derniers jours", selon une source algérienne qui a souligné que des 
recherches, menées avec l'aide d'avions et d'hélicoptères, étaient en cours 
dans la région d'Illizi (1.500 km au sud-est d'Alger) près de la frontière 
libyenne pour tenter de localiser une partie des disparus, dont certains 
n'ont pas donné signe de vie depuis le 21 février. Répartis en six groupes, 
15 Allemands, 8 Autrichiens, 4 Suisses, un Suédois et un Néerlandais, en 
villégiature dans ce désert de deux millions de kilomètres carrés, sont 
portés disparus. Des policiers allemands ont été envoyés en renfort pour 
épauler les autorités algériennes. -- L'agence AFP indique que le système 
de guidage par satellite GSP ne fonctionne plus dans la région de 
Tamanrasset depuis au moins une semaine, selon un professionnel sur place. 
Cela a pu tromper ceux qui ont disparu, estime-t-il. A priori, l'hypothèse 
la plus plausible est qu'ils se soient perdus, avait estimé une source 
sécuritaire. Des journaux algériens avaient indiqué que le GPS, financé et 
contrôlé par le ministère américain de la Défense, avait été brouillé ces 
dernières semaines, pour que les unités américaines dans le Golfe ne soient 
pas repérées. Mais des experts français avaient indiqué qu'ils excluaient 
cette explication. L'hypothèse de l'enlèvement par des groupes armés 
islamistes ou des contrebandiers, afin d'exiger des rançons, est également 
évoquée. Les autorités algériennes ont déployé plus de 1.200 hommes, 
militaires et gendarmes, pour ratisser le triangle 
Ouargla-Djant-Tamanrasset, en collaboration avec des guides locaux, 
originaires de Djanet ou d'Illizi.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 9 avril 
2003)

* Algeria. Tourists missing in Sahara  -  5 April: The BBC says that eight 
Austrian tourists have gone missing in the Sahara desert in southern 
Algeria, bringing the number of foreign travellers who have disappeared in 
the region recently to 29. The eight "adventure tourists" were reported 
missing by relatives on 4 April after they failed to board a ferry in the 
Tunisian capital, Tunis, as scheduled. The Austrian Foreign Ministry has 
sent two diplomats and two officers from a special police unit to the 
region to help the search for those missing. Austria has also issued a 
travel warning for the country, urging all its citizens to leave the 
country or contact its embassy in the country. Officials in Algeria are 
still searching for several groups of tourists -- 16 Germans (in several 
different groups), four Swiss and one Dutch national -- who have all gone 
missing in the desert wilderness since mid-February. The tourists were 
travelling through the Sahara Desert by car or motorbike, a spokesman for 
the German Foreign Ministry said earlier this week. Most of them 
disappeared between the towns of Ouargla and the towns of Illizi and Djanet 
in the far south of Algeria. Helicopters using heat-seeking devices -- 
capable of locating bodies and machines buried under sand -- have been 
enlisted to find those who have disappeared, so far without success. 
Germany has also sent five federal police agents to Algeria to help 
official search efforts, the Associated Press news agency reported. 
Smugglers and drug traffickers are known to haunt the area around southern 
Algeria, near the borders with Niger and Libya, and there are fears the 
tourists may have been kidnapped. Several of these criminal groups have 
been linked to Islamic militants fighting the Algerian Government. However 
authorities have said that the travellers could also have experienced 
vehicle problems because of sand and extreme temperatures. 7 April: The 
Independent says that desert nomads reported to have discovered an 
abandoned vehicle and a network of tunnels in a remote region of southern 
Algeria thought likely to provide clues about the disappearance of the 
tourists. The off-road vehicle was found in a mountainous district north of 
Tamanrasset by a camel train of nomads passing through the district. 9 
April: The authorities in Algeria have deployed more than 1,000 soldiers, 
gendarmes and border guards in the search for the missing. The push to find 
them follows pressure from the German government, which is anxious to 
locate 18 German nationals who have disappeared in the region. The others 
include eight Austrians, four Swiss nationals, one Dutch national and one 
Swede. They made up six separate tour groups which all went missing as they 
crossed from Tunisia into the Algerian Sahara. Two helicopters and a 
reconnaissance plane equipped with thermal detection instruments are 
criss-crossing the search area between Ouargla, Djanet and Tamanrasset, 
three or four times a day. Guides known as "bloodhounds of the desert" are 
also taking part in the search. Units of frontier guards, companies of 
gendarmes, and units of the National Army, totalling 1200, all supported by 
experienced guides, are out searching. The search operation was stepped up 
following a visit to Algeria earlier this week by German Interior Minister 
Otto Schily, who was looking at efforts being made to find the German 
tourists.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 April 2003)

* Angola. One year of peace  -  4 April: Tens of thousands of people have 
gathered in a sports stadium in the Angolan capital, Luanda, to mark the 
first anniversary of the peace accord between the government and the 
Angolan rebel group, Unita. An ecumenical service was held at the stadium, 
attended by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, government officials, 
politicians and church leaders. At 1200 local time (1100 GMT), a minute's 
silence is observed in honour of the victims of the civil war. An estimated 
500,000 people were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during 
the 27-year civil conflict. "This is a great day, now we have peace. We 
have struggled for a long time for this, and now, thanks to the Lord, we 
have peace. Angola has changed, it's changed a lot", a woman named Hortense 
said. The government has planned a long weekend of celebrations -- but some 
people feel they have yet to see the benefits of peace.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 4 April 2003)

* Angola. 1er anniversaire de la paix  -  Le 4 avril, l'Angola a célébré le 
premier anniversaire de la fin de la guerre civile. Plusieurs dizaines de 
milliers de personnes ont participé dans la capitale à la cérémonie 
organisée par les Eglises chrétiennes pour commémorer la signature des 
accords qui ont mis fin à 27 ans de conflit, le 4 avril 2002. A midi, le 
pays a observé une minute de silence en mémoire des victimes de la guerre. 
"Les souffrances ne pourront être apaisées que si nous pratiquons la 
justice et le pardon", a affirmé l'archevêque de Luanda, Mgr Franklin, qui 
s'adressait à la foule en liesse rassemblée au stade Cidadela. Le président 
Dos Santos, les ministres et les représentants de l'opposition y étaient 
présents, mais aucun homme politique n'a pris la parole. La guerre civile 
avait été déclenchée au lendemain de l'indépendance, en 1975.   (D'après 
Misna, Italie, 5 avril 2003)

* Angola. L'opposition demande des élections  -  La coalition des partis de 
l'opposition civile (POC) a sollicité du président Dos Santos la tenue 
d'élections générales dans un délai de 18 mois. Le POC propose aussi la 
formation d'un gouvernement de transition, qui préparera les conditions 
nécessaires au déroulement d'élections libres et justes en 2004. La 
coalition demande par ailleurs au gouvernement de garantir l'assistance 
matérielle et financière à tous les partis politiques. Le POC existe depuis 
1993, et regroupe 15 partis politiques, en majorité sans siège 
parlementaire. 32 autres formations politiques y ont des observateurs. Les 
dernières élections générales dans le pays remontent à septembre 1992 et, 
onze ans après, les institutions qui en sont issues, en particulier le 
Parlement, continuent d'occuper leurs places, bien que leur mandat ait 
expiré depuis 1996.   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 7 avril 2003)

* Angola. Urgent need in transit centres  -  Thousands of people are 
without food and shelter in transit centres as the Angolan government 
closes gathering areas, where former UNITA soldiers and their relatives had 
been quartered. The gathering areas have housed about 400,000 UNITA 
ex-combatants and their families since the signing of the peace agreement 
in April 2002 that ended Angola's 27-year civil war. Earlier this year the 
government set a deadline of 31 March for closing all gathering areas and 
moving their populations to transit centres, from where they were to be 
transported to their areas of resettlement. However, there have been 
logistical delays which have caused thousands to be held up at the transit 
points. Last week the ACOMOL transit centre in Huambo city received an 
estimated 5,000 people, flown in by the government from gathering areas in 
Kuando Kubango, Uige, Malange and Moxico provinces, the UN World Food 
Programme (WFP) said in its latest report.   (IRIN, Kenya, 7 April 2003)

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