Weekly anb0430_04.txt #5

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 30-04-2003      PART #4/5

* Maroc. Elections communales reportées  -  Les élections communales ont 
été reportées au mois de septembre. C'est le résultat de "tractations" 
entre le Premier ministre Driss Jettou et les partis politiques, ont 
affirmé plusieurs journaux le 24 avril. La raison: la crainte de voir le 
parti islamiste Justice et Développement (PJD) prendre plusieurs villes. 
Depuis les législatives de septembre, le PJD est la principale force 
d'opposition au Parlement.   (La Croix, France, 25 avril 2003)

* Mauritanie. Présidentielle en novembre  -  Le premier tour de la 
prochaine élection présidentielle aura lieu le vendredi 7 novembre 2003, a 
annoncé la radio nationale. Selon la Constitution mauritanienne, cette 
élection se déroule 45 jours avant l'expiration du mandat en cours. Celui 
du président Taya prend fin le 22 décembre. Deux candidatures ont déjà été 
officiellement annoncées: celle de M. Cissé Amadou Cheikhou (de l'Alliance 
pour la jeunesse et la démocratie) et celle de M. Moulaye Hacen Ould Jiyid 
(du Parti mauritanien pour le renouveau et la construction). Le président 
Taya sera plus que probablement candidat à sa propre succession.   (PANA, 
Sénégal, 28 avril 2003)

* Niger. Eight years of peace  -  The Republic of Niger this week 
celebrated eight years of peace which began on 24 April 1995 with the 
signing of the first of a series of agreements that ended a rebellion by 
Tuareg nomads in the north of the Sahelian country. The accord was signed 
in Niamey following mediation by Algeria, Burkina Faso and France between 
the state and the rebels. It was followed by an additional protocol signed 
in Algiers, Algeria, on 28 November 1997 and the N'Djamena Accord, 
initialled on 21 August 1998. They paved the way for the restoration of 
definitive peace and stability in the country. Subsequent efforts in this 
direction have included a ceremony on 25 September 2000 at Agadez, 900 km 
north of the capital, Niamey, at which arms collected from the rebels were 
burnt. The ceremony, dubbed "Flamme de la paix" (Peace Flame) was followed 
by at least four other arms destruction campaigns in Agadez and parts of 
eastern Niger which had also been affected by rebel activity. A two-year 
arms collection project is currently underway in Diffa, eastern Niger, 
located in an area where arms left over from the rebellion and trafficked 
from as far as north Africa have fuelled cross-border banditry. The 
anniversary of the 1995 agreement is now a public holiday known as the 
Journée de la Concorde (Harmony Day) during which events organised 
throughout the country constitute opportunities for the expression of 
Niger's cultural diversity and the mixing of cultures.   (IRIN, Kenya, 25 
April 2003)

* Niger. La France annule la dette  -  Le ministre nigérien de l'Economie 
et des Finances, Ali Badjo Gamatié, a annoncé ce week-end, l'annulation par 
la France de la dette totale du Niger d'un montant de 110 millions d'euros 
(environ 70 milliards de FCFA). Il a indiqué que ce geste de la France, qui 
va "au-delà des prescriptions du Club de Paris", aura un impact réel sur 
les engagements que le Niger peut prendre auprès de ses partenaires 
extérieurs. La dette extérieure du Niger est estimée à plus de 1.100 
milliards de FCFA, rappelle-t-on.   (PANA, Sénégal, 28 avril 2003)

* Nigeria. Tense after disputed polls  -  24 April: Anger simmers over the 
declared result of a presidential election and the victor answers 
allegations of ballot fraud, by saying only God's actions were perfect. The 
political leadership in the northern half of Africa's most populous nation 
gives its influential support to the opposition's assertion that the 19 
April vote was crudely rigged for President Olusegun Obasanjo, declared 
winner two days ago. "It is clear that the recent elections are flawed and 
deeply deficient," the Arewa Consultative Forum says in a statement 
released in Kaduna, capital of the mainly Muslim north. "They cannot be 
accepted by the people nor sustained by the beneficiaries, i.e. those in 
government". The Forum groups political grandees and traditional rulers 
from 19 of Nigeria's 36 states. President Obasanjo, on the other hand, has 
rejected opposition calls for a rerun of the presidential elections. -- 
Human Rights Watch says the Nigerian Government should act immediately to 
address the political violence and intimidation that occurred during the 
recent election.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 24 April 2003)

* Nigeria. Hostages held on oil rigs  -  28 April: Negotiations are taking 
place to free as many as 100 foreign oil workers who are being held hostage 
on four separate oil rigs off the Nigerian coast. Local employees took 
control of the platform after some of their colleagues were sacked, but 
their specific demands remain unclear. The siege has been going on for more 
than a week but has only recently come to public attention. The 
nationalities of those being held has not been officially released, but it 
is believed there are at least 50 Britons and 20 Americans among them. The 
US firm operating the rigs, Transocean, is giving away few details and the 
first indications that any workers were being held at all only emerged 
following telephone conversations between the hostages and their families. 
This is not unusual -- the oil industry tries to keep these situations 
quiet for as long as possible, hoping to resolve them without too much 
publicity. But when approached, Transocean said it was holding discussions 
with the hostage-takers, and that no-one had been harmed.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 28 April 2003)

* Nigeria. Menace sur une plate-forme Shell  -  Des militants nigérians 
menacent de détruire une des plus importantes plates-formes pétrolières, 
stationnée au large des côtes nigérianes, a annoncé le 28 avril à Lagos la 
compagnie pétrolière Shell, propriétaire de cette installation. Selon 
Shell, "des éléments criminels" ont commencé les préparatifs pour détruire 
Sea Eagle, un immense navire qui collecte le brut de plusieurs puits 
off-shore et produit 170.000 barils de brut par jour, stationné à environ 
15 km de la côte nigériane. Depuis deux mois, des violences sporadiques ont 
éclaté dans l'ouest du delta du Niger et perturbé la production du brut. 
"Nous avons pris de sévères mesures de sécurité pour anticiper" cette 
attaque, a déclaré le porte-parole de Shell. Une éventuelle attaque contre 
le Sea Eagle provoquerait une catastrophe écologique. -- Le 29 avril, 97 
expatriés, dont 35 Britanniques et 21 Américains, étaient toujours retenus 
de force sur des plates-formes pétrolières au large du Nigeria, par des 
employés nigérians en grève. La veille, 34 personnes ont pu être évacuées 
notamment pour des raisons humanitaires.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 
30 avril 2003)

* Rwanda. Décès de Mgr Perraudin  -  Mgr André Perraudin, archevêque 
émérite de Kabgayi de 1956 à 1989, est décédé le 25 avril à Sierre 
(Suisse), à l'âge de 89 ans. Evêque au Rwanda avant et après 
l'indépendance, il avait soutenu les Hutu, ce qui lui valut de nombreuses 
critiques après le génocide de 1994. Sa lettre pastorale du 11 février 
1959, intitulée "Par dessus tout, la charité", avait fait de grandes 
vagues. Insistant sur la justice et le bien commun de toutes les 
composantes de la société rwandaise, elle fut mal interprétée par certains. 
Mgr Perraudin fut faussement accusé d'être l'instigateur des événements 
tragiques qui endeuillèrent le pays à plusieurs reprises. Il s'en défendit 
avec sérénité et courage dans un ouvrage qui vient de paraître aux Editions 
St Augustin.   (Apic, Suisse, 25 avril 2003)

* Rwanda. A last farewell to Archbishop Perraudin  -  The funeral was held 
on 29 April in Switzerland of Monsignor André Perraudin, Bishop in Rwanda 
for nearly half a century. He was a member of the Society of African 
Missions (known also as White Fathers). Monsignor Perraudin died in Sierre 
(Canton du Valais) at the age of 88, after a life dedicated to missionary 
service and evangelisation in Rwanda. He had left for Africa after his 
ordination in 1939. In December 1955 he was named Vicar Apostolic of the 
diocese of Kabgayi (Rwanda). Four years later, while the nation was 
experiencing the so-called "Hutu cultural revolution", Monsignor Perraudin 
was named Archbishop of Kabgayi, a position he held until 1989. As 
Archbishop, he attended the 2nd Vatican Council, while Rwanda was 
experiencing independence from Belgium, obtained in 1962.   (MISNA, Italy, 
29 April 2003)

* Rwanda/Zambie. Rapatriement de réfugiés  -  Le 29 avril, le gouvernement 
zambien, en collaboration avec les bureaux locaux du Haut commissariat des 
Nations unies pour les réfugiés (HCR), a rapatrié le premier groupe de 
réfugiés rwandais qui avaient fui leur pays au lendemain du génocide de 
1994. Selon des sources du HCR, les rapatriés comprenaient neuf familles 
qui ont quitté Lusaka par avion. D'autres vols sont prévus. On estime à 
environ 5.000 le nombre de réfugiés rwandais qui se trouvent dans divers 
centres en Zambie. En janvier, la Zambie et le Rwanda avaient signé un 
accord tripartite avec le HCR pour préparer le rapatriement volontaire de 
ces réfugiés.   (PANA, Sénégal, 29 avril 2003)

* Sao Tome e Principe/Nigeria. Bids invited for offshore oil  -  Nigeria 
and the island state of Sao Tome and Principe have invited tenders for oil 
exploration in offshore fields between the two nations. Both countries have 
invited energy companies to tender for the right to prospect for oil, or 
gas, in nine offshore blocks in the area known as the Joint Development 
Zone (JDZ). The JDZ in the Gulf of Guinea was formed after the two states 
failed to agree on the demarcation of their borders in 2001. The Joint 
Development Authority is charged with managing the development of oil wells 
in the zone. Sao Tome will receive 40% of the revenues generated and 
Nigeria -- already Africa's largest oil producer -- will get 60%. Sao Tome 
is one of the world's poorest countries. It does not currently produce oil 
and it hopes revenues from the JDZ will help turn around its economic 
fortunes. The oil exploration licensing process was deferred from November 
because of a dispute over a small area of the zone which has now been 
resolved.   (BBC News, UK, 23 April 2003)

* Somalia. Community-based project aims to promote economic 
recovery  -  The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has launched a 
prototype community project in parts of the Somali capital Mogadishu which 
it hopes will be expanded to cover the entire city. The project, 
implemented by a local NGO, SAACID (Somali for "To Help"), has employed 600 
local people (300 men and 300 women) and hired private sector hauliers to 
remove sand and garbage from the streets of Mogadishu. The scheme, launched 
earlier this month, is being carried out in six of the city's 16 districts 
for a period of three months. "The project is seen very much as a test case 
to determine whether it is possible to operate effectively in war-ravaged 
Mogadishu," said Joe Connolly, the project's chief technical adviser. He 
said extensive discussions were held with community, clan, business and 
political leaders ahead of the work, and the project has generally received 
widespread support. "The ILO views access to decent work as a basic human 
right and a critical factor in support of economic recovery, reconciliation 
and peace," Connolly added.   (IRIN, Kenya, 25 April 2003)

* South Africa. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela  -  24 April: A court is expected 
to consider a sentence for Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former wife of Nelson 
Mandela, a day after her conviction of fraud and theft. Madikizela-Mandela 
-- found guilty of 43 charges of fraud and 25 of theft in connection with a 
bank loan scandal -- faces up to 15 years in prison. "The state's evidence 
is overwhelming," magistrate Peet Johnson at a Pretoria court said on 21 
April. Madikizela-Mandela and her financial adviser, Addy Moolman, denied 
fraudulently obtaining bank loans worth more than $120,000 in the name of 
bogus employees of the African National Congress (ANC) Women's League, of 
which Madikizela-Mandela is president. Madikizela-Mandela, 66, showed no 
reaction when the verdicts were announced. 25 April: Winnie is sentenced to 
five years in prison. One year of her sentence has been suspended, and 
under the terms of the judgement she will serve a minimum of eight months 
in jail with the rest taking to form of community service. She immediately 
appealed and was released on bail. Through her lawyer, she announces that 
she has resigned her positions as a Member of Parliament and her 
influential posts on the ANC national executive and as head of the ANC's 
Womens' League. Her financial adviser, Addy Moolman, is sentenced to a 
seven-year jail term, two of which were suspended.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 25 
April 2003)

* Afrique du Sud. Winnie Mandela condamnée  -  Le 24 avril, Winnie 
Madikezela-Mandela, l'ex-épouse de l'ancien président sud-africain Nelson 
Mandela, a été reconnue coupable pour 43 chefs d'accusation distincts de 
fraude et 25 chefs d'accusation de vol, au terme d'un procès à la Cour 
régionale de Pretoria qui s'est étiré sur près d'un an. A 66 ans, Winnie, 
figure emblématique de la lutte anti-apartheid, risque en théorie quinze 
années de prison. Elle a été laisée en liberté sous caution. Winnie Mandela 
avait déjà été mise en cause par la Commission vérité et réconciliation 
pour le meurtre d'un adolescent dans les années 1980. - Le 25 avril, Winnie 
Mandela a été condamnée à cinq ans de prison, dont quatre ferme. Elle avait 
plaidé non coupable, tout comme son associé Addy Moolman, qui a été 
condamné à sept ans de prison, dont deux avec sursis. Après ce verdict, 
dont elle a déjà fait appel, Winnie n'a pas manifesté la moindre émotion. 
Elle s'est contentée d'annoncer sa démission de ses mandats de députée et 
de présidente de la Ligue des femmes de l'ANC. Alors que les réactions en 
Afrique du Sud sont diverses, l'épouse du président du Malawi, Mme Patricia 
Shanil Muluzi, a écrit au président Mbeki pour lui demander d'accorder la 
grâce présidentielle.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 25 avril 2003)

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