Weekly anb0626_1.txt #6

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

ANB-BIA - Av. Charles Woeste 184 - 1090 Bruxelles - Belg
TEL **.32.2/420 34 36 fax /420 05 49 E-Mail: editor@anb-bia.org
_____________________________________________________________
WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 26-06-2003      PART #1/6

* Africa. Hunt for stolen Boeing  -  19 June: The United States says it is 
working with African governments to try to find a stolen passenger jet that 
it fears may end up being used by terrorists. White House spokesman Ari 
Fleischer admitted the US had few leads over who was behind the theft of 
the plane, from an airport in Angola last month, but was keen to gather any 
information available. "We don't have any reliable assessments about what 
this portends, what it could be, who may be behind it. But it is an issue 
that is being worked on," he said. His comments follow a report in the 
Washington Post newspaper on 18 June that the Central Intelligence Agency 
and the State Department had joined a continent wide hunt for the aircraft. 
The paper quoted American officials as saying that -- in the worst case 
scenario -- the plane could be used in an 11 September-style attack. 
Angolan state radio said shortly after its disappearance that the jet had 
been chartered by an Angolan airline but was grounded after a number of 
irregularities. The Boeing 727 took off from the Angolan capital on 25 May 
after being at the airport for 14 months. When it started taxiing down the 
runway, the radio control tower tried to make contact with the pilot, but 
there was no response and nothing has been seen of the plane since. Since 
then, US spy satellites have taken pictures of remote airstrips throughout 
Africa and US diplomats have been seeking the aircraft. Originally owned by 
American Airlines, when the 727 was the world's best selling passenger jet, 
the plane was subsequently leased and subleased by a number of people and 
companies. A company called Miami-based Aerospace Sales and Leasing Co. is 
reported to be its current owner. African airports are littered with old 
planes that have proved too costly to maintain and keep in the air.   (BBC 
News, UK, 19 June 2003)@

* Afrique. Voyage du président Bush  -  Le 20 juin, la Maison Blanche a 
annoncé officiellement que le président George W. Bush se rendra en Afrique 
du 7 au 12 juillet prochain. Il s'agit de son premier voyage officiel sur 
ce continent. Si l'on ne connaît pas encore l'agenda exact des cinq jours 
de voyage, M. Bush devrait commencer sa visite au Sénégal, passer en 
Afrique du Sud, puis au Botswana; il s'arrêtera en Ouganda, puis au 
Nigeria, pour retourner ensuite à Washington. Le communiqué précise que la 
visite a pour but de souligner l'engagement de l'administration des 
Etats-Unis à oeuvrer pour "une Afrique libre, prospère et 
pacifique".   (Misna, Italie, 21 juin 2003)

* Afrique. Les médicaments génériques  -  Le 22 juin, les 29 ministres du 
Commerce réunis depuis deux jours à Charm el-Cheikh, en Egypte, se sont 
séparés sur une étincelle d'espoir des pays pauvres aux médicaments. Les 
Etats-Unis ont fait une concession importante en acceptant que 
l'importation par les pays pauvres de médicaments génériques (copies), 
moins chers, ne soit plus limitée à une liste précise de maladies. 
"L'approche d'une liste spécifique a montré qu'elle ne fonctionnait pas, 
donc nous n'insistons plus là-dessus pour le moment", a déclaré un haut 
responsable américain du commerce. Actuellement, l'Organisation mondiale du 
commerce autorise les pays confrontés à une crise de la santé publique à 
acheter des médicaments génériques, mais uniquement à des fabricants 
nationaux, or beaucoup de pays pauvres ne disposent pas d'industrie 
pharmaceutique. Un accord sur l'importation sous certaine conditions avait 
échoué l'année dernière, Washington l'ayant rejeté sous la pression de son 
industrie. Le responsable américain a précisé que son gouvernement 
continuait à négocier avec les laboratoires et qu'il espérait que la 
question serait réglée d'ici au sommet des 146 membres de l'OMC à Cancun 
(Mexique) en septembre.   (AP, 22 juin 2003)

* Afrique. La bataille des OGM  -  Le président américain a exhorté l'Union 
européenne à renoncer à son moratoire sur les importations d'OGM 
(organismes génétiquement modifiés). "Dans l'intérêt du continent africain 
menacé de famine, je demande aux gouvernements européens de cesser de 
s'opposer à la biotechnologie", a déclaré M. Bush le 23 juin. L'Europe n'a 
pas apprécié la leçon. "Les insinuations américaines sont erronées", a 
déclaré un porte-parole de la Commission européenne. L'argument sur la 
famine en Afrique a fait bondir la Commission: "L'Europe accorde sept fois 
plus d'aide à l'Afrique que les Etats-Unis, dont l'aide à l'Afrique se 
résume à des exportations de produits américains comportant des OGM". En 
fait, la plupart des experts des questions alimentaires assurent que 
nourrir 820 millions de personnes qui souffrent de la faim dans le monde, 
passe d'abord par une meilleure distribution. "Nous n'avons pas besoin 
d'OGM", a dit Jacques Diouf, directeur général de la FAO, en 2002. "A court 
terme, la priorité, ce ne sont pas les semences, mais l'eau, les 
infrastructures, les routes, le stockage et les capacités de 
conditionnement des denrées". Le dossier agricole sera évoqué ce 25 juin à 
Washington lors d'un bref sommet Europe-Etats-Unis.   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 25 juin 2003)

* Afrique. Soutien au NEPAD  -  Le 25 juin, les 49 pays les moins avancés 
(PMA), réunis à Rabat (Maroc), ont appelé la communauté internationale à 
soutenir le Nouveau partenariat pour le développement de l'Afrique (NEPAD). 
Au terme de deux jours de travaux, les participants invitent les membres du 
groupe de 77 et la Chine à prendre des mesures en faveur des PMA dans le 
secteur du commerce afin de concrétiser la coopération Sud-Sud. - Le même 
jour, plusieurs chefs d'Etat africains présents au Forum Afrique/Etats-Unis 
des affaires, ont mis l'accent sur le rôle des communautés économiques 
régionales dans la réalisation des objectifs du NEPAD. Ils ont souligné que 
le continent peut devenir un important marché pour les investissements 
américains si une assistance est fournie aux groupements économiques 
existants. Par ailleurs, le Premier ministre ougandais en a appelé au 
gouvernement américain pour qu'il mette un terme aux subventions agricoles 
et permette ainsi une concurrence loyale entre agriculteurs africains et 
américains.   (PANA, Sénégal, 25 juin 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media  -  Djibouti: On 25 June, Reporters sans 
Frontières (RSF) said that on 23 June, Le Renouveau's newspaper editor 
Daher Ahmed Farah was released at the end of a hearing in Djibouti after 
the presiding judge ruled that no crime had been committed and that the 
defendant was therefore not guilty. Farah, who also heads an opposition 
party, the Movement for Democratic Renewal and Development (MRD), had been 
accused of libel by the army chief of staff, Gen. Zakaria Cheik Ibrahim, 
and of "undermining the army's morale" by the defence ministry. He was 
arrested on 20 April, released provisionally on 3 June, and re-arrested two 
days later. Liberia: On 18 June, RSF said it was "very worried" about the 
plight of reporter Stanley McGill, of the independent paper The News, who 
fled his home near Monrovia on 10 June for fear of being attacked by 
members of President Taylor's Anti-Terrorist Unit personal security guard 
who have already targeted him several times. Malawi: On 25 June, the Media 
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said that on 24 June 2003, President 
Bakili Muluzi threatened to deal with media outlets that probe into the way 
he distributes maize to his supporters during political rallies. President 
Muluzi was apparently incensed by a lead article in the Weekend Nation of 
21-22 June that questioned the source of the food the president doles out 
at his rallies. Morocco: On 18 June, Human Rights Watch said that the 
affirmation of a 3-year prison term for journalist Ali Lamrabet is a grave 
blow to press freedom in Morocco. A Rabat appeals court upheld a lower 
court verdict that also banned the independent weeklies that Lamrabet 
directs, Demain and its Arabic sister Douman. -- On 20 June, the Committee 
to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it is extremely alarmed about the 
detention of three Moroccan journalists, bringing the total number of 
journalists currently in custody there to five. Journalists Mohamed Al Herd 
and Abdel Majid Taher, editors at the local weekly newspaper Al-Sharq, and 
Mustapha Qashnini, editor of the local weekly Al-Hayat Al-Maghribiya, have 
been in detention since June 12, according to one of their lawyers, Mohamed 
Ziyyan. Both newspapers are published and distributed in Oujda, a city in 
northwestern Morocco along the Algerian border. The journalists, who have 
been detained for questioning under Morocco's new anti-terrorism law, were 
charged with "extolling the actions that comprise terrorist crimes," said 
Ziyyan in a phone interview with CPJ. If convicted, the journalists face up 
to six years in prison. Togo: On 25 June, the CPJ said it is deeply 
concerned about the continued imprisonment of three Togolese journalists on 
charges of "publishing false information and disturbing public order." 
Dimas Dzikodo and Philip Evégnon, editor-in-chief and publication director, 
respectively, of the private weekly L'Evenement, and Jean de Dieu 
Kpakpabia, journalist at the private weekly Nouvel Echo, were formally 
charged and transferred yesterday to Lomé Central Prison from the National 
Security Services headquarters, where the three journalists had spent more 
than a week in detention. Zimbabwe: The CPJ said that on 2 June, Shorai 
Katiwa and Martin Chimenya, journalists for Voice of the People, a private 
news production company, were assaulted by Zimbabwe African National 
Union-Patriotic Front supporters. On 3 June, police harassed Luke 
Tamborinyoka and Precious Shumba, chief news editor and senior news 
reporter, respectively, for the independent Daily News. Police detained 
Tamborinyoka and Shumba while the two were on their way home from the 
newspaper's offices and made them crawl on the ground before releasing 
them. On 6 June, men in police uniform raided the offices and home of 
Edwina and Newton Spicer of Spicer Productions, an independent documentary 
production company. On 9 June, police returned to the Spicers' offices and 
home, this time bearing a warrant allowing them to search for "subversive 
materials." On 11 June, Dolores Cortes Meldrum, wife of deported Guardian 
correspondent Andrew Meldrum, fled the country after being summoned to the 
offices of the Immigration Department. The CPJ condemns the ongoing 
harassment of journalists in Zimbabwe. Ruling-party supporters and police 
frequently attack and threaten journalists with impunity. This has created 
a climate of fear and intimidation, and has increased the dangers for 
journalists reporting on matters of legitimate public concern.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 26 June 2003)

* North Africa/Europe. Odyssey of despair  -  16 June: Another disaster has 
struck the desperate "clandestini" (illegal immigrants to Europe), as the 
Italians call them, who pack tiny wooden craft in the Tunisian ports of 
Kelibia and Nabeul and set off for the southernmost rock of Europe, less 
than 300 km away. Recovering in hospital in Palermo, three survivors report 
that the boat gave a "sudden shudder". It was no more than 15 metres long, 
and crammed so tight with about 70 passengers, that the gunwale was barely 
above the water line. Then a hole opened up in the side and within minutes 
it sank. It happened some time during the night of 16 June in the 
treacherous Sicily Channel, graveyard for hundreds of immigrants. A 
Tunisian fishing boat, the Almahdia, picked up the survivors, they were 32 
km south of their destination, Lampedusa. An air and sea rescue operation 
has been launched, but the results are meagre: seven corpses recovered so 
far. 18 June: At 1a.m. another 42 people roll into Lampedusa; a few hours 
later, seven North Africans in a rubber dinghy clamber ashore at Marettimo 
in the Egadi islands, off Sicily's west coast. The Italian government says 
fewer than 6,000 "clandestini" have arrived this year, about half the total 
for the same period last year. But recent calm seas have encouraged an 
armada of desperate vessels, and over the past three weeks more than 1,000 
have arrived. 20 June: As many as 250 illegal immigrants are feared dead 
after their boat capsized off the coast of Tunisia on its way to Italy. The 
Tunisian coast guard has rescued 41 people and recovered 20 bodies, but 
rough seas have hampered the rescue operation. Survivors said the boat had 
been carrying about 250 people. It is at least the second boat to go down 
in the area this week. The cause of the sinking is not known. It may have 
been because the boat was overcrowded or in poor condition, or because of 
the bad weather -- or a combination of all three. A fishing boat raised the 
alarm at dawn when its crew saw the sinking ship. The Tunisian national 
guard and navy responded, as did four civilian ships nearby and a pair of 
boats from offshore oil rigs in the area. Officials would not say where the 
boat came from but it is widely believed to have originated in Libya. 22 
June: Rescuers off the Tunisian coast have now scaled down their search 
operations.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 22 June 2003)

* Algérie. Peste bubonique  -  Le 19 juin, la radio algérienne a annoncé 
qu'un enfant de 11 ans atteint de la peste est décédé le 4 juin à l'hôpital 
d'Oran, juste après son admission au service des maladies infectieuses. 
Neuf autres personnes y ont été admises pour les mêmes symptômes depuis le 
9 juin. Ils sont atteints de la peste bubonique, considérée comme moins 
dangereuse que la peste septicémique ou pulmonaire et plus facile à 
soigner. Une cellule de crise a été mise sur pied pour éviter la 
propagation de la maladie. Une fois la maladie identifiée, après le décès 
de l'enfant, les autres malades ont reçu les soins adéquats. La localité de 
Kehailia, à une trentaine de kilomètres d'Oran, dont neuf malades sont 
originaires, a été mise en quarantaine. Il s'agit des premiers cas de peste 
enregistrés en Algérie depuis l'indépendance en 1962. -- 25 juin. La mise 
en quarantaine imposée à Kehailia a été levée après que la localité ait 
subi d'importantes opérations de désinfectation et de désinsectisation. 
Aucun nouveau cas de peste n'ayant été recensé depuis le 19 juin, les 
autorités sanitaires ont affirmé que la situation etait maîtrisée.   (AP, 
19-25 juin 2003)

* Algérie. Alerte aux criquets  -  Des essaims de criquets ont été 
localisés, en début de semaine, près de Béni Ourtilane, dans la région de 
Sétif, à 300 km à l'est d'Alger. Les criquets constituent une menace 
permanente pour de nombreux pays. Alors qu'on n'avait connu aucune grande 
infestation acridienne au cours des années 1990, on constate aujourd'hui 
une recrudescence du phénomène dans certains pays en raison d'une moindre 
vigilance sur la prévention.   (Le Figaro, France, 26 juin 2003)

Weekly anb0626.txt #1/6