Weekly ANB0828_1.txt #6

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 28-08-2003      PART #1/6

* Africa. African politicians discuss NEPAD  -  20 August: Parliamentarians 
from all over Africa are gathering in Kenya to discuss the New Partnership 
for Africa's Development (NEPAD). The meeting will continue until 21 
August. At least 60 delegates are expected at the gathering, including 
around 40 parliamentarians from 25 countries. They will have the task of 
studying a series of initiatives to be introduced in individual countries 
with the aim of educating the ruling classes about the principles and 
working of NEPAD. The South African parliamentarian, Ben Turok, who is 
representing his country at the conference, explained in an interview with 
the local media that he had been asked to attend to explain to his 
colleagues from the other countries on the continent, the decisions taken 
by the National Assembly in Pretoria concerning NEPAD.   (MISNA, Italy, 21 
August 2003)

* Africa. Action against the Media.  -  North Africa: The Writers in Prison 
Committee of International (WIPC) is launching a campaign, from 1 to 12 
September, focusing on freedom of expression in the francophone North 
African countries of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. The organisation is 
"deeply concerned about the continued repression of the freedom of 
expression of writers and journalists" in these countries. Writers in 
Algeria continue to be arbitrarily detained for pursuing their work, while 
freedom of expression in Morocco and Tunisia is also being restricted in 
the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States, notes 
WIPC. The political climate in which writers carry out their work differs 
in each country, but "anti-terrorism" initiatives have been launched in all 
three."The effect of these measures is that dissenting voices are stifled," 
says WIPC. Botswana: A report from IRIN on 22 August, states that while the 
Botswana government has acknowledged that the Media play an important role 
in democratic society, it has insisted that a state-controlled regulatory 
mechanism is created to ensure adherence to professional ethics. Eritrea: 
On 20 August, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) and the Association of 
Eritrean Journalists in Exile adjusted their figures for the number of 
imprisoned journalists in Eritrea to 15. The organisations have learned 
that three journalists who were thought to still be in detention -- 
Zemenfes Haile, Biniam Haile and Simret Seyoum -- have in fact been 
released, and contrary to previous reports, Selamyinghes Beyene was never 
arrested. The two organisations also denounced the secrecy that continues 
to surround the arrests of journalists and the blackout on information 
about their fate. Tunisia: On 22 August, Human Rights Watch said the 
Tunisian government should release journalist Abdullah Zouari immediately 
and unconditionally. Zouari was arrested after he assisted a Human Rights 
Watch research mission in the south of Tunisia. Zouari, currently in 
Harboub prison, has faced constant harassment since he completed an 11-year 
prison sentence in June 2002. The original sentence included an additional 
five years of "administrative control," and after his release the Ministry 
of Interior ordered him confined to the town of Zarzis in a remote southern 
region far from his family in Tunis. Zouari's appeal of that order is still 
pending. Zouari was arrested on August 17 in Ben Guerdane, a market town 
near Zarzis. He is scheduled to appear before the cantonal judge on Friday, 
August 22, on charges of leaving Zarzis without obtaining police 
permission. But that does not appear to be the only reason. Although police 
had reportedly warned him not to contact foreign media and rights workers, 
in early August, Zouari helped a Human Rights Watch researcher visiting 
southern Tunisia meet with victims of rights abuses. Their movements were 
monitored by men in plainclothes who were apparently police. Zimbabwe: On 
21 August, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that earlier 
this month, a group of young men brutally assaulted Flata Kavinga, a 
reporter for Zimbabwe's English-language weekly The Midlands Observer. 
According to sources familiar with the incident, on August 8, six men -- at 
least two of whom were members of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF -- approached 
the reporter outside a nightclub in Kwekwe, a city in the central part of 
the country. The men accused The Midlands Observer of supporting the 
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and said that Kavinga must 
be pro-MDC because his T-shirt bore the logo of the Media Institute of 
Southern Africa (MISA) which read: "Free my voice-Free the airways." After 
dragging Kavinga into an alley behind the club, the assailants attacked the 
journalist, beating him relentlessly with planks of wood. The reporter has 
now gone into hiding to avoid further reprisals.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 22 
August 2003)

* Afrique. Préparer la conférence de l'OMC  -  Dans le cadre des efforts 
concertés pour décider d'une position commune en vue de la conférence de 
l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) qui doit se tenir le mois 
prochain à Cancun, au Mexique, la Coalition mondiale pour l'Afrique (GCA) 
prévoit une rencontre des ministres africains du Commerce les 28 et 29 août 
à Nairobi (Kenya) pour harmoniser les intérêts du continent. La GCA est un 
forum Nord-Sud qui regroupe des dirigeants africains et leurs principaux 
partenaires extérieurs afin d'examiner les questions de développement 
social et économique les plus importantes auxquelles le continent fait 
face. La rencontre de Nairobi abordera les questions liées à l'accès aux 
marchés et au commerce équitable, ainsi qu'à la capacité d'exportation de 
l'Afrique. Les subventions internes et à l'exportation accordées par les 
pays développés à leurs citoyens constituent une contrainte majeure pour 
les paysans et les entrepreneurs africains, a souligné notamment le 
secrétaire exécutif de la GCA, M. Hage Geingob.   (PANA, Sénégal, 25 août 2003)

* Africa/UN. Patching up Africa  -  These are demanding times for 
peacekeepers. Just as the US is requesting more foreign troops for Iraq, 
the United Nations is assembling additional forces to police African 
conflicts. International intervention in west and central Africa has been 
painfully slow, in large measure because of the reluctance of the US to 
underwrite further peacekeeping operations or undertake such tasks itself. 
This has led to a hodgepodge of improvised interim missions under UN 
mandates. In Liberia, the initial job of enforcing a ceasefire has been 
left to a Nigerian-led African force, with limited US back-up. The 
precedents for this kind of regional peacekeeping are not good. A 
fully-fledged UN operation is planned in its place, and needs organising 
quickly. A force of 15,000 has been suggested, in which case Liberia could 
overtake neighbouring Sierra Leone as the UN's biggest current operation. 
On the other side of Liberia, French and west African troops holding the 
line in Ivory Coast have had their UN authority extended into next year. In 
the lawless north-east of Democratic Republic of Congo, a mainly French 
force from the European Union completes its short-term mission at the 
beginning of next month, and is in the process of handing over to UN 
peacekeepers. In all these cases there are hopeful signs, but still highly 
volatile situations, not least in the giant powderkeg of Congo. Warnings by 
UN officials earlier this year of a potential genocide broke through a 
curtain of international neglect. The EU force that was flown there in 
June, the first of its kind to be deployed outside Europe, has been 
effective within the limits of its operation. But, by the same token, it 
has been of limited effect. Its task was restricted to the flashpoint town 
of Bunia and its immediate area. Inter-ethnic fighting, ignited by 
factional conflicts spilling over from across the country's borders, has 
continued to flare up farther afield.   (Financial Times, UK, 25 August 2003)

* Afrique australe. SADC: sida et sécurité  -  Le mardi 26 août, les chefs 
d'Etat et de gouvernement d'Afrique australe, réunis en sommet depuis lundi 
à Dar es-Salaam, ont adopté un plan régional contre le sida, plaçant la 
lutte contre la pandémie et la pauvreté en tête de leurs priorités. Les 
dirigeants des Etats membres de la Communauté de développement d'Afrique 
australe (SADC -14 pays) ont aussi signé un pacte de défense mutuelle, 
formalisant une approche commune des questions de sécurité, et visant à 
terme à la création d'une force régionale, mobilisable sur des zones de 
tension. Les participants au sommet ont également renouvelé leur soutien au 
Zimbabwe et appelé à la levée immédiate des sanctions contre 
Harare.   (AFP, France, 26 août 2003)

* Southern Africa. Southern African States trade sovereignty for 
security  -  Southern African leaders ended a regional summit on 26 August 
with a new mutual security pact that will permit member states to intervene 
and stop an internal conflict to prevent it destabilizing other countries. 
The pact, which effectively limits an individual country's sovereignty, 
enshrines the principle of strong joint action to enforce peace, and 
officials of the 14-member Southern African Development Community (SADC) 
said they hoped this would avert civil war in the region. Under the pact, a 
conflict within any SADC country would automatically invite a response from 
other members. Diplomatic, political or military means, or a combination of 
all three, would be used to end civil war in a member, officials said. The 
agreement provides for regional intervention but opposes coups and suggests 
that SADC members would aim to restore "constitutional order." It does not 
set up a new regional peacekeeping force, though existing African Union 
plans envisage such a force. An SADC body equivalent to the UN Security 
Council would take the hard decisions on intervention after reviewing each 
case that might require it, SADC officials said.   (CNN, USA, 27 August 2003)

* Algérie. Sahara: enlèvements revendiqués  -  Abderrezak, dit le "para", 
numéro 2 du Groupe salafiste pour la prédication et le combat (GSPC), 
revendique l'enlèvement dans le Sahara algérien des 32 Européens entre la 
mi-février et la mi-mars, dans un communiqué qui devait être publié le 
samedi 23 août par le quotidien algérien El Khabar. Ce communiqué est 
authentique, selon le journal. Il est daté du 18 août, le jour où les 14 
derniers otages ont été libérés au Mali. Le "para" affirme que les 17 
autres otages, libérés en mai par l'armée algérienne, selon Alger, ont en 
fait été "relâchés par les moudjahidine et non par les forces algériennes". 
Le "para", interlocuteur du GSPC avec le réseau Al-Qaïda, a agi seul en 
enlevant les touristes, sans l'aval du chef du GSPC Hassan Hattab, selon 
El-Khabar.   (Le Soir, Belgique, 23 août 2003)

* Algérie. Madani prêche la fin des violences  -  Le chef spirituel du 
Front islamique du salut (FIS) algérien, Abassi Madani, a lancé un appel à 
la fin de la lutte armée fondamentaliste qui ensanglante le pays depuis 
onze ans. Relâché en juillet avec son jeune bras droit Ali Belhadj après 
douze ans de détention pour atteinte à la sûreté de l'Etat, le cheick de 72 
ans a lancé cet appel en direct sur la chaîne de télévision quatarie Al 
Djazira. Madani a quitté l'Algérie le 21 août, pour aller se faire soigner 
à Kuala Lumpur, d'où il a accordé cet interview. S'adressant aux islamistes 
algériens, Madani les a invités à s'unir et "parler d'une seule voix pour 
sortir du long tunnel". "L'alternative est d'abandonner l'Algérie, pour 
laquelle vous avez sacrifié des millions de martyrs; de se résoudre à 
l'abandonner de nouveau à la colonisation", a ajouté Madani. Il semblait 
interpeller plus particulièrement le Groupe islamique armé (GIA) et le 
Groupe salafiste de prédication et de combat (GSPC), les deux mouvements 
islamistes radicaux luttant encore les armes à la main pour un Etat 
islamique en Algérie.   (Reuters, 25 août 2003)

* Algeria. Interpol issues arrest warrant for Khalifa  -  Rafik Abdelmoumen 
Khalifa, the sole Algerian businessman to rise to international prominence 
since the country's independence, has been added to the list of people 
sought by Interpol, with a "may be dangerous" mention next to his name. The 
arrest warrant is likely to be the final seal on the rapid rise and fall of 
the 36 year-old entrepreneur, who is wanted for money laundering by the 
international police organisation. His business interests included 
Algeria's largest private bank, an airline, a car rental company, a 
construction company and a television station. Eleven months ago, Mr 
Khalifa entertained about 300 celebrities -- among them Sting, Bono, Pamela 
Anderson and Gérard Depardieu -- in his $38m villa in Cannes to celebrate 
the launch of a new television channel. He was also prominent in sports, 
notably as the shirt sponsor for France's most popular soccer team, 
Olympique de Marseille. But the big question remains his murky role in 
Algerian politics, in particular his ties with the military and President 
Abdelaziz Bouteflika, and why the Algerian authorities apparently decided 
to pull the plug on Mr Khalifa after backing him as the champion of a more 
open and capitalistic Algeria. The Khalifa group's opaque structure started 
to come under fire last year when the Algerian banking regulator said 
Khalifa Bank no longer respected minimum capital and coverage ratios. In 
November, the regulator decided to freeze the bank's money transfer 
operations. Three months later, Algerian airport police arrested three of 
Mr Khalifa's associates with 2m Euros in cash in their suitcases as they 
prepared to board a private jet to Paris. Mr Khalifa's empire has crumbled 
as quickly as it was built, but it is clear his dealings raised eyebrows 
long before the regulator's intervention. Last October, two French 
newspapers published a French intelligence report that questioned the 
financial viability of the bank and Khalifa Airways, arguing "the good 
health of the group can only be explained by outside support or by 
activities other than those officially mentioned".   (Financial Times, UK, 
25 August 2003)

* Algérie. Les journaux suspendus  -  Le jeudi 21 août, Liberté, un des six 
journaux indépendants algériens absents des kiosques depuis lundi, a reparu 
en précisant avoir "payé la rançon" exigée, selon lui, par les autorités. 
Les imprimeries, propriété d'Etat, avaient donné la semaine dernière 
jusqu'à dimanche à six quotidiens pour payer leurs dettes (3 millions de 
dollars au total) sous peine de ne pas être imprimés. Les journaux, dont la 
plupart avaient publié ces dernières semaines des articles sur des 
scandales de corruption présumée dans l'entourage du président Bouteflika, 
ont parlé de censure déguisée. -- Mardi 26 août. Le bras de fer entre les 
autorités algériennes et plusieurs patrons de la presse se poursuit. Une 
enquête a été ouverte contre Mohamed Benchicou, directeur du quotidien Le 
Matin, qui avait été contrôlé samedi à l'aéroport d'Alger avec une 
importante somme de bons de caisse. Après interrogatoires et perquisitions 
à domicile, il est "menacé d'arrestation". Le quotidien, qui devait 
initialement reparaître mardi, dit avoir réussi à lever un budget suffisant 
pour régulariser sa situation financière auprès des imprimeries publiques. 
Les dirigeants des autres journaux encore touchés par la suspension depuis 
le 18 août (Le Soir d'Algérie, l'Expression et El Raï) continuent pour leur 
part de rassembler l'argent nécessaire à leur retour au marché. Dans un 
communiqué publié mardi, Reporters sans frontières dénonce le "règne du 
non-droit et de l'arbitraire". Mercredi 27 août, on apprenait que Mohamed 
Benchicou avait été placé sous contrôle judiciaire par le procureur du 
tribunal d'El Harrach. Cette mesure oblige le directeur du "Matin" à ne pas 
quitter le territoire national et à se présenter chaque semaine au 
commissariat central d'Alger. Par ailleurs, le directeur de "Liberté", 
Farid Alilet, a été entendu mercredi par la police judiciaire, au bureau 
des atteintes aux personnes. Selon l'agence AP, ces actions judiciaires 
s'inscrivent "dans la logique visant à mettre au pas les journaux qui 
refusent de soutenir le président Bouteflika dans sa quête d'un second 
mandat pour la présidentielle d'avril 2004".   (ANB-BIA, de sources 
diverses, 28 août 2003)

* Algérie/Mali. 5 personnes disparues  -  Cinq personnes sont portées 
disparues dans le désert du Tanezrouft, entre les villes de Reggane et 
Bordj Badj Mokhtar, à la frontière algéro-malienne, a annoncé l'agence 
algérienne de presse APS le mardi 26 août. L'agence, citant la gendarmerie, 
n'a pas précisé la date de la disparition de ces personnes, soulignant que 
les recherches entreprises dimanche avaient permis de retrouver leur trace 
dans "l'Erg chache", plus à l'ouest, vers la frontière avec la Mauritanie, 
où ils auraient passé la nuit. Le groupe se serait égaré après une tempête 
de sable.   (La Libre Belgique, 27 août 2003)

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