Weekly ANB0911_03.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-09-2003      PART #3/7

* Côte d'Ivoire. No names for defence and security ministers yet  -  On 4 
September, Ivorian Prime Minister Seydou Diarra failed to propose 
candidates for the vacant posts of defence minister and internal security 
minister, prolonging the six-month old impasse over who should fill these 
key portfolios. President Laurent Gbagbo, who has rejected all the 
candidates put forward previously by Diarra's broad-based government of 
national reconciliation, had asked him on 29 August to come up with new 
names by 4 September. A meeting between Gbagbo and the cabinet where the 
new names were due to have been presented and discussed was delayed until 4 
September. But a final communique issued after the said the issue of the 
two ministerial appointments had been put on hold again until 8 September. 
(...) Rebel forces occupying the north of the country have said they will 
refuse to start a process of demobilisation and disarmament until the new 
ministers have been appointed under the terms of a peace agreement signed 
in January. The disarmament process was due to have begun on 1 August, but 
continues to be held up by this sticking point.   (IRIN, Kenya, 4 September 
2003)

* Côte d'Ivoire. Lent processus de paix  -  Le 4 septembre, lors d'un 
conseil des ministres, le président Gbagbo a exigé le "désarmement" des 
ex-rebelles au cours de ce mois de septembre. Selon un communiqué, il a 
donné au gouvernement une véritable feuille de route devant aboutir aux 
élections de 2005, comportant le "désarmement, la démobilisation et la 
réinsertion". Pour lui, l'une des conditions majeures de l'organisation des 
élections "c'est la réunification du territoire". Il a soutenu avoir fait 
lui-même "sa part de sacrifice".- Dans la soirée, s'adressant aux chefs 
coutumiers de l'Est ivoirien, M. Gabgbo a réitéré sa volonté de voir 
libérer les zones toujours sous contrôle des Forces nouvelles, notamment 
Bouaké (centre) et Korhogo (nord). - D'autre part, le 6 septembre, le 
Rassemblement des jeunes démocrates pour la paix (RJDP), regroupant les 
jeunesses des partis de MM. Bédié et Ouattara et du défunt général Guéi, 
ont appelé le président Gbagbo à "appliquer intégralement, dans l'esprit et 
dans la lettre, les accords de Marcoussis". - Le 8 septembre, le président 
Gbagbo a rencontré des délégations de l'ex-rébellion et du Rassemblement 
des Républicains (RDR, opposition) dans le cadre des consultations devant 
aboutir à la désignation des ministres de la Défense et de la Sécurité, 
deux portefeuilles toujours dirigés à titre intérimaires. - 10 septembre. 
Le programme DDR (démobilisation, désarmement, réinsertion), dont la mise 
en activité a été maintes fois reportée, devrait devenir effectif dans les 
jours à venir. Ce mercredi, le Premier ministre, M. Diarra, a procédé à la 
mise en place du Comité de réunification qui a pour mission la mise en 
oeuvre du programme DDR.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverse, 11 septembre 2003)

* Djibouti. Illegal immigrants to be expelled  -  5 September: The United 
States has denied being behind moves by the government in Djibouti to expel 
illegal migrants. More than 50,000 have already left, but thousands more 
have congregated in camps and found themselves stranded on borders waiting 
for transport, with trains and buses overcrowded. Many others are afraid to 
return home, mentioning continuing conflict in Somalia and fears of 
repression and persecution in Eritrea and Ethiopia. Warnings by Washington 
of possible attacks on Western interests in the country are thought to have 
led the government to clamp down on the foreigners.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 
September 2003)

* Egypte. Libération d'intégristes  -  Près d'un millier de membres du 
mouvement intégriste égyptien Djamaah Islamiyah ont été libérés, a annoncé 
le ministre égyptien de l'Intérieur, dans un entretien publié par un 
hebdomadaire égyptien. Les membres de ce mouvement se sont engagés à 
rejeter la violence. En revanche, 23 membres du mouvement intégriste 
Al-Djhad ont été arrêtés.   (La Croix, France, 5 septembre 2003)

* Eritrea. Fuel rationing  -  5 September: The Eritrean Government has 
introduced rationing at its petrol stations restricting private car owners 
to just over a tank a month. There has yet to be a full official 
explanation given for the decision but earlier this year an IMF report 
warned of the country's declining level of foreign currency reserves and 
called its monetary and exchange rate system unsustainable. The usually 
busy streets of Asmara have almost entirely cleared of private cars as the 
rationing of fuel bites. The coupon system first announced a week ago has 
restricted private cars to just 40 litres a month -- just over a tank of 
petrol -- and taxis to 150 litres. No explanation of the coupon system has 
been made in the state-owned media here but the head of the petroleum 
corporation of Eritrea said that it had been brought in to regularise the 
amount of petrol being consumed and denied that there was a shortage. 
Eritrea has no oil of its own and has to buy its petrol using hard 
currency.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 September 2003)

* Eritrea. Eritrea urges end to border delays  -  4 September: Eritrea has 
called on the United Nations and the African Union to take "necessary 
measures" to ensure that the marking of the border with Ethiopia takes 
place in October. The demarcation of the border has already been delayed 
twice this year -- almost a year-and-a-half after the Boundary Commission 
first ruled on the marking of the border as part of the peace process 
between the two countries. Ethiopians are still trying to change the 
commission's decision to award Badme -- the village that triggered the war 
in 1998 to Eritrea -- and it is already looking possible that that deadline 
will come and pass. Patience within the international community is 
beginning to wear thin -- the head of the UN mission here has warned that 
the situation could turn into a stalemate and urged both parties to begin 
talking to each other. Acting information minister Ali Abdu Ahmed says it 
has now reached the point where international organisations need to take 
action. "The Ethiopian government continues to hinder the border 
delimitation and demarcation process. Therefore, we feel that all necessary 
measures should be imposed on the Ethiopian government, by the UN and the 
African Union," Mr Ahmed said. So far the start dates which the Boundary 
Commission set have passed without explanation or blame being attributed to 
either side. Mr Ahmed says that Eritrea is ready to start and that this 
"sitting on the fence is no longer acceptable. No one at least on this side 
is expecting the Boundary Commission to entertain the feeling of 
individuals. The only option they have is to spell out who is right and who 
is not -- if you don't do that then the one who is hindering the peace 
process will continue to do so," Mr Ahmed said. 10 September: The Secretary 
General of the United Nations has warned that patience is running thin with 
the delays in demarcating the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Kofi 
Annan said there had been no progress in improving relations between the 
two countries and has urged the international community to be more active 
in helping both countries fulfil their commitments under the peace deal. 
The start of border demarcation has already been delayed twice this year 
and a third date set for October now looks likely to pass without progress. 
The UN presence in Ethiopia and Eritrea costs well over $150m a year with 
4,000 peacekeepers in place on the ground. Nearly three years after the 
peace agreement that ended the border conflict the UN's role here is to 
maintain a security zone while an independent commission rules and then 
marks out where the border should be.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 September 2003)

* Ethiopia. Still needing aid  -  5 September: Ethiopia still requires $40m 
to help cope with the after effects of last year's drought, the government 
says. Just under a fifth of the population need humanitarian assistance 
this year, and while most of their food needs have now been covered, there 
was a warning that donors should not become too complacent. There were 
congratulations all round at today's meeting of the Ethiopian Government 
and donors. Everyone agreed that the response to this year's appeal has 
been very good and thousands of lives have been saved. But the government 
and the United Nations have said that no-one should rest on their laurels. 
The humanitarian agencies are now focusing their attention on the future -- 
next year and beyond. The head of the United Nations emergency unit, Paul 
Hebert, said great progress had been made to tackle food insecurity but 
there was still a lot of work to do.  -  Hunger will remain a threat in the 
future   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 September 2003)

* Ethiopia. Charity fun run to tackle hunger  -  7 September: More than 
8,000 Ethiopians have taken part in a six kilometre charity fun run in 
support of the millions of people in the country who need food aid. Leading 
the runners were two of Ethiopia's latest track stars -- world champions 
Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba. The race organisers said they wanted 
to show the world that Ethiopians can do something for themselves when it 
comes to poverty and the athletes' participation was vital. "This is a race 
against hunger and one we must win," 10,000-metre men's champion Bekele 
told reporters. "If we are committed, we can beat it, but it will be a 
tough fight -- harder than winning world championships." Cheering crowds 
gathered at the finishing line in Addis Ababa's main square where the 
thousands of runners crossed the finishing line and collected a small medal 
for taking part.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 7 September 2003)

* Gabon. Oil and wildlife can co-exist  -  In a rare tribute to the energy 
industry, scientists have praised one company's record in exploiting an 
African oilfield. They say Shell's field has more wild creatures than the 
surrounding national parks. The company says its environment policy has 
changed radically in the last 30 years. It is working with the scientists 
on an international code of practice for other companies in sensitive 
areas. The scientists, from the US-based Smithsonian Institution, are 
completing a two-year study of Shell's operations in its Rabi oilfield, in 
Gabon. The Smithsonian team has been working with local scientists to 
compile the most detailed study ever undertaken of the Gabonese forest's 
biodiversity.   (BBC News, UK, 8 September 2003)

* Ghana. Ghana awarded credit rating  -  On 4 September, Ghana was awarded 
a credit rating for the first time under a new plan aimed at giving 
developing countries access to the international capital markets. Standard 
& Poor's (S&P), the largest rating agency, assigned Ghana a long-term 
sovereign rating of B+, four notches below investment grade. Ghana is the 
first country to receive a rating under the initiative, launched by the 
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and S&P to help sub-Saharan 
African and other developing countries obtain sovereign credit ratings. 
UNDP hopes better access to financing would help developing countries 
achieve the accelerated rates of economic growth they need to reduce 
poverty.   (Financial Times, UK, 5 September 2003)

* Ghana. IOM brings hundreds of child labourers home  -  A first group of 
173 children who had been trafficked for forced labour in fishing 
communities at Yeji in the Atebubu district of the Brong Ahafo region, will 
be reunited with their parents in the next two weeks in the Volta, Central 
and Greater Accra regions. The children, who had been sold by their 
impoverished parents to local fishermen for up to 1.5 million Cedis (US 
$180), are staying at the International Office for Migrations (IOM) transit 
centre in Yeji and are being given medical examinations before completing 
the final lap of their journey home. They are part of a larger group of 
1,002 children due to be released by their former employers. In return, the 
fishermen will receive training, modern fishing equipment and micro credits 
to help them improve their fishing techniques or engage in other income 
generating activities. Interestingly, most of the fishermen who have 
accepted to release the children, have decided to give up fishing on Lake 
Volta and to engage in other activities, such as cattle and pig rearing. 
The IOM has registered a total of 1,002 school-aged children who have been 
trafficked for slave labour in fishing communities in the Volta and Central 
regions of Ghana. They are mostly boys aged between 3 and 14 forced to work 
in the fishing industry. They begin at dawn and work until late afternoon 
casting and drawing nets. They are poorly fed and never paid.   (MISNA, 
Italy, 8 September 2003)

* Kenya. UK flights to Mombasa resume  -  4 September: Flights by UK 
airlines to the tourist destination of Mombasa in Kenya have been resumed 
due to improved security arrangements. The news, announced today by the 
Department for Transport, comes more than two months after the ban on 
flights to Kenya's capital Nairobi was lifted. A stoppage had been imposed 
on flights to both cities in May following intelligence that British planes 
could be a terrorist target. But the Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel 
advice still warns there is a "high threat" from global terrorism in Kenya. 
A statement from the Department for Transport said: "Earlier this year the 
review under which we keep the security of UK citizens and interests 
overseas led us to impose a ban on flights to Kenya by UK 
airlines.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 4 September 2003)

* Kenya. Mourners crushed in stampede  -  5 September: More than 40 people 
were injured, some seriously, as huge crowds jostled to view the body of 
Kenya's Vice-President Michael Wamalwa in his home district of Bungoma, 
western Kenya. Part of the local stadium where the body had been taken for 
viewing collapsed, leaving many people with broken limbs and chest 
injuries. Lavish preparations are underway for the state funeral on 6 
September, at which mourners will feast on 100,000 loaves of bread, five to 
10 bulls, 300 chickens and around 200kg of rice. Unconfirmed reports say 
that one person died during the stampede.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 September 
2003)

* Kenya. Cardinal Otunga dies  -  Cardinal Maurice Michael Otunga, one of 
the Church's outstanding figures in Africa since the Second Vatican 
Council, died on 6 September. He was 80. The Archbishop Emeritus of Nairobi 
was hospitalized weeks ago with an illness that resulted in respiratory and 
kidney complications. Upon learning of the death, John Paul II expressed 
his sympathy and assured his prayers so that "the Good Shepherd, in his 
tender love, will bring this dedicated servant speedily to the place 
prepared for him at the heavenly banquet." In the telegram to Nairobi's 
current archbishop, Raphael S. Ndingi Mwana'a Nzeki, the Pope expressed his 
gratitude "to Almighty God for the many graces bestowed on the Church 
through Cardinal Otunga's long years of generous service as priest and 
bishop." Maurice Otunga was born in Chebukwa in January 1923 and baptized 
at age 12. Ordained a priest at 27, he was named by Pope Pius XII as 
auxiliary bishop of Kisumu in 1956. In 1969, Pope Paul VI named him 
coadjutor of Nairobi, and in 1971, archbishop of that city. The same Pope 
made him a cardinal in 1973.   (Zenit, Italy, 7 September 2003)

* Kenya. Row over Prime Minister post  -  8 September: President Mwai 
Kibaki and his key ally in last year's general election, Raila Odinga, are 
headed for a major political confrontation. President Kibaki says that he 
is in full charge of the nation and has openly rejected calls by Mr 
Odinga's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that he should share power by 
appointing Mr Odinga as an executive prime minister. According to a 
pre-election agreement between the parties that form Kenya's ruling 
National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), the post of executive prime minister was 
to have been created and allocated to the LDP. But President Kibaki has 
ruled out the possibility, much to the dismay of Mr Odinga's followers who 
played a major role in President Kibaki's overwhelming victory in the 2002 
general elections. Addressing an Anglican congregation on 7 September in 
the capital, Nairobi, President Kibaki said that the present Kenyan 
political order will remain in place, raising further the already high 
political temperature in the NARC.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 8 September 2003)

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