Weekly ANB0911_05.txt #7

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

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WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 11-09-2003      PART #5/7

* Mali. Floods damage Timbuktu  -  Heavy rains have destroyed at least 180 
ancient mud buildings in the Unesco-designated world heritage city of 
Timbuktu. The floods have also caused the deaths of at least four people in 
central Mali. Timbuktu has a poor drainage system meaning that some 30mm of 
water that fell on the city some two weeks ago had nowhere to go, and 
soaked into the brittle, hard earth-built walls and foundations. With more 
rain now predicted, Mali's authorities said on Monday, that things could 
get worse if the Niger River spills its banks. They appealed to residents 
along Africa's second-longest river to build sandbag barriers on the 
shores. People have also been warned to move away from the danger areas. 
Timbuktu used to be one of the world's wealthiest cities and was an 
important Islamic centre. Some mud buildings, such as Jingereber mosque, 
date back more than 600 years. But the isolated city is now one of the 
poorest in Mali which itself is one of the poorest countries in Africa. 
Timbuktu's town hall has been helping to find accommodation for those 
driven out of their homes, and has paid medical bills for the needy.   (BBC 
News, UK, 10 September 2003)

* Morocco. Teen-age girls under arrest for planning a suicide attack  -  5 
September: Police in Morocco have said that they have detained three 
teenage girls, including twin sisters, suspected of planning a suicide 
attack on a supermarket in the capital, Rabat. They say they have uncovered 
a cell of a radical Islamic group which was planning to attack targets in 
the capital, Rabat. According to the police, they have arrested eight more 
suspected members of the Salafia Jihadia cell and are carrying out a 
manhunt for 17 more. So far Rabat has escaped attacks by the radical 
Islamic organisation which blew up Western and Jewish targets in the 
commercial city of Casablanca in May killing 45 people. But with this 
discovery, the capital is once again on high alert. According to police the 
group planned to carry out suicide attacks on a parliament building, a 
supermarket in a prosperous neighbourhood of Rabat and against several high 
profile personalities. The Ministry of Justice is conducting an 
investigation into the cell. The ministry says that police were first 
alerted to the existence of a Rabat-based terrorist group through the 
statements of the two teenage girls. The girls, twin sisters aged 13 and a 
third aged 14, are the youngest suspects to be arrested in Morocco under a 
new anti-terrorism law. Police say that one of the sisters said she had 
planned to blow herself up in the alcohol section of the supermarket before 
she was arrested. According to the police the girls had contacted a local 
Imam, an Islamic preacher, asking if their action were in accordance with 
Islam.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 September 2003)

* Maroc. 906 islamistes arrêtés  -  906 islamistes ont été arrêtés à la 
suite des attentats du 16 mai à Casablanca, a déclaré, le 9 septembre, le 
ministre marocain de la Justice, Mohamed Bouzoubâa, ajoutant que le "péril 
est toujours là". Il a ajouté que 108 suspects sont devant des juges 
d'instruction et que d'autres enquêtes sont en cours.   (Le Figaro, France, 
10 septembre 2003)

* Morocco. Casablanca bomb trials leave questions unanswered  -  A 
31-year-old Frenchman currently on trial in a Moroccan court on charges of 
masterminding an extremist Islamist cell in the northern port of Tangiers, 
has claimed that he has been tortured and raped in prison and that he 
worked for the French secret service. Pierre Robert, 31, a Muslim convert 
who was arrested in June, told the court in Rabat on 8 September that he 
had infiltrated Islamist groups on behalf of French intelligence. France's 
internal security agency promptly denied any connection with Mr Robert. The 
Moroccan prosecution alleges that -- while he was not directly responsible 
for a series of suicide bombings in Casablanca on May 16, in which 33 
bystanders and 12 bombers were killed -- Mr Robert was trying to organise 
two training areas for Islamist militants in Morocco. Thirty-three other 
men are accused of membership of his group. The Moroccan authorities have 
detained thousands of people associated with hard-line Wahabi Muslim groups 
following the attacks on five mainly Jewish targets in Casablanca, 
Morocco's commercial centre. Mr Robert is unlikely to escape lightly if 
convicted.   (Financial Times, UK, 10 September 2003)

* Mauritanie. Procès des putschistes  -  Le 7 septembre, 129 militaires 
détenus dans le cadre de l'enquête initiée au lendemain de la tentative de 
putsch avortée du 8 juin dernier, ont été déférés devant la justice. "Les 
détenus jouiront de leur droit à la défense", a affirmé le substitut du 
procureur. La plupart des personnes impliquées dans la tentative de putsch 
sont en fuite et le gouvernement mauritanien a lancé un mandat de recherche 
international contre elles. Les deux principaux instigateurs, les 
ex-commandants Saleh Ould Hanena et Mohamed Ould Cheikna, ont annoncé dans 
une vidéo-cassette diffusée le 2 septembre par la chaîne qatarie Al-Jazira, 
la création d'un mouvement armé dénommé "Les cavaliers du 
changement".   (PANA, Sénégal, 7 septembre 2003)

* Mozambique/South Africa. Elephants relocated to Mozambique  -  Elephants 
living in the Kruger Park in South Africa are being moved to Mozambique in 
the latest stage in the creation of a huge cross-border game park between 
the two countries and Zimbabwe. The elephants are being relocated to the 
Mozambican side of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, as part of a plan 
to spread the animals across the three countries, now fences separating 
them are being removed. The translocation of four families of elephants, 
more than 40 in all, takes place today. Some 10,000 elephants live in the 
Kruger Park on the South African side, too many for the habitat to sustain. 
So the translocation serves the purpose of stocking the Mozambican park and 
providing more space for the animals. The countries' three heads of state 
signed an international treaty last year and since then some border fences 
have been removed to allow the animals to migrate and move around in their 
natural habitat without man-made restrictions. It will take many years for 
the park to be completed and eventually it is hoped an area of 100,000 
square kilometres will be protected within the conservation area.   (BBC 
News, UK, 4 September 2003)

* Mozambique. Mutola hits jackpot  -  5 September: Mozambique's Maria 
Mutola became the first athlete to win the $1m Golden League jackpot by 
winning the 800m in Brussels today. The 30-year-old won in a time of 1 
minute 57.78 seconds to claim her sixth consecutive League victory of the 
season. Natalya Khrushelyova, bronze medallist at the World Championships, 
was second in a time of 1:58.53, with Morocco's Amina Ait Hammou third in 
1:58.66. To collect her winnings, Mutola must compete in the World 
Athletics Final in Monaco from 13 to 14 September.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 5 
September 2003)

* Nigeria. Floods displace 100,000  -  8 September: At least 100,000 people 
have been displaced by flooding in northern Nigerian after the River Kaduna 
burst its banks. Thousands of homes were washed away in Kaduna state and 
about 30,000 graves are submerged in water. The government has set up a 
temporary camp to accommodate the displaced people, but the majority have 
opted to stay along the burst river bank in the hope of salvaging their 
belongings. Young men were busy throughout the day diving into the flooded 
river to salvage whatever they could. The worst flooding happened on 7 
September, with some residents waking up in the middle of the night to find 
their houses submerged in water. The area has experienced a continuous 
heavy downpour for some time now.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 8 September 2003)

* Nigeria. Avocats assassinés  -  Un couple d'avocats nigérians a été 
assassiné, sous les yeux de ses trois enfants, dont un bébé de 10 mois, par 
des hommes vêtus d'uniformes de l'armée, a rapporté la presse nigériane le 
7 septembre. En juin, les avocats nigérians ont appelé le président 
Olusegun Obasanjo à prendre des mesures pour protéger leur profession après 
une recrudescence d'assassinats.   (Libération, France, 8 septembre 2003)

* Nigeria. Terrible accident: 100 morts  -  Accident de la route au bilan 
effroyable dans le centre du Nigeria: trois autocars et un camion sont 
entrés en collision, provoquant une violente explosion et la mort de plus 
de 100 personnes, ont annoncé les autorités le lundi 8 septembre. La 
télévision a diffusé des images des corps carbonisés. L'accident est 
survenu dans la nuit du dimanche au lundi dans l'Etat de Kogi, à une 
centaine de kilomètres de la capitale Abuja. Les circonstances de 
l'accident n'ont pas encore été établies. Les cars effectuaient tous des 
trajets longue distance et l'un d'entre eux transportait 70 passagers. Le 
Nigeria a un réseau routier chaotique et les accidents de la circulation 
sont fréquents et souvent très meurtriers.   (AP, 9 septembre 2003)

* Nigeria. Wooing South African farmers  -  10 September: A team of white 
South African farmers has arrived in Nigeria at the invitation of the 
government of the western state of Kwara to look into investing and 
possibly relocating to the region. The advance team also represents some 
white Zimbabweans who have recently lost their farms in the country's 
controversial land redistribution programme. The Kwara state government, 
who initiated and paid for the visit, has pledged to give them all the land 
they need for free. If all goes according to plan, some of the white 
farmers will move to Nigeria on a permanent basis.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 10 
September 2003)

* Nigeria/Belgium. Belgian police on trial over asylum seeker's 
death  -  Five Belgian police officers accused over the death of a Nigerian 
asylum seeker have gone on trial. Twenty-year-old Semira Adamu died during 
attempts to expel her from Belgium in 1998. Her face had been pushed into a 
pillow as she resisted an operation to strap her to a seat on a plane 
returning her to Africa. She died later in hospital of a brain haemorrhage. 
Her death sparked a wave of public protests and forced Interior Minister 
Louis Tobback to quit. Three of the five policeman are accused of 
involuntary manslaughter and assault. Two others, who were supervising the 
operation, face charges of negligence leading to involuntary manslaughter. 
Prosecutor Hedwig Steppe asked for suspended prison sentences for three of 
the defendants, and reprimands for the other two. Defence lawyer Rene 
Kumpen said the five officers had done nothing wrong, and said a video of 
the operation showed that they were following normal procedures. The court 
was shown the police video of scenes from the operation. Adamu had 
unsuccessfully claimed asylum in Belgium, saying her family in Nigeria 
wanted her to marry a 65-year-old man with other wives. She had previously 
resisted five attempts to deport her. Her death continues to arouse strong 
public emotions. A protest banner reading "No to expulsions" was unfurled 
on the entrance of the Brussels law courts as the trial got under way. 
Police officers also staged a show of support for their colleagues. The 
police union argues the five defendants were following the regulations 
which were in force at the time.   (BBC News, UK, 10 September 2003)

* Rwanda. 900 réfugiés rapatriés  -  Le 2 septembre, quelque 900 
ex-réfugiés rwandais, pour la plupart des gens qui avaient quitté le Rwanda 
après le génocide de 1994, ont été rapatriés au Rwanda par le gouvernement 
tanzanien. La majeure partie d'entre eux, dont la moitié sont des enfants, 
viendraient du camp de Ngara, qui aurait dû être fermé à la fin de 2002. Il 
s'agit du dernier groupe qui avait demandé le renouvellement de son statut 
de réfugié, mais leur demande a été rejetée par le gouvernement tanzanien. 
Certains réfugiés ont affirmé qu'ils avaient été rapatriés de 
force.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 5 septembre 2003)

* Rwanda. Campagne pour les législatives  -  La campagne électorale s'ouvre 
le 6 septembre pour les quelque 230 candidats qui se disputeront les sièges 
de la nouvelle Assemblée nationale, dont le scrutin se tiendra du 29 
septembre au 2 octobre prochain. Le principal parti au pouvoir, le Front 
patriotique rwandais (FPR) présente une liste de 53 candidats avec 4 autres 
partis de la coalition gouvernementale, mais se taille la part belle avec 
43 candidats. Les trois autres partis agréés présentent chacun leur liste. 
19 personnes se présentent comme indépendants. La nouvelle Assemblée 
comportera 80 sièges. Deux de ces sièges sont réservés aux jeunes et un aux 
personnes handicapées. 24 sièges sont réservés aux députés femmes, qui 
seront élues au scrutin indirect par leurs associations nationales en 
raison de deux par chacune des douze provinces du pays. - La rentrée 
scolaire, qui se fait ordinairement à la mi-septembre, a été retardée au 6 
octobre, la plupart des écoles primaires et secondaires devant servir de 
bureaux de vote.   (D'après PANA, Sénégal, 5-8 septembre 2003)

* Rwanda/Canada. Rwandan suspect wins case  -  9 September: A Canadian 
federal court of appeal has ruled the government does not have enough 
evidence to deport a Rwandan man accused of inciting genocide. For nine 
years, Canada has been trying to deport Leon Mugasera, largely basing its 
allegations on a speech he gave in Rwanda in 1992. Rwanda has also 
requested Mr Mugasera's extradition to face war crimes charges. But the 
Canadian court ruled that while the speech may have been inflammatory, it 
did not actually incite the ensuing violence. Canadian immigration 
officials and a United Nations report had both accused the former senior 
politician of encouraging attacks in Rwanda on Tutsis in his speech. It was 
broadcast on radio in Rwanda and widely distributed on cassettes. Two years 
later in Rwanda, Hutus killed an estimated 800,000 Tutsis. In its ruling, 
the federal court in Quebec City strongly criticised the Canadian 
immigration tribunals that tried to deport Mr Mugasera. The court ruled 
that the government depended on a faulty translation of the speech and says 
the words were altered for partisan reasons by the international commission 
of enquiry.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 9 September 2003)

* Rwanda. Preparations for President Kagame's inauguration  -  Intense 
preparations are underway for the swearing ceremony of President Kagame. A 
number of Heads of State are due to attend the ceremony on 12 September. An 
organising committee for the event has been formed to work with the foreign 
ministry. Among the guests expected to attend the ceremony are: Congo RDC's 
President Joseph Kabila; Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni; Kenya's 
President Mwai Kibaki; Tanzania's President Benjamin Mkapa. Also US former 
president Bill Clinton is on the guest list.   (ANB-BIA, Brussels, 10 
September 2003)

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