Weekly ANB0918_07.txt #7

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

_____________________________________________________________
WEEKLY NEWS ISSUE of: 18-09-2003      PART #7/7

* Somalia. Peace talks in jeopardy following announcement of 
breakthrough  -  Delegates at the Somali peace talks taking place in Kenya 
adopted an interim constitution on 15 September in what has been termed "a 
major breakthrough". However, some political groups have come out against 
the agreement. According to a statement from the mediators, delegates 
attending the conference "this [15 September] evening adopted a 
Transitional Federal Charter", which will pave the way for the formation of 
a transitional parliament that would last four years. The statement said 
its members would be selected by Somali traditional leaders and politicians 
officially invited to the talks in Kenya by an IGAD (Intergovernmental 
Authority on Development) Technical Committee that organised the meeting. 
However, the agreement was rejected by the president of the Transitional 
National Government (TNG), Abdiqassim Salad Hassan, who, along with a 
number of faction leaders, had earlier walked out of the talks but returned 
to Nairobi on 14 September to resume their participation in the 
discussions. "This is the end of this conference," Abdiqassim told IRIN. 
"We arrived here on 15 September in good faith but without being given an 
opportunity to have our voices heard, we are presented with the so-called 
adoption of the charter. This is unacceptable and I think whoever is behind 
this treachery has succeeded in scuttling the peace process. The talks have 
totally collapsed." (...) The IGAD-sponsored talks began in October 2002 in 
the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, but were moved to Nairobi in February 
this year. The talks have been dogged by wrangles over issues such as the 
interim charter, the number of participants in the talks and the selection 
of future parliamentarians.   (IRIN, Kenya, 16 September 2003)

* South Africa. Leakey puts wildife at top of tree  -  On 11 September, The 
wildlife conservationist Richard Leakey stirred up controversy at the 
Durban environment congress by saying conservation had to come before the 
rights of indigenous people. Protected nature areas were too important to 
be "subjugated" to people complaining of eviction from ancestral lands in 
the name of biodiversity, said Dr Leakey. Indigenous people deserved 
compensation but to let them manage the parks where they once lived risked 
unravelling environmental and economic gains, he said. Indigenous groups 
reacted with anger, saying his views were out of step with efforts to 
redress historical injustices borne by ethnic groups such as the Twa and 
San. "Leakey's taking us back to the colonial era," said Edward Porokwa, of 
Tanzania's Masai. About 2,500 environmentalists are at the congress, run by 
the IUCN-World Conservation Union. Gonzalo Oviedo, of the WCU, said Dr 
Leakey's words were a step backwards in the effort to balance conservation 
with people's rights. But Dr Leakey said that though colonisation had been 
a disaster, "long before people there was nature, long before people there 
was climate change, long before people there were mass extinctions. Of 
course [there] should be compensation for losing land, but these parks 
belong to the world".   (The Guardian, UK, 12 September 2003)

* Afrique du Sud. Ecoles coraniques  -  De nombreuses écoles coraniques ont 
récemment vu le jour en Afrique du Sud. Ce phénomène répond à la demande 
d'étudiants étrangers qui ne peuvent plus se rendre dans des pays comme le 
Pakistan ou l'Inde, en raison des restrictions imposées sur les visas aux 
personnes désireuses d'étudier la théologie. La plupart des madrassas se 
trouvent au Cap, où se concentre l'essentiel de la minorité musulmane du 
pays (600.000 personnes), à Johannesburg et à Durban.   (Le Figaro, France, 
12 septembre 2003)

* Sudan. Peace talks run into trouble  -  11 September: The Sudanese peace 
talks which have been continuing in Kenya are reported to have run into 
difficulties over the security arrangements to be put in place during a 
post-war transitional period. The big issue is whether Sudan should have 
one army or two. The negotiations between rebel leader John Garang and 
Sudan's Vice-President Ali Osman Taha, taking place in Naivasha, Kenya, are 
seen as critical for the survival of the peace process. 16 September: 
Rebels in Darfur, western Sudan, accuse the Khartoun government of 
violating the truce.   (ANB-BIA, Belgium, 16 September 2003)

* Soudan. Négociations de paix  -  Le gouvernement soudanais est satisfait 
des négociations qu'il mène depuis août dernier avec le Mouvement/Armée de 
libération du peuple soudanais (SPLA/M) dans la ville kényane de Naivasha, 
a indiqué le 16 septembre à Dakar son ministre des Affaires étrangères. 
Selon Mustapha Osman Ismaïl, "un accord pourrait même être signé dans les 
deux jours qui viennent", rapporte l'agence PANA. "Les questions qui 
constituent des points d'achoppement sont en train d'être résolues", a-t-il 
ajouté. -L'agence AFP signale toutefois que, selon un source proche des 
pourparlers, les discussions restaient toujours bloquées sur plusieurs 
questions.   (ANB-BIA, de sources diverses, 16 septembre 2003)

* Swaziland. Police break up pro-democracy meetings  -  Armed police and 
army patrols in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland stopped events to mark 20 
years of opposition to royal rule by the main pro-democracy group, the 
People's United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) said on 14 September. "Our 
intention was to hold a peaceful demonstration, but any expression of 
political dissent is banned by the authorities," PUDEMO President Mario 
Masuku told Reuters. The rally was to have been held in the southern 
provincial capital Nhlangano this weekend, but police in riot gear stopped 
the crowds from assembling and mounted roadblocks to keep visitors away 
from the city centre.   (CNN, USA, 15 September 2003)

* Tchad. Pétrole: inauguration reportée  -  La cérémonie officielle 
marquant le début de l'exploitation du pétrole tchadien a été repoussée à 
la mi-octobre, pour une question d'agendas des chefs d'Etat invités. Cette 
cérémonie marquera l'entrée du Tchad dans le cercle restreint des pays 
producteurs de pétrole. Le pompage du brut tchadien a débuté à la 
mi-juillet. La production des trois champs pétroliers du gisement de Doba 
atteindra des pics de 225.000 barils/jour.   (La Libre Belgique, 13 
septembre 2003)

* Uganda. Uganda's push for GM  -  President George W Bush has said Africa 
is losing out by not adopting GM, as his government battles with Europe 
over the sale of genetically modified products there. Uganda's President 
Yoweri Museveni has also made clear that he is convinced of the logic for 
GM food. Already, steps are underway to put a law in place. But can GM 
solve the problems the country's farmers face? In Uganda, there isn't even 
a word for gene in the local language, laughs Dr Charles Mugoya of the 
National Council for Science and Technology. Millions of Ugandans might 
have a very poor understanding of what genetically modified foods are, but 
--in one form or another -- it looks like GM foods are coming their way. 
Last month, a national committee presented a draft policy on biotechnology 
and bio safety to government. This was the first stage of creating a law to 
govern the introduction, application and commercialisation of GM products 
in Uganda.   (BBC News, UK, 11 September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Fermeture du Daily Mail  -  La police du Zimbabwe a fermé le 
"Daily News", le seul quotidien indépendant du pays, souvent très critique 
à l'égard du président Robert Mugabe. Le 12 septembre au soir, une 
vingtaine de policiers ont fait irruption dans les rédactions et ont 
ordonné au personnel de quitter les bureaux. Le directeur a été convoqué au 
poste central de police d'Harare et trois autres dirigeants ont été emmenés 
par les policiers. La Cour suprême a déclaré illégale la publication du 
journal. Selon l'exécutif, ni la société éditrice, ni les journalistes du 
quotidien n'ont été accrédités par la Commssion gouvernementale des moyens 
de communication, autorité qui habilite ses inscrits à mener une activité 
de presse. Le Daily News a toujours qualifié d'inconstitutionnelles les 
nouvelles normes restrictives sur la presse.   (Misna, Italie, 13 septembre 
2003)

* Zimbabwe. Treason trial postponed  -  The treason trial of Zimbabwe's key 
opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been postponed for six weeks, his 
lawyer said. Tsvangirai is accused of plotting the assassination of 
longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe. He denies the treason charge, which 
carries a possible death sentence in Zimbabwe. He was charged with treason 
last year, just two weeks before his unsuccessful presidential campaign 
against Mugabe. Tsvangirai lost the March 2003 election by a narrow margin, 
but independent observers said the outcome was affected by political 
violence and vote-rigging. He was jointly charged with treason along with 
Welshman Ncube, his party's third-ranking official, and Renson Gasela, a 
senior party member. Ncube and Gasela were acquitted in July for lack of 
evidence. Tsvangirai's trial, the longest in Zimbabwe's legal history, 
began in February. It had been scheduled to resume on 15 September after a 
month-long recess. His lawyer, Innocent Chagonda, said the hearing was 
postponed until October 27, The Associated Press reported. (Editor's 
update: On 16 September, police arrested more than 100 opposition 
supporters in central trying to hold a rally against President Mugabe. The 
rally was organised by the National Constitutional Assembly).   (CNN, USA, 
15 September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Mugabe indésirable au Commonwealth  -  Le président du 
Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, ne sera pas autorisé à participer au sommet du 
Commonwealth prévu à Abuja, au Nigeria, en décembre prochain, en raison de 
la persistance de violations des droits de l'homme dans son pays. Celui-ci 
a été temporairement exclu du Commonwealth, un groupe de 54 pays 
principalement issus de l'ancien empire empire colonial britannique, en 
mars de l'année dernière. Robert Mugabe est accusé d'avoir procédé à des 
fraudes électorales lors du scrutin présidentiel de 2002 et de se livrer à 
des violations des droits de l'homme.   (Le Figaro, France, 16 septembre 2003)

* Zimbabwe. Commonwealth threatened by split  -  On 16 September, South 
Africa and Australia clashed over barring Zimbabwe's president, Robert 
Mugabe, from a Commonwealth summit. The row threatens to split the group 
along racial lines. Australia's prime minister, John Howard, angered 
Pretoria by announcing that Mr Mugabe would not be invited to the 
Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Nigeria in December because 
Zimbabwe's record on human rights had not improved. In a thinly veiled 
appeal for solidarity among African members, South Africa accused Mr Howard 
of megaphone diplomacy and called on the Commonwealth to reverse the ban. 
The row flared as Zimbabwe intensified a crackdown on the Daily News, the 
country's only independent daily newspaper and one of the regime's 
strongest critics. Police raided the newspaper's office in Harare and 
seized equipment, despite apparently having no warrant to do so. Zimbabwe 
was suspended from the Commonwealth's decision-making councils after the 
government rigged the presidential election in March last year which Mr 
Mugabe won. South Africa wants the 18-month-old suspension lifted in time 
for December's summit in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, arguing that the 
isolation has failed to solve Zimbabwe's economic and political problems. 
Mr Howard seemed to surprise the South African government when he said that 
Don McKinnon, the Commonwealth's secretary general, and Nigeria's 
president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had assured him that Mr Mugabe would be 
barred. He described the lack of progress in Zimbabwe as a "veritable 
tragedy", and said: "Its people are starving. Their choice of government 
has been denied to them. Their economy is in ruins. In these circumstances 
it would be a travesty if Zimbabwe were to be represented at the Abuja 
meeting. I welcome the decision that has been taken by Nigeria not to 
extend an invitation to President Mugabe."   (The Guardian, UK, 17 
September 2003)

* Zimbabwe. L'Inde donne du riz  -  Le 16 septembre, l'Inde a fait don de 
50.000 tonnes de riz au Zimbabwe pour aider à nourrir des millions de 
personnes confrontées à la famine dans ce pays. Le Zimbabwe a demandé aux 
donateurs internationaux une aide alimentaire de 700.000 tnnes de vivres. 
Les autorités zimbabwéennes ont fait savoir que l'aide alimentaire indienne 
serait distribuée aux communautés les plus nécessiteuses dans les régions 
reculées du pays.   (PANA, Sénégal, 17 septembre 2003)

* Zimbabwe. New "currency" launched  -  17 September: Zimbabwe has launched 
a new currency -- the bearer cheque -- in an attempt to ease the country's 
severe economic crisis. The central bank says the cheques are only a 
temporary measure and will not replace the Zimbabwean dollar. There have 
been massive money shortages but the government has resisted calls for 
larger denomination banknotes. The cheque is seen by some as a way of 
avoiding higher denominations. The bearer cheque will be valid as legal 
tender until 31 January and will be dispensed from cash machines. The notes 
can be used to buy goods and services just like banknotes.   (ANB-BIA, 
Belgium, 17 September 2003)


Weekly anb0918.txt - End of #7/7 -  THE END


*******************************************************************
Un homme meurt chaque fois que l'un d'entre nous se tait devant la tyrannie 
(W. Soyinka, Prix Nobel litterature)
                      --------
Everytime somebody keep silent when faced with tyranny, someone else dies 
(Wole Syinka, Nobel Prize for Literature) *
*******************************************************************
AFRICAN NEWS BULLETIN - BULLETIN D'INFORMATION AFRICAINE
A fornigtly publication of African news and information
Bi-mensuel d'information et actualite africaine
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We hope you find our WEEKLY NEWS informative and helpful. But maybe you 
don't know our printed AFRICAN NEWS BULLETIN/BULLETIN D'INFORMATION 
AFRICAIN? - For further information and informed comment about Africa, YOU 
NEED TO READ IT - Why not send for a FREE COPY and Subscription Details 
from our address on: editor@anb-bia.org> ?

Trouvez-vous nos "WEEKLY NEWS" interessantes et utiles? Mais peut-etre vous 
ne connaissez pas notre publication BULLETIN D'INFORMATION AFRICAINE / 
AFRICAN NEWS BULLETIN? - Il s'agit d'UN INSTRUMENT INDISPENSABLE pour mieux 
comprendre et mieux connaitre l'actualite africaine. - Pour recevoir une 
copie gratuite et plus de renseignements pour un abonnement envoyez-nous un 
simple E-mail avec votre requete et votre adresse postale.

**********************************************************************
Greetings from: ANB-BIA, Av. Charles Woeste 184,B-1090, Brussel, Belgium
Ph.: 32-2 420.34.36-Fax: 32-2 420.05.49 - e-mail: <editor@anb-bia.org>
WWW:  http://www.anb-bia.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------------